Special Report
Sony reaps benefits of innovation concerted effort
|
|||
The Indian Premier League‘s success has exceeded everybody‘s expectations, including that of broadcast rights holder MSM India‘s Max channel.
While no one will argue against the fact that the kind of success IPL‘s inaugural edition has enjoyed could never have been anticipated, even by the most die-hard optimist, due credit must be given to the broadcaster on two fronts – innovation and a concerted marketing effort.
Logistical challenges: Max business head Sneha Rajani notes the IPL was an innovative format to begin with. So everything done was innovative by default. “At the same time, though we needed to do a lot of things in two months, we sat together with the team owners to put it all together.
“It was a day and night task. It was logistically more difficult that the World Cup. Mind you for the 2007 World Cup we had two years to plan things. The IPL had more crowds, more flight movements and more equipment – all of which had to be dealt with. I feel that it is a miracle that everything went off so smoothly.”
Innovation: After five years of success with its wrap around show Extraaa Innings, Max decided to completely revamp it. “We wanted to refresh it and turn it on its head. We did not want to continue with the same format. It became a one hour show. We went from a remote central studio to a studio that was based on the ground closer to the action.”
It also introduced young faces as anchors. 600 people were auditioned. Rajani explains that the aim was to have faces that the youth could relate with. “Mandira Bedi is an icon, a superstar. It is difficult for the youth to relate to her. So while the auditions made life more difficult for us we were determined to do it. We went with fresh young male faces.
“We needed multiple anchors to be the main presenters in the studio and the roving reporters on the ground. We found the six anchors and the format was tweaked to make it crisper. We even conceived a song for Extraaa Innings Karo Ya Maro.”
She asserts that after the channel introduced Mandira Bedi five years back, many channels started to copy the formula. “The best form of flattery is imitation. As we are leaders, we then decided to turn it on its head for the IPL. Nobody anticipated that we would go with youthful guys.”
Astute marketing: Sony president network sales, licensing and telephony Rohit Gupta says that one of the main reasons for the IPL‘s success was the marketing effort that was done by all the parties involved. “The activities began well before the event kicked off. Different people marketed different properties. This generated huge interest among the media. As a result people sampled it. They stayed on thereafter as great cricket was on offer.”
Rajani adds that at the start the broadcaster sat down with the franchisees to set up a blueprint in terms of who would be doing which activities and at what period of time. At the start the IPL did its campaign. This was followed by campaigns by the different team owners. Finally Max did its own marketing in the four-week lead up to the event.
“A chart was drawn out as to who would be doing what and at what stage. The timelines were met. The IPL‘s campaign Cricket ka Karamyud was distinct. The owners had concepts reflecting their personalities. Preiti‘s for instance, had a North Indian Punjabi feel.”
Max‘s IPL campaign slogan was Manoranjan kA Baap. Rajani explains that last year, when Max had made a presentation to the BCCI, they wanted to position the event as the greatest spectacle there is as far as cricket is concerned. The channel‘s team stuck to that positioning throughout. “We knew that the campaign had to stand out. We gave the campaign a 70‘s movie feel with a lot of melodrama. This was key as we were competing with the soaps and serials bang on. Our message was that the IPL was something that would break the shackles of the soaps and movies, which have been ruling the roost.
“The feedback to our campaign stunned us. People understood what we were trying to say. Our message was that IPL is a quick fix reality show. It takes the same time as a film to complete.”
Less is more: What is interesting is that Max did just one major interactive initiative for the IPL. This was in association with Godrej and through SMS one could win a fully furnished flat worth Rs 10 million. The aim was not to have a cluttered environment. Also the three-hour duration of a match does not give one too much time to do things.
The Ad Scene: There was scepticism prior to the event that the cricket would not be serious. The fear was that huge money would dilute the game. All that though was hogwash and high quality cricket won in the end. “The T20 format is powerful. Ratings were above 7 among males 15+. This is what cricket advertisers target,” explains Gupta.
On the revenue front, Gupta notes that Sony expects to at least be on the break-even point once final calculations are done. Earlier, the expectation was that there would be a shortfall of around $ 4 million in the first year. However, since the response was huge, the channel was able to scale up rates for the 200 seconds that it had in the bank for each match. “For the semi finals and final we sold at Rs 8-10 lakhs per 10 seconds. We have set a benchmark pricing for the second season,” asserts Gupta.
The pricing for season two will be aggressive. In fact Sony is looking to do deals by mid-July. This would give the sponsors eight to nine months to plan activities. “Our existing clients are keen to return. We want to give brands enough time to get their act together so that they get full value from it,” says Gupta.
Plans going forward: In terms of the rub off effect, Gupta notes that the IPL has given the broadcaster a good platform to launch Dus kA Dum. “We were able to promote our big shows well. Something similar happened in 2003 post the World Cup.”
And what is life like for Max, now that it has returned to being a movie channel? Rajani explains that on 2 July, the day after the IPL finished, the channel started a film initiative Great Pictures Lagaataar (GPL). This is a festival of blockbusters that air from Monday to Friday at 8 pm. Max will also premier films this month like No Smoking and Gandhi My Father.
In terms of the IPL the plan is to do activities with the franchises to keep the brand alive. In a few weeks time Max will sit down with the franchises and discuss initiatives that could be done. This could include specials on the teams, focus on key players etc. There would also be a retrospective on the first season. “People will not sit and wait for the next event that happens next year,” notes Rajani.
MUMBAI: Some friendships are made in heaven; others are coded in Mumbai. Hamara Vinayak, the first-ever digital original from Siddharth Kumar Tewary’s Swastik Stories, turns the divine into the delightful, serving up a story that’s equal parts start-up hustle and spiritual hustle.
Some tech start-ups chase unicorns. This one already has a god on board. Hamara Vinayak takes the leap from temple bells to notification pings and it does so with heart, humour and a healthy dose of the divine.
At its core, the show asks a simple but audacious question: what if God wasn’t up there, but right beside you, maybe even debugging your life over a cup of chai?
The show’s tagline, “God isn’t distant… He’s your closest friend” perfectly captures its quirky soul. Across its first two episodes, screened exclusively for media in Mumbai, the series proves that enlightenment can come with a good punchline.
The series follows a group of ambitious young entrepreneurs running a Mumbai-based tech start-up that lets people around the world book exclusive virtual poojas at India’s most revered shrines. But as their app grows, so do their ethical grey zones. Into this chaos walks Vinayak, played with soulful serenity and sly wit by the charming Namit Das, a young man whose calm smile hides something celestial.
He’s got the peaceful look of a saint but the wit of someone who could out-think your favourite stand-up comic. Around him spins a crew of dream-driven youngsters – Luv Vispute, Arnav Bhasin, Vaidehi Nair and Saloni Daini who run a Mumbai-based tech start-up offering devotees across the world the chance to book “exclusive” poojas at India’s most sacred shrines. It’s a business plan that blends belief and broadband – and, as the story unfolds, also tests the moral compass of its ambitious founders.
“The first time I read the script, I found the character very pretty,” Namit joked at the post-screening interaction. “It’s a beautiful thought that God isn’t distant, he’s your closest friend. And playing Vinayak, you feel that calm but also his cleverness. He’s the friend who makes you think.”
The reactions to the series ranged from smiles to sighs of wonder. Viewers were charmed by the show’s sincerity and sparkle, a quality that stems from its creator’s belief that faith can be funny without being frivolous.
Among the cast, Luv Vispute shines brightest, his comic timing adding sparkle to the show’s more reflective beats. But what keeps Hamara Vinayak engaging is the easy rhythm of its writing – one moment touching, the next teasing, always gently reminding us that spirituality doesn’t have to be solemn.
Luv spoke fondly of his long association with Swastik. “Since my first show was with Swastik, this feels like home,” he said. “Every project with them is positive, feel-good, and this one just had such a different vibe. I truly feel blessed.”
Saloni Daini, who brings infectious warmth to her role, added that she signed up the moment she heard the show was about “Bappa.”
“We shot during the Ganpati festival,” she recalled. “The energy on set was incredible festive, faithful, and full of laughter. It’s such a relatable story for our generation: chaos, friendship, love, kindness, and faith all mixed together.”
Vaidehi Nair and Arnav Bhasin complete the ensemble, each representing different shades of ambition and morality in the start-up’s journey. Their camaraderie is easy and believable, a testament to how much the cast connected off-screen as well.
This clever fusion of mythology and modernity plays to India’s two enduring loves, entertainment and faith. Mythology has long been the comfort zone of Indian storytellers, from the televised epics of the 1980s to the glossy remakes that still command prime-time TRPs. For decades, gods have been our most bankable heroes. But Hamara Vinayak tweaks the formula not by preaching, but by laughing with its characters, and sometimes, at their confusion about where divinity ends and data begins.
Creator Siddharth Kumar Tewary, long hailed as Indian television’s myth-maker for shows like Mahabharat, Radha Krishn and Porus, explained the show’s intent with characteristic clarity, “This is our first story where we are talking directly to the audience, not through a platform,” he said. “We wanted to connect young people with our culture to say that God isn’t someone you only worship; He’s your friend, walking beside you, even when you take the wrong path. The story may be simple, but the thought is big.”
That blend of philosophy and playfulness runs through the show. “We had to keep asking ourselves why we’re doing this,” Tewary added. “It’s tricky to make something positive and spiritual for the OTT audience, they’ve changed, they want nuance, not sermons. But when the purpose is clear, everything else aligns.”
For the creator of some of Indian TV’s most lavish spectacles, Hamara Vinayak marks a refreshing tonal shift. Here, Tewary trades celestial kingdoms for co-working spaces and cosmic battles for office banter. Yet his signature remains: an eye for allegory, a love for faith-infused storytelling, and an understanding that belief is most powerful when it feels personal.
Hamara Vinayak, after all, feels less like a sermon and more like a conversation over chai about what success means, what faith costs, and why even the gods might be rooting for a start-up’s Series A round.
As Namit Das reflected during the Q&A, “Life gives us many magical, divine moments we just forget to notice them. Sometimes even through a phone screen, you see something that redirects you. That’s a Vinayak moment.”
The series also mirrors a larger cultural pivot. As audiences migrate from television to OTT, myth-inspired tales are finding new form and flexibility online. The digital screen lets creators like Tewary reinvent the genre, giving ancient ideas a modern interface, without losing the emotional charge that’s made mythology India’s storytelling backbone for decades.
In a country where faith trends faster than any hashtag, Hamara Vinayak feels both familiar and refreshingly new, a comedy that’s blessed with heart, humour and just enough philosophy to keep the binge holy.
For a country where mythology remains the oldest streaming service, Tewary’s move from TV to OTT feels both natural and necessary. Indian storytellers have always turned to gods for drama, guidance and TRPs from Ramayan and Mahabharat on Doordarshan to glossy mytho-dramas on prime time. But digital platforms allow creators to remix reverence with realism, and in Hamara Vinayak, faith gets an interface upgrade.
The result is a show that feels like a warm chat with destiny, part comedy, part contemplation. And in an age of cynicism, that’s no small miracle.
As Tewary put it, smiling at his cast, “The message had to be positive. We just wanted to remind people that even in chaos, God hasn’t unfriended you.”
With 5 episodes planned, Hamara Vinayak promises to keep walking that fine line between laughter and light. It’s mythology with memes, devotion with dialogue, and a digital-age reminder that even the cloud has a silver lining or perhaps, a divine one.
If the first two episodes are any sign, the show doesn’t just bridge heaven and earth, it gives both a Wi-Fi connection.
