Tata Sky: Watch and learn

In its latest campaign, Tata Sky tells parents that television is a good learning aid for young kids.

DTH player Tata Sky, in its latest campaign 'Ab Bachche Seekhein TV se' (Kids learn with television), is targeting parents with children between ages 6 and 12 years. It is trying to break - what it calls - the myth that television wastes children's time. The ad aims to convey the fact that while television is a great entertainment medium, it is equally a good learning aid, helping children go beyond 'bookish' knowledge.

Executed by Ogilvy & Mather, the three-ad series features a young boy stating an interesting fact on how to find out if the eggs are old or new. Similarly, the other two ads have two kindergarten girls quizzing the audience on facts about 'rhyming words to orange' or 'how to escape a leopard'. All the three ad films deliver the overarching message - Television is good!

Abhijit Avasthi, national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, says that for parents, television and education are like 'chalk and cheese' and there is a belief that 'television gets in the way of education'. However, research results are to the contrary. "Parents," he says, "are starting to recognize that there is enough wholesome content on television to supplement their kid's academic learning. This is more so in smaller cities where there are very few avenues to give kids a holistic education. Our campaign features kids flaunting interesting pieces of knowledge that they have learnt from the 13 learning channels that Tata Sky has to offer," he says.

Vikram Mehra, chief commercial officer, Tata Sky states "Over the last few years, Tata Sky's pioneering efforts in 'education through television' with interactive (Actve) services and a bouquet of infotainment channels have been very well received by subscribers, specifically kids. With this campaign we wish to take the message to markets across the country on how fruitful learning through television can be."

Launched in 2006, Tata Sky is a JV between the Tata Group and 21st Century Fox. The company has invested in state-of-the-art digital infrastructure, partnered with global leaders to provide superior technology and set-up high-end 24x7 call centres across the country manned by multi-lingual customer service associates. The company currently has a presence in 36,000 towns with over 13.5 million connections.