Live house, Live eye. Bigg Boss guns for bull's eye

The channel is reportedly spending close to Rs 10 crore to promote the reality show, which has Salman Khan as the host

The first episode of popular reality show Bigg Boss Season 4 went on air on Colors yesterday, with a new host - Salman Khan. The on-air promos started one month ago, with Salman Khan as the attraction.

Besides the eight promos, music videos were aired, featuring the host, a few weeks before launch. The off-air marketing plan, which rolled out on September 26, saw a host of out of home activities, along with print and radio promotions.

The announcement of the fourth season of Bigg Boss with a new host was made across print publications in the Hindi speaking markets, as well as across radio stations.

The channel is carrying out extensive outdoor activities in 15 markets, with Mumbai as a key region. About 1,000 BEST buses have been branded and fitted with cameras to give commuters a sense of how it is to be under watch. The carriers of about 100 taxis in Mumbai have also been branded.

There is also a gantry hoarding put up outside the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Live eyes (cameras) have been fitted on hoardings in Mahim and Juhu, with adjoining screens, where all the passing vehicles can be seen. A live 3D house has also been fitted on a hoarding on the Bandra flyover.

The channel is implementing an interesting activity in malls across eight cities. Malls will have 'confession rooms' where a voice will ask questions to people. "This is to give the audience the Bigg Boss house experience," says Rajesh Iyer, director, marketing, Colors.

On Saturday and Sunday, Colors implemented a roadblock on TV guidance channel What's-On India. For the two days, the channel dropped promos for all other programmes of other channels to solely promote Bigg Boss Season 4, leading to the launch of the show.

The channel has reportedly spent close to Rs 10 crore for the promotions of this show. Iyer says that the focus was to create a high impact, high scale campaign, leveraging the fan following of Salman Khan. Last year's campaign had a more serious connotation, with Amitabh Bachchan as the host featured in though provoking promos.

The launch episode of the third season of the reality show garnered a TVR of 4.6. Colors had recorded 338 GRPs in that week, its highest ever till then.

The channel has on board eight sponsors for the show. "Our inventory for the entire season is almost sold out a week prior to the show going on-air - something that is only seen in the case of T-20 cricket these days," says Simran Hoon, national sales head, Colors.

While Vodafone is the presenting sponsor, the others include LG, General Motors, L'Oreal, Garnier Men Deodorant, Suzuki Sling Shot, Bharti AXA Life Insurance, Spice Mobiles, Dixcy Scott Innerwear and Sony Cyber-shot.