Zee Cafe turns on Grey fever

The English GEC from the stable of ZEE Network has planned a marketing campaign to promote the seventh, eighth and ninth seasons of Grey's Anatomy that aired on the channel from May 1.

After the sixth season of Grey's Anatomy that ended on STAR World about one-and-a-half months ago, Zee Café, now, plans to air the seventh, eighth and ninth seasons of the show for the Indian audiences. The show is being aired on the channel from May 1 at the 10 pm slot. Season nine will premiere on Indian television and air exclusively on Zee Café in the coming months.

To garner eyeballs, the channel has launched a promotional campaign at a budget estimated at Rs 1-1.5 crore. The campaign includes television promos and Zee Café has booked nearly 4,000 spots. Apart from the 15 channels of the Zee network, this also includes spots on MTV, E24, Mtunes HD, 9XM and NDTV 24/7.

The channel has also initiated a three week trade promotion activity across 10 media agencies including GroupM, Madison, Lintas and Mediacom in Delhi and Kolkata, wherein it has placed posters that promote the show both within and outside the premises of these agencies. This activity was executed by Pure Media.

In print media, the channel has been carrying out promotions in Hindustan Times and DNA across Mumbai, Delhi, Pune and Bengaluru from April 29 till July. It has also partnered with multiplex chains such as PVR, Big Cinemas, Inox, Cinemax, Fun, Fame and DT Star for on-screen branding to connect with the audiences during the newly released movie, Iron Man 3.

The channel will also leverage the mobile and digital platforms to connect with the fan base of the show by weaving contests, chat rooms and discussions around it. A teaser campaign on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube has already started, where the channel has picked up favourite 'Grey's' moments and created content around it. The Facebook campaign targets fans of the show to let them know that the show is back with all the latest seasons (www.facebook.com/ZeeCafe?fref=ts).

On the mobile platform, a 'Chat Room' for Android users will bring all the fans of Grey's Anatomy across India together on a common platform and give them an opportunity to chat about the show along with fellow enthusiasts. The app will kick start along with the first episode of Season 7. Zee Cafe will also look for the most popular Grey Fan in these chat rooms and the winner will be the show ambassador. The app is created by iCouch.

Last year, the channel had aired seasons seven and eight of Grey's Anatomy.

Grey's Anatomy revolves around the doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital and how each of them deals with life-or-death sequences on a daily basis. The show has won several awards in the last few years.

Zee Café, the English general entertainment channel (GEC) of the Zee Network, was launched in March, 2000. The channel showcases a wide array of television entertainment ranging from sitcoms to reality series and live concerts to stand-up comedy acts. The most popular shows on the channel include The Big Bang Theory, Gossip Girl, Happy Endings, Grey's Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, Mike & Molly, Keeping up with the Kardashians, Vampire Diaries, Private Practice, Parenthood, Body of Proof, and Outsourced.