Disney and Jet take off again

The channel spent close to 10 per cent of its top line revenues in marketing in the year ended March, 2013. The spends are expected to go higher in the current financial year.

Disney channel is back with its hugely popular Jet Set campaign, which was launched in 2012 and involved a contest that gave winners a chance to visit Disneyland Hong Kong with their families.

Last year, the channel carried out an extensive eye catching out of home campaign across Mumbai, including a larger than life blimp with Disney characters printed all over placed on hoardings. This was the replica of a real Jet Airways plane which took 30 kids along with their families to Hong Kong Disneyland in July, 2012. The same campaign (in partnership with Jet Airways), this year named Jet Set 2 (do), came back in the month of April.

The contest selected 30 winners (one winner each day). These 30 kids along with their families are being taken to Hong Kong Disneyland.

While the format and spends on the campaign remained the same, despite better arrangements, the channel received a total of 8.3 million entries in the contest this year, whereas last year this figure stood at 6 million. Close to 50 per cent of these winners are from the non-metro cities.

Disney had partnered with celebrity designers Shantanu and Nikhil for a kids' range and for a fashion show organised with the 30 winners posing as models. Bikram Duggal, director, marketing, media network, Disney-UTV, says, "This time, we felt that we were a little more experienced than last year. Probably that's the reason why the investments didn't go up."

Duggal adds, "Disney as a brand believes in creating lifetime memories. I am sure the kids here will remember for their life that this was the first fashion show they participated in."

The plane carrying the kids and their families took off on Monday, June 17. The channel spent about 10 per cent of its total top line revenues in marketing in the year ended March, 2013. The figure will go up in the current financial year. When asked about the preferred platform for marketing for its target audience (kids), Duggal responds, "When it's about kids, the idea is more important than the medium. If a kid likes your idea, he will talk about it to everyone he meets within a month (which is the duration of the campaign) and even later."

To market Jet Set 2, two animated films were made, which were aired across the network channels for about two months. Apart from this, there was also a regular campaign. The channel plans to make five ad-films that will feature the winners.