Junior MasterChef: Big news, small packaging

HT Café and HT City appeared to be half their size on August 17. The innovation was done by Star Plus to promote its show, Junior MasterChef.

In a one-of-its kind print innovation, Star Plus tied up with Hindustan Times on August 17 to promote the launch of its cookery reality show, Junior MasterChef.

In an attempt to create buzz around the property, HT Café and HT City appeared to be half of their usual size, giving a message of "adha bhi zyada hai". The message aimed to communicate to the viewers that even though the kids of Junior MasterChef are half the size of adults, they have considerable talent.

Nikhil Madhok, senior vice-president, marketing, Star Plus tells afaqs! that the innovation was carried out in Delhi, Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh editions of Hindustan Times' supplements. The key cities in UP included Agra, Lucknow, Allahabad and Kanpur.

Talking about the aim of the innovation, Madhok says, "While we usually use television to reach out to a larger audience base over a period of time, print is used as a reminder medium on the day of launch. Also, there are certain markets where we want to increase the noise/buzz around the show during the launch hence we do such innovations. The innovation with HT has helped us make more impact than other print insertions."

Madhok estimates that the print promotion reached 2-3 million people.

It may be recalled that there have been other channels and brands that have done print innovations and have high recall value. In January 2012, Mid Day turned broadsheet for Colors' sports entertainment property 'Ring Ka King'. In one of the best known print innovations, Volkswagen made Times of India talk by attaching a chip on a page of the newspaper. Bru Gold, too, had added coffee fragrance to the Sunday Times edition in February, 2012.

For Junior MasterChef, Star Plus has also tied up with a few multiplexes in Mumbai and Delhi in order to engage with the audiences better. For two weekends, cinema halls have special 'Junior MasterChef Seat' and viewers who happen to be seated on this seat are treated with the cuisine from the Junior MasterChef kitchen during the interval.

The channel has also associated with Radio City, wherein listeners who believe they have the most boring lunch were encouraged to call up and interact with the RJ. If the listener managed to convince the RJ that he/she does have 'the most boring dabba', they won a treat from the Junior MasterChef Kitchen.

For the record, Junior MasterChef, the latest season of MasterChef India, for the first time brings kids to surprise the audiences with their cooking abilities. Launched on August 17, the show is aired every Saturday and Sunday at 9 pm.