Satyamev Jayate 2: Singing up a storm

At the end of the last season, the number of Facebook fans of 'Satyamev Jayate' stood at 1.4 million, which has now swollen to double the number (3.5 million).

Having procured 1.3 billion impressions on digital in the debut season (across 13 episodes), the first episode of the second season of Satyamev Jayate alone has gathered about 54.2 million impressions on social media. With the promos being viewed by 4.4 million people on YouTube, before the launch of the show on March 2, the show has reached greater heights than Season One.

The first episode of the second season, which dealt with the treatment of rape victims from social, legal and medical angles, received significantly good response from the viewers. The vote for change campaign, wherein people were asked to vote for suggested solutions of the problem, received over 57 lakh missed calls, of which 40 lakh were within the first 72 hours of telecast. Viewers were encouraged to give a missed call on a toll free number to support the cause raised on the episode.

In addition, the video of Episode 1 on YouTube was viewed for about seven lakh times and that on the website, satyamevjayate.in, has got about 8.7 million views. The channel suggests that over a lakh hours of video content has been consumed on digital, while seven hashtags around the show and the topic trended on the launch day. #FightingRape became the top trending hashtag in India on the launch day.

At the end of the last season, the number of Facebook fans on the page 'Satyamev Jayate' stood at 1.4 million, which has now swollen to double the number (3.5 million fans). Close to six lakh people are talking about the show, at any given point in time in the last two weeks and this number rose to eight lakh on Sunday.

Gayatri Yadav, executive vice-president, marketing and communication, STAR India, says, "With mobile instruments, it's moved beyond the Facebook-Twitter arena. It's become very universal and we have taken it a step ahead as 23 million outbound calls were made with Aamir Khan's voice inviting them to watch the show."

Apart from the numbers on the digital platform, the show has got a step ahead in its philosophy as well. Last year it promoted itself as 'Dil Pe Lagegi Tabhi Baat Banegi', while the current five-episode season speaks to the Indian 'Jinhe Desh Ki Fikr Hai'.

Seven ad films were released before the launch of the second season of the show, and two promos will be released for each episode. The channel has planned the release of the promos to sustain buzz around the show and the topic discussed in each episode. While the promo released before the telecast of an episode will not reveal the cause/topic to be discussed in it, the promo released after the telecast will have clippings from the episode to keep the topic alive.

Somewhere mid-week, the channel will release the promo for the next episode, without revealing the issue. The host, Aamir Khan, will give a riddle to the viewers. The promos are being aired on STAR Network channels and other network channels which include news, entertainment and music genres.

Yadav adds, "Last time, the challenge was to pull the engagement with the audience for 13 episodes which discussed heavy topics. That's why we have designed five-episode series this time."

Taking a step ahead to include the southern markets in a better way, the network has signed Mohanlal and Suriya as cultural ambassadors.

With an already established concept, how different was it to market the show in Season 2? "This came up when Uday (Shankar) mentioned how despite there being no law to stand up while the national anthem plays in a movie theatre, people do stand up in respect. We wanted to touch the same sense of citizenship and national pride. Then our aim got clearer," Yadav reveals.

Each episode in the first season ended with a very touching song that summarised the emotion behind the cause/issue. A special music album was released with all the 13 songs and it trended on online music sites.

Yadav says, "It was never an entertainment fair. We are discussing serious national issues."

The channel explains the marketing campaign in a statement: 'There was a print campaign on the launch day, keeping in mind the freshness of the show airing at 11 am on a Sunday morning.' The aim behind using the outdoor medium was to build perception in key markets.

Another key factor in the marketing approach this season is the emphasis on digital via an integrated campaign across all key touch points: mobile, social media and website. The medium will be a key deliverable in reaching out to audiences and empowering them to stand up and act.'