Zee takes Miss Universe on to OOH

Zee Cafe, the official broadcaster of Miss Universe in India, has extended its marketing campaign to the outdoor medium with about 35 sites in Mumbai and close to 20 sites in Delhi-NCR.

The Zee network has acquired the live telecast rights for the Miss Universe pageant in India for the second year in a row. While the property remains primarily with Zee Cafe, it will be simulcast on Zee Trendz and Zee Studio. The show will also be shown on Zing and ZETC. The pageant will be aired live and exclusive on December 20, at 06.30 am with prime time repeat at 09.00 pm.

The network has planned a high decibel marketing campaign to promote the single telecast property across platforms. The campaign is extended to the outdoor medium through 35 sites in Mumbai and about 15 sites in Delhi-NCR.

One out of home creative communicates the personality of the property, 'glitz, glamour, grand, festive and beauty', and is done in red and pink with a bold text that reads '89 women. 1 Tiara. This could get ugly.' Another creative reads, 'Around the world in 80 swimsuits.' All the creatives have Miss Universe written in silver at the right bottom corner, along with the details of the live telecast.

The OOH campaign also uses standees, tent cards, hoardings, backlit posters at cinemas, and promos/slides in cinemas to drive home the message.

Targeting the 15+ group in SEC A markets, the campaign was executed by OAP in Delhi and Bright Outdoor in Mumbai. FCB Ulka is the creative agency for the campaign.

The spokesperson from Zee Cafe says, "OAP and Bright Outdoor Media cooperated with us throughout the campaign, not only by adhering to deadlines but also giving inputs to make the campaign draw maximum attention from our target audience."

According to the brief given to the agency, the objective of the campaign was to enhance the brand image of Zee Café and to encourage tune-ins for the event. Also, it attempts to reach out to media planners, media buyers and brand managers, apart from the core TG.

Debashish Dutta, senior account manager, OAP, says, "The major challenge while executing the campaign was the unavailability of suitable sites, as this is an important time for brand promotions. We had executed the campaign within three-four days, but we still managed to get the message put up across prime locations in the city."

When questioned about the need for an OOH campaign for the niche audience, the channel spokesperson explains, "Zee Café has a niche audience but Miss Universe as a property has a much wider audience as it is entertainment for all age groups. Also, we have Shilpa Singh representing India at a global level at this pageant, which would interest the masses. Although we are an English GEC, this property goes beyond our regular TG and we want to reach out to them."

Zee will advertise heavily on network channels, airing 1,500 spots before the event.

It also plans to aggressively use the digital platform through a contest on Facebook to tap the friends of the fans on their FB page, and a first-view YouTube roadblock for a period of 10 days starting December, 10. For this roadblock, each YouTube visitor who watches any video on the site will have to watch the Miss Universe promo as the first thing on the site, each time he/she visits the site.

Zee Network will also use several tie ups to increase the reach of its communication. It has got on board yogurt brand Cocoberry; the franchise has created a special flavour in sync with the image and attitude of Miss Universe and will promote it in its stores all over India. Tie ups with Radio City and Radio Indigo will promote tune-ins to the live telecast. Fun Cinemas and Inox have been roped in as multiplex partners, while TGIF is the on-ground partner. In.com will be the online partner and create galleries with stills and videos from an exclusive photo shoot at the Z Café studio with Shilpa Singh, who will represent India at Miss Universe in Vegas. DNA is on board as a print partner for Miss Universe.