Roadblock advertising

RoadBlock Advertising is going to be back in action soon. It is a powerful means of advertising and brands use it for different purposes.

The word roadblock is derived from the traffic roadblock, where the traffic is jammed on the road and people can’t see anything and get struck at one point. Similarly in Roadblock advertising, brands books advertisement slot for 24 hours  or couple of days and air their advertisements all the time.

There are lot of benefits like when some company wants to launch a new brand, in order to get 100% voice share, ads are aired all the time.  This is predominantly a TV medium but now print media and also online websites are capitalising this. In Nov, 2009 Volkswagen is reportedly paid 100 million rupees to TOI and published its advertisement in all TOI newspapers and in all cities. This was received with both positive and negative response as this was the first time that print media has moved towards to road block advertisement. But in one shot and by paying hefty amount more than 20 million viewers get to see Volkswagen new Jetta and Pasat cars. Since this is not a targeted medium of advertisement, one tend to lose lot of money but it is worthwhile gaining lot of eyeballs.

In a similar campaign in 2009 HUL roadblocked Star network and Zee network for 24 hours so which meant on all 25 network channels of ZEE, viewer will get to see only HUL brands. As the FMCG space is cluttered and fragmented. The move of airing advertisements for HUL brands was thus impactful, as the brands in question will get exposure on as many as 25 channels and 24 hours.

Recently, pizza chain Papa John's ran a roadbloack ad on Facebook promoting a free pizza for every user who became a fan of the brand on its Facebook Page. Thanks to the home page ad and an associated e-mail campaign, Papa John's garnered 131,000 new fans in a single day.

Following are the main features of roadblock advertising     

• 100% share of voice during the campaign period
• Can be booked for a single date, multiple days or for a week
•  Runs multiple ad units
•  Uses Rich media and creative formats are available

Now we will not be surprised if Star roadblocks its entire network to launch its new channel Star Action. Star is largely popular in Youth, Housewives and entertainment oriented audience. In order to get 100% voice share it is expected that Star will roadblock all its network channels, which is in way a good medium to launch new product/ brand . 

ZEE TV

Zee TV, the flagship channel of Zee Network was launched in October 1992. With a reach of more than 167 countries and access to more than 500 million viewers globally, Zee TV has created strong brand equity and is the largest media franchise serving the South Asian diaspora. In the past sixteen years of its existence, Zee TV has driven the growth of the satellite and cable industry in India.

Zee TV's programming delivers a variety of choices for all segments of the audience,

including primetime comedy and drama series, premiere Hindi movies, mini-series, children's programs, musical shows, and mythological series. Zee has always believed in bringing innovative programming to its viewers.

Zee TV has long been the number two channel and now it has been pushed a place behind by new channel “Colors”. Zee has come up with some new marketing strategies to counter this and also to reconsolidate its position in the market.

Zee has basically identified two genres of TV shows- reality shows and daily soaps. Daily soaps are mostly targeted at Indian women. A soap called “Kasamh Se” is being aired at the prime slot of 9 P.M. from Monday to Friday. Its being promoted as their prime soap. A reality show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” is being running for 13 years now has been the top TRP getter for Zee. Recently Zee started promoting it as “Bharat ka pratham mahayudh”, targeting youth and housewives alike.

Zee TV has used various media mix to promote its serials. A study by TAM shows that Zee spends more on newspapers to promote its serials than on radio and magazine.

Along with this, Zee also promotes its shows through its websites allowing viewers to

download wallpapers and ring tones of the popular shows. Hoardings along the road side are also a common promotion media for Zee. Zee also promotes its popular shows on prime time slots of rival channel.

For the promotion of its reality show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”, Zee TV had ventured into an alliance with Rediff. The joint initiative was called “Voice of Rediff on Sa re ga ma”. The initiative provided an opportunity for aspiring singers to showcase their talent on the show, by uploading their videos and audio files on iShare. One lucky winner was chosen from the top five short listed entries by the show’s judges. The lucky winner then performed in the final episode of the show. iShare provides all hosting and bandwidths for free. One can upload videos directly from the mobile handset by converting the various video formats into Flash video. It also provides the users with viral tools that include showing a commercial before or after a user’s video and sharing of revenue. It has taken into consideration all elements of protecting user contents and privacy rights.

DMCL, a Zee group company has tied up with mobile operator BSNL to offer video

Content on the mobile - a service branded iSee. Popular soaps, abridged to episodes of 3 minutes duration, are provided to viewers.

Zee TV has undergone a makeover recently. To mark its return with fresh programming, the channel has adopted a more vibrant look and a new tagline. ‘Jiyo Zee Bhar Ke’ gives way to the new tagline ‘Har Pal Banaye Ek Naya Rishta’.

The new packaging highlights the quintessential Zee TV woman, who is rooted in tradition, but is also the perfect example of a contemporary woman, inspiring confidence in her family. The channel has come out with a 30-second master promo, which captures the journey of the Zee woman in different roles in relation to her family, her children, her husband and God. This is the second time in three years zee has come up with a revamp strategy. The advent of Viacom 18’s Colors has pegged back Zee to third position in the prime slots. With the current rebranding exercise Zee is planning to target the Indian women. This emphasizes Zee’s strategy to market its prime time slot soaps. Current rebranding has been largely based on the formal research into viewing habits and preferences. The findings underlined a truth the channel already knew - “The general entertainment genre is still largely a woman's sphere.”

Zee TV is one of the oldest General Entertainment Channels (GECs).I t has off late lost a position. Zee TV is lagging behind Star Plus and Colors (of late), though the gap is not much. If Zee doesn’t come up with a new product mix and effective marketing strategy quickly, it stands to lose further market share and the gap may widen further.