Shark Tank, the world's most successful business reality show, was coming to India for the first time.
In India, most people needed to be aware of the show's format and business jargon. The show was to air in primetime on TV (Sony Entertainment Television) and on mainstream OTT platforms (Sony LIV)
Indian TV prime time is generally comprised of programming that is purely aimed at entertainment during dinner time rather than business or edutainment.
Brief/Objectives of the campaign:
- To create awareness for Shark Tank India and drive participation from pitchers
- To ignite conversation on entrepreneurship and start-ups
- To create awareness about the format of the reality show
- To familiarise the audience with the 'Sharks' and 'Pitchers'
Creative Idea:
To familiarise people with the show's concept in a fun way by tapping into daily life-based scenarios. It began with a series of 3 films targeting different audiences, the young male who has a desire for entrepreneurship but does not have validation from society, the women who are not supported in their pursuits of business, and those who have a passion but are not sure where to get the required monetary funding. This series of films kickstarted conversations on TV and all social media platforms. This was followed by the introduction of Business terms, explaining the format, and introducing the sharks, the pitchers, and innovative products.
We had defined 3 clear phases to operate.
Phase 1:
It was about introducing the show, warming the audiences about entrepreneurship, and inviting existing entrepreneurs to participate in the show. As India has a large working-class population, entrepreneurship is considered risky and difficult to pursue. 3 creatives speaking to 3 different audiences were rolled out. 1st spoke directly to those youth who had an inner desire to become an entrepreneur but were not supported by friends and family. The second tackled the issue that India primarily believes that women should play the role of homemakers and not entrepreneurs and encouraged women to participate. The third film showcased the fact that the problem of seeking funding has now become easy with Shark Tank India coming in.
The community of starts ups and budding entrepreneurs was also tapped into through social media and outreach programs through educational institutes and incubators.
Phase 2:
It was all about launching the show and introducing the sharks.
Being showcased on a leading General Entertainment Channel and OTT platform, viewers needed to be familiarised with the show's unique concept. Our secondary audience was founders of budding startups: aspiring entrepreneurs who were relatively more familiar with the business ecosystem.
The launch hinged on the propagation of core elements:
- Showcase Sharks as successful, home-grown entrepreneurs and proof of reward beyond the risks
- Sharks were introduced with the brands they had launched. Interactive content like "Guess The Shark" and "Shark Tank Dictionary" was developed to engage and educate viewers.
- A 100-hour countdown on social media built intrigue for the launch.
Phase 3:
It showcased and built individual pitchers and their products. - it showcased human emotions, cultural values, and business ideas as seen on the show to maximise relatability.
We also Packaged intense business conversations from the show with entertainment elements and brought them alive in a language our audience understands and enjoys.
After each episode, highlights were published.
Creative content engaged and updated the audience about the participants' success after each national broadcast.
Examples:
Which pitch would you invest in?
Shark Lesson of the Day
Product Bio
Pitchers' Bytes
Moments of the Week
Shark Personalities
#SharkTalks LIVE session
Twitter Spaces LIVE conversation
There were dedicated pages/handles on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, which became the community of fans of the show.
Timelines:
The campaign was executed on TV, Print, Out of Home, Digital & Social media across 3 phases, from June 2021 to February 2022.
Shark Tank India emerged as the most-discussed TV content in the nation’s recent history, and entrepreneurs turned into national celebrities for the first time ever.
Although Shark Tank entered the Indian market for the first time, it received over 80 K entries.
The last-known strength of the handles that started with 0 followers:
Instagram - 858 K
Facebook - 767K
LinkedIn - 68 K
Twitter - 71 K
Across platforms, the campaign generated
593 M in Impressions,
435 M in accounts Reached,
68 M Engagements
And molded the online sentiment to gather & build support for the country’s entrepreneurial potential.
The conversation around Shark Tank India grew to compel appreciation, participation, and user-generated content from prominent accounts beyond our target audience:
- Union Ministers
- Local civic body
- Government of India
- A-list comedians
- Category-leader brands
Content creators and brands leveraged the Shark Tank pitching format in their videos and ads, respectively, for commercial purposes!
Our campaign took an unknown show to the forefront of Indian pop culture in just 8 months.
