Paanchvi Pass-With A Bang

The much awaited game show, Kya Aap Panchvi Pass Se Tez Hai?, was launched amid much fanfare on April 25. Besides the traditional media of TV, print and hoardings, an interesting on-ground promotion helped to build the anticipation. A high intensity, 15 day activity was carried out before the show’s launch to build awareness and lure in the crowds for “India’s biggest game show”.

Nine Panchvi Pass Express vans, designed by Candid Marketing, went around 25 cities in six states. The vans or floats had the Panchvi Pass branding and were designed in the form of a classroom. People were allowed to play Panchvi Pass games on board and win a chance to witness the shooting of a Panchvi Pass show. The floats were taken across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and in the states of Uttar Pradesh (Agra, Kanpur, Allahabad, Lucknow), Punjab (Chandigarh, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana), Madhya Pradesh (Indore, Ujjain, Gwalior, Jabalpur), Rajasthan (Jaipur, Udaipur, Kota), Gujarat (Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Rajkot) and Maharashtra (Pune, Aurangabad, Nagpur). It was flagged off in Mumbai by host and actor Shah Rukh Khan. Publications such as Hindustan Times and Dainik Bhaskar promoted the Panchvi Pass Express in every city, informing people about its location and at what time it would appear in their part of the city.
Prem Kamath, vice-president, marketing and communications, STAR Plus, says, “We fabricated the float to offer a glimpse of our show and its format to the consumer. That’s why the float has the basic elements of the show – the green board, school props and desk. The games played on the float are based on the subjects taught from Classes 1 to 5, such as history, geography, English and maths.”

Traffic signal branding was also done – 800 signal posts were branded with Panchvi Pass panels with traffic sensitive messages such as ‘Always wear a helmet. Yeh ek Panchvi Pass ko bhi pata hai’ and ‘Don’t drink and drive. Yeh ek Panchvi Pass ko bhi pata hai’.

The activation at Big Bazaar outlets saw Panchvi Pass carry-bags in 47 outlets in 21 cities. In the Mumbai and Delhi outlets, the staff were dressed in school uniforms to promote the Panchvi Pass message. A purchase linked contest was also held at Big Bazaar outlets.

Branding across Shoppers Stop cash counters was done across 20 stores in five cities – innovative Panchvi Pass tags were put on inhouse apparel, which read, ‘What is the temperature of a normal human body? Don’t know? Ask your Panchvi Pass neighbour’.

Another out of home branding consisted of numerous magnet cups placed on cars at high traffic points in key cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Indore. These read ‘Magnets stick to iron – Std V Science. Are you prepared for India’s biggest game show?’

Other outdoor branding included branded buses in Mumbai and Delhi and branded vikrants (rickshaws) in Agra, Amritsar, Lucknow and Kanpur. A flash mob activity was conducted in Agra, Amritsar, Lucknow and Kanpur, wherein a cutout model of a school bus was carried around by people dressed in white school uniforms.

In addition, Panchvi Pass branded T-shirts were distributed to stall owners, ‘nimbu paniwalas’ and ‘pani puri walas’.Now thats publicity with a BANG!!!