Broadbandindia Magazine

Ten years ago, Star Plus went all Hindi. And as we know, several things happened. Kaun Banega Crorepati and saas-bahu serials became national obsessions. Amitabh Bachchan resurrected his fading career (and how — he’s still doing dozens of films and endorsements). Tulsi and gang became part of everyone’s extended family (but remember, those were the innocent days when the serial was still sweet and homely and Tulsi was half her current size). Anyway, Star Plus zoomed to the top and became the country’s No. 1 channel, which it remained till last year when it was unseated by new entrant Colors. After all those  years, the channel had seemed a bit worn at the edges.

The GEC space is important for all channels as according to TV audience monitoring agency TAM, more than 50% of the viewership share in Hindi speaking market is dominated by Hindi GECs and movies combined. But Shankar says Star’s dependence on Star Plus for its revenues and profits have reduced substantially due to the newly-launched regional channels and last year’s acquisition of Asianet, which operates entertainment channels in four south Indian states Competing channel Zee TV had also done a channel makeover in 2005. Akash Chawla, marketing head of Zee TV, says “The change in logo and the timing of a campaign like this is a reflection of the times. In our case, we changed the logo in 2005 and the repackaging of the channel was done a couple of years later”. The makeover comes at a time when Star Plus has emerged as the leader among GECs, after 22 weeks. Viacom 18’s Colors had bagged the slot on the GRP (gross rating points) chart.

GRPs are an aggregate of TRPs (TV rating points) which are a measure of the percentage of viewers watching a particular programme at a given time. GRPs of a channel usually translate into its advertising revenue, and are therefore of utmost value. Star India, a fully-owned subsidiary of News Corporation, broadcasts 32 channels in eight languages to more than 168 million people every week across India and more than 65 countries across the globe.

New Logo

Star India’s flagship entertainment channel, Star Plus, has gone in for a makeover with a new logo and tagline – ‘Rishta Wahi, Soch Nayi’ (old relationships, new thinking). Speaking on the occasion, Uday Shankar, CEO, Star Plus, said, “I’m pleased to announce the brand refresh for our flagship channel Star Plus. This is the first time in the history of television brands in India that an attempt to refresh has been made with such depth of detail, permeating to the core of its business.”

A spokesperson said, “As a channel, Star Plus is constantly evolving to provide a superlative television experience to our viewers. We will make an announcement of the significant changes at the appropriate time.” A senior official at Star Plus, who didn’t wish to be named, said: “Last year, Star World and Star Movies went through a brand transition, where we introduced new logos for these channels. Following the same trail, Star Plus will now have a new logo. However, Star Plus’ graphical representation will be completely different from these two.”

“This exercise was long due for Star Plus. We have been around for 10 years. It is important for us to keep pace with changing times. It is important to refresh,” he added.

He also added that Star One will also go through a complete revamp soon. The channel, which was at one time positioned as a comedy and light-hearted channel, has completely lost direction, mostly because of internal changes and lack of proper leadership.

The new logo is just one part of Star Plus’ makeover exercise. Chief operating officer, Star India, Sanjay Gupta says that the new programming line-up on Star Plus with three new shows and blockbuster movie offerings will strengthen the brand and improve loyalty amongst viewers.

Ruby Star, the new logo, beckons viewers to enter the crystal world of Star Plus, making it come alive in their lives. The Ruby Star is the beating heart of the channel, the heart of India – feminine, strong, full of energy and life. The white hot swoosh, lit from within, represents inner strength and quest for fulfillment. A key component of the Star Plus identity is the colour red. Red is the colour of prosperity, optimism, weddings, celebration, hope, desire, purity, passion, love and holiness. The Star Plus logo is the traditional and familiar star emblem infused with a very modern, fresh and energetic expression.

The makeover also includes a new signature tune composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy, and sung by Shreya Ghoshal that was overseen by Piyush Pandey, chairman of advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather. The new logo has been created by UK-based design firm Venture 3, used by News Corp. to rejuvenate some of its other TV platforms globally. The rebranding exercise, which cost an estimated $4 million (Rs18.72 crore), is a big step for the channel, according to Uday Shankar, chief executive of Star India. “The last time Star Plus recast its agenda was in 2000, with the launch of ground-breaking shows such as Kaun Banega  Crorepati, (Kyunki) Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi and Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki, which were new to Indian television,” he said

New Shows and Better Experience

Just like its soap-serial characters: Ba was about 150 years old, but miraculously still alive and kicking. Tulsi was still staggering from family crisis to family crisis. Parvati had had a makeover but no one could remember why. (That’s because the stories had got so convoluted that if anyone had actually tried to figure them out, their collective brain cells would’ve gone into fatal spasms. Thankfully, no one tried). But at the moment, as Star celebrates its tenth anniversary, things are looking good. The channel is back at the No. 1 position and while it’s unlikely that it will remain at that slot, unchallenged, for another ten years, it has reclaimed its numero uno title by a convincing margin — for the moment, at least. Tulsi and Parvati have gone away (and not a day too soon) but both of them reappeared as Tulsi and Parvati at the recently telecast Star Parivaar Awards (where the new look of the channel was revealed — everything is a bright red now).

The two bahus spoke about how the Star parivaar is a very happy parivaar and everyone loves everyone and so on and so forth. I had no difficulty believing them  because all the actors and actresses came dressed as their screen characters and were addressed by their screen names throughout. (Or maybe Akshara’s real  name is Akshara and Dadaji is called Dadaji and nothing else but Dadaji off screen too — who knows?) I also have no idea what all these people look like in real life — I can’t believe that the women waltz around their homes in those 10 kg sarees the way they do in their soaps and serials. I was also a bit distracted by the awards themselves — there were categories like Favourite Saas and Favourite Bahu (naturally), but there were also awards for Favourite Buzurg, Favourite Bhai, Favourite Behen and so on. Because I have to watch soaps and serials (the things I have to do in the line of duty), I could actually recognise quite a few of the characters, but for viewers who aren’t plastered to their TV sets, it must have been a little like Alice in Wonderland.

Prominent guests in the audience included Ekta Kapoor who is back on Star Plus with a new serial Tere Liye (no, that’s not the way Ekta Kapoor spells it —but honestly, you don’t want to know). It’s a Bengali love story in that the characters are Bengali and it’s set in Bengal and has a heavy Parineeta- Devdas hangover. Whether it’s anywhere close to those two movies, well, we’ll have to wait and see. New shows include Kitchen Champion, a reality show anchored by Ronit Roy, in which female characters from Colors serials such as Balika Vadhu and Na Aana Is Des Lado participate in a cookery competition. Ronit is a warm, cheerful host and everyone looks like they’re having fun.

But is the makeover just a cosmetic one? Piyush Pandey, chairman of advertising agency Ogilvy and Mather, who oversaw the makeover, says for an outsider, the brand reinvention might look cosmetic, but it is not. “The loyal viewer will feel that the channel is trying to keep pace with the Star Plus woman rather than trying to change her”, he says. O&M has worked on three TVCs (TV commercials) – to be shown across the Star India network. One of the TVCs shows an old couple playing with their granddaughter. After a while, the doting father of the child tells his wife that they would have missed out on the happiness had he not heeded her advice to adopt the child. Pandey says the film brings out the idea that Indians are now more open to new thoughts. “We worked around the theme that Star Plus would not merely follow traditions. People are now open to the idea of adopting a child and improve their lives. The plan was to showcase how people could bring in happiness by adopting a new idea,” he adds.

The channel will also have two new shows, Chaand Chhupa Baadal Mein and Master Chef to be hosted by Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar. “It is a big experiment as we will have a cookery show in the prime-time slot,” says Shankar. Uday Shankar, CEO, Star Plus, further said, “India has always been a land of new thinking, which was perhaps been forgotten with our preoccupation with development, and Star Plus aims to revive convention through the refreshed brand promise of  ‘Rishte wahi, soch nayi’. We are committed to entertaining our viewers with content that propels them in a new direction and setting the agenda for entertainment on Hindi GECs.” Once again, Star Plus celebrates the family, with the woman at its core. In this family, there is a quest for fulfillment, and strong dreams of a better future. The belief that ‘anything is possible’ has never been stronger for the Indian family – not only that, they also want this optimism and new thinking to be reinforced through their daily dose of entertainment.