India’s diverse cultural landscape, folklore and vast literature is a hot bed of content and has been constantly inspiring characters and stories that are from the heartland of India. The kids of today are also increasingly inclined towards local content as is evident with the growing affinity towards characters that are Indian in spirit, based in identifiable environments with contemporary treatment. Taking cue from these evolving preferences, we as engagers and kids’ entertainers are focused on creating relatable local content from start to finish in India. Slowly but steadily the proportion of local content in the content mix is on the rise buoyed by the popularity of shows such as Motu Patlu, Pakdam Pakdai, Chhota Bheem, Roll No 21, Keymon Ache, etc. For instance Motu frequenting a “Chai Ki Tapri” and traveling in an “ST Bus” has captured the mind space of children and is as close to the heart of India as it can get.
Insight based content development
Glocalisation is fundamental to succeeding in the highly fragmented and diverse Indian market. Be it international fast food chains or FMCG companies, adapting to Indian sensibilities has been their key to success. The kid’s entertainment genre is no exception. Local content created through extensive research and adapted to regional preferences is gaining momentum. To illustrate, Nick is dubbed in Tamil and Telegu in the respective southern markets. This combined with better understanding of societal nuances, infused into content has now emerged as instrumental to forging a sustained bond with the viewer. For instance bringing alive the festival of Holi on Motu Patlu through a story where the people of Furfurinagar are celebrating Holi and convince Motu, who is scared of coloured water to finally overcome his fear and join the celebrations.
The growing affinity to local characters is further elevated through India relevant compelling story telling and enhanced quality of animation that the viewer’s relate to. For Instance Pakdam Padai, where Doggy Don and Colonel participate in the Dahi Handi competition against the dogs.
As gatekeepers of content, parental approval on such content is also higher, further adding to the increasing demand for local content.
Changing Dynamics; a key growth driver
Digitisation has enabled broadcasters to offer customised content through micro segmentation along the lines of age, gender and language, catering to kids across genres. This has triggered the mushrooming of a large number of channels in the genre thus facilitating increased demand and consumption of local content and broad basing the growth potential for the genre.
Another key evolving dynamic is the ecosystem approach that has led to enhanced engagement and experiences for the viewer beyond TV. This opportunity is a game changer and best leveraged through local content specifically in the case of owned IP. IP ownership provides increased flexibility and is potent with opportunities for creating an engaging ecosystem through brand extensions such as gaming, merchandising, licensing of characters, on-ground events and films. This elevates the engagement and relationship between the characters and the viewers. For instance our characters Motu Patlu have become a part of the daily lives of children as a result of them engaging and bonding with the kids through exclusive made for television movies. Merchandise such as apparel, back to school, high decibel on-ground engagement through meet and greets for instance Motu Patlu and Dora celebrating Independence Day at a school in Bandra and presence at events like Comic-Con, KrakerJack, Kid Town Fair, etc.
Way forward – India Ahead
Going forward the kids genre is only going to get richer with increasing local content and story-telling. Our vision is for a time when there is reduced dependence on international content and local content gains global recognition.
We are already witnessing the start of this trend of local content going overseas with Nickelodeon’s popular show Pakdam Pakdai created in India being syndicated across more than 7 countries like the Middle East, France, Germany, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc. The tide is turning, we are not far away from the time when local animated content created in India will take center stage not only in India but also globally.
(These are purely personal views of Viacom18 EVP and business head – kids cluster Nina Elavia Jaipuria and AnimationXpress.com does not subscribe to these views)