Social media such as social networking sites and blogs, in particular, are being used to spread the buzz. Sony Entertainment Television (SET) India took this route when it launched its comedy reality show, Champion Chaalbaaz No. 1.
Albert Almeida, executive vice-president and business head, SET India, says, “The idea was to cash in on UGC (user-generated content) that refers to various kinds of media content, which is publicly available and which is produced by end users… The response to this site has been tremendous in terms of page views and reach.”
According to Saurabh Gupta, chief executive officer of Phonethics, Mian Fekoo has already posted about two lakh entries on social media sites in the last six months, so people were familiar with it. “The character acted as a brand ambassador in endorsing the show. On Facebook, Mian Fekoo has 130 friends, and we received about one lakh visits to the blog during the campaign.”
Though the campaign ended in January, Mian Fekoo is still alive and kicking and continues to add postings on the blog. The character will continue creating content on various sites, says Gupta, and may be licensed to other advertisers in the future.
Posted by Moses Paik 
