He came, we saw and he conquered. That’s how Sherlock S4 in India can be summed up. The iconic show, which has a huge fan following worldwide, also stole hearts in India. AXN, the channel known for hosting the finest Reality, Entertainment and Drama shows, premiered the BBC drama Sherlock Season 4 in India with an integrated 360-degree marketing campaign.
Taking cues from the global campaign, AXN India adapted the international thought ‘It’s not a game anymore’ and created an India-specific, clutter-breaking campaign. The fans absolutely loved the concept which in turn garnered quality social media conversations around the campaign tagline and the show.
With an aim to further the Sherlock craze, all marketing elements like on-air promotions, social media buzz, on-ground association, outdoor campaigns, radio spots and PR tools were strategically used to make the premiere a huge success.
The integrated activities began with a month long on-air campaign that included one-of-a-kind association with India’s leading app Uber and buzziest youth hangout joint Social. The first step was for Uber travelers to unlock the Sherlock code on the Uber app. This resulted in top 100 winners of the activity to watch exclusive screening of Sherlock Season 4 episode before the India premiere.
The 3-week long collaboration with Social enabled fans to experience Sherlock’s eccentric lifestyle by being part of an exciting treasure hunt across key Social outlets in India. The fans also got photographs clicked at the Sherlock zone created at the venue, which was equipped with Sherlock props, and win exclusive AXN hampers.
The fun didn’t stop here. AXN got on board stand-up comedian of EIC fame, Azeem Banatwalla to take viewers through the ‘Sherlock’ voyage. A 5-minute crash course to all the previous episodes coupled with Azeem’s wacky humour, got the more than 1 Million views creating tremendous buzz online.
Saurabh Yagnik, EVP and Business Head, English Cluster, Sony Pictures Networks India
“AXN is an aspirational brand for the youth so we strategically partnered with other aspirational youth brands – Social and Uber. We were able to engage with our target audience more efficiently and effectively creating a win-win proposition for all. The response from viewers has been phenomenal. We trended on Twitter for over 110 hours during the campaign period. AXN is home to Sherlock and we reinforced our position as the best destination for iconic shows and characters.”
Shobita Kadan, Director – Marketing & Strategy at Impresario (parent company of Social) “We were delighted to partner with AXN and provide a platform for the first ever screening of Sherlock for which we share a common audience. Our patrons; true Sherlockians got the opportunity to enjoy the screening well before anyone else in the country. A 360-degree brand experience was curated through various touch points such as a fun treasure hunt, an interactive photo booth and fun giveaways to reinstating the culture-defining Social experience.”
Shailesh Sawlani, General Manager, Mumbai and West at Uber.
“We tied up with AXN to give our riders across Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore a first-hand flavour of Sherlock, this season. The campaign saw a great response across the three cities and it was a phenomenal experience for the ardent fans to simply enter a promo code to attend the exclusive screening.”