What makes “Bigg Boss” an advertisement magnet for the brands

Have you ever used the phrase "Sada Kutta Kutta,Tuada Kutta Tommy " or "Talk to my hand"? You have, we're positive. These phrases are just all too common today. And even if you haven't seen Bigg Boss, where these words were initially spoken, you may be familiar enough with the scene to know exactly where and when to say them. That accurately predicts the reality show's success. Even though it debuted in 2006 as a television programme and is currently accessible via OTT, its popularity skyrocketed on social media thanks to viral memes and videos.

The programme, currently in its 16th season, continues to draw a variety of brands and is among the most expensive properties to advertise on television. 

Pavithra KR, Head of Revenue for Colors at Viacom18, claims that this is due to the fact that the programme provides tailored solutions for companies across all categories.

"No other programme lends itself as effectively to brand interaction as Bigg Boss does. It promotes intense participation for at least 107 days out of the year. We have a solution for any area, whether it be a short video app or a personal care brand. These work on any platform, whether it is social media, OTT, or TV. One of the most expensive shows ever held at the GEC. To be connected to the show, one must pay a particular charge, "She claims.

According to independent media and marketing consultant Paritosh Joshi, brands are constantly looking towards staged reality as a smart approach to stand out from the competition.

Integrations, placements, and branded content in various formats have become essential marketing tools during the past 10 years due to the sheer volume of businesses vying for customer attention. They require strategies for getting past the chaos. There isn't another company that offers in-content placements. There is no commercial break during it. People can't tune it out since the brand message is integrated into the narrative, according to him.

According to Joshi, the show's stickiness also makes it a perfect venue for businesses with complicated messaging.

"The format necessitates frequent viewing. There are a lot of devoted users. This gives marketers the ability to address various aspects of the brand they are marketing. They might want to demonstrate a product in use and list its features, for instance. If completed in a single shot, it will resemble a corporate documentary. On the show, though, it may be spread out over four episodes, he says.

TRESemme, Chings, MyGlamm, Priyagold Hunk, L'Oreal, Hershey's India, Samsung, and Happilo are this year's sponsors of the event. Intriguing ways have been found to include these companies throughout the programme.

This year, the show has MyGlamm as its makeup partner. The "Glamm face of the week" is selected each week from among the contestants. We are excited to work with Bigg Boss on the "Face of the Season." Every participant on Bigg Boss has the opportunity to dress up like a celebrity, and the lucky winner will get the chance to appear in our upcoming commercial alongside the actress Shradha Kapoor, according to Sukhleen Aneja, CEO of the Good Glamm Group.

It has a "Greed Corner" for its partnership with Dark Fantasy and Licious. "Food and the lack of it are major themes on Bigg Boss. In order to make it more game-like, we open this corner whenever we think we can offer the competitors something interesting. For instance, it might suddenly open up and start serving dark chocolate cookies to all the contestants' fancies. Or it may open and serve Licious chicken wings, according to Pavithra.

Likewise, TRESemme provides hair spa services to the competitors on the show.

Industry sources estimate that a 10-second advertisement on the programme costs roughly Rs 3 lakh.

"Bigg Boss is one of the most popular reality television shows, with a wide audience. It establishes the tone for the channel and attracts many of these brands. Because of the sheer nature of BB, we can combine brand engagements that go far beyond anything else on Indian television. Then, these companies continue to run ads on all of our fiction programmes. The show's fan base is so large that it consistently generates revenue, "Adds she.

Bigg Boss' appeal with viewers is due to its capacity to legitimately satiate viewers' voyeuristic urges. the same need that drives lots of people to pause on the highway to listen to two cars dispute about a collision

According to Joshi, watching these candidates spend a long time in a house and yell, debate, or calmly handle various scenarios can be cathartic for the viewers.

The website elevates voyeurism to a significant programming genre. People are, in fact, fundamentally voyeurs. Society demands that we lead balanced lives. But readers of this information can live vicariously through it. They may express their suppressed emotions freely and deal with human weaknesses like lust, jealousy, and fury, he claims.

But do marketers have any reservations about the content's nature? Brands have expressed concerns because of the nature of the content the assets represent, according to Linu John, vice president of Zenith.

According to her, "there are some brands in the sector that simply disregard the show.

"When a show has been on television for a long time, viewers may get weary of it; eventually, boredom may result through familiarity.

"The same tale can be presented endlessly, but it needs to be done differently. One needs to discover the proper modern language vocabulary," adds Joshi. "Television shows need to keep 'recruiting' new viewers season after season."

Every three years, the programme explores something new to keep the audience interested.

According to her, "We break patterns and alter the language of the programme because otherwise the predictability becomes too repetitive for the public and even the candidates behave in a particular way because they know what gets more eyeballs."

This season has also seen a number of adjustments brought about by it. To encourage more conversation, there are now four bedrooms instead of one. Because the dwelling is smaller, there are more uncomfortable circumstances. Salman Khan's weekend episodes are now on Friday and Saturday, and he enters the house rather than remaining hidden. Sunday editions are broadcast live, and a third anchor contributes news from the outside world.

Bigg Boss, which is based on the international programme Big Brother, is currently produced in numerous languages and on a variety of platforms, including Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, and Marathi. The Hindi Bigg Boss audience is not cannibalised, according to Pavithra.

There is no overlap between the marketplaces for each language, according to her.

A distinct Bigg Boss was introduced on OTT last year, with Karan Johar serving as its host. However, Voot stopped offering it this year, and now the platform solely streams the television programme. We might as well take advantage of the TV show's immense popularity, she says.

According to Pavithra, OTT viewing is done next to the television. Because all of our shows are now platform-neutral, she says, "we see the audience going in and out of various platforms. Those who watch the show on TV and want to dive deeper, experience it on OTT. OTT complements television. It's not TV versus. OTT, it's TV plus OTT.

According to Linu, there has been an increase in the show's viewing on Voot because of the nature of the content. Bigg Boss is a well-known programme with a devoted fan base for a certain segment of the public. The consumption on Voot has increased because single TV households aren't allowed to access this kind of programming, she comments.