Mumbai: Chacha Chaudhary an iconic Indian comic book character, created by cartoonist Pran Kumar Sharma in the year 1971 and Toonz Media group and Brand monk Licensing launched the show as an animated series in June last year.
Chacha Chaudhary is one of the major Indian comic character that accounts for 5 decades of legacy. Recently, after the astounding success of the animation series, the brand entered the next level of audience engagement through an exciting new App – Chacha Chaudhary Bubble Shooter Game on 9th January 2020.
In a conversation with Medianews4u, Rohit Sobti, Co-founder and CEO, Brand Monk, spoke about the brand, future plans and much more:
How has Chacha Chaudhary emerged from a character to a brand?
Chacha Chaudhary is the first common man Indian super hero character loved across age groups and genders. It has travelled a long journey of almost 5 decades, started in 1971 as an Indian comic book character and was then adapted in a Hindi television series in 2002 and last year in June 2019, telecasted new animation series with 52 episodes on Hungama.
Now in 2020, we have launched a mobile game merchandise for youth and going forward we have new and interesting lineups such as new animation season on Youtube, kids merchandise and much more. In the recent past, we collaborated with Anushka’s high street fashion label NUSH, to bring back the cult nostalgia.
We are now familiarizing the upcoming generation to such an incredible realistic character who has unique combination of intelligence and strength that makes everything possible.
Unlike other cartoon and comic characters with kids as TG, how is Chacha Chaudhary a brand that reverberates among millennials?
We are continuously exploring modern practices to connect with today’s youngsters. Our collaboration with Helo App where we featured a campaign #ChachaSanghSwachhBharat (#CleanIndiaWithChacha) which helped us to spread the awareness of clean India with engaging filter effects, etc.
Association with NUSH is another step to get familiar with youngsters using fashionable apparels. We have partnered with The Souled Store, largest online brand for official licensed merchandise selling apparels and accessories of popular cartoon, tv shows, IPL teams, etc.
Among all our associations, a unique and quirky collaboration with online GIF search engine, Tenor (acquired by Google) has various Chacha Chaudhary GIFs which are used by a lot of youngsters across IOS, Android and Mac OS platforms.
Riding on Chacha’s characters’ image and individual qualities, how is the brand creating interesting merchandise that cuts across young audiences?
Chacha’s animation has taken it to the subsequent level of diversion for our younger audience who can relish the new styling with satire and parody. Chacha Chaudhary is a brand which brings an inspiration to the people who believes in modern and fashionable styling.
Our recent collaboration with NUSH, brings new endeavors to bring fashionable and beautiful clothes that millennials wear. Our merchandise is also available on The Souled Store, WYO, Planet SuperHeros and other merchandise destinations which is a youth loved platform. One can select their quirky Chacha and Sabu apparels from a varied range available on the website.
How has Chacha Chaudhary engaged with other brands for delivering impactful campaigns with a strong message?
Chacha is an iconic character that is rooted in Indian culture to make inroads with audience further, the brand has launched several campaigns in association with popular brands.
For the upcoming Swachhta Surveskhan 2020, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has released a comic of Chacha Chaudhary and Sabu.
We have partnered with the government to promote Swachh Bharat, via Helo App on 2nd October. We featured a campaign on Swacch Bharat mission which saw more than 100 million people for our 10-day campaign. In the past we have tied up with Uttar Pradesh Government’s Road safety campaign too.
Cartoon characters in marketing are often used to beat the attention span and with so many distractions surrounding the modern customer (smartphones to start with), you need a really strong weapon of marketing tools, what is that?
Emotional connect with the consumers. If the brand has an emotional connect it will not have distractions with the modern consumers
How would this initiative be promoted?
Digital Strategy has 2 components : Our destinations – Youtube , Social Media and Collaborations with other platforms – Tenor, Helo , Mobile Gaming etc . The idea is to connect with the super fans and fans of Chacha.
What are your future plans?
After the astounding success of the animation series, the brand now looks forward to bringing season 2 of the animated series. We aim to create affinity with the kids and then we will gradually design merchandise for kids. Riding on to Chacha’s solutions we are now planning to partner with few almond companies to promote good mental health. We have a clear roadmap, where we have first engaged with 25-year-old youngsters, and then the kids, as they take a little time connect with the character. We will first feature Chacha as the primary character on merchandise and then will bring all the supporting characters like Sabu, Chachi, Rocket and Pappu Pendrive. For instance, Sabu can promote a message on fitness and health.
We are also in talks with some FMCG companies for cross-promotion of Chacha Chaudhary brand to promote good health.
