- CONTRIBUTED
Sponsors of Digicel''s Rising Stars are all smiles as they pose for the camera at the launch of Rising Stars' second season. From left are Dwight, chief executive officer of Kia Motors; Kaye Osborne, general manager of Television Jamaica Limited; Nicola Madden-Greigg, director of sales and marketing at Knutsford Court Hotel; Harry Smith, marketing and commercial director, Digicel; Denese Hunt, Rising Stars presenter; judges Anthony Miller and Clyde McKenzie; Nordia Craig, deputy advertising and marketing manager at the Gleaner Company and John Burrowes, director of marketing, Pepsi-Cola Jamaica Limited.BRANDED entertainment has been featured in the tool kits of innovative brand marketers all over the world.
The novel approach to marketing has catapulted the popularity and sales of many unknown brands, and has even been known to revive brands well into maturity. It was only a matter of time that it came to our shores.
The popular television show series, Rising Stars, with over 1.3 million viewers at its peak in last year's inaugural season, is back this year, with a dedicated group of sponsors and viewers alike. The talent competition, much like the American Idol series, is produced under licence from the originators of Pop Stars, which itself is based on an original format devised by Screentime Pty. out of Australia.
While the shows have different names and culturally relevant references in different markets, they all have the same objective: to provide an innovative approach for marketers to connect with new eyes and pockets, and to deepen their brand relationship with existing consumers.
HIGH QUALITY SHOW
For Rising Stars, this translated into providing a high-quality show while promoting interactive programming whereby contestants advanced in the competition based on public votes by texting or calling a number designated to each finalist.
Telecommunications giant, Digicel, responsible for launching the show in Jamaica, was attracted to Rising Stars as it would enable the company to take their customers right to the heart of the action a concept that is revolutionising the audience's relationship with TV.
Launched in May 2004 with a US$1million (J$62 million) budget, Rising Stars carried out extensive islandwide auditions and regional eliminations before proceeding to the televised in-studio finals which had overwhelmingly positive response from viewers.
The success of the show was reflected in research conducted by Digicel which showed that an unprecedented 100 per cent of those questioned had watched Rising Stars at least once.
Over one third (37 per cent) watched it every week and 50 per cent of those voted for their favourite contestant. The vast majority (83 per cent) said that Rising Stars improved the image of its sponsors and everyone questioned said they wanted Rising Stars to continue into 2005.
"Digicel has earned a reputation of being innovative," said Harry Smith, Digicel's commercial director. "We have sought new ways to connect with our market, and make our brand as youthful and vibrant as our customers. Music is one of our passions as Jamaicans, and therefore it was only logical to find the perfect tool to integrate the brand with this passion - Rising Stars provided the framework for this to happen."
SYNERGY
The synergy among the sponsors is a crucial element of the visionary marketing strategy incorporated in Rising Stars. This is one of the reasons why the show has worked so well. This year, along with title sponsor Digicel, the main associate sponsors are Pepsi-Cola and of course, Television Jamaica which is the exclusive broadcaster of Rising Stars. Other sponsors include the Knutsford Court Hotel, Kia Motors, and THE STAR.
Pepsi's association comes as no surprise as the market demographic for the brand is teens and young adults, making it an ideal fit with the show.
"Our research has shown that people who choose Pepsi are daring, adventurous and charismatic - an almost perfect description of the Rising Stars contestants," said John Burrowes, marketing director at Pepsi-Cola Jamaica Limited.
The main sponsorship triumvirate of the programme is anchored by Television Jamaica, who has over 25 persons directly and indirectly engaged in the series.
"The series is a perfect match with our viewers as it is great family entertainment that showcases the best of Jamaica," said Kay Osborne, general manager of Television Jamaica. "This fits with TVJ's own programming strategy which is to provide innovative and highly entertaining Jamaican programming during the peak prime. If we use this year's audition numbers as a benchmark, (which have doubled), this is a sure sign that viewer interest is extremely high."
As an example, Garwood Henry, a Rising Stars' devotee from the first season says, "Rising Stars is the best locally-produced show on television. The production standard is so high that neither myself nor my family members could miss a show on a Sunday night, and at work and at school, it was the topic of many heated conversations."
Mr. Henry encouraged these debates and challenged his relatives and colleagues to "put their money where there mouth was. We spent a lot on voting but we felt justified, because we saw that our votes counted."
Last year's winner, Cavan, won a recording contract from Gee Jam Records and has subsequently been signed to VP Records.
This year, the winner will receive a recording contract for first place as well as a cash prize of $500,000, compliments of Digicel while prizes of $300,000 and $200,000 are also up for grabs for the second and third place winners, respectively.
TESTIMONY OF ITS SUCCESS
The fact that Rising Stars has been able to make the local television medium more interactive by not only inciting participation through voting, but making contestants out of viewers, is a testimony of its success as branded entertainment. For the future, all eyes will now be watching to see exactly how the show's producers and sponsors take the show to yet another level.
The fourth of the Rising Stars' studio finals showcasing regional finalists will be broadcast tonight at 8:00 p.m. and is aired exclusively on TVJ. The show will maintain this peak prime time slot for the rest of the season, which ends with the grand finale on September 23.
