Branded content in India is still featured around embedded brands and products within movies or television series. The concept of creating branded content from scratch is still very much unexplored territory. Even in the case of using products and brands within content, there are very few examples that doing it well and truly leverage the power of branded content.

Advertisers are restricted to featuring in programmes where they have limited or no control, making it hard for many marketers to do a seamless job at integrating their messages into entertaining content. This creates low or limited engagement opportunities with consumers, and the brand in most of the programmes don’t entertain or connect with their audience. A lot of the time, branded entertainment features brands or products that are rather irrelevant to the content. This was a challenge, as well as an opportunity, for us to create engaging and entertaining matter that seemingly integrated brands and products into great content.

The entire show was built on the brand promise of 'Live the moment'. Content was adventurous, explorative and entertaining. Team spirit (bonding of a celebrity and an everyday person) were some of the high points of the show, which were able to attract and connect with target audience.

Elimination in each round was a big hook for the audience to keep coming back to the episodes week after week. The promos showed dramatic content from the elimination, without giving away the results. The digital content shared in the fun the participants were having – this sparked exchanges between fans rooting for different teams

•The online series was a hit, increased fan base on Ritz Facebook page by 63%. The fan page grew from 200,000 to 325,000 on the back of the content. 30% of all lifetime views of the Ritz YouTube channel were for the show and the content garnered a huge amount of free earned media with over 25 digital media agencies covering the press meet and 9 channels embedding the show into their programming.

The campaign delivered 26% more in value terms on ROI on the channel, improving the evaluation CPRP benchmark by 9%. The show doubled active integration by 100% and delivered slot at 75% of the market price 500,000.