Trading and Syndication is a ‘content export’ kind of business, where sellers from one country sell to buyers from another country. Deals mostly occur at Content Markets which happen throughout the year at various locations across the world (MIPCOM & MIPTV in Cannes, DISCOP in Istanbul, etc.) where buyers and sellers meet. In other words, the trading and syndication deals are conducted in a more or less commoditized manner, where the serial or show title, number of episodes and storyline synopsis’ are the discussion points, and channel name or brand takes the back seat.
In India, Zee Television has the largest library of Indian Entertainment Content by virtue of its archive of the shows/serials it produces and the movies for which it owns or acquires the broadcasting rights. Being the industry leader, Zee had the desire to be a differentiated player in the Trading & Syndication market, and clearly establish its leadership position as a repository of Indian Entertainment content in the Content Markets.
The brief which was outlined, was to create a brand umbrella and identity for Zee International’s Trading and Syndication business, which would be in sync with Zee’s corporate ethos of Indian-ness, but at the same time, since it would cater to international buyers, be contemporary in terms of look and feel, which would bring alive an otherwise transactional and commoditized sales process.
Having to balance multiple dimensions – Indian yet contemporary, leadership position of Zee to clearly come through, and adding a bit of irreverence to a serious product – the team at YOUNG was faced with a daunting task. Moreover, what added to the challenge was not having any reference point of any other TV channel or content owner/producer having created a brand umbrella for the Trading and Syndication division.
Our approach was to treat the assignment in a structured manner – developing an interesting brand name and identity, and then crafting communication which actually talks to the content buyer in a lighter vein.
The vibrant identity and logo created by YOUNG captured the leadership position of Zee in the content space, while delivering a visual imagery which was contemporary yet Indian by design. “Bollyworld” is an interesting amalgam of Bollywood + World. Internationally, any form of Indian entertainment (not only movies) is termed as Bollywood. This is a terminology which anyone who is a part of the content fraternity or a frequent visitor to the content markets, is familiar with. The ‘world’ part defines the international market which is catered to by Zee’s content genre, and also captures the global demand for Zee’s content.
Naming, Brand strategy, Brand Identity, Advertisement Campaign, Brochure, Marketing Collaterals
