Exclusive | We live up to our motto of STAY AMAZED: Saurabh Yagnik

Sony PIX is all prepared to make your weekend more entertaining with an exciting movie line up. The channel which has always believed in reaching out to their audience in newer and different ways  has come out with a property titled PREMIERE PIXATHON. Living up to its brand promise; STAY AMAZED, Sony PIX presents its viewers, a unique opportunity to watch four big movie premieres back to back for the first time ever on Indian Television.

The channel which is committed to delight its viewers with clutter breaking innovations is once again gearing up to amaze its fans.

In an exclusive interaction with Adgully, SaurabhYagnik, EVP & Business Head, Sony Pix, briefed us about their new property, positioning of the brand PIXATHON and the channel’s initiatives for the year ahead.

“We constantly strive to interact and engage with our viewers, by not just offering exceptional titles but also presenting them a completely memorable viewing experience. PREMIERE PIXATHON is one such initiative that will break the clutter and help differentiate us in the genre. It’s for the first time ever that any Hollywood movie channel in the genre has come up with such an initiative,” said Yagnik.

The channel premiered movies last year as well along with a new packaging. So, how is this new initiative contributing to the growth of the channel? Answering this he avers, “Last year we revamped the channel, and gave it a fresher look with the brand promise of Stay Amazed. There is loads of clutter in the space we are in so we thought of coming up with PIXATHON. The concentration with this property is also to strengthen the brand position along with giving audience good entertainment which will make them go wow and feel amazed. Till date, no other channel in this space has done something like this. Last year we had premieres but that was throughout the month but this year we are doing it in one day, and that is what makes the concept interesting and different. We have learnt from past experience that viewers only remember the title but not the channel’s name so with  PIXATHON we are positioning our brand in a stronger way.”

February 16, 2014  will mark the date of amazement as Sony Pix will premiere Sylvester Stallone action - packed drama Expendables 2 at 12pm, M. Night Shyamalan’s sci - fi thriller After Earth at 2pm, deep sea thriller Dark Tide starring Halle Berry at 4pm and the critically acclaimed The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo at 6:30pm.

Every new innovation leads to competition, so when asked how the channel will face competition  in the television space Yagnik said, “Competition is always welcome as it helps us to work hard and come up with better decisions like
PREMIERE  PIXATHON.

With the innovation we have done in the past and doing now, we give audience something different,  a fresh viewing experience. So, PIXATHON is actually derived from the channel’s name PIX which helps our viewers to remember the brand name too. We are at No.2 position and we’ll continue to keep working on newer ideas.”

Usually in the English GEC space the genre which works well is either sci-fi or action . Sharing his opinion on what works well for PIX he said, “Viewers don’t understand the genres, they just want to watch familiar titles and familiar stars. Given the fact that 60-70% revenue comes from the international market the Hollywood industry understands this fact well and that’s the reason they make films which are easily accepted by viewers across markets. I think action and adventure movies work well as viewers prefer to watch visual effects, fast space movies with familiar star casts.”

Sony PIX has a strong market in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad with Pune and UP as growing markets. The channel has always been a front runner in innovative promotion and marketing of premieres. With PREMIERE  PIXATHON, the channel plans to take its Stay Amazed positioning to newer heights and consolidate its differentiation in the category while delighting viewers.

“For PIXATHON we have been using print, television, social media and digital platforms. So, on television we are running promos and on social media we are promoting it by using title power of four and so also on digital. On the day of premiere launch our print promotion will include advertisements in newspapers across the markets in India,” informed Yagnik.

Apart from PIXATHON, another successful property from Sony PIX is PIX Premiere Nights. Speaking about  this property and how it has worked out for the channel he said , “ In India, the consumption of Hollywood movies are still not high so our motto is not only to increase the viewership for the channel but also build audience for Hollywood movies as a whole. The contest started on 24th January and the winners will get chance to watch the movie a day prior to the launch. We’ve reached out to 7000-8000 contestants across 6 cities.”

The channel caters to TG of 15-54 years of age, inclusive of families and  the young male audience.

As a part of their future plans, the channel is still in talks to sign another deal with Hollywood Studio for more movies. In this regard Yagnik concluded to say “We’ve got franchise of James Bond and discussions are under way to sign the 7th deal with Hollywood Studio.”

Get ready to go ‘Wow’ as India’s coolest Hollywood channel is going to present entertainment with a twist, a unique opportunity to experience the amazement of Expendables 2, After Earth, Dark Tide & The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo onSunday, February 16, as a part of 'PREMIERE PIXATHON' from 12pm  only on SONY PIX.