Exploring the evolving brand mandate of KBC via an analysis of its evolving

taglines

September 2013

The Cadbury Bournvita Quiz Contest was our standard memory of a question cum

knowledge based show till KBC came along.

It was a show that celebrated knowledge and appeased Goddess Saraswati..

Now does anyone remember the prize

money offered on the Bournvita Quiz

programme? Or wait a minute was there ever any money

involved?

Traditionally knowledge and money have been on opposites sides of the pole- more so in our culture. We even have two separate Goddesses to appease to these supposedly exclusive human

desires. The advent of KBC on TV for the first time allowed us the possibility of worshipping both at the same time via the same yagna.

With KBC the word “Crorepati” got firmly etched onto the Indian psyche as the new benchmark of being rich. “Lakhpati” – the traditional reference in Hindi movies of being rich was now passé.

Season seven – Seekhna band toh jeetna band

Season six –Gyaan hi aapko aapka haq dila sakta hai

Season five – Koi insaan chota nahi hota

Season four – Koi sawal chota nahi hota

Season three – Kuch sawal zindagi badal sakte hain

Season two – Umeed se dugna

TAGLINES OVER THE YEARS

In its first year of operation the show was selling a dream. In that year when Harshwardhan Navate won Rs 1 crore that amount was unheard of. It was almost a distant

reality for most Indians. The amount of money offered by the game show was far bigger than offered by any show in the India Television history. It is from the second season, which was aired in 2005, that

the show has a tag line. The tag line for this season was ‘Umeed se Dugna’. So, essentially the show was selling the

same hope of money to the common man but this time the amount was double. .

Pain point addressed: In life mostly you don't get anything even when you ask leading to a

feeing of dejection and depression

Tagline: umeed se dugna (Getting twice the amount you desired for)

Overall thematic : HOPE TO WIN

Role of the brand : MAGICIAN Risk & mastery- it can happen

2

The third season of the show, which was on air in

2007, saw a shift in the focus of the communication. From money the overt cue shifted to. knowledge.

The tag line focused on the fact that it was the knowledge that could be the key to that money. The

theme of the program for this season was ‘kuch sawaal zindagi badal sakte hain’ (literal meaning –

some questions can change your life) therefore giving out the message that no question is insignificant. The tag line impressed upon the transformational change

that ‘power of knowledge’ can bring in for the common man. So, a right question posed at the right

time could changed the turn of events. Post this campaign, ‘power of knowledge’ became the common

thread running across all the following campaigns.

Pain point addressed: We are all stuck in a rut -

seems there is no way out

Tagline : Season 3- kuch sawal zindagi badal sakte hai (some questions can change your life)

Overall thematic : TAKE A CHANCE FOR TURNAROUND

Role of the brand : GAMBLER

3

Coincidently the third season of KBC was hosted by the Baazigar (gambler in Hindi)

Shah Rukh Khan

‘Koi bhi sawal chota nahi hota’ was the tag line for the fourth season and it

celebrated the ‘knowledge of power’ in a different dimension which was ‘don’t

underestimate’.

The TVCs showed people in the hot seat stuck up because of a very basic question such as ‘Akbar ka Baap kaun tha?’. It also

indirectly cued that knowledge does not discriminate i.e. any one, any age can

throw up a challenging question.

For example in both the TVCs of ‘Akbar ka baap kaun tha’ and ‘tum mujhe khho do’ a

child was shown asking the question. Interestingly the tag line also sent the

message of knowledge being an equalizer. So all people who don’t have answers to a

particular question are in the same boat, hence are equals in some sense.

Pain point addressed: We want big change

but are not able to make the small starts that lead to the same

Tagline : Season 4- koi bhi sawaal chota

nahin hota ( no question is a small question to be asked,)

Overall thematic : MAKE A SMALL START FOR IT TO GROW BIG

Role of the brand : CREATOR

provides stability and control – if it can be created(asked) it can be channelized

4

Going forward in season five, the tag line changed to ‘Koi bhi insaan chota nahi hota’. The communication took forward the idea of ‘don’t underestimate’ to the next level. So earlier the underestimation was only around the question but in this campaign the focus was now on the person who was being asked the question. This campaign particularly focused on the theme of ‘knowledge as an equalizer’ for which the seed was embedded in the past communication. Therefore, starting from season three the campaigns kept on reinforcing the theme of ‘knowledge’ in different dimensions.

Pain point addressed: We are all not equal in the game of life

Tagline : Season 5- Koi bhi insaan chota nahin hota (Every man is worth something)

Overall thematic : FEEL WORTHY – WE ALL HAVE SOME POTENTIA:L

Role of the brand : LOVER Makes you feel cherished – I only have eyes for

you and I stand by you

5

"जीवन ऩथ जटिऱ है ये, काऱचक्र कटिन है ये, ऩग ऩग ऩे भेद -भाव है, रक्त-रॊजजत ऩाॉव है, जन्म से ककसी के सर वॊश की छाॉव है, झूि के रथ ऩे सवार डाकुओॊ का गाॉव है, ककसी के ऩास है छऱ-कऩि, ककसी को रूऩ का वरदान है, ये सोच के मत बैि जा कक ये ववधध का ववधान है. बजा रहा मदृॊग है, ये कहता अॊग-अॊग है, की प्राण अभी शेष है, मान अभी शेष है, उिा ऱे ऻान का धनुष, एक कण भी और कुछ म ांग मत भगव न से. ऻान की कमान ऩे ऱगा दे तू ववजय ततऱक, काऱ के कऩाऱ ऩे लऱख दे तू ये गुऱाऱ से, 'की रोक सकता कोई तो रोक के टदखा मुझे, ह़ छीनता आया है जो अब छीन के बता मुझे.' ऻान के मॊच ऩर सब एक सामान हैं, ववधध का ववधान ऩऱि दे, तो ब्रह्मास्त्र ऻान है. तो आज से ये िान ऱे, ये बात गाॊि बाॉध ऱे, की कमम के कुरुऺेर में, ना रूऩ काम आता है, ना झूि काम आता है, ना जाती काम आती है, ना बाऩ का नाम काम आता है, ससर्फ ज्ञ न ही आपको आपक हक़ दिल त है.

This is the full copy of the season 6 – pitch of KBC

Pain point addressed: We are all in the dark

and victims of social evils, injustice

Tagline : Season 6 - Gyan hi aapko aapka hakk dialata hai (knowledge ensures true

empowerment)

Overall thematic : EMPOWERMENT COMES WITH KNOWLEDGE

Role of the brand : RULER

Stability and control – ensures rights are not trampled upon

6

This season the focus is on continuous learning as a path to continued success / victory with the tagline seekhna bandh to jeetna bandh With this tagline the program also cues the importance of a certain depth of knowledge as opposed to just access to knowledge which was the focus in the earlier version of this series.

Pain point addressed: After we leave formal institutions of learning our learning plateaus

and soon we get outdated

Tagline : Season 7 - seekhna bandh to jeetna

bandh (when you stop learning you stop winning

Overall thematic : CONTINUOUS LEARNING FOR CONTINUOUS SUCCESS

Role of the brand : SAGE Independence and fulfillment – the truth will set you free

7

Evolving role of knowledge across seasons

2.Hope catalyst 3. Risk minimizer 4.Inclusion agent

5. Measurement of self worth

6. Key to unlock entitlements

7. Success Sustainer- wisdom cue

Evolving brand mandate across seasons season 2

MAGICIAN season 3

GAMBLER season 4

CREATOR

season 5 LOVER

season 6 RULER

season 7 SAGE

season 8 Any guesses?

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2013

A DOT Think initiative