How a show named Lupin fixed an appointment with me

A job list in mind was always about a to-do list of tasks and jobs. Lists to be done for the household, lists to be completed at the workplace. Yes, but there was also something else that realized became a part of my job list. Shows on television were a must-watch.In the days of Doordarshan and early days of cable satellite TV, it was easy for a show to become a part of one’s job list. The choice was less, remember Start Trek on Sunday mornings as a kid. Remember Yeh Jo Hain Zindagi and then time passed by and the cable satellite regime with the saas-bahu soaps and reality shows took over leading to a huge battle for primetime. As prime time battle got hotter and hotter the task became tougher but life was still about appointment viewing.

You had to somehow make sure that the consumer would fix an appointment with you at around 9 pm or 10 pm if you were a prime time soap or a reality show.TRP ratings rose and fell and every week was a frantic attempt to own a slot in the consumer’s mind.

While this was by no means easy appointment viewing still meant that you could drive in a time slot in the consumer’s mind

Circa 2021 we are spoilt for choice in the OTT world, we sometimes have a tough time even choosing what we want to watch. We are overloaded by recommendations for our peers. Did you watch Family Man 2, did you watch Paatal Lok, did you watch How to be a Tyrant a playbook for those aspiring to be the next Hitler.

Added to the complexity people watch when they choose to watch. The appointment factor is missing.

With such a choice perhaps one needs to be so much harder to be part of the consumer job list as a content creator and broadcaster. Is there a method to become a part of the consumer’s job list? While blockbuster content sells by itself, there could still be other great pieces of content that could be left behind simply because the techniques to become part of a consumer’s job list was perhaps not focussed enough

How can content become part of the consumer’s job list?

Step 1 — Create FOMO

Engineer conversations. around what’s so interesting or unique about a show . Incentivize /reward people who have watched the show earlier on to keep sharing on social media. Do enough to keep the early adopters motivated enough to fuel conversations.

Create a Pehla Kaun movement, who is the first to know certain things about a show kind of feel, to feel the need to be ahead of the curve vs one's peers when it comes to discussing things about a show. Create special behind the scenes tidbits to further fuel conversations.

When everyone around is discussing something it automatically triggers a need for you to update yourself or be a part of your conversations Being an integral part of a conversation is a decent motivator for people to fill themselves in with even part of a show if not the whole

Creating FOMO may be the easier part, but how does one ensure that FOMO translates to the show becoming a part of your job list.

Just like the purchase funnel for other categories, one needs to work hard to ensure that the consumer does not slip out of the FOMO stage as time is limited and one may easily get distracted by another exciting show that comes his way.

Step 2 — Create the need for an appointment

It does not necessarily have to be a fixed time slot. It could be about trying to own a consumer’s weekend after a tough week. It could be about enabling him to escape from a mundane Monday. It could about a high in the middle of a routine week

Am appointment that caters to a mindset and a mental space as opposed to a fixed time. For example, Family Man 2 was binged watch by a lot of people I know on a Friday night. They perhaps just wanted to watch and watch and completely get an escape from the mundane week that went by.

I read a few posts about Lupin being awesome and adding up in a slow intriguing manner and felt that intrigue would be ideal to fill up my Saturday.

Step 3 — Create a mood calendar to strategically close the appointment

Unlike a work meeting or a doctor’s appointment, entertainment can easily be replaced by other entertainment. Distractions are many and one can easily be swayed by another means that fulfils the same need of excitement, escape, or freedom from boredom. Even a drink with a friend can compete with your Netflix time on a Friday night.

One way to compete against those distractions will be to perhaps create a universal mood calendar that works largely across a diverse set of consumers. We all know how mundane Mondays can be, how relaxing a Sunday can be, how a Sunday evening once again can remind me of the Monday morning blues. These are universal truths and cut across the majority of the working population. A similar exercise can be done for homemakers, children and other cohorts.

Opportunities to target consumers in a manner that they look at content as mood-altering or mood-enhancing tools could be an impactful way to become part of his job list. Even a specific character might have a certain feel or tone that is ideal for the consumer’s frame of mind on a Sunday night.

With choices becoming more and more diverse, blockbusters show increasing in numbers fixing an appointment with the consumer /viewer is going to become increasingly difficult. A deeper understanding beyond mere customer segmentation to deeper mood segmentation will perhaps be more fruitful

A day in the life of the consumer with different perspectives to find a way into the consumer’s everyday lives will perhaps decide which content providers will be the winners in the future