Sania Mirza teaches wooing lessons to men

Hyderabad, November 21: MSM's Hollywood movie channel Sony PIX will be showcasing all of the Bond movies for the next 12 weeks, starting Saturday at 7 PM and 9 PM. At various interceptions, one will see tennis player Sania Mirza giving tips to men on how to woo women, under the new initiative 'PIX School of BONDing'.

Saurabh Yagnik, Executive Vice-president and Business Head, Sony PIX & AXN, said, 'We have always strived to enhance the experience for our viewers. The character of Bond spans over 50 years, and has been mostly associated with the best of gadgets, guns, cars and women.

A deeper probe led to a brilliant insight. Girls, gadgets, guns & cars keep changing over time, but what keeps Bond ticking is his evergreen attitude.

Through this campaign, we have sought to amplify his style, charisma and, most importantly, the evergreen attitude which makes him the Ultimate Man. The iconic Sania Mirza articulates this and how he woos his way to a woman's heart.'

Mirza, in a never-seen-before avatar will be giving tips on how to woo your way to a woman's heart, 'the Bond way'. 'PIX School of BONDing' will showcase all the movies ever made on the fascinating British spy, clubbing old-world charm with modern-day mysteries. Mirza will offer tips at several points during the movies.

The challenge the channel faced was to find ways to sustain the relevance of a 50-year old franchise in the mind space of the current audience. The second challenge was to create a disruptive and differentiated viewership for the series. Before the franchise came to PIX, it had passed through three other channels which promoted the Bond series in the same manner.

Therefore, the channel wanted to do something different. So, after doing a lot of data mining and consumer research, they came to a decision that what works for Bond is his attitude. They thought of re-creating the Bond persona for the young Indian audience. And that's why Mirza was roped in, and not a film actor.

'Our objective was to create a differentiated and disruptive proposition. From here germinated the thought of portraying Bond's attitude and desirability, through the eyes of a woman. We wanted the face of the campaign to be a popular youth icon, and that too in a never-seen-before avatar. With this brief, having Sania on board not only met our criteria fully, but also blended with the PIX philosophy of wow, cool and with a twist.'

Talking about the association, Mirza said, 'I am glad to be associated with Sony PIX. I have always been a die-hard James Bond fan and I love watching movies. 'PIX's School of BONDing' is a great way to show my love for both. Besides, when I received the brief and learnt of my character as a Bond trainer, I was completely ecstatic.'

The channel has got on board several advertisers for 'PIX School of BONDing' ' Micromax as the title sponsor, with Maruti Suzuki Alto K10 as the powered by sponsor, and Quikr, Titan Skinn, 99acres.com, Nutrilite by Amway and Crizal by Essilor as associate sponsors. The channel hopes to add more to the list.

There is an elaborate digital plan with key properties on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. One can get to talk to Mirza live on Twitter. Mirza's tips will be made viral on YouTube and a few webisodes will be aired online. The series is also being promoted through WhatsApp. The promos of the show are being aired across MSM Group channels, apart from a few others.