Quizzing and Brands

Birth of quizzing

Do you know how the word ‘quiz’ entered the English language? It appears that a Mr. Daly, manager of a Dublin theatre made a bet that he would introduce into the language within 24 hours, a new word of no meaning. Soon on every wall and on other places within reach he wrote the four letters Q U I Z and all the people in Dublin were asking each other what the mysterious word meant. Thus Mr. Daly won his wager and the word became part of the language. The word now means a competition of knowledge, general or otherwise and the media, especially television has made quiz contests very popular. The expression Quiz Kid refers to children appearing in radio or television quiz programs. Quizzing in India started way back in 1967 when Neil O'Brien, regarded as the "Father of Indian quizzing" conducted the first open formal quiz in a small church hall in Kolkata. Soon it became a popular, regular event and other clubs began to organize similar contests for the general public.

Branding through Quizzing :

In India some leading brands has used quizzing to build brands. One of the long standing brand which is still strongly connected with quizzing is the energy drink Bournvita. The Bournvita quiz was one of the most popular program on radio. Great quiz presenters like Hamid Sayani followed by Amin Sayani is now being hosted and compeered by the great quizmaster Dereck Obrien. Infact quizzing runs in Derreck Obrien ‘s family for years. Bournvita quiz has moved from radio to TV and is still watched by many quiz buffs both old and young. The quiz progaram was so popular the finals the year’s quiz questions and answers was sold through a book. A collector’s item prerserved by many . A small promotion campaign is held to promote the book and the brand. Some of the other brands that were connected with quizzing were Binny textile which ran a quiz program called Binny double or quits compered by well known actor Farookh Shaikh. This program did not last long as there was a major disconnect with the brand and the program. Then we had the North Star Quiz which was live quiz held at various venues across the cities. But in the recent years Brand Equity has replaced this event. Brand equity is an annual event promoted by the Economic Times. This has become very popular among corporates and is being regularly held in the cites from where Economic Times is published. The final event is finally aired on some important channel across the nation. Terrific mileage for the brand and connects well with product. Another important brand that is involved in quizzing is the TATA crucible quiz. This is also popular but is relayed only through a business channel and hence the reach is limited and is meant for a select audience who watch CNBC No body can forget the success of KBC. This has been the mother of all quizzing which built a channel and a brand. The credit for raising the viewer ship bar of Star channel must go the team which devised this killer idea of using quizzing. And what’s more the program was brilliantly executed. The success should also be attributed to Big B who made the quizzing look very simple , lively, interactive and entertaining.



Strong belief desired :
Companies and brands must firstly should have strong conviction and belief to invest on programs like quizzing . If you have that belief and patience you can make programs like quizzing has strong long term brand property. Quizzing for Bournvita has been a long term property. Close to almost over three decades the Bournvita brand has been strongly connected with quizzing either through radio and off late through television. The connect is so strong that people still are able to recall the program and the brand. Brand equity quiz has also to large extent done this and is still popular with the corporate audience. Femina is another brand which strongly connects with Miss India show and is one of the long term property the Times group is associated with. If your brand values and product offerings match the event the chances are you will never go wrong. In case of Bournvita , Brand Equity and Femina the brand association has bonded so well with the events that people wait for the event each year. While I am sure that there must be several other brands that has been successful by associating with various events but to me the quizzing and Bournvita will be cherished for ever by the target audience in India. Some times there are brands who look at short term association with events but such association is not good for the health of the brand. ET bazaar which was one such event which Economic times associated was a total disconnect. The brand was a total mis -match to the event and after the year 2 it wall called off. Marriage between brands and events will lasts if the kundali of both matches in all respect.