RadioandMusic
| 25 Apr 2024
Pepsi MTV Indies urges people to 'Step Up. Discover' the indie subculture

MUMBAI: Pepsi MTV Indies has launched an interesting new multimedia marketing campaign aptly named 'Step Up. Discover'. With this campaign, the channel aims to give the audience a glimpse into the world of "indie awesomeness, in true indie style".

Pepsi MTV Indies is one of India's largest platforms for independent artistes and home to subculture. Through this tongue-in-cheek campaign, viewers will be given a peek into a refreshing alternative to the banal monotony of Indian soap-operas. 'Step Up. Discover' aims at engaging with a wider set of curious audience eager to explore the world of the indie subculture while consuming mainstream content.

The launch campaign takes a satirical look at monotony of content across screens – television and digital. It nudges the audience to think beyond the routine of Indian soap operatic melodrama, over-hyped news room debates, loud item numbers and formula driven reality shows. While, the videos are funny and ensure the viewers have a good laugh; each video has a deep seated message that aims to provoke viewers to sample a new world of independent, brave and fresh content up on offer at Pepsi MTV Indies, over the staple assembly-line vanilla that they are otherwise offered.

MTV and Pepsi MTV Indies Head – Marketing and Insights Sumeli Chatterjee said, "The audience is curious to think beyond the routine content and explore the new talent across music, films and comedy. Mainstream has become formula driven, Routine is boring, and MTV is stubborn about killing the boring. 'Step up. Discover' is not just a campaign line, it is also the brand philosophy that will guide programming on the channel. Pepsi MTV Indies will enable the viewers' discovery of the pulsating indie subculture. A world that is independent, earnest, honest and extremely talented. Stepping away from convention, this campaign has been co-created with a collective of Independent musicians, lyricists and film-makers to stay true to the spirit of this movement."

Staying true to its indie soul, Pepsi MTV Indies has co-created the campaign with a set of creative minds who believe in the lifestyle the platform propagates. The music of the ad has been composed by Sky Rabbit front-man Raxit Tewari and the lyrics have been written and sung by Vishwesh Krishnamoorthy, vocalist for Scribe and director of MTV's 'Bring on the Night' as well as 'The Dewarists'.

Chatterjee further added that the campaign is being built on principles of micro-targeting. There are multiple videos that address multiple genres of content. In the "Indie style", this campaign intercepts the audience as they are consuming their routine content. Because, that is exactly the time the viewer is open to discovering more in the same genre. For example, if you are watching news updates and are yawning between the cacophony of debates, that is when you are likely to run into the news-room commercial of StepUp.Discover. Therefore, in addition to TV, naturally there is a heavy skew towards digital including web and mobile. The campaign also extends to hangouts, multiplex, radio, nightlife and large-scale college activation.