By Meghna Sharma

This is the time when it’s not just the weather, but even the competition between various channels targeting children that hots up. This year, Disney Channel has raised the bar with a unique offer in association with Jet Airways: 30 kids and their families fly to the Hong Kong Disneyland.

Talking about the campaign called ‘Jet Set Go’, Vijay Subramaniam, Business Head, Walt Disney Television International India said: “This is the first time ever that a plane full of families is flying to Disneyland! And to add to the unique experience, we are also wrapping an entire Jet Airways aircraft with Disney favourite characters Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Pluto and Goofy, a one-of-a-kind virtual ‘billboard in the sky’.”

Families will fly to Hong Kong on July 9 for two days where they will stay at the Disney’s Hollywood Hotel. The contest, wherein the kids have to watch Disney Channel closely from April 29 until May 28 and spot a magical plane with their favourite characters- Mickey & Friends on their television screen to win, saw an overwhelming response.

“The campaign stands out because of the record-breaking response that we have seen in just three weeks! We had three lakhs calls on day one, crossed the two million mark in a week and now, we have registered 3.5 million calls from across the country with another 14 days to go. These are at least 50 times the responses the genre has been receiving through other campaigns, so this is clearly unprecedented levels of participation and excitement,” added Mr Subramaniam.

The channel feels the response is the testimony of the strength of the channel’s reach. Almost 50 per cent of the entries came from 5 key circles – Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Maharashtra, Mumbai & MP + Chhattisgarh. And the entries coming from across the country and the winners selected till date come from  both metros and Tier 2 cities – Dehradun, Chandrapur, Kolkata, Vishakapatnam, Pune, Baerelli to name a few.

The channel has been working on various campaigns in its objective of reaching out to its TG. Last year, it had ‘Disney Channel Shooting Stars’, billed as one of the biggest talent hunt platform by a kid’s channel. “Disney Channel is the only kids channel to cross the 200 GRP mark this summer as well as the last and such megashowcases reinforce our position as the leading entertainment brand for kids and families with viewers and advertisers alike,” said Mr Subramaniam.

He added about how and why a kids’ channel should take advantage of summer vacations. “Summer is a time when kids have greater control over the remote and kid’s channels see a 25 per cent increase in viewership. Last year, Disney which houses Disney Channel, Disney XD and Hungama TV, saw an increase of over 30 per cent in viewership.”

This year, along with the ‘Jet Set Go’ initiative, the  channel has also planned a strong content push with over 500 hours of fresh programming across the three channels, which will see premieres of 24 series across genres. “Through tent-pole programming and campaigns such as Jet Set Go, our idea is to use summer as a springboard to engage more kids and families throughout the year,” said Mr Subramaniam.