How Shark Tank India got everyone talking about entrepreneurship with its marketing campaign

• Having been trending week over week, there is no doubt that #SharkTankIndia has been driving entrepreneurship conversations in Indian households and has gained immense popularity.
• After three months of creating non-stop buzz for the show, Sony Entertainment Television in association with its digital partner, White Rivers Media officially wraps the first season’s marketing campaign.
• Here’s a closer look at Shark Tank’s marketing strategy.

Shark Tank India, in its very first season, has been able to mirror Badalte Bharat Ki Nayi Soch and has been successful in making conversations around ‘entrepreneurship’ more mainstream. Given the unconventional format of the show, Sony Entertainment Television (SET) in association with its digital partner White Rivers Media (WRM) maintained consistent engagement with the audience throughout the season with live updates, decoding the business jargon, anecdotes from the Sharks, inspiring moments from the show, and highlighted each ‘deal’ thereby making the business reality show more inclusive and relatable to the audience.

Starting with the registration phase, WRM reached out to the incubator community, college alumni, and co-working spaces encouraging participation in the show. Furthermore, the digital agency created exclusive social media pages, on Twitter and Instagram, to engage with the audience. It quickly gained 750K followers, and went on to become the one-stop destination for everything related to the show with its viral posts.

WRM also executed a 100-hour countdown on social media leading to the launch of the show thereby building intrigue and urgency around the show through content that explained the format and gave a sneak peek of the ‘Sharks.’

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shark Tank India (@sharktank.india)

From building the sharks through LIVE sessions to promoting the ‘pitchers’ and their unique ideas and explaining A-Z of ‘entrepreneurship’ through curated content, WRM used social media to engage with the show’s fanbase

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shark Tank India (@sharktank.india)

It was only a matter of time post the launch of the show that content creators, brands, and communities were found indulging themselves in viral contexts via episodic content. #SharkTankIndia was trending week after week and everything about it, from the Sharks to their responses, became a palpable part of the popular culture. The daily average of 1M + views on Reel content and positive comments drove a massive increase in followers for SET and SonyLIV’s owned social media platforms.

“It has been an incredible experience being a catalyst in disrupting India’s TV narrative with SET’s Shark Tank India. Commonly used business-related terms turned into a regular dinner-table conversation at any average Indian household. Entrepreneurs, who were noted for their achievements among professional circles, turned into celebrated faces. These have been the team’s top marketing wins for this season.” shared Shrenik Gandhi, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, White Rivers Media.

The switch from fictional drama to the real-life aspirations of change-makers has been a refreshing narrative for the Indian TV-viewing audience with the culmination of the first edition of Shark Tank India.