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Chhota Bheem more than a superhero
Chhota Bheem more than a superhero

Chhota Bheem is one of the most popular icons, and also has an aggressive merchandising strategy. Rajiv Chilaka, CEO and Samir Jain, Director, Green Gold Animation shared their strategy to stay ahead in highly competitive segment.  Chhota Bheem is one of the few homegrown licensing icons. Kindly highlight your strategy to stay ahead? Rajiv Chilaka: We started our operations with four employees nearly 12 years ago, and given the success of Chhota Bheem, our staff base is currently 300. Bheem is more than just a superhero, he is an inspiration for young children. In addition, parents also approve of this icon as he encourages ‘good habits’. As a result, it creates wider licensing opportunities for us – for instance, Chhota Bheem’s presence at events, malls, schools and birthday parties helps draw children, and in turn enhance our brand value. How do you plan to expand your licensing activities? Samir Jain: We are currently present in several categories including F&B, apparel, toys, and FMCG goods. However, our best selling products are comics and action figures. Parents spend a large amount related to kid’s activities, and we are constantly evaluating new categories to enter, and the accompanying distribution strategy. It has often been observed that popular movie characters are also leveraged in TV serials. However, Chhota Bheem followed an opposite strategy. Why? Samir Jain: We decided to first create awareness, as well as a large ‘fan’ base for Chhota Bheem. And, once our character was popular via our TV serial, which is currently viewed by nearly 40 million children, it was commercially viable to also have a movie based on a similar theme. How do you deal with counterfeits? Rajiv Chilaka: We have an active legal team and have also conducted raids jointly with the authorities. Apart from that, we have a consumer education campaign to highlight our intellectual property, both with consumers and the distribution network.

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