Shark Tank India, in its very first season, has been able to mirror Badalte Bharat Ki Nayi Soch 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 a 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 to the audience.
Starting with the registration phase, WRM played a pivotal role in reaching 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 gained 750K followers in no time, 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’.
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 ensured that the social media
engagement on the show is sustained and heightened throughout the show.
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.
About White Rivers Media:
White Rivers Media is a leading independent, full-service digital marketing agency, working with some of
the country’s best entertainment, Web3 and FMCG brands. Over the last 9 years, the team has grown to
300+ employees, hiring some industry experts. The agency has won more than 150 national and
international accolades for their campaigns for Dream11, SonyLIV’s Scam 1992 – The Harshad Mehta
story, amongst others. The agency is also acknowledged for its ‘Better World Initiative’, a not-for-profit
marketing platform that offers digital marketing services to brands and individuals in need.
