National Geographic Channel (NatGeo) India, a niche documentary channel needed to expand viewership and draw advertisers. While retaining its essence of a credible channel it needed to position itself as smart television to youth, the largest demography of India. Therefore, ‘Mission’ programmes were conceived as a trilogy of mega public relations properties to connect with young India by co-opting Indian Defence Forces, the most credible Indian institutions whilst driving viewership, revenues and perception.

The 'Missions' are no ordinary TV shows, taking viewers on a never-before seen docu-reality journey where they experienced Defence forces first hand. The trilogy included 'Mission Everest', 'Mission Udaan' and finally in 2008 the most successful, 'Mission Navy' with the Army, Air Force and Navy respectively.A public relations campaign devised to create awareness; participation and drive appointment viewing while deepening the connection between viewers and the show by promoting the finalists and the winner; the first civilian woman to sail on an Indian Navy Warship.

Innovative launch activities and massive national press outreach was undertaken grabbing nationwide attention. ‘Mission Navy’ exceeded business and communication goals for NatGeo and created a new sense of ‘cool’ about the Navy amongst younger Indians by bringing both credible institutions to life.

September–December 2008Creating awareness and visibility for the upcoming docu-reality - Innovative experiential press launch, on board Indian Navy destroyer, off the coast of Mumbai- Call for entries press release distributed in 10 local languages - Promotional events across India– gaming zones at coffee bars, road shows- Launch party for potential advertisers and Naval officers, on board an aircraft carrier January – February 2009Create an emotional connection with viewers to create appointment viewing- Music video on Mission Navy by popular rock band- Press showcase of regional semi-finalists- Premiere screening for Naval officers and press- 100+ interviews profiling the ‘chosen five’ February– March 2009Showcase success of the series and the tremendous response received to the show on NatGeo as well as promote a surprise winner: a woman - Innovative feature pitches to media, such as three women making it to the finalists, traditionally considered men’s territory- Winner exclusive interviews, leveraging women centric publications- Episode highlights regularly across national media- National success stories of the show

Mission Navy exceeded all business and communication expectations set by the channel:- Broadened the channel’s appeal in India, driving direct interactivity and increased viewership - Gained the highest viewership in the infotainment genre with double the share of its competitors.- 100% increase in viewership in the time band for the channel.- Highest viewership vis-à-vis earlier Mission properties.- Direct participation of over 50,000 consumers as against the target of 30,000.- Achieved highest ever advertising sales for the channel in India for a single series.- Exceeded original target by 25% in the time of economic slowdown.- Reached out directly to hundreds of media influencers bringing in third party endorsement.- Achieved over 300 media exposures across print, online and television media, exceeding the target by 50%.The Indian Navy benefitted from a new and refreshed sense of ‘cool’ and ‘pride’ about the Navy amongst a younger generation of Indians.