Brands break down their media strategy and mix for Bigg Boss Marathi

Bigg Boss Marathi Season 6 returns on 11 January across Colors Marathi and JioHotstar, with sponsor brands approaching the property less as a marquee spectacle and more as a long-duration media vehicle that offers consistency, frequency and regional concentration. 

Owned and produced by Banijay Asia and EndemolShine India, the format has run for multiple seasons in Maharashtra and has built a steady viewer base, making it a recurring consideration for brands planning long-duration visibility in the state. According to a media report, Bigg Boss Marathi ranked first among Marathi reality shows in terms of television rating points (TRPs) in 2025.

Season 6 reflects this breadth of advertiser interest, with a sponsor mix spanning FMCG, building materials, jewellery and everyday consumer categories. The season is co-powered by Danube Properties and Santoor Soap, with MYK Laticrete Tile Adhesive, Pitambari Dishwash Gel, P. N. Gadgil and Sons (Since 1832), Gemini Cooking Oil and Cotton King as special partners, and Society Tea as the associate sponsor.

This consistency is also shaping advertiser confidence heading into the new season. Sumanta Bose, Head - Entertainment Business, Star Plus, Star Bharat and Star Utsav, East and West Cluster, JioStar, told Social Samosa, “The strong, consistent performance of Bigg Boss Marathi Season 5 has directly translated into higher advertiser confidence and robust demand for Season 6.”

Bose added that advertisers continue to value the franchise for its ability to deliver scale alongside engagement, resulting in commitments across categories and reinforcing its role within Colors Marathi’s advertiser ecosystem.

From a content owner’s perspective, the show has come to occupy a rare position within the entertainment ecosystem. 

Deepak Dhar, Founder and Group CEO, Banijay Asia & EndemolShine India, referred to the property as IPL of entertainment. 

He added that the scale of the show demands continued investment. “In terms of investments and what the show needs on the ground, we don't pull back any punches. We only go forward. And to keep a legacy going on for 20 years and more is a big responsibility.”

Conversations with the sponsor brands reveal how brands are structuring spends, evaluating outcomes and positioning the property within a broader media plan.

​​Balancing mass reach and platform shifts

While television remains central to the Bigg Boss Marathi proposition, the way brands and producers are splitting spends reflects changing viewing behaviour and the need for multi-platform presence.

Dhar underlined the growing weight of digital in the show’s overall media strategy. “Digital is the new currency, it's the new medium with which you engage the audience, especially a new set of audiences which are constantly migrating,” he said. According to him, digital accounts for “almost 50-60% of the spend,” with the rest split across traditional media and outdoor.

At the advertiser level, the mix is more TV-heavy, particularly for FMCG players seeking mass reach. 

Parikshit Prabhudesai, Vice Chairman, Pitambari Innovative Products, explained, “For Bigg Boss specifically, around 90% of the spend will go to television. This includes not just spot advertising, but also L-bands and the branded window that come with the association.”

He added that JioHotstar plays a complementary role, acknowledging that viewing is no longer restricted to television. “Many of our consumers not only prefer to watch it on TV but watch it on JioHotstar when they get time,” he said.

He shared that thus the spends are split in a way that it accounts for both appointment viewing on television and deferred viewing on digital platforms.

For MYK LATICRETE, the approach is more integrated by design. Amarbir Singh Palta, President Sales and Marketing, MYK LATICRETE India, said the brand does not view Bigg Boss as a standalone media buy. “Our approach is integrated rather than siloed,” he said, noting that while TV delivers daily mass presence, digital is used to sharpen targeting and on-ground activations are aligned to engage trade stakeholders during the season.

The power of regional relevance and co-viewing

One of the strongest common threads across sponsor conversations is the importance of regional and cultural relevance, something national tentpoles often struggle to deliver at the same depth.

For MYK LATICRETE, the Marathi audience is not incidental but central to the business. Palta said, “Bigg Boss Marathi delivers a deeply regional, culturally rooted audience that many national high-reach properties cannot replicate.” He highlighted access to contractors, masons, retailers and dealers, along with high co-viewing environments and daily exposure in the local language, as key advantages.

This cultural embed also matters for legacy consumer brands. Prabhudesai pointed to the show’s consistency as a differentiator. “The main thing is that Big Boss is a consistent property in Maharashtra,” he said, adding that years of historical data around performance make it a lower-risk investment compared to newer or shorter-format properties.

Jewellery brand P. N. Gadgil and Sons views the platform through a slightly different lens, one focused on brand familiarity across generations. Aditya Modak, CFO & COO, P. N. Gadgil and Sons, said, “As a Marathi brand, partnering with Bigg Boss Marathi provides an excellent opportunity for maximum reach.”

He added that the show’s appeal among younger viewers makes it particularly relevant. “The show is highly popular with the younger generation, our current and future customers, making it an ideal platform to build awareness of our brand offerings,” while its broad demographic spread ensures near 360-degree coverage.

Rethinking ROI beyond short-term sales

Across categories, brands appear cautious about framing Bigg Boss Marathi as a direct performance driver. Instead, ROI is increasingly being evaluated through distribution gains, brand salience and long-term market impact.

For Pitambari, the return has been tangible, though not measured in conventional media metrics. Prabhudesai said, “Because of the Big Boss name and the clout it has, we were able to enhance distribution across Maharashtra by at least 70% of our dishwash liquid.” He added that quick commerce platforms, which earlier did not stock the product, came on board during the season, changing availability dynamics in a way that could outlast the show itself.

Palta described MYK LATICRETE’s evaluation framework as deliberately long-term. “We evaluate ROI beyond short-term metrics,” he said, pointing to brand salience and recall studies, uplift in consideration, trade confidence at the counter, and performance of integrated activations linked to the property. “Bigg Boss Marathi is evaluated as a long-term brand-building investment.”

From the content owner’s side, Dhar kept the focus squarely on numbers but without public benchmarks. “We have aggressive targets,” he said, adding that ROI is evaluated on the basis of performance metrics.

For P. N. Gadgil and Sons, the absence of immediate attribution is not seen as a drawback. Modak explained, “Since this is a brand awareness initiative rather than performance marketing, it isn't possible to attribute specific sales figures directly to this spend.” Instead, the brand measures consolidated ROI annually through CRM data, tracking the growth and quality of new consumer segments engaging with the brand.

As advertisers navigate fragmented attention, evolving viewing habits and growing pressure on short-term metrics, Bigg Boss Marathi is being positioned as a stabilising layer within media plans. 

For Season 6, the property’s appeal is rooted in predictability rather than novelty, and in its ability to deliver regional depth alongside multi-platform reach. 

Its value, as articulated by both content owners and sponsors, lies less in momentary spikes and more in sustained presence.