Nickelodeon India Celebrates International Yoga Day 2021 with 'Yoga Se Hi Hoga' Campaign
Through unique initiatives with SARVA Yoga Studios and support by AYUSH Ministry, the campaign will be brought to life through social media and on-air celebrations
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| Nickelodeon celebrates International Yoga Day 2021 with ‘Yoga Se Hi Hoga’ campaign |
New Delhi, Delhi, India -- Jun 21, 2021 -- The Nickelodeon franchise entertains millions of young fans across India and continues to be the undisputed leader with the flagship channels Nick and Sonic being the No. 1 & No. 2 kids’ entertainment channels in the category. Nickelodeon has pioneered in celebrating International Yoga Day year-on-year with a view to engage its little fans and to lay the foundation of making Yoga a daily practice.
This year, the leader in the kid’s category is taking Yoga Day activities a notch higher and is back with its latest edition of the fun and spirited #YogaSeHiHoga campaign. As a part of the initiative, the brand has partnered with SARVA Yoga Studios, a wellness start-up, to bring Yoga closer to its little fans and educate them about the enormous benefits derived from Yoga.
Nickelodeon and SARVA are bringing yoga to its audiences in a more cool and fun manner through a unique interactive Yoga workshop with Nicktoons
Shiva,
Rudra, and
Happy. To proliferate the campaign, the brand has curated workshops with yoga experts from SARVA studios to instil a healthy lifestyle that is sure to de-stress kids in these difficult times.
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| Stretch, Bend, And Relax! Wondering How? Nickelodeon Says #YogaSeHiHoga |
Speaking on the initiative, Viacom18 head marketing kids TV Network Sonali Bhattacharya said, “We at Nickelodeon care deeply for kids and have always kept them at the core of all that we do by constantly engaging with them through memorable experiences like #YogaSeHiHoga. At a time when a large part of a child’s routine has changed with great restrictions on physical movement, we believe that with this unique campaign and with the power of our amazing Nicktoons, kids would get the stress buster they so deserve! The immense benefit of Yoga would be brought to life in a fun manner that kids can easily learn and adopt. By collaborating with like-minded partners, we are creating innovative and safe moments for kids to be healthy and happy in difficult times like this.”
Commenting on the partnership, Malaika Arora, Co-founder, SARVA, said, “Starting yoga at a young age can benefit kids in so many ways and leave a positive effect on their mental health. In fact, it is one of the most empowering gifts that can be given to a child. In current times where children are missing their outdoor playtime and have found solace in the world of cartoons, it is important to positively leverage the adoration and love for their favourite cartoons to imbibe healthy changes through learning. Since kids can be difficult to influence, the bond that kids have with Nicktoons Rudra and Shiva can certainly help kids to embark on an incredible journey of yoga. We are pleased to join hands with Nickelodeon for Yoga Se Hi Hoga campaign to make the young audiences aware of how cool and fun yoga can be."
Adding further, Aishwaryaa R Dhanush, SARVA investor and daughter of superstar Rajnikanth said, “Being a mother and a yogi myself, I understand the balance, strength, and endurance that yoga brings in children. Since watching cartoons have been one of the daily habits and is an integral part of every kid’s life, they pay more attention to them. Therefore, there is no better way of inculcating healthy habits in children than leverage their toon heroes. We are excited to partner with Nickelodeon in their campaign Yoga Se Hi Hoga and hope that through this partnership, we can reach out to kids and parents both and apprise them that it is never too early to start practicing yoga.“
Commending the initiative, P.N. Ranjit Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH, said, "Ministry of AYUSH is happy to support Nickelodeon’s initiative Yoga Se Hi Hoga second time after seeing the excellent response received from little yogis last year. As the pandemic continues to challenge us, it is noteworthy to see kids brands like Nickelodeon coming forward to highlight the ability of Yoga to strengthen immunity. The campaign aligns with the theme of IDY 2021 ‘Yoga for wellness’, and we hope that people utilize this period as an opportunity to strengthen their health through Yoga practice."
SARVA founder Sarvesh Shashi said, “I discovered Yoga when I was six years old. All thanks to my parents and teacher, I accepted it as a lifestyle. Practicing Yoga since childhood showers children with a host of benefits that may seem small at first but as time passes by, they can expect to have better concentration, better memory, better focus, and better performance at school and in sports and so on. SARVA has always aimed to break the myth that Yoga is boring. Through 25 forms of yoga, we’ve attracted children as young as 3 and 5! During the pandemic, the presence of a positive, friendly influence like the Nick toons only encourages children to keep practising and have fun while doing so. We are so glad to have tied up with Nickelodeon especially during this time where we have been urging the world saying #StartTohKaro!”
The campaign will be promoted by a 360-degree marketing and communications plan which will include on-air promotions across the Nickelodeon franchise, digital promotions and a robust program of mommy networks and influencers who will amplify the reach to audiences at large. In addition to this, a virtual workshop is designed for all Viacom18 employees and their kids, ensuring a fun and memorable experience for our internal audience.
Furthermore, the initiative will be brought alive on social media through a #YogaSeHiHoga program and a Kid Yoga Series through an array of fun short-form videos encouraging kids to imbibe Yoga in their daily lifestyle. All kids must do is upload their picture/video of them doing their favourite yoga pose on
nickindia.com and the best ones would get featured on the channel. To emphasize the tremendous advantages that Yoga offers, the brand has collaborated with child prodigies Ishwar Sharma and Harsha Nivetha to come forward and extend their support to the initiative. Through a host of quirky videos and astons on-air, and Yoga workshops by Nicktoons, the entire campaign will be supported by the Ministry of AYUSH.
In 2019, Nickelodeon celebrated International Yoga Day wherein Nicktoons Motu-Patlu
performed Yoga with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and 40,000 people at Prabhat Tara ground, Ranchi and collaborated with Mumbai’s biggest Yoga event - ‘Yoga by the Bay’. Last year, owing to the pandemic, Nickelodeon
celebrated Yoga Day virtually in partnership with AYUSH Ministry to inculcate yoga habits and highlight the importance of building a healthier immune system. The digital partnership was extensively promoted through interactive posts, videos, followed by a nationwide contest that reached out to over 630,000 mothers & kids combined through digital mediums and 3000+ entries received under the Yoga contest hosted on the brand platform.
About Nickelodeon India:
Nickelodeon India has established itself as a thought leader by being the No 1 channel in the kids’ category with a household availability in about 120+ million households. The franchise boasts of a bouquet of channels like Nick, Sonic, Nick Jr and Nick HD+ catering to kids across all age groups from tots to teens. The franchise today has the largest original content library in the country with over 500+ hours of content and plans to add over 200 hours this year. The franchise is a home to the most legendary iconic characters like Motu Patlu, Rudra, Golmaal Jr, Pakdam Pakdai and Shiva on Nick and Sonic; and Dora The Explorer, Paw Patrol, Peppa Pig on Nick Jr and marquee international properties like Kung Fu Panda, Avatar, Penguins of Madagascar etc on Nick HD+. The channel continues to engage and entertain kids across India through large scale experiential formats, consumer product range and with digital and online presence.
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Yoga Day: Meet child yoga prodigy Harsha Nivetha who is all set to talk about the importance of yoga on Nickelodeon on June 21
This International Yoga Day, we spoke to yoga prodigy Harsha Nivetha who had broken the Guinness World Record for holding the Utthita Padmasana for 174 minutes in December 2017
Harsha Nivetha's tryst with yoga began when she was just three and a half years old and had a slew of low immunity issues, leading to her catching a cold every now and then. That's when her mother enrolled her in a regular yoga class. There has been no looking back since for the 14-year-old yoga prodigy. Nivetha entered the Guinness Book of World Records at the age of 10, in 2017, after she performed a yoga pose that she held for 174 seconds. Hailing from the Virudhunagar district of Tamil Nadu, she attempted the record at her school, where she balanced herself in the Utthita Padmasana posture for nearly three minutes. She broke the previous record that was held by an American woman who held the same pose for 90 seconds. Later in 2018, her record had also been broken by a kid from Madurai.
This year, Nivetha has been chosen for an International Yoga Day campaign by Nickelodeon where she will be speaking about the importance of yoga and ways to inculcate the habit of practising it regularly, especially among children. A student at the PS Chidambara Nadar Senior English School, Nivetha began taking part in competitions and events when she was five years old. She has even also won several accolades in district-, state- and national-level competitions over the years. Nivetha believes that while regular exercises are meant to keep the body fit and healthy, yoga helps you improve from within. "It helps with the proper functioning of your organs, improves immunity, helps you concentrate and does a lot of other things," she says.
Speaking about her favourite yoga asana, it doesn't come as a surprise when Nivetha tells us that it is the scale pose, yes, the very pose she won her Guinness record for. "The scale pose is a hand-balancing pose. It's called Tulasana in Sanskrit. It is also called Utthita Padmasana. The asana helps to strengthen the wrists, arms and abdomen, improves your sense of balance and calms your mind. However, Tulasana isn’t recommended for those who aren’t able to perform Padmasana comfortably," explains Nivetha.
Nivetha practises yoga regularly, at least two to three hours a day. She encourages other children of her age to start early as well and shares, "It is beneficial not just for your body, but also for your mind. It will improve emotional and mental well-being. Yoga boosts a child's self-esteem and in terms of the body, it improves balance and flexibility. Yoga also enhances children's cognitive memory power and increases retaining ability. If you practise yoga, you will gain concentration. It also teaches us discipline."
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