L’Oreal Paris is partnering with Rogers-owned OMNI Television to sponsor Bollywood Star, a talent search competition series that offers contestants the chance to win a role in a Bollywood movie, in an effort to reach Canada’s growing South Asian community.

Debuting Sunday April 6 at 8 p.m., the four-part series airs in English on OMNI 2 in Ontario, OMNI Alberta and OMNI BC.

Commissioned by OMNI Television, the four-part English-language series is produced by Toronto-based Spinning Plates Entertainment with Aviva Frenkel and Shaam Makan executive producing. Bollywood Star debuts on April 6 at 8 p.m. on OMNI 2 in Ontario, OMNI Alberta and OMNI BC.

L’Oreal Canada’s participation marks the first time the beauty brand has teamed up with Rogers and OMNI to do something specifically targeting the South Asian community in Canada, said Hugo Thibault, communications and digital director, L’Oreal Canada.

It’s part of a broader effort by L’Oreal to connect with South Asian consumers, he added, which includes an OOH media buy featuring brand spokespersons Freida Pinto and Aishwarya Rai timed to coincide with the series, as well as Bollywood-centric integrations on Breakfast Television and Bollywood Boulevard on OMNI.

Other Canadian broadcast TV partnerships for the brand in the past including Project Runway Canada and red carpet events including the Grammys, Golden Globes and Oscars.

Rob Groen, director, marketing solutions, Rogers Media, said that while this type of sponsorship and activation is a first for OMNI, this is familiar territory for Rogers as these kinds of product integrations have been a regular feature on City shows like CityLine and Breakfast Television for years, he says.

According to Statistics Canada, the South Asian community in Canada grew by 23% from 2006 to 2011, with an estimated 1.6 million people of South Asian origin now living here. OMNI Television reaches about 91% of the South Asian population in Canada at this time, said Groen.

From Media in Canada