Case Study: Global Agency’s Perfect Bride

Based on an old tradition of mothers being closely involved in their son’s choice of partner, Perfect Bride starts with 12 young women who want to get married and six young men looking for their future wives. The men’s mothers are brought along to aid in the selection process. Each week, the public votes for their favorite mother-in-law, who then gets to decide which bride to kick out of the house. In the following weeks, the brides have their chance to get revenge. The public chooses their favorite bride-of-the-week and that bride gets to kick out a mother with her son.

The format, distributed by Global Agency, was a smash hit in its native Turkey, where it scored a massive 71.7 percent in the ratings. "The casting was particularly good in the original version," says Izzet Pinto, the CEO of Global Agency, of the show’s early success. "One of the mothers had a strong personality and she became a star in her own right. She went on to release a book and was named ‘Mother-in-Law of Turkey!’ People just had to watch the show for her colorful character, forthright views and powerful hold over her son! There was an actual wedding at the end of the show, too."

The format has since been produced in India, Italy, Korea and Lebanon, continuing with a track record of strong performances. "In all of these territories it did really well in the ratings, and also received incredible publicity and press coverage, because letting mothers choose their son’s brides is an extraordinary situation and made for a lot of talking points," Pinto explains. "Perfect Bride was a sensational hit in the Middle East, and can be considered the equivalent of Big Brother in terms of popularity."

Countries with more traditional, extended family structures were quick to pick up the format, Pinto says, because they recognize how marriage can affect the entire family. "As the format spreads, other countries realize that they can adapt the format to their culture, because choice of partner and marriage is still central to the concept of family. We have started seeing considerable interest from other territories as they realize that viewers really want to see this process aired in an entertaining way. The underlying tensions in families are also shown and become thought provoking for everyone."

There have been some changes in the style of presentation through the various adaptations. The Italian version was quite upbeat and lively, with comical touches in the presentation. The Indian production was more lavish, as the houses the contestants lived in were very luxurious. In the Middle East, India, Korea and Turkey, the boys were allowed to date, but listened to their mother’s advice all the time. Meanwhile, the Italian contestants were more independent and did not always consider their mothers’ preferences.

Aside from presentation, changes have also been made within the production model for the show. In Italy and Korea, cameramen were brought in to record the action in the house. For the versions in Turkey, the Middle East and India, Perfect Bride was shot with installed cameras. Pinto says that the reason for this is, "We feel that shooting the series with installed cameras makes it much more powerful, as people were able to show their emotions more truly and sometimes forget the cameras were there."

Casting is another key element that Pinto says has ensured the show’s continued success. "The casting was all-important and the more aggressive the mothers were, the higher our ratings. We also learned that the contestants’ life stories and pasts added a lot to the format. We did a lot of research into each contestant and were able to bring these back stories to the table."

Pinto reports brisk format sales over the last three months and is expecting around seven or eight new territories to be airing Perfect Bride this year, including China. Pinto says scoring a deal in this challenging market is a great achievement for the format. "China has been the most difficult market to enter and we are really proud that Perfect Bride will be one of the few formats to enter this market. It will be really big!"