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Tag: AVOD

  • Merzigo has reached the leading position in Turkey with a 40% market share, says Yigit Dogan Celik

    Merzigo has reached the leading position in Turkey with a 40% market share, says Yigit Dogan Celik

    Mumbai: Merzigo, a leading Turkey-based technology company that offers video monetisation and channel management solutions for producers, broadcasters, and distributors in the global advertising-based video on demand (AVoD) market, has been a key player in presenting riveting content across the globe. The man behind the success story of the firm is Merzigo’s chairman and founder Yigit Dogan Celik.

    Born in 1988 and a graduate of MEF International School (in Istanbul, in the year 2007), Celik studied law at the University of East Anglia and business administration at Regent’s University (in the UK, in the year 2012). He kicked off his career in 2014 as a country representative at Havelsan, a prominent software and development company.

    In 2015, he went on to establish his own business and serve as the co-founder and head of sales at Merzigo. He became the chairman of the board of directors in 2019 at the content syndication company.

    Celik also continues to draw attention in Turkey and Europe with Key Networks Group’s continued investments in the OTT industry, production, and distribution. PowerHouse, an incubation centre under Key Networks Group, regularly invests in different technology and AI projects.

    He took important and strategic steps that contributed to the level of success that Merzigo has achieved today. His decisions led the organisation towards leadership in the digital marketing sector, both domestically and globally.

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com, Celik discusses Turkey’s content market, Merzigo’s presence at Mipcom 2022, his interest in Indian content, and much more.

    Excerpts:

    On the objective behind such a big presence of Merzigo at Mipcom 2022

    Merzigo is a video monetisation and digital solution company for content rights owners, production houses, and broadcasters across the globe. We are already doing business with clients in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Asia through our offices in Istanbul, Mumbai, and London.

    At Mipcom 2022, our main goal is to focus on initiating new partnerships with potential clients and strengthening our position in the markets we are already active in. Our aim is to reach out to the ever-increasing base of partners and showcase our strong content offering. We expect to increase our already strong footprint globally and create stronger and more meaningful partnerships with our existing clients and newer prospects. We aim to further expand our global clientele so that Merzigo can become the leader in the AVoD market.

    On achieving the success you have at 34, about your journey pre-Merzigo and after setting it up

    Merzigo was founded in 2015 as a response to the market’s video monetisation needs. Our technological approach, expertise, and our own solutions helped us rapidly increase our market share and provide our domestic and international clientele with the best services available. As per our strategies, we have reached the leading position in Turkey’s market with a 40 per cent market share.

    Also, in line with our global vision, we continue to increase our market share to strengthen our position. As of 2022, Merzigo continues its activities under the newly restructured Key Networks Group, reaching a total of 400 employees. Merzigo’s leadership and knowledge in the digital sector’s monetisation and knowledge are elevated to a new level by these global strategies.

    On the Turkish adex market – whether it’s small or large, how advertising has evolved over time, especially in terms of digital video and AVoD, and how it is growing today

    Merzigo has a global presence. You can say that we are present wherever YouTube is present. We have been in the AVoD business since our establishment, and we have witnessed the market’s growth towards a more positive stance towards the AVoD model. We believe this shift will only accelerate due to the global landscape and the growing importance of accessibility. As you know, even major subscription video on demand (SVoD) platforms are considering AVoD plans that include advertisements. Hence, we believe we are on the right track. 

    On witnessing a tapering off of CPMs post opening up after the lockdowns

    Cost per mile (CPM) is a good indicator of how valuable advertisers find your videos and audience for achieving their own business goals. Your revenue will not be equal to your CPM times your views because CPM reflects what advertisers pay, not what you earn. Advertisers can control which geographies they’d like to reach with their ads. Different locations will have different levels of competition in the ad market, so CPMs will vary by geography.

    If there’s a shift in where most of your views are coming from, you may see a shift in the CPM. For instance, if you previously had views from a geography with higher CPMs but are now getting more views from geographies with lower CPMs, you may see a decrease in your CPM.

    On partners’ asset monetisation that you are managing on Turkish digital video platforms, which ones have managed to generate maximum revenue and why, and why have the others failed

    Survivor Turkey, The Voice Turkey, Turkey Got Talent, Fox TV in Turkey, and globally published Turkish series such as El Sultan (Magnificent Century), El Poder del Amor, and various international series channels launched in India, and from Spain, we signed a deal to monetize RTVE series are among our top channels.

    We also took over the management of some of Turkey’s leading free TV channels, multiplying their revenues per year by 10-fold during our first year. We are providing content in the following languages: Turkish, Spanish, Arabic, Romanian, Portuguese, English, French, Serbian, Italian, Urdu, Hindi, German, and Polish. Our content offerings are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety, which are synonymous with almost all cultures in the world.

    On explaining your interest in international content – especially Indian

    Gripping stories, powerful characters, and edge-of-the-seat entertainment will ensure the viewers’ loyalty and stickiness. We aim to push the boundaries of entertainment by presenting new concepts and engaging content across genres to our audience. We pick up topics that are relatable to almost all cultures in the world and present gripping stories that are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety. We bank on stories, which at their very core are stories about humans – their emotions, challenges, love, relationships, victories, defeats, and courage.

    Our strategy is to strike a good balance of content that works well with our audience and experiment with new and disruptive ideas constantly. And India being one of the world’s oldest and most diverse cultures, its series are a perfect blend of emotion, drama, and variety, which are synonymous with almost all cultures in the world. We believe there is tremendous headroom for growth for international content – and particularly India content – and hence we look at this as one of the key priorities for our content distribution.

    On your app being currently gestated: how will it be different from others, and what is the competition like

    ‘Baslat’ (meaning “start”) is our own OTT AVoD platform, which will be launching in Turkey in January 2023 on all platforms such as the web, phones, and smart TVs. Baslat will have an entirely different vision and intend to stand out in the AVoD market, offering an innovative and unique viewing experience for audiences in Turkey, as the viewers will be able to access premium content & original production for free. SVoD platforms in Turkey are increasing with new players entering the market, increasing the production budget and cost.

    Today, there are more places than ever to consume content. There’s a huge demand for variety in content, and audiences are more interested in the type of content and stories they can relate to. With the rise of OTT players, our focus is on how we can meet the needs of our viewers and focus on delivering different concepts and good stories to cater to the needs of both live and on-demand videos across different devices.

    On the target audience, and how will you monetise it

    We have always adapted to market demands and expectations, maintaining the standards that we have established over time and delivering high-quality content to audiences.

    The series dubbed in Turkish is a perfect blend of emotion, romance, family, and socially relevant issues that will immediately resonate with mainstream audiences. We will ensure content for all age groups.

    The most important issues are viewers’ habits when it comes to video consumption as well as piracy. We will be encouraging people to watch the content they wish to watch on a legal yet free platform. Our revenue model for Baslat will be through advertising sales.

  • Western Europe continues to witness growth; adds 73 mn Svod subscribers

    Western Europe continues to witness growth; adds 73 mn Svod subscribers

    Mumbai: Western Europe will have 238 million Svod subscriptions by 2027. The figure has increased from 165 million by end-2021. Six US-based platforms will account for 81 percent of all Svod subscriptions by 2027.

    Netflix will have 62 million subscribers by 2027 – three million more than 2021. Subscriptions are flat for 2022 mainly due to increased competition. Netflix’s share of the total will fall from 36 percent in 2021 to 26 percent by 2027.

    Disney+ will have 46 million subscribers by 2027 – 20 million more than 2021. Newcomer Paramount+ and SkyShowtime will add 11 million subscribers and HBO Max will bring in an extra 5 million.

    Western European Svod revenues will total $25 billion by 2027 – up from $16 billion in 2021. The UK will remain the Svod revenue leader.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “Netflix will slowly lose Svod revenues as we assume that it will convert its cheapest tier to a lower-priced hybrid Avod-Svod tier. Any Svod revenue shortfall will be covered by its Avod revenues. Netflix will remain the Svod revenue winner, although its share of the total will fall from nearly half in 2021 to a third in 2027.

    “We do not expect many more price rises due to the intense competition. We assume that Disney+ will follow its US example by converting its present tier to a hybrid Avod-Svod one and charging more for SVOD-only tier,” Murray added.

  • GUEST ARTICLE: Why content creators need to embrace OTT platforms for better growth and impact

    GUEST ARTICLE: Why content creators need to embrace OTT platforms for better growth and impact

    Mumbai: OTT (over-the-top) services have received a lot of attention in the last three years, completely transforming the way we consume information online. OTT platforms are significantly altering the landscape of the entertainment and media industries. OTT services are classified into several groups based on the type of content, helping both innovative content creators and brands gain better visibility and engagement among a wider set of global audiences. With access to internet video material, artists and content creators also have an opportunity to build a brand out of their work, which will lead to organic development and popularity among viewers.

    With the versatility of gadgets, modern consumers are more accustomed to consuming video material at any time and from any location. According to a PWC analysis, India’s OTT video industry would grow at a 21.8 per cent CAGR from Rs 4,464 crore in 2018 to Rs 1,1976 crore in 2023.

    From large companies to start-ups, everyone is welcoming OTT platforms for innovative and data-driven campaigns. This also provides content creators with an opportunity to drive better brand partnerships, find sponsors, and build a stronger viewer base for themselves, as well as enjoy a wider reach to viewers via dedicated OTT platforms.

    In line with the above, having a dedicated OTT platform and building a niche ecosystem can have several benefits for content creators, like:

    1. Better engagement

    OTT platforms have enormous potential for expansion. The enormous market makes it all feasible, but before proceeding, one needs to understand the approach to engaging the audience. OTT enables content makers to create content that increases engagement. It provides a diverse range of materials to choose from based on the consumer’s preferences. Consumers, on the other hand, have increased viewing independence in terms of location, device, time, and quality of options.

    Additionally, OTT platforms also help the audience to locate new material quickly and effortlessly, which will undoubtedly lead to success for content providers.

    2. Increases brand awareness

    OTT platforms are excellent at preserving an image that will improve your audience’s reach. On a regular basis, almost 70 per cent of users watch at least three hours of video streaming services. According to a different survey, video accounts for 82 per cent of all consumer web traffic. So it’s evident that digital and video are here to stay. Any brand, person, or organisation that can successfully combine these two. Owning an OTT platform will aid in improving brand exposure, increasing reach, and gaining more consumer loyalty.

    3. Focus on your target audience

    OTT platforms clearly identify their target audience, followed by enticing and relevant advertising based on their target group’s interests, which increases the ads’ views and reach. The OTT network’s 5G network is based on fixed wireless access video transmission. 5G will encourage high-quality consumption in households, thus enlarging the advertising area. Focus on a certain target first, then expand your reach after you have a clear understanding of the OTT audience.

    4. Monetization model

    Content producers now have the resources and flexibility to pursue their passions. They might monetize their material in a single or several ways. These include ad-supported video-on-demand (AVoD), subscription video-on-demand (SVoD), and a hybrid approach, i.e., ad-supported video with a subscription mode. The service provider or creator should select the most appropriate model for the platform. It all depends on your target audience.

    Every content producer has a strong desire to increase the exposure of his or her own brand in the entertainment industry. And with a strategically planned platform, it is possible for large and small content creators to generate revenue and make an impact in the market through a well-planned and managed platform.

    The author of this article is Ssoftoons COO Hansa Mondal.

  • Aha plans to expand in Tamil market; observes potential business opportunities in Avod model

    Aha plans to expand in Tamil market; observes potential business opportunities in Avod model

    Mumbai: Launched in 2020, video-on-demand streaming service Aha, which provides 100 percent Telugu content, has created its own space in the minds of audiences. Aha, which was dependent on the subscription video on demand (SVOD) model for revenue, has decided to go ‘hybrid’. Subscribers will now decide if they want to watch more ads or in limited numbers.

    After establishing its dominance in Telugu (regional) content, the company is ready to galore opportunities and expand to the Tamil market. In Telugu alone, the company has been able to create more than 1,000 hours of programming on the platform.

    Opportunities in AVOD model

    The advertising-based video on demand is a fast growing market where subscribers access free content. Moreover, the platform leverages advertising revenues to support the service. Speaking in this context during a round table virtual conference recently, Aha senior vice president, content & non-subscription revenue business Vaasudev Koppineni said, “The next big opportunity for growth comes from these AVOD consumers, which is 10x or more than what the paying subscription market is, so it also opens gateways to a great opportunity for a platform to run into profitability as well.”

    The two major focuses that Aha keeps in mind are that they don’t want their audience to have any bad experiences while watching the content, and they don’t want to bombard their customers with 10 or 20 different ads in a short period of time.

    Aha is giving the consumer the choice to select whether to go for an ad-free plan or to go for an ad-based plan. Aha’s vice president and head of non-subscription revenue, Nitin Burman said that they understand that there will be a certain set of users who are ready to pay a premium and get an ad-free experience on their content.

    Adding further, Nitin said, “We also want to come up with live commerce. There, by watching content, you will be able to buy a specific item. We will have that technology where you can click on those shows and directly buy them from an e-commerce partner. We will be offering all those to our consumers as well as to the advertisers to reach out to engage with the consumers.”

    The company has 10 million monthly active subscribers and an overall of 30 million downloads of the company’s app. They also have two million YouTube subscribers as well.

    Focus on advertisers  

    Aha currently has 50 advertisers, including FMCG players like Sprite, Dabar, ITC, HUL, etc., and technology players like Instagram, Zepto, Swiggy including others. Some advertisers such as Sprite, MTR Masala, and Himalaya are integrating advertising into shows.The company anticipates an ad revenue contribution of 15-20 per cent.

    Nitin explained how it will work from an advertisers’ point of view and how regional ads are working for them: “Advertisers also want to reach out to the regional audiences,” he said.

    He expressed that the buying capacity and the market are not just located in the top eight cities but also beyond that. “That’s where the focus has shifted from just going to the urban audience but also to the regional platforms to reach out to these regional audiences,” he said.

    Nitin further added, “This itself has given us the confidence to go on a hybrid future model. Today, what has happened is that after the success of two years and getting two million plus paid users, it has opened eyes for a lot of competitions to actually start targeting Telugu and Tamil audiences as well on all their platforms.”

    Future of OTT

    Nitin believes that the future of OTT in India is definitely a hybrid because, at the end of the day, every business has to break even and has to profit to become profitable as well. “Clearly, the future is hybrid. And with 5G coming, the consumer base is going to increase in this market. So to reach out to that consumer base, the wallet is limited to what they are spending right now. So to get that share, each player is going to come up with a hybrid model where they will want to reach out to premium users as well as to entry-level users with both offerings,” said Nitin.

    Vaasudev added, “You have to give the consumer the convenience in the room who wants to continue to watch content that somebody wants to add to the experience. They should pay for an upgraded experience. If somebody wants to watch the content with a premium, you should be able to go and give it to them in the way they want to, and if there is a consumer who doesn’t want to pay that premium, but wants to consume content with ads, then you should technically go ahead and do that. So, I think it is all about the convenience of the consumer.”

  • Studio 100 Media closes deal with SPI International for digital rights to air 2D animation classics

    Studio 100 Media closes deal with SPI International for digital rights to air 2D animation classics

    Mumbai, 14 July 2022. The leading independent studio for kids and family entertainment, Studio 100 Media, has closed a multi-brand deal with global media company SPI International for digital exploitation of several 2D animation classic series from its extensive catalogue.

    The contract will give SPI non-exclusive worldwide AVOD and SVOD rights (with the exception of a few territories per program) on SPI platforms such as FilmBox+, FilmBox on Demand, Film1, ToonzBox and ToonzStream.

    The shows Maya the Bee, Heidi, Pinocchio and Alice in Wonderland will be available on-demand in various language versions, including English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish.

  • MX Player wins ‘Best OTT platform award’ at Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence 2022

    MX Player wins ‘Best OTT platform award’ at Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence 2022

    Mumbai: India’s largest advertising supported video on demand (AVoD) OTT platform MX Player received three awards at the recently held Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2022 for the platform and its original series Aashram. 

    While MX Player was awarded the Best OTT Platform, Prakash Jha was awarded the Best Director for web-series Aashram and Chandan Roy Sanyal was given the Best Supporting Actor Award for his portrayal as Bhopa Swami in Aashram. 

    Operating on an ad-supported model, MX Player has a large and diverse audience base in India and a global reach of 33+ markets and a keen understanding of the pulse of the audience. It has recently launched several record-breaking web-series like Aashram, Bhaukaal Matsya Kaand, Samantar, High and Campus Diaries. 

    MX Player is the only OTT platform to deploy H.266 technology that cuts down video streaming data consumption into half. According to the App Annie State of Mobile Report -2022, in terms of the downloads in video streaming, MX Player ranks #2 in India and #6 Worldwide.

    MX Player chief operating officer Nikhil Gandhi said, “At MX Player, we believe that relevant and strong narratives have the ability to provoke thought and entertain audiences at the same time. Winning the Best OTT platform and winning two more awards for our successful series Aashram reaffirms our belief. Thank you, Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2022, for the honour in recognising our work in bringing hugely appreciated stories for our audiences in India, and across the world. Our congratulations to Prakash Jha and Chandan Roy Sanyal on their respective wins too.”

    MX Player launched the third season of Aashram on 3 June 2022. With all the quintessential requisites of an entertaining show that combines politics, crime, and drama, Ek Badnaam… Aashram 3 revolves around the meteoric rise of godmen in India and how the masses blindly follow them in the name of religion. Beating its record of the previous two seasons, the latest season 3 garnered 100 million views within 32 hours of its release. Directed by Prakash Jha, the series features an ensemble cast comprising Bobby Deol, Aaditi Pohankar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Darshan Kumaar, Esha Gupta, Sachin Shroff, Adhyayan Suman, Tridha Choudhury, Vikram Kochhar, Anuritta K Jha, Rushad Rana, Tanmaay Ranjan, Preeti Sood, Rajeev Siddhartha, Anupriya Goenka and Jaya Seal Ghosh in pivotal roles.

    The Best Director award was received by Prakash Jha Productions (PJP) CEO Sunil Agarwal, PJP creative head Madhvi Bhatt and PJP producer Disha Jha. 

    On winning the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2022 Best Director for the series Aashram, Prakash Jha said, “I feel truly honoured to be given Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2022 for Best Director for web series Aashram. It was indeed a pleasure working with the team of MX Player who supported us throughout all our decisions. Unfortunately, I cannot personally come and receive it due to unavoidable reasons. I would like to thank the Jury for considering me and giving me this award.”

    Chandan Roy Sanyal won the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards 2022 Best Actor in Supporting Role for the series, Aashram. On receiving the award, Chandan said, “This is my first award ever, and it is because of all your support and blessings of our ‘Father of Indian Cinema,’ Dadasaheb Phalke, that today I am standing here in front of you all. It is such a great feeling to receive an award like this. I would like to thank the team of MX Player, our director Prakash Jha Sir, Bobby Deol, and the entire team present here today who believed in me and showered me with their blessings and love.”

    Dedicated to the ‘Father of Indian Cinema’, the Dadasaheb Phalke Excellence Awards is given to the entertainment industry every year to recognise outstanding contributions in different categories. Celebrating the 151th Anniversary year of Dadasaheb Phalke this year, the 18th edition of the awards ceremony held in Mumbai had reputed producers, directors, actors, writers, musicians, technicians, distributors, exhibitors and studio owners from OTT, TV and films grace the event and be recognised for their work.

  • GoQuest Media inks deal with SBS to air spy thriller ‘Traitor’

    GoQuest Media inks deal with SBS to air spy thriller ‘Traitor’

    Mumbai: Global independent content distributor GoQuest Media has signed a deal with Australian broadcaster SBS for the award-winning series Traitor, produced by multi-service provider Elisa Estonia and Estonian public broadcaster ERR.

    With this deal, SBS has acquired the exclusive AVOD rights for the gripping thriller directed by Ergo Kuld and written by prize-winning playwright and screenwriter Martin Algus (best screenwriter award at Estonian Film and Television Awards 2019). The series stars Tambet Tuisk (The Little Comrade, O2, Zero Point, The Poll Diaries). The actor is also the Best Actor Award winner for Traitor at the Estonian Film and Television Awards 2020 (EFTA)  

    Inspired by recent spy scandals in Estonia, Traitor'(6 x 58’) is a captivating thriller that begins in 2004, just before Estonia joined NATO and became a top target for Russian intelligence.  Greed and the need for recognition leads new recruit Alfred Vint (Tambet Tuisk) to cooperate with Russian intelligence, leading to a thrilling cat-and-mouse game with determined young Estonian counterintelligence officer Marko Arrak (Veiko Porkanen) as they navigate the challenges faced in their personal lives.

    Commenting on the deal, GoQuest Media VP of sales and acquisition Jimmy George said, “Traitor makes an important statement on what it means to put oneself before the well-being of others.  Alfred Vint needs money and recognition, and he gets both from the Russians. But somewhere, the thin line between ambition and greed disappears, and he finds himself in a situation he can’t walk away from.  The story fits perfectly with the unique programming style of SBS.  Rats, another series from our catalogue was introduced to Australian audiences by SBS last year, and we are excited to see how this thrilling espionage drama will be received.”

    SBS On Demand & World Movies channel manager, Haidee Ireland said, “Estonia is emerging as a new territory in the premium drama space, and we are so excited to bring this thrilling Estonian series to Australian audiences as part of our offering of the world’s best dramas on SBS On Demand.”

  • Indian SVOD audience consumes content in more than four languages: Study

    Indian SVOD audience consumes content in more than four languages: Study

    Mumbai: The Indian subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) audience consumes content in 4.6 languages on an average, found a study by media consulting firm Ormax Media.

    The presence of widely available subtitling and dubbing options available on SVOD platforms makes it much easier for audiences to watch content outside their native language. The study found that for advertising video-on-demand services that outlook on language content is more conservative, primarily because of the low presence of multi-language dubbing on AVOD services, including YouTube.

    The study titled ‘Ormax OTT Audience Report: 2022’ is based on research conducted across more than 6,000 SVOD and SVOD audiences in urban India. As per the report’s estimates for the year 2021, India’s digital video audience universe stood at 353.2 million out of which 31 per cent were SVOD audience while the remaining 69 per cent were AVOD audience.

    As per Ormax’s findings, a large share of the audience of content in the four South Indian languages comes from outside their native state. For example, 88 per cent Malayalam content viewers are from outside Kerala, while 82 per cent Tamil content viewers are from outside Tamil Nadu.

    Dubbing has also fuelled the growth of English and other foreign language content, including Korean, according to the report. It found that 65 per cent SVOD audience and 43 per cent AVOD audience in urban India watch English language content, though a sizable section among them (more than half) prefer to watch it in an Indian language via dubbing.

    Average number of languages of content consumption among SVOD audience are higher in the Southern states, with Karnataka leading with an average of 5.7 languages. UP, Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh rank the lowest on this measure, at an average of less than four languages.

    “Streaming is a fast-growing category in India, and hence, it is important for content creators and marketers to constantly upgrade their understanding of the audiences, their taste, their viewing habits, and their viewing triggers,” said Ormax Media founder and CEO Shailesh Kapoor. “This report is a comprehensive update on how the behaviour and choices of Indian OTT audience have evolved over the course of the pandemic years, where there was unprecedented exposure to streaming content”.

    “A lot of AVOD content is being made in India today with an SVOD lens,” noted Kapoor. “However, this report reveals that the formats and genres preferred by SVOD and AVOD audiences are significantly different from each other. Since streaming has come up in India only recently in a big way, a lot of content greenlighting in the category has happened on instinct so far, without any robust consumer data to aid the decision-making process. The Ormax OTT Audience Report is our endeavour to help platforms make more informed content choices.”

  • OTT global revenues to increase significantly in 2022: Report

    OTT global revenues to increase significantly in 2022: Report

    Mumbai: Global revenues from OTT TV episodes and movies will reach $224 billion in 2027. According to the reports, this will be up from $135 billion in 2021.

    About $21 billion will be added in 2022 alone, according to Digital TV Research.

    SVOD revenues will climb by $48 billion between 2021 and 2027 to total $136 billion. AVOD revenues will increase by $37 billion between 2021 and 2027 to reach $70 billion.

    From the 138 countries covered, the top five will command 65  percent of global OTT revenues by 2027. OTT revenues will exceed $1 billion in 25 countries by 2027; up from 17 countries in 2021.

    Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said, “The US will command 45 per cent of global revenues by 2027. We forecast that US revenues will climb by $45 billion between 2021 and 2027 to reach $106 billion.”

  • Programmatic is enabling the transition of OTTs to open internet: Tejinder Gill

    Programmatic is enabling the transition of OTTs to open internet: Tejinder Gill

    Global technology platform The Trade Desk helps marketers advertise on the ‘open internet’ i.e., outside the ecosystems of Google and Facebook. The Trade Desk can deliver campaigns across a multitude of devices such as computers, mobile devices, OTT, connected TV (CTV) to reach quality audiences at scale via video, audio, display and native ads.

    Founded in November 2009, the company launched in India almost a year ago, setting up their leadership teams in Delhi and Bangalore. It immediately integrated with leading OTT players including Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV, MX Player and Voot and publishers to enable programmatically-driven advertising and bring transparency to the purchase of online inventory.

    The Trade Desk is only a demand-side platform, meaning it optimises and solves for advertisers only. It helps them understand the break-up of their media investments at scale in a complicated supply-side ecosystem that has up to seven to eight partners. Its most important USP (unique selling point) is that it offers marketers more choices to advertise outside the established walled garden ecosystems.

    Helming The Trade Desk’s business in India is Tejinder Gill who is responsible for the business growth strategy, executing the company’s vision and long-term goals and leading the product development. He is spearheading the expansion of programmatic across digital, audio, video and connected TV for Trade Desk. Gill has more than 17 years of experience, starting his career in 2008 with Yahoo, he was later part of LinkedIn’s leadership team for six years and Truecaller’s executive management team for nearly five years.

    In conversation with IndianTelevision.com, The Trade Desk India general manager Tejinder Gill spoke about the challenge that the company is trying to solve, online advertising trends, growth of advertising video-on-demand (AVOD), moving away from third-party identifiers and more.

    Edited excerpts:

    On the challenges addressed by The Trade Desk

    We are all about open internet which means anything outside the walled gardens. The biggest keyword missing in India, when it comes to digital media buying, is choice. Marketers want to get a certain reach and scale that you can only get within the walled gardens. So, the vision we saw was how to build an open internet advertising platform at scale.

    Let’s say, $100 is spent on advertising. Almost $53 goes to Google, $28 goes to Facebook and the remaining $19 is shared among the rest of the players which includes any player other than these two. The biggest reason that marketers are looking for a third choice is that these platforms make their own rules. They withhold data and the inability to measure performance in these walled gardens has led to a lot of frustration among marketers.

    I have observed that 70 per cent of the time spent by a user is on the open internet while 70 per cent of marketer’s budgets are spent on walled gardens. This is disproportionate. The biggest challenge for me is to educate marketers and partners about the benefit of the open internet and how we can solve for reach and scale.

    Think about the open internet as a bunch of different islands and walled gardens as continents. However big you are, you will always remain an island. Our platform makes these islands come together, and talk to each other so that everything is more accessible. The future will see all publishers come under the open internet umbrella. And programmatic is enabling this transition.

    Publishers still have direct sales teams to sell their premium inventory and sponsorships but the bulk of their inventory is now available on programmatic. That means all their pipes are connected to us. We’re building a marketplace where advertisers can pick and choose any inventory they want. They can use any measurement tool or any data partner that they want.  Individually, you can never win the game of scale, but together the open internet is a very strong value proposition for marketers to move away from walled gardens.

    When I joined the company 16 months ago, and the next month we complete a year of launch in India, programmatic talent was a big issue. We addressed this with Trade Desk-Edge Academy certifications, and interestingly, 40 per cent of members who have taken the certification in Asia-Pacific (APAC) are from India. I have built a diverse leadership team across Delhi and Bangalore since then.

    We’ve done strategic partnerships with publishers, OTTs and connected TV manufacturers to be the platform of choice for marketers. This includes partnerships with Samsung TV, OTT platforms such as Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, SonyLIV, Voot and MX Player and audio streaming services such as Gaana, JioSaavn, and Spotify.

    On the rise of programmatic video advertising

    The OTT consumer base has gone up in the last two years. There are new players entering the global and local markets creating more competition. While linear TV has been there for many years, consumer trends are changing. Some consumers are opting for cutting the chord as a result of the adoption of OTT platforms. OTT offers a seamless viewing experience across devices making it the preferred platform for consumers and building an attractive reach and scale for marketers.

    Online curated content platforms (OCCs) are offering premium high-quality content. An OTT platform attracts a large and diverse audience. The biggest difference between a user-generated content platform and an OCC platform is brand safety. Since curated content will be safer and more positive in nature, brands will want to invest in it. It also helps that you can put a data layer on top of it that delivers better performance, measurement and offers real-time insights to marketers.

    The biggest difference between linear and OTT platforms is the application of data intelligence. Linear TV has always relied on third party intelligence. The impact of an OTT campaign is measurable and you can take the insights and apply them to any other campaign.

    It is also more controlled. For example, suppose you want to target a consumer only three times a day then you can apply a frequency cap. If you want to target him once on Disney+ Hotstar, Voot and SonyLIV then you can adjust your parameters accordingly. This translates to a better consumer experience.

    The one thing that marketers love about programmatic is optimising their media dollars and talking to the same user across the media funnel. This means that whether I’m watching TV, mobile, laptop, OTT or audio, the same message will be played in a different format across.

    A study we did last year in partnership with YouGov found that 55 per cent of Indians prefer to see an ad versus paying for content. This indicates that the future business model for OTT platforms will be one that will be supported by subscription and advertising.

    Our founder Jeff Green predicted three years ago that Netflix will embrace advertising. Today, international players such as Disney+ and Netflix are planning to launch ad-supported models.

    On moving away from third-party cookies

    Third-party cookies are a three-decade-old technology and a shrinking part of the internet. Now, we have to think of a more sophisticated solution and we’ve created our own identifier called UnifiedID 2.0. It is a string of numbers and letters that cannot be reverse engineered to reveal the identity of the user, say for example his email ID.

    If third-party cookies go away, what are the scenarios that marketers arrive at? Walled gardens get more control over the internet. Paywalls keep consumers from accessing content. Consumers having to login multiple times to access the internet.

    That’s why the future will have multiple identity solutions that will be interoperable, meaning that these identity solutions will work across the ecosystem and will need to talk to each other. Our identity solution has got a lot of adoption in the Western market and we’re hoping APAC will start running it soon.

    On the trends in programmatic video advertising

    There are a few trends that I see.

    Connected TV (CTV) will drive the next phase of growth. We expect CTV to hit 40 million devices in the country in the next two years. This means that budgets will start moving from linear TV to connected TV.

    Marketers will start asking everyone about more real-time business outcomes. Marketers will move away from metrics such as CPA (cost-per-action), CPC (cost-per-click), CPM (cost-per-mile) and start measuring in more detail. For example, in-store footfall.

    A cookie-less future is good. It is happening for the benefit of the entire industry. Advertising will be able to target with more precision enabling brands to present different ad opportunities at different points in time. I think this is a new approach for the future.

    Five years ago, when we launched programmatic the idea was to automate the entire paperwork also known as programmatic guarantee. That’s not the real advantage of programmatic. Programmatic is all about decisioning i.e., it is about choices. If a marketer wants to buy audiences who may reside on OTT, mobile, CTV then he can find them across channels and devices. That’s the biggest trend that will drive programmatic in India over the next two years.

    Decisioning is different from upfront media buying. In upfront media buying, an advertiser blocked the front page of a Times of India or a 15 sec slot on a channel. The advertiser would pay upfront and get the ad displayed.

    In a real-time environment, the advertiser wants more control. He wants to pick up the right audience, at the right time and at the right price. The advertiser can control whether that ad should reach 1000 or one million consumers and pay for the reach that he wants. The journey of the ad needs to be mapped. That’s why I say decisioning will take precedence over the existing programmatic guarantee.