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Tag: UGC

  • “Innovation plays a key role in our brand strategy:” Pocket FM’s Vineet Singh

    “Innovation plays a key role in our brand strategy:” Pocket FM’s Vineet Singh

    Mumbai: Netizens today crave personalised, immersive content that fits seamlessly into their busy lives. As digital entertainment evolves, audiences increasingly seek deeper engagement with stories that resonate on a personal and cultural level. With countless platforms vying for attention, it’s no longer enough to simply offer content; brands must deliver unique experiences that captivate and foster loyalty.

    That’s where Pocket FM steps in, transforming the audio landscape with its fresh take on storytelling. Since its launch in 2018, Pocket FM has ignited a new way of consuming content, turning casual listening into a binge-worthy experience. With over 200 million listeners and a vast library of immersive audio series, it’s not just redefining entertainment—it’s creating a global community of engaged listeners who spend hours each day tuned in.

    Delving deeper, Indiantelevision.com’s Arth Chakraborty caught up with Pocket FM’s head of brand marketing and communications, Vineet Singh, to discuss the brand’s approach to standing out in a competitive market, its focus on regional content, and the role of user-generated content in building a loyal community, and more…

    Edited Excerpts:

    On the key challenges you face in building Pocket FM’s brand, and ways in which you address them

    Building Pocket FM’s brand in a cluttered market certainly comes with its challenges. One of the biggest hurdles is the intense competition among numerous audio content platforms, making it tough to stand out. With so many options available, establishing a unique brand identity that resonates with listeners is crucial.

    To tackle this, we’ve focused on positioning Pocket FM as the go-to platform for audio series. By honing in on this niche, we differentiate ourselves. This clear focus helps us create a more recognizable brand and fosters loyalty among our users.

    Another challenge is creating a distinct niche within the broader entertainment landscape. We’ve embraced the growing demand for regional content, which allows us to connect deeply with diverse audiences across India. By prioritising vernacular storytelling, we not only engage listeners but also support local talent, enriching our brand’s cultural relevance.

    In summary, while the cluttered market presents its challenges, we’re committed to refining our brand strategy, focusing on unique content offerings, and building a strong connection with our audience. This approach positions Pocket FM for continued success as a leader in the audio series space.

    On Pocket FM adapting its brand marketing strategy to differentiate itself in the competitive audio entertainment market and addressing changing audience preferences

    To differentiate ourselves in the competitive entertainment market, Pocket FM has focused on understanding our audience’s unique preferences and behaviours.

    We take a hyper-localised approach, tailoring our brand content to reflect the diverse cultures and interests of our listeners. This strategy not only boosts engagement but also fosters a strong sense of loyalty among our users. By connecting with them culturally and contextually, we ensure our content resonates on a personal level.

    Innovation plays a key role in our brand strategy. For example, our interactive storytelling formats don’t just engage listeners; they immerse them in the experience. This helps us create a distinct identity in the market and deepens the emotional bond with our audience.

    Looking ahead, we’re committed to staying agile and exploring new formats and technologies to enhance engagement. By remaining adaptable and audience-centric, Pocket FM aims to strengthen its leadership in the entertainment space.

    On Pocket FM leveraging user-generated content in its marketing strategy and the role it plays in building community and engagement for Pocket FM

    At Pocket FM, user-generated content (UGC) is central to our marketing strategy and community engagement. By tapping into the creativity of our listeners, we amplify our brand reach and foster a sense of ownership within our community.

    UGC helps us in several ways:

    ● Fostering authentic connections: When listeners share their experiences or favourite shows, it creates genuine word-of-mouth marketing. This authenticity builds trust, as potential users see real interactions with our content.

    ●   Expanding reach and visibility: User-shared content on social media broadens our reach organically. It taps into existing networks, increasing our visibility and serving as social proof that encourages new users to explore our platform.

    ●   Building a sense of community: UGC strengthens connections among our listeners. When users share reviews, opinions, or fan art, it sparks conversations and builds micro-communities within our larger audience, fostering loyalty and a shared culture.

    ●   Enhancing personalisation and feedback loops: User reviews and feedback help us tailor our content and marketing strategies. By understanding what resonates with our audience, we refine both our offerings and how we promote them

    In summary, UGC not only amplifies our marketing efforts but also plays a key role in building a vibrant, engaged community at Pocket FM. By empowering our listeners to share their stories, we create a powerful connection that drives our success.

    On Pocket FM measuring ROI for marketing campaigns, and the key metrics; and a recent example of a campaign with significant ROI

    At Pocket FM, we measure the ROI of our marketing campaigns by focusing on a mix of performance and audience-centric metrics. While user acquisition is important, we believe true success lies in the depth of engagement and long-term retention.

    We closely monitor how our campaigns resonate with our community and contribute to sustained engagement. Retention rates, in particular, give us a clear picture of how well we’re building lasting relationships with our audience.

    Additionally, we prioritise understanding audience behaviour—from their first interaction to ongoing loyalty. This holistic approach helps us refine our strategies, ensuring our marketing efforts drive sustainable growth.

    On Pocket FM keeping its brand messaging consistent across platforms and the strategies that you use to boost listener engagement and loyalty

    At Pocket FM, ensuring a unified and consistent brand message across all platforms is a top priority to deliver a seamless listener experience. While we maintain a consistent tone and voice that reflects our brand identity, we adapt our communication to the unique dynamics of each channel. On social media, for example, we embrace a more casual and visually engaging approach to connect quickly with users, whereas on our app, we focus on deeper storytelling and analysis, offering a richer, more immersive experience.

    On the upcoming trends in marketing that you’re excited about, and your plan to integrate them into Pocket FM’s strategy

    Several emerging trends in marketing excite us, and we see great potential to integrate them into Pocket FM’s strategy for driving growth and engagement. To call out a few –

    ● AI-driven personalisation: Personalisation has become essential. With advancements in AI and machine learning, we can dive deeper into user behaviour and preferences. By leveraging AI, we plan to enhance our content across platforms with tailored experiences that align with user interests, delivering hyper-personalised content that keeps our audience engaged.

    ●   We’re particularly excited about immersive audio technologies, like spatial audio, which can elevate brand communication. This technology creates a

    multi-dimensional sound experience that places listeners at the heart of the narrative, making their listening experience more engaging.

    ●   Direct-to-fan platforms: These platforms represent an exciting opportunity for more personalised audience engagement. They allow us to connect directly with our listeners, fostering deeper relationships and gaining real-time insights into their preferences. We’re exploring how to experiment with these platforms to strengthen our bonds with our audience and create tailored experiences that resonate on an individual level.

    Overall, we’re eager to embrace these trends and integrate them into our strategy to enhance listener engagement and loyalty at Pocket FM.

  • Zee Zest has a 40% market share in the lifestyle category, says business head, Amit Nair

    Zee Zest has a 40% market share in the lifestyle category, says business head, Amit Nair

    Mumbai: Since its inception in 2020, Zee Entertainment Enterprises’ first lifestyle channel, Zee Zest, has established itself with a diverse and comprehensive lineup of shows.

    Zee Zest, which is known for its global content, hosts a great mix of Indian and international lifestyle and infotainment shows.

    The channel’s content includes food, travel, lifestyle, home improvement, wellness, culture, and do it yourself (DIY). Apart from producing travel category shows including Kahani Kashmir Ki, Shonar Bengal, Safari India, Mast Maharashtra, and Goan Gullies, the channel also has highly popular food shows like Patt-ay ki baat, Taste Ki Gully, Papad Pickles Aur Pyaala, Simple Korea, and The Baker’s Table.

    In an exclusive conversation with Indiantelevision.com, Zee Zest’s business head Amit Nair talked about the content & business strategy for Zee Zest shows. With a key focus on bringing original content to the platform, Nair added 100+ hours of original content every year across food & travel, in partnership with award-winning chefs, anchors, influencers, celebrities, and hosts. From documenting the evolving Indian culture and contextualizing it for modern sensibilities, he created a contemporary brand identity for both Living Foodz and Zee Zest, on-air, online, and on-ground.

    By delivering substantial revenue growth through a combination of advertisements, subscriptions, and syndication, Nair oversees all major functions of the brand, including business strategy, content, editorial, marketing, and product development.

    With over 10 years of experience at Zee Zest, he was instrumental in the acquisition of major international titles and the development of relationships with top international distributors such as BBC, Freemantle and Banijay. He also built mega tent poles, including “Ganga–The Soul of India” with Dia Mirza, “Station Master’s Tiffin” with Ranveer Brar, and “Fit, Fab and Feast” with Huma Qureshi.

    Edited Excerpts:

    On Zee zest’s viewership

    Amit: Zee Zest’s viewership is always in the top ranking. They have overshadowed their competitors every year. We have 40 per cent market share. There are five or six players in this market, and we always keep 40 to 42 per cent viewership as our benchmark to be there.

     On Indian content growth

    Amit: We are looking at a high-growth strategy right now. So we are investing significantly in content. Indian stories have more takers than international stories. When you create content for India or the Indian market, there are many more takers as compared to international stories. Our primary goal is to produce original content from India.

    On the importance of user-generated content

    Amit: Zee Zest is looking forward to collaborating with content creators to develop unique content, preferably recipe shows. Audiences watch user-generated content to be entertained as well as to learn something.

    User-generated content has its importance, and it’s something that we’ve also been keenly looking into because certain formats want to develop where a user is a central person where we can develop ideas and content around them.

    There are several formats currently. The easiest is the one where, if it’s a food show, you invite them to be part of the audience or share something that’s part of the entire theme of the particular show.

    Zee Zest will soon focus on user-generated content where users want to express themselves, their skills, and their talents. We are trying to balance this entire thing by keeping audiences engaged but at the same time engaging with our advertisers and with the users as well so that we bring them on a platform that gives them better reach.

    On Zee Zest’s online reach

    Amit: The channel has about three million users per month and is among the top 15 websites in the country. It’s a multi-platform brand. We don’t want Zee Zest to be just a television-centric brand. Since our users search for us or various media, they are different from TV. As a publishing platform, it makes perfect sense for us to not only provide a platform to watch a point of view, but also to serve as a handy guide for their lifestyle.

    The social media platform offers recipes and interactive content as a way to make it happen, while the channel offers interesting viewing content. Web platforms and events have become the two-way communication channels between the audience and the brand.

    Zee Zest is investing in the web platform as well. We’re also looking to buy a couple of untitled Intellectual Properties (IPs) this year, which will be mostly online. So several more ideas are being put into play. And all of this will be taking shape next year.

    On the competition in the OTT space

    Amit: Interest among the audience has remained unchanged. We always find our audiences when there is new content because that is when we create content that is entirely original, new, and innovative. It’s a mix of finding and wanting the content rather than the medium, which is particularly important.

    On regional collaborations

    Amit: Zee Zest, along with the network’s sub-channels (regional channels), is venturing into various regional collaborations. While Mast Maharashtra and Sonar Bengal are already on Zee Zest’s channel, the upcoming show Highway Dream will start in mid-September and will be on Zee’s south sub-channel. There are a lot of insights, knowledge, audience insights, and so on.

    On new content and ideas

    Amit: We have a great ideation cell internally, which manages to churn out some interesting formats and ideas. Now, these ideas are also taken to advertisers, where they find fitment. The newly launched eight-episode series Luxe Pins aims to let the audience experience exclusivity through the host’s eyes.

  • Content investment in India, Korea, and Southeast Asia to rise in 2022: MPA Report

    Content investment in India, Korea, and Southeast Asia to rise in 2022: MPA Report

    Mumbai: The video content budget in India, Korea, and Southeast Asia will grow by 15 per cent and reach $12 billion in 2022, according to the latest edition of Asia Video Content Dynamics, published by Media Partners Asia (MPA).

    In 2022, India and Korea will drive the bulk of the increase, but all markets and all verticals are expected to grow. The film industry will be the fastest, growing by nearly 140 per cent as theatres screen fresh movies. Online video will grow the most, by nearly $700 million.

    It increased by 21 per cent last year to $10.4 billion. Except for theatrical, all content verticals saw significant growth. OTT content was the fastest growing vertical, increasing 83 per cent year on year to become the second largest vertical, accounting for 26 per cent of industry investment. Korea & India saw particularly strong OTT investment growth, while Thailand and Indonesia made significant contributions.

    This report examined video content consumption, investment in video content, and production costs in seven key Asian markets: India, Indonesia, South Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Free-to-air (FTA), pay-TV, online video, and film are among the verticals examined, along with key players and the production value chain.

    Also read: India’s OTT video market to reach $3 bn in 2022; estimated to double by 2027: Report

    Commenting on the findings of the report, MPA vice president Stephen Laslocky said, “Inflation, particularly with online originals, is a factor driving up content costs.”

    He went on to say that online video operators, broadcasters, and producers must see that higher budgets translate into more premium viewing experiences, or the cost increases will be unsustainable.

    According to this report, Pay-TV was the largest vertical, accounting for 46 per cent of total industry content investment, reflecting well-developed pay-TV markets in India and Korea. FTA ranked third with 25 per cent of the total.

    “Internationally successful programmes remain the content licensing holy grail, which thus far, only Korean dramas and some anime, as well as US and UK content, have sustainably achieved. Some Thai content has succeeded outside of Thailand. Quality production values and strong storylines with a focus on younger online demographics will be the building blocks of future investment strategies,” Laslocky added.

    While talking about the expanding online video sector, he expressed that it has been a boon to independent producers. He said, “Profit margins have stabilised at 10 per cent or more across much of the region. More can be done to bolster independent producers, including additional compensation for original concepts, commensurate rewards for breakout successes, and expanded use of pipeline deals (which allows producers to more reliably recoup overheads).”

    “In exchange, producers need to be transparent with production costs. Commissioners need to be willing and able to audit costs,” he added.

    Declining TV ratings 

    TV ratings continue to decline in measured markets. User-generated content (UGC) platforms continue to dominate video consumption, with their share of total video consumption ranging from 82 per cent in Korea to 95 per cent in Vietnam. While YouTube remains the leader, TikTok is driving growth in Southeast Asia. Premium video, both AVOD and SVOD, captures the majority of the balance.

    The consumption of television and online video is diverging. On TV, drama is generally the most watched genre, while variety, including reality, often ranks #2. Movies, kids, and news can be significant drivers of viewership, and sports can over-index with top-rating TV programs. Viewership of some key TV genres is transitioning to YouTube, where they generate significant classified consumption.

    Meanwhile, with premium online video, series account for approximately 90 per cent of consumption, with dramas accounting for the majority of viewership, while movies account for approximately 10 per cent. Dramas account for nearly all of the top titles. Except for India, variety consumption is largely driven by acquired Korean programming.

    Box office revenues 

    In 2021, box office revenues, admissions, and releases all performed poorly. Film costs fell by two per cent as pandemic restrictions delayed release dates in many markets, but delayed tentpoles performed well in 2022.

    Some markets, including India and Indonesia, are expected to recover completely. In other markets, a return to pre-covid may take until 2023. Returning to pre-covid levels in other markets may take until 2023. Elsewhere, prospects may be marginally better but permanently harmed.

  • HiPi launches on android, to be available for ioS soon

    KOLKATA: Short video platform HiPi has announced a separate app in the user-generated content (UGC) market. After being a part of Zee5 as a beta version since its launch in 2020, ‘HiPi ka naya adda’ will now be available for Android users from 18 June and iOS users from 22 June. 

    The app comes equipped with quality features, including the latest trending music tracks, interactive filters, and effects to help brands establish a deeper bond with their audiences. It even allows users to apply 3D face filters, lip-sync edit videos and create dubbing videos to add a touch of magic to their content. 

    As part of this novel journey, HiPi has also rolled out a month-long campaign #EntertainmentKiBaarish to redefine the meaning of fun. It aims to democratise the digital content arena by providing an even break to both the creators and the viewers from across the nation. 

    The campaign will feature tie-ups with renowned brands and allow users to engage with mind-blowing challenges across genres and contests like Dance Bangla Dance, where creators and viewers can win weekly prizes by performing a unique hook step as per the weekly dance theme, which will be curated by the jury and mentors of Dance Bangla Dance. 

    The 22-week contest will be broken into two parts- creator and viewer. The creator contest will feature about 20 Dance Bangla Dance contestants who will post their videos on HiPi while they continue to participate in the reality show. 

    The grand winner will be declared from one of the Dance Bangla Dance contestants who will stand a chance to win a cash prize of Rs two lakhs and a three-month contract with HiPi. Meanwhile, in the viewer’s contest, HiPi will select one participant from the UGC entries who can stand the chance of winning weekly cash prizes amounting to Rs two lakhs through the duration of the contest. The winners for both categories will be selected based on their popularity on HiPi. 

    Commenting on the remarkable announcements, the spokesperson of HiPi, said, “Showcasing our standalone app in the Indian market within one year of our launch is a huge achievement for us. This was an outcome of the overwhelming response and support we received from our users and we want to return the favour through the #EntertainmentKiBaarish. The campaign promises to bring invigorating activities and contests, allowing users to experience the joy of entertainment on their fingertips”.

    Apart from the campaign filled with fun and entertainment, HiPi will also launch a contest, allowing users to upload videos showcasing the best of their talent (dance, singing, lip-sync, food, fitness, fashion, beauty, etc). The winners of the contest will get a cash prize of Rs.50,000.

  • Mitron turns one: Vernacular, monetisation to be key focus areas

    Mitron turns one: Vernacular, monetisation to be key focus areas

    KOLKATA: In last June, a number of short video platforms stepped into the limelight after the Indian government’s unceremonious ban on popular Chinese-origin app, TikTok. After riding on the initial wave of fame, these homegrown apps have now started solidifying their business models. This comes at a time when big league players like Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are raising the stakes in the short form video space. Mitron TV, which turned one this April, has rolled out new monetisation models for creators and is looking at various innovative solutions for higher engagement on the app.

    The video sharing app that started with two people now consists of 55+ people in the team. While it is scaling operations across the board, tech is taking centre stage, said Mitron TV CEO & co-founder Shivank Agarwal. With new initiatives, the platform has set the target of 100 million users in the next six months. For the second year, the focus is on how it can go bullish on vernacular and drive monetisation for creators, he added.

    Other new features like Mitron Club, Mitron Academy and Mitron On-Demand have been introduced in the app. Through Club, creators can churn out engaging content exclusively for users opting for the service. Through Mitron Academy, content creators get an opportunity to share educational videos to help users learn from the platform. Additionally, with Mitron On-Demand, users will be able to place requests for on-demand content across segments.

    Recently, Mitron rolled out the Editor Tool to help remove creators’ dependency to log on to other video editing apps to edit their content. Post this launch, the number of videos created using Mitron camera has jumped 50 per cent. Moreover, the platform has lately seen a huge growth in creator to user ratio, Agarwal stated. Currently, 22 per cent of the total user base falls under the creator category.

    To increase brand recall, the Made in India app has also created an opinion platform where users can create videos or add text in different topics – be it sports, politics, entertainment. The initiative has been rolled out to encourage users to create a social asset. Once they come in and create a social asset, the recall to the platform increases a lot, shared Agarwal. Mitron TV is focusing more on the users who are liking, commenting, participating in opinions, along with watching videos as it aims to establish itself as a short video social media platform.

    At present, the highest number of users hail from Maharashtra, making up 19 per cent of the overall base. In the western region, Gujarat is also contributing highly to its user base. Among other states, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Karnataka, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha make up the lion’s share of members. From the age group perspective, most users belong to the 25-34 segment, followed by 18-24, 35-44, 45+ age groups.

    While the platform is eying at markets as its next frontier for growth, Mitron TV CTO and co-founder Anish Khandelwal said that the recommendation engine is already in place to boost the growth but content strategy needs to be aligned in that line.

    “I think everybody is trying to innovate the revenue model, somebody is trying the e-commerce model, somebody is going the advertisement way. Everybody has to find which model suits their product and how to benefit. The good part for us is we have seen a good trend in terms of users spending on the platform, not just time but some money since last quarter,” he commented.

    “If we can convert 20 per cent customer audience into paying customers, that will be a good target for us,” he added. The platform is developing recommendations for users in such a way that it includes exploration along with personalisation. It does not want to personalise user experience in such a way that it becomes monotonous for the consumer, Khandelwal explained. Moreover, developers are focusing on the metric that if the app is showing a video to the user, he should finish the video.

    At a time when short video platforms are splurging on media spend, roping in brand ambassadors, Mitron TV execs want their product to stay low-key. Agarwal stated that they have avoided media spend but users have organically liked the app. The platform is prioritising technology and improving experience for users to improve retention and engagement, rather than going on an acquisition spree by burning cash.

    “For us, infotainment and edutainment are two important pillars we are very bullish about. And on the content perspective, technology perspective, recommendation engine and editor tool, we want to create differentiation. The overall idea is anybody with any knowledge to share, skill to share should come to the platform, engage on the platform,” Agarwal concluded.

  • How ShareChat enables 150+ brands to engage with India’s heartland

    How ShareChat enables 150+ brands to engage with India’s heartland

    NEW DELHI: With over 530 million people connected to the world wide web and counting, India has the second-largest internet user base in the world today. Out of these, around 71 per cent come from lower-tier cities, according to a Statista report. Another study by Zinnov indicates that 81 per cent of tier-2 and 80 per cent of the tier-3 population choose mobiles as the preferred platform for consuming content. Naturally, these numbers are quite attractive to the marketing community. With growing awareness, a rise in disposable income, and access to information, these netizens are also their next set of consumers. But the question is, what’s the most effective way to reach them?

    ShareChat claims to have the answer. Founded in 2015 by three IIT-Kanpur graduates, Ankush Sachdeva, Bhanu Pratap Singh and Farid Ahsan, ShareChat is a unique social media platform – it’s available in 15 Indian languages and dialects, but not in English. It hosts content ranging from love, devotional, entertainment, to great user-generated material. With more than 160 million active users, it’s fair to say the app has a direct line to India’s heartland.

    ShareChat director sales Satyajit Deb Roy shared, “Today, ShareChat is the only social media platform connecting language-first, new internet users at scale. We are at the forefront of the India's internet revolution. Users are coming to ShareChat to discover content, and also consume content in the comfort of their own language, societal norms and interests. Our user community is dominated by language-first internet users across the country, the majority of them hailing from tier-2 and tier-3 cities. Exploring this space has been of utmost priority for brands, and ShareChat stays relevant with its capability to connect brands to language first internet users at scale, and in a targeted way.”

    He added that the app’s focus remains on driving good performance advertisements and solutions for brands. “We have built our adtech solutions after evaluating brands’ needs and understanding consumer behaviour insights that we gathered over the years. We work with brands and marketers to design customised campaigns, relevant to their target audience. Taking their product deeper into the country and engaging with audiences they haven’t been able to do it at scale.”

    Roy highlighted that within a year of starting monetisation, more than 150 brands have signed up and worked with them on multiple occasions. 

    “We have seen increasing interest from the companies belonging to e-commerce, consumer durables, FMCG, telecom, gaming, automotive and many more verticals. We are expanding our focus beyond these verticals and would like to cater to more than 25 consumer-focused verticals in the foreseeable future,” he elaborated. 

    Brands are open to partner with ShareChat not just because it has traditional advertising solutions in store for them. Rather, the platform brings in unique capabilities to drive maximum reach and retention for the advertisers. 

    Roy explained, “The intent is to connect brands with the targeted audience on our platform through every possible touchpoint. Apart from traditional digital marketing solutions like video/banner ads, we offer native ad formats, influencer-led conversational ads, user-generated content, creator-led ads, hashtags and impact options, et al.” 

    As brands demanded high impact for their campaigns on the platform, ShareChat introduced the idea of exit interstitial, which appears to the targeted users while exiting the platform. This generally includes a banner or a 6-second video. In addition to this, it has recently introduced a 360-degree solution called Divas. This drives engagement for the brands through branded user-generated content, hashtag challenges along with top creators and influencers on ShareChat to drive KPI's like sales, downloads etc.  “That said, we have also rolled out programmatic solutions recently and are experimenting with a selective set of brands,” he quipped. 

    The app’s success and popularity are attracting good investments too. Just last year, the platform won a 100 million dollar financing round led by Twitter. Other investors include TrustBridge Partners, Shunwei Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, SAIF Capital, India Quotient, and Morningside Venture Capital. Reportedly, the company’s valuation today stands at 650 million dollar. Also, speculation is rife that Google is now eyeing to buy the platform. 

  • ZEE5’s HiPi gears up for India’s 1 billion video consumers

    ZEE5’s HiPi gears up for India’s 1 billion video consumers

    KOLKATA: Evolution is the key to sustain in a transforming ecosystem; India’s leading entertainment network Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) is following that route. While it has been charting its growth in the online ecosystem with over-the-top platform ZEE5, the latter is now venturing into short-format video too. It’s not a mere expansion but the ambition is to be able to create a sustainable business over a period of time which essentially addresses a billion users in India, as ZEE5 India expansion projects business head and product head Rajneel Kumar says.

    “Very soon we will have a billion Indians who will be consuming videos on a monthly basis. That time could be one, two or three years from now. That’s the overall market size we are gunning for. We have a very long-term strategy around short-form content where we will see new users who will start consuming this content. Of course,  we would like million and millions to come on the platform but our main ambition is to be able to create a sustainable business over a period of time which essentially addresses a billion users in India,” Kumar said in an interaction with Indiantelevision.com.

    Nearly two weeks ago, ZEE5 revealed the name of its short-form content platform, HiPi. The announcement came right after the Indian government imposed a ban on 59 Chinese apps including TikTok, the giant in the short-video segment. As opposed to launching as a separate app, HiPi will be a part of ZEE5. 

    “We have been working on it for over a year with consumer research, content research, product research as well as trying to understand what features consumers like. The timing was honestly coincidental; it was something we already planned in this quarter. However, once the news came out we did expedite certain priorities to be able to get this out as early as we can while not compromising quality or experience,” he added.

    ZEE5 is not waiting for consumers or influencers discover the platform once it launches the new segment. Rather, it is actively getting a lot of influencers who are on other platforms and onboarding them to ZEE5. With these influencers, their followers will be also able to find their content on the new platform. Initially, HiPi is launching with 300 influencers while it also has a list of other 200 influencers that will come on the platform very soon. 

    Moreover, it has opened the platform for new influencers as it is launching ‘Creators Dashboard' in the next couple of months. Through this, influencers can upload profiles for the kind of content they have created and references of other platforms where they exist. If they become verified, they would enter into a revenue-sharing model with ZEE5. There will be remuneration and compensation for all content they create. Currently, they can reach out to ZEE5 through the latter’s social handles.

    In the past, we have seen user-generated content platforms getting dragged into controversies for sensitive content. While the company is in the final stages of testing, it is highly focusing on user experience and brand safety. Kumar assured that both human and AI intervention will be there to filter content. “Unlike other platforms, no content which is uploaded goes straight and people can see it. Every content which is uploaded goes through a layer of both AI and human moderation,” he added.

    ZEE5 has several content pieces ranging from catch-up content to premium originals, news and sports. “Each one of them has individual experiences built up to see which is best for the users. When a user comes on the platform, he or she is able to see all the content which is available. Only when they start to consume a particular piece of content, whether it is a movie or a short-form content, the appropriate interface for the user comes up. The short-form content area will be a vertical scrolling video which is full-screen,” he added.

    Now a bunch of short-format video sharing apps are mushrooming as OTTs did two-three years ago; even Instagram launched Reel a few days back. Hence, despite the giant being gone, it is not easy to attract consumers. 

    “We have put together a very strong content team which will curate the kind of content to make it different and interesting for users. We will be launching different kinds of AR filters which will enable users to create interesting content. We are focused on a road map of engagement which is beyond just consuming content; so how can the user interact with other people, how can the user play games? We are working on those kinds of areas which will be part of our roadmap and essentially our distinguishing features,” Kumar sounded confident.

  • TikTok ban: Indian UGC apps ready to take on traffic; see advertiser interest too

    TikTok ban: Indian UGC apps ready to take on traffic; see advertiser interest too

    KOLKATA: TikTok had become a rage among millions of Indian youth until the Indian government’s interim ban crushed its multi-billion dollar strategy. Creators, influencers and marketers will have to seek an alternative platform as the future of TikTok remains uncertain in the country. But the flip side of the story is a silver-lining for Indian platforms and video sharing apps which are now poised to grow fast. UGC platforms like Roposo and Bolo Indya have started seeing a massive user base shift to their platforms.

    These homegrown apps had already been growing since the last few weeks when the call to use local brands started. With the recent decision of the government, they are set to see never-expected traffic, at least the instant reaction seems so. Bolo Indya co-founder Varun Saxena says it saw over one lakh new creators joining the platform in less than 24 hours and around five lakh new videos had already been created. Roposo co-founder Mayank Bhangadia says a number of TikTok influencers have already announced their shift to the Indian short video app. He adds that it will direct followers to the platform as well.

    “It is a big boost for most of the short video platforms because these creators will look for a new platform. It’s a big opportunity for Indian applications from the perspective of getting new creators and high volume also,” Saxena adds.

    However, he also mentions that most of the TikTok influencers are now exploring where they can get a good follower which includes Instagram and YouTube too. He adds that for a few days they will be creating content on all the platforms and will stick to one once they get a loyal audience. Saxena says Bolo Indya is favourable to creators compared to others as its format, interface, time length is very similar to TikTok. 

    According to Bhangadia, this change is extremely good for an Indian entrepreneur and will give them a very good boost. He says that they have got calls from close to 20 brands inquiring about how to advertise on Roposo the morning after the ban. They are hopeful that the shift will be happening in the next few days.

    “Roposo is best positioned because we have been working for the last few years and we have built a product which is not available anywhere in India. The kind of camera feature we have along with other features is not available on all apps. The holistic nature of the platform is able to accommodate many communities. We don’t focus only on lip sync or short act. We have all kind of talented people. Hence, creators are shifting to us,” he adds.

    Saxena says that they were already doing content marketing working with certain brands. And the major reason brands were working with the platform despite the fact that it had less volume compared to TikTok was the higher spending power of users on the app compared to TikTok and Helo. While new creators will give it a better volume also, Saxena is optimistic that they would definitely see more and more brands coming to Indian applications for content marketing.

    “In a short to medium term, advertisers and agencies will look at alternate platforms to help them meet their marketing goals. Some of the banned platforms are sizeable, so it would be difficult to find an immediate apparent replacement. In this case, a combination of replacements or an increase in presence in existing platforms can be an option. Also, the ban is still a little unclear from an implementation standpoint. The downloaded apps are still running, though new downloads are at a halt. If the government calls for a complete ban, things will go south for these platforms. Even then, I don’t believe brands will advertise on these apps, fearing public outrage,” TheSmallBigIdea CEO and co-founder Harikrishnan Pillai says.

    “For influencers, from a short-term POV, the business will be affected if they have had a single platform focus. From a long-term perspective, Indian apps have a great opportunity to grow. ‘Revenge Download’ will lead to a sudden spike of Indian apps. Whether they manage to be sticky and effective, time will tell,” Pillai adds.

    While the sudden spike in traffic will be a pressure on the apps, they are ready to take on new users. Saxena says they had started updating their infrastructure a couple of weeks back because it was expecting something like this to take place. They have been pro-actively ready to take the kind of surge it saw since Monday night. As he shares, there was hardly 1.5 minutes of downtime because it was upgrading infrastructure.

    Bhangadia is also confident about Roposo’s engineering team. He also says that the team has been preparing because the app had seen surge coming in the last four months since the lockdown started. It got accelerated in the last few weeks when people started shifting to Indian products. He also mentions that they are part of a much larger InMobi group. 

    "This is a welcome move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cybersecurity and national security risks. We expect the government to continue their support for the Indian startup ecosystem,” ShareChat public policy director Berges Malu comments. 

  • Inside ZEE5’s strategy to scale its upcoming UGC section

    Inside ZEE5’s strategy to scale its upcoming UGC section

    MUMBAI: In its quest to become an entertainment super app, ZEE5 is soon getting into user-generated content platform Hypershots. ZEE5 India expansion projects business head and product head Rajneel Kumar seems confident about the new user-generated content (UGC) venture with the expectation that it will start to spike soon.

    “Over the last year we have been focused on moving away from two primary types of content, catch-up TV content and original programming, to get into different types of content use cases that we create for users,” Kumar said in a virtual roundtable hosted by Indaintelevision.com. He added that it got into the music video, live TV, news bouquet sections including channels outside the Zee network.  

    He mentioned that it launched a gaming platform Play, which saw good traction initially. It has experienced upto six sessions per day per user each of eight mintues and which cemented the decision to build UGC as another use case on the platform.

    Kumar said that they had to approach tech stack and product stack very differently for UGC. He added that while consumers want an immersive experience of OTT content that happens on landscape mode whereas they have to look at a portrait mode for UGC coupled with a full-screen experience. To tackle UGC content, it went on even changing the kind of streams that it uses i.e., moving away from the traditional HLS with DRM etc., to moving on to mp4 and more importantly being able to optimise that. 

    Asked about the progress, Kumar answered that it is at the beta stage of testing for the UGC platform. He added that ZEE5 is trying to integrate it into the core application but carefully by taking into account performance on all device types.

    “For us, user experience suddenly has a new complexity. We are putting a mid-budget movie next to a creator from anywhere and for the user either of the content can be important or one might be more important than another. That’s why we are working on hyper-personalisation. At the very core of it, the more personal we make the platform, the better we will be able to alert the content for consumer and that cuts across UGC, catch-up, original and every other segment,” he added.

    During lockdown many users started discovering more original content. Hence, the platform has seen a spike in its subscription. It has seen a significant spike on its news content as well during this period. Kumar said that they put the high effort for personalising recommendation around news to make sure that it is localised.

    “When you are going from eight million to 100 million DAUs, of course, there is a completely new paradigm we will be dealing with. All of the systems will be tested because the concurrency of users coming on the platform also suddenly changes. Every single layer needs to scale up. The good part is companies like us have always been cloud-native and we are working with scalable companies. Also, core technology providers like AWS, Google have also moved to a serverless deployment where you don’t need to really linearly scale one after other, you could have multiple instances ready at the same time. The ecosytem is coming together to support,” Kumar said.

    However, he mentioned that it would be an interesting challenge to see how they differentiate the UGC section from existing ones by offering various propositions to bring more users to the platform.

  • Social Beat leverages user-generated content to reach the new internet users

    Social Beat leverages user-generated content to reach the new internet users

    MUMBAI: The best way for a brand to tap newer audiences and widen their clientele is by sharing content for the users, by the users. This notion paved the way for user-generated content (UGC) – the next big thing in the online marketing space. With big platforms like TikTok, Twitter and Instagram leading the way when it comes to user-generated content, brands are now leveraging this to promote better recall and engage with the next billion Internet users. Keeping this in mind, Social Beat, one of India’s fastest-growing digital marketing solutions company, is working with leading brands to tap the power of UGC. 

    Swiggy, India’s largest food ordering and delivery platform, is working with Social Beat to launch their first-ever talent show – SwiggyStarhunt. The objective of the talent show is for the delivery partners to showcase their talent by uploading videos on popular video-sharing app TikTok. These videos come under the categories of acting, dancing, singing and musical instruments. The campaign which is ongoing has already got multiple entries and views on TikTok.  Social Beat is also working on a robust social media strategy in 11 languages to reach a pan-Indian audience. 

    Another successful campaign in terms of user-generated content is that of “Seasons of Chocolates” launched by Social Beat and Callebaut Chocolate Academy. As part of the campaign, top chefs from across India were asked to share innovative chocolate dishes that celebrate Indian festivals such as RakshaBandhan, Eid, Diwali, etc. The posts were shared with the hashtag #MadeWithCallebaut and contributed to the brand awareness of Callebaut Chocolate Academy.

    “User-generated content is definitely the way to increase engagement and consumer trust. With the availability of low-cost smartphones and data plans, more and more Indians are getting online and the best way to engage with them is by getting them involved in your marketing strategy”, says VikasChawla, co-founder of Social Beat.