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Tag: Voot Kids

  • We want VOOT Kids to be the go-to destination for parents: Viacom18’s Saugato Bhowmik

    We want VOOT Kids to be the go-to destination for parents: Viacom18’s Saugato Bhowmik

    MUMBAI: Viacom18, after establishing its main OTT service Voot, is now entering the digital space for kids with VOOT Kids. The subscription-based app targets the age group of two to eight year olds.

    VOOT Kids, which is priced at Rs 99 per month and Rs 799 per year, houses content in seven different languages. While all of the content is available either in Hindi or English, a certain part of the content is also available in five other regional languages. VOOT Kids business head Saugato Bhowmik said that the content will soon be available in all the seven languages. The app has 20,000 pieces of content including over 6000 hours of video.

    “Parents are always looking to curate multiple fun-learning opportunities for their kids because parents believe in holistic development of their children which means emotional development, mental faculties development, social skills development, physical development and entertainment. They are looking for all these developmental needs like curating multiple different fun-learning opportunities for their child. They invest in DYI, books, toys, crafts, puzzles today and they are spending a lot of money. So, for us the challenge was how do we go beyond entertainment where we are leaders and create a leading proposition which nobody has been able to do till now delivering both entertainment and fun-learn together,” he said.

    Bhowmik is confident that people will subscribe because VOOT Kids seamlessly delivers and offers videos and tools, fun-learn tools, e-books, audio stories, fun-learn quizzes across five skill domains with parental control in a kid-friendly environment and design.

    Considering their offering, the company feels that the pricing is justified. Parents are anyway spending a lot on each of these individually.

    “We believe that fun-learning multiple different skills is very important at this stage. As you grow older, formal pedagogy becomes much more important. We did not want to get into that. We are not an ed-tech platform. So, that’s the clear choice we made. We wanted to impact early skill and learning development skill of the child. We also believe that this age group is not being served properly. There is lot of offering for 8-10-year-old kids. This early generation is under-served. We did not find anything that serves fun and learning together,” he explained the rationale of the target group.

    The platform wants to leverage the entire power of Viacom18 for marketing the new kid in the house. Although it has its own media vehicle at home, it will still go beyond that by running cross-media, cross-TV, out-of-home campaigns along with on ground activities and influencer marketing. Bhowmik added that it will also be engaging in conversation with school, school teachers and the entire community in future to drive the message that screen-time is not bad if parents can make it meaningful.

    Interestingly, the app just launched two days before Children’s Day. “We just want VOOT Kids to become the go-to destination for parents. If we are able to do that, there are millions of households who are willing to invest money in valuable fun-learning services like us,” he signed off. 

  • Viacom18 launches India’s first multi-format Kids app ‘VOOT Kids’

    Viacom18 launches India’s first multi-format Kids app ‘VOOT Kids’

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 is all set to expand its digital ecosystem with the launch of its first subscription play – VOOT Kids.

    Leading kids’ content on broadcast, Viacom18 now extends its thought leadership with a unique digital service for kids, which creates a seamless experience for both fun and learning in a safe, parentally controlled environment.  

    Certified by Early Childhood Association (ECA), VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering Fun & Learning, with its largest and most versatile collection of over 20,000 videos, e-books, stories and quizzes, aims to usher in the next evolution in the kid’s digital ecosystem. Priced at INR 799 for a year and 99 per month with Free Trials in both packages, the VOOT Kids app is available to download on iOS and Play Store.

     “Viacom18 has grown over the years by focussing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ entertainment content since the past 5 years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today.” said Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO & MD, Viacom18.

    “VOOT Kids is a synergy of these two growth stories from the house of Viacom18. Marking our sharper segmented foray into the world of subscription based VoD, VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format Kids app offering Fun & Learning. No other kids app offers Watch, Read, Listen & Learn all at one place,” he added.

    With a mission to make screen time meaningful for Kids, the app strikes a balance between fun learning and entertainment for kids between the age of 02 to 08 years. The app will achieve this by delivering a holistic experience focussed on viewing, reading, listening and playing all in one place. The app encompasses Kids’ favourite toons, best of pre-school and learning shows, beautifully crafted picture e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes and will empower parents with relevant and superior quality engagement options for their children. Behind this impressive content line-up are partnerships with best in class brand owners and leaders like Nickelodeon, Oxford University Press, Warner Media, Green Gold, Ceebeebies, TV Asahi, Sony Music, Hasbro, Mattel, Lego and many more. 

     Speaking about VOOT’s venture into the premium subscription space, Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures said, “The foray into the subscription space with VOOT Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand VOOT. VOOT Kids has been built on the 3 pillars of Product Experience, Content and Safety. In VOOT Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focussed and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience. Our brand philosophy of ‘Masti Mein Acchai’ reflects our mission to make screen time meaningful.”

    VOOT Kids is a key enabler that enhances the bond between parents and children through immersive co-consumption experiences.  The curated ad-free content library has parental control features that allow parents to evaluate progress, limit screen time and track content consumed which makes VOOT Kids India’s safest one-stop online destination that entertains, engages and enriches kids, all under one roof.

    Elaborating, Saugato Bhowmik, Business Head, VOOT Kids said, “VOOT Kids is a category creating product in the space of digital fun learning that caters to needs of discerning Indian parents who seek meaningful screen-time that aids in holistic development of the child’s mental, emotional and social faculties. The app has the largest and most versatile offerings in the space of toon videos, e-books, audio stories and fun quizzes that provides children with a parent-controlled, safe and entertaining content destination.” He further added, “We believe masti should never be served up without acchai and the same holds true the other way around. And this is our guiding philosophy at VOOT Kids"

    VOOT Kids will be Viacom18’s first ever digital subscription service providing immersive content delivered through an elevated product experience and seamless gameplay. With this launch, VOOT Kids will bring alive the ‘Masti Main Acchai’ brand idea through a high decibel integrated marketing plan that will reach over 50 mn households driven by a mix of print, on-air, on-ground activations and digital outreach.  

  • VOOT Kids partners with Karadi Tales to bring to life popular Indian Classics

    VOOT Kids partners with Karadi Tales to bring to life popular Indian Classics

    MUMBAI: Do you remember the memories you made and the world you created when your grandma narrated those classic tales to you? Now imagine your kids enjoying the same traditional stories narrated in the magical voices of your favorite celebrities. VOOT Kids, the all-new entertainment and fun-learning app for kids from the house of Viacom18, is bringing to life this vast selection, partnering with the iconic Karadi Tales.  The recently launched VOOT Kids is all set to delight kids with these classics narrated in the enthralling voices of  legends like Naseeruddin Shah, Gulzar, Usha Uthup, sporting stalwarts like  Rahul Dravid  and phenomenal actors like Vidya Balan, Javed Jaffery, R Madhavan, amongst others, through a diverse collection of audio stories, set in riveting soundscapes. The Karadi Tales collection on VOOT Kids that is live now will also include e-books and videos.

    Introducing kids to various aspects of the Indian folklore, fables and culture, Karadi Tales with its bedtime stories, timeless tales of world’s greatest warriors and much more will provide an immersive story telling experience on VOOT Kids.  With hundreds of stories and book narrations by the diverse repertoire of well-known celebrities, VOOT Kids is sure to enrich every child’s entertainment and learning experience. 

    “VOOT Kids endeavors to provide children with an immersive and holistic edutainment experience. With a wide array of content from Video, Audio stories, E-books, learning segments and more, the platform is set to become a key part of every child’s daily entertainment and fun learning journey.  Audio stories is a magical segment, which will definitely fire up their imagination and allow every child to visualize a story in their own unique way," VOOT Kids business head Saugato Bhowmik commented on the partnership. 

    “Partnering with marquee content partners like Karadi tales, that bring to life culturally rich and relevant stories with morals and learnings, is sure to add significant value to every child’s entertainment need and cognitive skills,” he further added.

    "The storytelling tradition in our country spans over 3000 years. This experience of storytelling involves not just the written word but visual imagery, vibrant narration, exciting sound and music textures. Karadi Tales has been involved in taking the joy of Indian folklore and storytelling for over 2 decades now. Karadi Tales audiobooks feature master storytellers from the Indian theatre and film world. The music and songs are based on the Indian classical music traditions and the visual imagery, on the phenomenal art traditions from across the Indian milieu.  

    Karadi Tales is thrilled to celebrate the sights and sounds of India with VOOT Kids, to take the joy of storytelling to children across our country," Karadi Tales creative director Narayan Parasuram added.

  • VOOT Kids licenses children’s content from Oxford University Press

    VOOT Kids licenses children’s content from Oxford University Press

    MUMBAI: Viacom18 Media Pvt. Ltd’s digital arm Viacom18 Digital Ventures has gone live with India’s most inclusive kids’ entertainment and fun learning OTT application: VOOT Kids.  Catering to the digitally native kids’ ecosystem, VOOT Kids is all set to redefine entertainment and pedagogy through a diverse and multi-genre content offering across Watch, Read, Listen and Learn segments. Further expanding the entertainment experience in the kids’ category, VOOT Kids, the all new fun edutainment platform, has engaged with iconic brands including Oxford University Press to fortify its rich content library by licensing 175 junior fiction and non-fiction titles. The 500+ e-books now available on VOOT Kids, including the titles from Oxford University Press, are all set to provide an immersive reading experience to children across the nation.

    Offering the most pedagogically advanced learning and educational content, Oxford University Press is a globally well-known and trustworthy brand with a wide range of children’s books. With its vast and multi-varied genre of content, VOOT Kids’ content slate (READ section) will now include much-loved titles by Oxford University Press, including traditional tales and rewritten classics, such as The Jungle Book, The Three Musketeers and Gulliver's Travels.

    Speaking about VOOT Kids and the content licensed from Oxford University Press, Saugato Bhowmik – Business Head, VOOT Kids, said, “Kids today are screenagers and have emerged as prolific users of content on digital.  As digital natives, they are the first to adopt trends on digital. It was hence imperative to create a platform that offers holistic entertainment and learning experience that would improve quality and relevance of content consumption by kids on digital. VOOT Kids is just that – An inclusive app aimed at enriching Kids’ entertainment and learning experience on digital through immersive segments that encourage reading, story-telling, quizzes, etc.”

    He further added “Kids love stories and the addition of junior fiction titles from Oxford on VOOT Kids are sure to add significant diversity and value to our vast content slate”

    Commenting on the recently signed content licensing agreement with Viacom18 Media, Giuseppe Trapani, Senior Business Development Manager, Oxford University Press, said, “We are delighted to partner with VOOT Kids, and support its users’ learning through reading for pleasure. We commend VOOT Kids in its mission to bridge the gap between learning, knowledge and entertainment, and this collaboration with VOOT Kids will allow Oxford University Press to introduce even more readers to many of its most-loved books for children.”

    With over 5000+ hours of content consisting of children’s all-time favourite Indian and International shows like Dora the Explorer, Oswald, Motu Patlu, Peppa Pig, Chhota Bheem, Ben10, Barbie Dreamtopia ,  diverse  book titles , immersive  audio books and fun learning games, VOOT Kids is  all set to offer a dynamic and inclusive experience of fun, learning and entertainment.

  • VOOT’s Akash Banerji hints at introduction of interactive content around fiction programming

    VOOT’s Akash Banerji hints at introduction of interactive content around fiction programming

    MUMBAI: With a rich line-up of content and advanced solution for advertisers, Viacom18’s OTT arm, VOOT, has pledged to reach 100 million monthly active users within the fiscal year on its third anniversary. The advertising-based video on-demand (AVOD) platform is now looking at the introduction of a freemium model in the second half of the year, VOOT Kids, which is at the beta testing stage, further expansion of international business followed by an entry in the UK. More interestingly, the streaming platform may introduce interactive opportunities for consumers around fiction content.

    “I think that’s where a huge unlocking of value is going to happen. Just imagine if a drama show is running, you can decide what you want the protagonist of the drama show to do, what choice he or she should make which could be about the relationships, which could be at a certain inflexion point in the storyline and you act on it. Either you do what consumers are looking for or you do something different to surprise them. This is one of the things that we have been discussing and you will see something interesting coming up,” VOOT AVOD business head Akash Banerji commented when asked if the platform has any plan to introduce interactive content around fiction programming.

    While the platform had already ventured into the branded content opportunities, it is now introducing VOOT Studios, a business performance-oriented content-tech solution for advertisers. Explaining the rationale behind the move, Banerji pointed out key problems for advertisers. According to him, although brands started creating an interesting array of short-form content they did not necessarily drive great business value or ROI. Brands failed to realise sometimes creating content alone cannot drive the conversation and engagement unless more pieces of data and tech are added to it.

    Banerji said that the second big barrier is the inability to initiate dialogue with content writers, data scientists, tech people, agencies, etc. for brand building and, more importantly, how to bring all of that together.

    “We are a digital-first brand and we have this huge roster of maverick rich insights and deep consumer understanding of more than 1000 plus audience segments. We will not just make stories for VOOT, we will integrate data and tech and give out solutions which are bespoke and will help solve a brand’s specific need. That has actually led to the birth of VOOT Studio. Essentially, we have just institutionalised this entire solution from our side,” he added.

    He also noted that the platform gets all kind of large advertisers including CPGs, e-commerce brands, fashion brands, consumer durables on board. Banerji pointed out that the brands don’t have the luxury anymore to think of spending on TV alone as everyone knows the next wave of audience growth and audience time spent is happening on digital. While a CPG brand advertising on digital would have raised eyebrows earlier, brands today are thinking differently.

    Digital brands today turn to OTT for better ROI while non-digital brands come for branding purposes.

  • Audience is understanding importance of licensed merchandise: Saugato Bhowmik

    Audience is understanding importance of licensed merchandise: Saugato Bhowmik

    MUMBAI: You walk into a kids store and you see Sponge Bob backpacks, a sipper of Lightning McQueen from Cars, or a t-shirt with the word Barbie embossed on it. Licensed merchandises are everywhere today.

    The retail licensing business in India is estimated to be worth $1.26 billion where entertainment license is valued at $406 million, sports licensing at $30 million and fashion licensing at $594 million. However, Indian brands make up less than 10 per cent of licensing and merchandising activity in India. 

    The Indian licensing and merchandising market is primarily dominated by Disney followed by Viacom18 and Turner (Cartoon Network). While Disney merchandise has been available in India for over 30 years, Viacom entered the business only 8 years back and already has a large share in the segment. 

    Viacom18 Consumer Products is a significant player in the ever-growing consumer products space with its diverse portfolio. Viacom18 has channels including Colors, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, Vh1 and MTV and sells licensed merchandises for its marquee characters including perfumes, jewellery, footwear, watches, bottles, tiffin boxes, apparel, backpacks, jackets, beauty products, etc. 

    The advancements in technology and expanding marketplaces have been key to successful licensing programmes in India in the last few years. But local trademark owners and licensees need to now follow in the footsteps of international brands and adopt licensing as a core revenue stream.

    While the licensing business is pretty fascinating, it has its own challenges. While you may be able to buy a licensed product in a store or a mall at Rs 200, you will find the same product being sold at street corners for Rs 100. Counterfeit is a huge challenge for the industry and though it can’t be completely eradicated, it can, however, be reduced by exercising raids and creating consumer awareness.

    License India recently concluded its trade show India Licensing Expo 2018 for the budding licensing fraternity to apprise themselves on the concept of licensing as a business module, and explore exhibited licensing opportunities in multiple product categories. The show gathers the potential of the industry to network and connect, to further explore possibilities to grow bigger and faster in the given peripheries. 

    Indiantelevision.com spoke exclusively to Voot Kids, INS and consumer products business head Saugato Bhowmik and Viacom International Media Networks London VP licensing and business development Dan Frugtniet where they discussed the licensing business in India, the scope and challenges, their target consumer and much more. Excerpts:

    Licensing is relatively new in India as an organised sector. How do you view the segment? 

    Saugato Bhowmik: Licensing is an exciting business where India has grown rapidly. It is a young industry and there are a lot of brands that have come to India which have been led by us and our friendly competitors but we still need more brands to come in.

    How big is the licensing sector in India? What is the market size?

    Saugato Bhowmik: As per our estimate, the licensing business today is around $1.4 billion of retail sales which includes all kinds of licensing — fashion, sports, entertainment and characters. Viacom18 operates in about 40 per cent of the licensing segment which is in entertainment and character licensing and some part of the sports licensing. It has been an exciting journey for the last 5-6 years for Viacom18 consumer products because we have grown rapidly. 

    What is Viacom18 Consumer Product’s market share in the licensing business?

    Saugato Bhowmik: There is no way to identify the market share of any player as there are no syndicated industry reports that suggest market share. Also, it’s difficult to identify the market share of a business that is a horizontal multi-category business. However, what we’ve learnt from our partners is that Viacom18 Consumer Products is the second largest consumer product business in India. The number one player has been in India for 30 years, whereas we have been here for only 6-7 years but we have grown aggressively in the last five years.

    But licensing as a business is still expensive in India…

    Saugato Bhowmik: If you are going to add the value to the brand to a product, that price incremental will happen. Yes, some licensed merchandises like toys, hard lines are important because a lot of the manufacturing base is not yet in India. The Indian government, on the contrary, wants the manufacturing to move to India because that is when the pricing will go down and the industry will grow further. It’s slow going on that front, but we expect that in the upcoming years, as more consumers move into this piece, the demand will grow and you will see manufacturing base growing further. 

    What are your most popular characters for licensing and merchandising?

    We are primarily structured around our brands SpongeBob, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Dora, Shimmer and Shine and others. We also have Viacom18’s own homegrown animation that has been tremendously successful. Motu Patlu, Gattu Battu, Shiva and Rudra have been some of our exciting properties. Motu Patlu is in the top three brands in India at any given time. We are also seeing spectacular results with Shivaas well.

    You are here at the India Licensing Expo 2018. What is Viacom18 looking at from this licensing expo?

    Dan Frugtniet: India Licensing Expo is a place where common shareholders, stakeholders, licensees, licensors get together to build the industry. We need much more of this. We are a huge believer in these trade shows and expect the footfall to increase over the years. These trade shows are for long term building and commitment on partnership and trust because we need to meet our partners in person. It’s important to have domestic market trade shows where we can help home grown stakeholders have a meeting place but also where all licensors can come and expand their business by meeting their partners.

    What are the key challenges in this sector? What’s your plan to overcome them?

    Saugato Bhowmik: There are a lot of challenges for licensing business in India in terms of infrastructure, retail fragmentation and depth of audience. But all the metrics are in the right direction and the economy is in the right direction. The e-commerce is headed in the right direction and the audience is now understanding the importance/worth of licensed merchandise. We are getting better at it with more licensees coming into the business, more distributors being added to the business, more manufacturers and retailers coming in. The industry is headed in the right direction but we have to continue investing as there is no easy growth. It’s still a long distance to go before licensing as an industry becomes massive yardstick business like it is in the UK and US.

    Today, there are several international brands present in the market that have become kids’ favourite. Is there a competition and challenge for you to create distinguished products?

    Saugato Bhowmik: There is no such theory to prove it and it’s all about brand love. Different people get attached to different brands. A fan of Motu Patlu who is five years old is obsessed with Motu Patlu. The concept of international and domestic doesn’t exist in kids’ head and it’s the characters that they fall in love with. This domestic v/s international characters may be the theory for adult audiences where they may view international brands as more premium. But I can’t really comment on it.

    What about Roadies merchandise? We don’t get to see them a lot. What are your sales points for them?

    Saugato Bhowmik: You can find Roadies collection on e-commerce sites. Earlier we had done several deals in the apparel and eyewear category. We have exited a lot of existing partnerships. We are going a little slow on youth space because we want the right partnership to happen for both MTV and Roadies. For youth, we don’t want to get a deal with smaller partners. While partnering with someone, we look at the product aesthetics, distribution, ability to market as it has to be at a different level altogether, which is why are taking it slow and selectively appointing partner.

    The time between your deciding on launching merchandise and it actually hitting the shop is huge! How do you strategise on what to launch and what to miss?

    Dan Frugtniet: There is nothing worse for a brand owner than its product launch not working because it reflects badly on us. There’s a lot of time, energy and money that goes behind it and that’s why it is best to invest cautiously on youth market as it’s very difficult to identify what is hot and what is not for the target demographic as it changes rapidly and our deals are not fast. It may take us 3-6 months to get the contract signed, followed by 3-9 months to get the product produced, shipped and listed on stores. You’re talking 12 months which is the quickest you can get a product out in the market. By that time, some of the trends have gone! We have to be extremely cautious about what we launch and select the properties with a detailed eye. 

    Where do you see most of your consumers coming from that want to buy merchandise?

    Saugato Bhowmik: At the moment, most of our consumers come in from six metros but over the next 3-4 years, I do predict that half of our audiences will come from beyond the metro cities because of e-commerce and a lot of local animation licensing taking off.

    What’s your distribution strength and how do you plan on penetrating rural India?

    Saugato Bhowmik: We want to tap into everyone from rural and urban equally. We want to tap into people from all kinds of economy strata and not just have one kind of consumers but have a wide portfolio. 

    What are your online sales like?

    Saugato Bhowmik: E-commerce definitely gives us a lot of access into cities and towns where we did not have any presence in. But, discoverability has always been a challenge on online platforms and we work with our partners to improve our discoverability. 

    How do you choose your partners?

    Saugato Bhowmik: For us to decide on a successful partnership, we ensure the partners have enough expertise and professionalism. Product quality is most important and ensuring the partner has good distribution is also needed.

    Do you think counterfeit is a challenge for the licensing industry or does it not bother you?

    Saugato Bhowmik: Imitation products only get sold if there’s a demand and it makes us happy to see that there is a demand. We do take actions from time to time to send the message out but today, license merchandising business is not yet equipped to address everyone in the Indian market and gradually over a period of time, counterfeiting will go away as our technology and reach gets better. It’s what happened to music streaming, where there was a point when nobody paid for music streaming but today music piracy has gone away. Technology changed the game for them and while it might not change the game completely for us but technology will change the industry.

    Dan Frugtniet: We have reduced counterfeit with direct action by raids and seizures. I think it’s important to educate the consumers about the health risks of giving imitated toys to their kids. If not today, these things will eventually stop.

    How do you view the licensing business in India going forward?

    Saugato Bhowmik: I think more and more players will keep coming in because the industry is going to grow. I think a lot of international players will come in and a lot of Indian brands will also start to understand the licensing business and they will get into it.

    What is your strategy and plan for Viacom18 Consumer Product growth? How do you want to take the business forward?

    Saugato Bhowmik: The plan is to just keep growing very aggressively in high double digits every year because we want to make it a large scale profitable business. We want to continuously grow our existing brand portfolio and bring in more brands, open new categories and new experiences categories. A lot of hard work ahead but an exciting time.

  • We aim at building a parent-approved, kids’ favourite brand, says Voot’s Akash Banerji

    MUMBAI: Viacom18’s VOOT is all set roll out a hi-decibel campaign for its kids content segment – Voot Kids. The campaign will have two TVCs in three languages — Hindi, Kannada and Marathi, depicting six situations.

    “To amplify the campaign, we are going heavy on the Viacom18 network including Nickelodeon. We are also going out of our network, and buying spots on Discovery and Turner Network. On the digital and social media platforms, we would be be releasing the campaign on Youtube and Facebook,” Viacom18 digital ventures head – marketing & partnerships Akash Banerji told Indiantelevision.com in a telephonic conversation.

    “We want to be perceived as the platform which aggregates the best and the most premium stack of kids content,” he added.

    Voot Kids has been a key differentiator and a big driving force behind the platforms viewership acceleration and engagement growth. With over 2000+ hours of content, 8000+ videos and 125+ characters, Voot Kids claims to have the largest digital repository of premium kid’s content, since the platform’s launch a year ago. The primary brands on board are — Kinder Joy, Colgate, Mattel Toys and Amazon Kindle.

    Banerji said, “Kids live in a universe of their own – their toys, favourite toons, games/activities with their friends, their possessions, etc. make up a large part of the world they relate to. The concept of #NoMoreAtakoing (I will no longer be stuck in uncomfortable situations) is fundamentally rooted in the compulsions of nuclear families and the resulting situations where kids find themselves in dull and unrelatable situations; Voot Kids swoops in to save the day and make them smile.

    “We’ve delivered this message through an ‘anthem’ and several relatable situations. Our endeavour is to ensure that entertainment and development continues unhindered for kids through engaging characters and immersive storytelling,” Banerji emphasised. “Parents should get on the guilt-ridden trip in a very endearing manner to bring a smile on the child’s face,” he added.

    On the peak hours and the growth in viewership, he said “Unlike linear TV, the peak viewership happens at 9pm on Voot Kids because children get their hands on the mobile phones as the family is busy in traditional entertainment. We have had a peak on 18 June because everyone was watching India versus Pakistan final, which might not be interest to a 4-9 years old child.,” Banerji said. “In the last 6-7 months since Voot Kids’ launch in November, we have witnessed a 15X growth in viewership,” Banerji informed.

    The engaging kid’s entertainment destination has now rolled out an immersive campaign “Bachche ab no more atko’ing” as a solution for parents who inadvertently place their children in the midst of boring situations — while they go about their daily chores. The campaign conceptualised by Mullen Lintas is poised to amplify engagement for Voot Kids.

    Voot Kids understands empowers both, kids and parents, by becoming the kids’ best friend, transporting them into an entertaining and imaginary world brimming with excitement and delight. This message has been delivered through a creative film that will captivate both parents and kids.

    Watch video here :

    The music video depicts the everyday stories of kids stuck in awkward situations in the adult world. A young boy yawning behind his father in a hair salon, another awesomely bored boy stuck in a saree shop with his mom, then there’s this girl who finds herself out of place in her sister’s pre-engagement function.

    The campaign will witness a marketing outreach that will include home as well as cross channel promotions, digital platforms and innovative social media outreach (for the parents) and amplification initiatives.

    Speaking about the creative process, Mullen Lintas EVP Ayyappan Raj, “Voot is one of the leading brands in the Digital Video space and we are very proud to be associated with it. The brief for this campaign was based on a simple but powerful insight of ‘kids being stuck in an adult world’. “No more Atakoing…” is all about, a jolly anthem of kids being stuck in different situations.” Mullen Lintas ECD Garima Khandelwal said, “Kids being lost in their own creative world is, any day, more fun than they being trapped in ours, was the starting point of this brand film. We used a simple mnemonic of a rotating chair to tie together all the normal and everyday places for adults, but boring places for kids to be in.”

  • Voot turns kids ‘goody goody’ with unique TVC

    Voot turns kids ‘goody goody’ with unique TVC

    MUMBAI: Kids are the ready and excited end-consumers of Voot Kids but parents often scale down their enthusiasm by being gatekeepers. The journey of any marketer to promote a product like this and growing from zero to 50+ advertisers is not easy.

    Encouraging the kids to access such a platform as well as making parents comfortable with handing over their phones to them remains crucial. And, how better can this gap be bridged with lucid storytelling and a catchy musical anthem that grabs the attention of kids and parents alike.

    Banking on three things- television content, kids and originals- this OTT platform observes 15 per cent share of the overall traffic coming from kids. Riding high on kids content behind it’s viewership and user growth, Voot has launched a new TVC capturing how kids from across India have taken to the new way of life and turned ‘goody goody’ in their ultimate quest to earn Voot time.

    “The loyalty factor from kids is very high. They are obsessive about characters. So, everything has to revolve around the character that they like. The amount of money parents spent on these characters is huge. We looked at the top 10 characters that the kids like and we built on that,” said Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi.

    The special anthem Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge! will roll out across all major kids channels and digital  platforms on 30 September.

    With 10 characters to be added to its 100+ character library, the platform will focus more on originals in 2017.

    The time spent by kids on Voot is approximately 30 minutes on an average while they spend close to 45 minutes on weekends and 25 minutes on weekdays. Unlike the traditional, linear from of content consumption wherein the peak viewing of kids content happens during the early evening; Voot Kids in contrast witnesses a peak that coincides with the prime time on national GECs wherein the mobile gets passed onto the kids as the parents take control over the remote. “The primetime for kids on our platform is 9 pm. Adding to that, Sundays are huge for us wherein the consumption just jumps upto 40 per cent compared to any other day,” added Gandhi.

    “Kids are the masters of negotiations. They know what they want and how to get it. But the catch is that the parents know these antics and are willing to evolve the kids if they see a good behaviour being displaced by them. The communication that we have created was to showcase this varied but interesting dynamics between the parents and their kids. You will see the kids doing ‘goody goody’ things in this film. The music and anthem of the campaign is something each one of us can relate to as we have grown up listening to this popular song,” adds Viacom18 head marketing and partnerships Akash Banerji.

    The advertisers too are lapping up this opportunity on Voot Kids with open arms as they seek to connect and engage with this mobile-first generation who are the influencers of today and the decision makers of tomorrow. It has close to 50+ advertisers on board out of which 10 are especially for Voot Kids. Targeted at an age group of 1-12, Voot plans to launch a tablet app in a week’s time followed by a campaign on the same.

    “We feel that this segment is only set to grow, both in size and influence, and we want to be the default digital platform of choice for kids entertainment. Our endeavour is to build a parent-approved kids-favourite brand, and we will continue to develop exciting campaigns and dial up engagement with this community even further,” added Gandhi.

    The campaigns will be promoted across Viacom18 network and will be heavily leveraged on social media.

    About the campaigns: The campaign comprises multiple TVCs featuring lots of kids. The films depict kids’ heroics as they happily embrace the very tasks that kids are usually known for not doing willingly.

    The films showcase a range of situations where the kids turn to their ‘goody goody’ best – a boy getting out of the bed in the night to brush his teeth unprompted, another young boy with spiky hair combing it vigorously to turn it into a good-boy hairstyle, a cute little girl goes onto finishing the very last drop of milk from a glass, a young girl wiping clean the wall that once was her canvas, another boy is seen tidying up his bed and surprisingly a boy denying potato chips being offered while sitting on a park bench. What follows is a happy smiley parent handing over their mobile phone to their kid for a well-deserved Voot time. In the background of each of the two films you hear the chorus of kids singing this catchy Voot Kids anthem and reciting their favourite characters for whom they’re turning to this new way of life. The closing line captures the core thought very aptly – Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge!

    TVC:

    Link1: https://youtu.be/55AVLumuWEY

    Link2: https://youtu.be/vrcDmXDnRxM

  • Voot turns kids ‘goody goody’ with unique TVC

    Voot turns kids ‘goody goody’ with unique TVC

    MUMBAI: Kids are the ready and excited end-consumers of Voot Kids but parents often scale down their enthusiasm by being gatekeepers. The journey of any marketer to promote a product like this and growing from zero to 50+ advertisers is not easy.

    Encouraging the kids to access such a platform as well as making parents comfortable with handing over their phones to them remains crucial. And, how better can this gap be bridged with lucid storytelling and a catchy musical anthem that grabs the attention of kids and parents alike.

    Banking on three things- television content, kids and originals- this OTT platform observes 15 per cent share of the overall traffic coming from kids. Riding high on kids content behind it’s viewership and user growth, Voot has launched a new TVC capturing how kids from across India have taken to the new way of life and turned ‘goody goody’ in their ultimate quest to earn Voot time.

    “The loyalty factor from kids is very high. They are obsessive about characters. So, everything has to revolve around the character that they like. The amount of money parents spent on these characters is huge. We looked at the top 10 characters that the kids like and we built on that,” said Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi.

    The special anthem Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge! will roll out across all major kids channels and digital  platforms on 30 September.

    With 10 characters to be added to its 100+ character library, the platform will focus more on originals in 2017.

    The time spent by kids on Voot is approximately 30 minutes on an average while they spend close to 45 minutes on weekends and 25 minutes on weekdays. Unlike the traditional, linear from of content consumption wherein the peak viewing of kids content happens during the early evening; Voot Kids in contrast witnesses a peak that coincides with the prime time on national GECs wherein the mobile gets passed onto the kids as the parents take control over the remote. “The primetime for kids on our platform is 9 pm. Adding to that, Sundays are huge for us wherein the consumption just jumps upto 40 per cent compared to any other day,” added Gandhi.

    “Kids are the masters of negotiations. They know what they want and how to get it. But the catch is that the parents know these antics and are willing to evolve the kids if they see a good behaviour being displaced by them. The communication that we have created was to showcase this varied but interesting dynamics between the parents and their kids. You will see the kids doing ‘goody goody’ things in this film. The music and anthem of the campaign is something each one of us can relate to as we have grown up listening to this popular song,” adds Viacom18 head marketing and partnerships Akash Banerji.

    The advertisers too are lapping up this opportunity on Voot Kids with open arms as they seek to connect and engage with this mobile-first generation who are the influencers of today and the decision makers of tomorrow. It has close to 50+ advertisers on board out of which 10 are especially for Voot Kids. Targeted at an age group of 1-12, Voot plans to launch a tablet app in a week’s time followed by a campaign on the same.

    “We feel that this segment is only set to grow, both in size and influence, and we want to be the default digital platform of choice for kids entertainment. Our endeavour is to build a parent-approved kids-favourite brand, and we will continue to develop exciting campaigns and dial up engagement with this community even further,” added Gandhi.

    The campaigns will be promoted across Viacom18 network and will be heavily leveraged on social media.

    About the campaigns: The campaign comprises multiple TVCs featuring lots of kids. The films depict kids’ heroics as they happily embrace the very tasks that kids are usually known for not doing willingly.

    The films showcase a range of situations where the kids turn to their ‘goody goody’ best – a boy getting out of the bed in the night to brush his teeth unprompted, another young boy with spiky hair combing it vigorously to turn it into a good-boy hairstyle, a cute little girl goes onto finishing the very last drop of milk from a glass, a young girl wiping clean the wall that once was her canvas, another boy is seen tidying up his bed and surprisingly a boy denying potato chips being offered while sitting on a park bench. What follows is a happy smiley parent handing over their mobile phone to their kid for a well-deserved Voot time. In the background of each of the two films you hear the chorus of kids singing this catchy Voot Kids anthem and reciting their favourite characters for whom they’re turning to this new way of life. The closing line captures the core thought very aptly – Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge!

    TVC:

    Link1: https://youtu.be/55AVLumuWEY

    Link2: https://youtu.be/vrcDmXDnRxM

  • Will people vote for VOOT?

    Will people vote for VOOT?

    MUMBAI: Banking heavily on building a compelling proposition with a focus on the big drivers of digital video on demand business, Viacom’s recently launched digital arm VOOT has successfully managed to create its own niche within a few months of its launch. From being the biggest online destination in India for kids’ premium content to having four successful originals with one new addition every month, the platform has strategically mapped its differentiated play and competitive edge over the rest.

    Targeted to be the one stop destination from tots to adults, the platform currently airs 17,000 hours of programming which includes reality, drama, comedy and kids’ content. The platform is majorly investing on the network’s rich kids content and plans to go beyond the network’s flagship shows like Motu Patlu and Shiva, and to acquire kids content from an array of producers, small and large.

    “The two critical aspects of a digital video on demand business are content and product and we have a fairly differentiated play, with a competitive edge, on both the fronts. With our collection of biggest toons in Voot Kids’, we have a huge competitive advantage of being the only destination to catch the all your most favourite characters and toons online. And our original strategy gives us the ultimate edge”, says Viacom18 Digital Ventures COO Gaurav Gandhi.

    Apart from the rich kids’ content, Viacom18’s entire content library, including Colors, MTV and Nick is also digitally available on the platform.

    Additionally, VOOT embellishes this with content around content as Voot originals. Long and short form of originals includes web-series like Chinese Bhassad which is written by Raahil Qaazi and directed and produced by Saurabh Tewari, a chat show with Alok Nath titled Sinskari produced by Monozygotic Productions, a mocumentary film Badman starring Gulshan Grover and Soadies, a sitcom tribute to the iconic reality show Roadies which stars Baba Sehgal.

    Sharing the experience of working with the evolving platform, Monozygotic Productions co-founder Rajiv Laxman asserts, “I am happy with the launch of Voot as a player that encourages and supports differentiating edgy content. We created Sinskaari for it and it was an awesome experience for us. This is just the beginning for them. It will eventually see lot more growth during its entire journey”.

    Not only its distinctive UI enhances each of its content piece, the platform also has social features like shouts, micro celebrity and sharing integrated with video, many of which are first in this space. Further, for the kids’ section, it has first of its kind features like parental lock and shake to search.

    “What Indian players can do to improve the industry is that the OTT platforms and the producers can synergise and think together to bring greater value to the consumer. They could start by releasing unseen footages, shooting goof-ups, candid reactions of stars, etc., on OTT platforms over the contextual to the film”, adds another spokesperson from the industry.

    “It was a nice experience working with Voot and Gaurav. Digital gives us the liberty to experiment with various content formats and also gives us an opportunity to attempt various subjects that are not possible to put on TV. Content with limited budget can go on digital platform with a different treatment and narrative like a movie”, says producer Saurabh Tewari.

    According to Frost and Sullivan’s market insight on the OTT video market in India, there are about 66 million unique connected video viewers in India every month, and about 1.3 million OTT paid video subscribers. Growth in the space can be attributed to the increase in smart-phones penetration as well as the improvement in Internet speeds in India.

    Voot has already set an aggressive target of getting to 3 million (30 lakh) daily active users within the first 12 months of launch in India. It also plans to actively evaluate the space on subscription have extensions in that space when the time is right. The team is also exploring the option of taking Voot to international markets.

    “Because the entertainment market is so broad, multiple brands can be successful. Many people will subscribe to several services (including Netflix) since we have different, exclusive content. The transition to Internet TV, with its greater consumer satisfaction, will mean growth for many Internet TV services”, adds a Netflix spokesperson

    “It’s still early days in this space for everyone in India where the overall digital video consumption is booming. While the space is large enough for multiple players, there are many challenges. “The right model (ad supported vs freemium vs pay -TVOD/SVOD) is a function of content as well as target audience and many of these models (and others) will emerge over a period of time. This is an expensive business with long gestation where spends are required on technology (product), content and marketing on a continuous basis. So, players coming into these business need to factor in all of these factors”, stresses Gandhi.

    The platform will start taking advertising from June and already has large advertising deals in place with the two of the largest media agencies as well as several large advertisers. The players are closing out the formalities for the same and will see advertising starting on VOOT very shortly.

    The new digital content brand has clearly laid down three imperatives, first on the list is building a compelling brand proposition. Establishing on this, the player recently launched three brand campaigns focusing on the uncontrollable excitement of the consumers; all craving for Voot anywhere anytime like a good addiction. This excitement from consumers across all age groups leads to a loud encore Voot Wanting Wanting! Amplification of the brand identity will continue across all mediums.

    The campaigns cater to multiple target groups expanding from kids to adults. With a catchy jingle ‘what to do, VOOT to do, wanting wanting’, the service wants to urge, excite and make its viewers restless for addictive content which if started to consume is unstoppable. An overwhelmed Gandhi adds, “We have had a phenomenal response to our launch campaign (wanting wanting) and have seen a huge inflow of audiences and users both on the app and the web. The engagement time we are seeing on the app as well as the web is also very healthy. The response to our original shows has also been fantastic”.

    The second key element is to drive consumer adoption for a new and a mass brand. Mass media continues to give it reach, helping in driving awareness of the new brand. The player extensively concentrates on digital mediums to get relevant consumers and precisely target their nice. “It becomes important for us to get good quality consumers at scale, each of them watching their favourite content and discovering new stories on the platform”, points out Gandhi.

    The VOD platform accelerates engagement with consumers driving daily watch-time. Its cornerstone marketing strategy implies to all the digital essentials that are primarily focused on getting more people to come often and spend more time in watching videos.

    “Voot looks very promising and will deliver audiences which are tough to catch. Some of the content on it is unique and has huge potential even on mass channels like TV. This might just be the beginning of content reverse flow from digital to TV”, says Vibrant Media VP Karthik Lakshminarayan.

    “The winner is the one who invests heavily on original content and that is Voot’ plus point. This helps in creating its own identity, its own niche rather than banking on other players who just put their GEC content on board. This will definitely make a difference going further”, adds Tewari.

    With YouTube at the helm of this space followed by various other digital properties, the space is poised to grow at a fast pace in the years ahead. Media observers are expecting a revolution in the Indian digital market in the coming two years.

    The competition in the digital space is set to intensify with the key differentiators being user experience and variety of content offering. It will be interesting to see what this new addition to the entire digital ecosystem has in store for its viewers.