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Tag: Zee5

  • ZEE5 launches ‘Republic of Entertainment’ campaign to democratise content viewing

    ZEE5 launches ‘Republic of Entertainment’ campaign to democratise content viewing

    MUMBAI: As India begins to celebrate Republic Day, ZEE5 takes a pledge to entertain the nation and every Indian with the best of content from across the length and breadth of the vast Indian subcontinent. Commemorating the day when the constitution of India officially came into force and the country transitioned to become an independent republic, Republic Day holds a special significance for every Indian. ZEE5 imbibes the essence of this momentous occasion to transform into a ‘Republic of Entertainment’ and entertain every Indian with content in 12 languages and multiple genres encompassing blockbuster movies, path-breaking original web-series, India’s most popular TV shows, live TV channels, latest super-hit music videos, lip-smacking recipes and fun content for kids.

    The pledge, “This Republic Day, we pledge to entertain you, with no bias to language or genre, the best of entertainment – with the most variety and diversity, We are the republic of entertainment!”, will be taken by Bollywood, TV, digital and music celebrities. The pledge reinforces ZEE5 as the premier entertainment hub for viewers, without any bias to language or genre.

    ZEE5 programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “Indian culture, often labeled as an amalgamation of several cultures, spans across the Indian subcontinent and has been influenced by a history that is dated several years ago. Many elements of India's diverse cultures, such as Indian philosophy, cuisine, languages, dance, music, and movies have a profound impact across the country and the world. At ZEE5 we believe that it is our duty to entertain all equally with content that has no bias towards any particular language or genre, content that celebrates the variety and diversity of India and its people! We have therefore decided to take a pledge of entertainment on this day and create a republic of entertain at ZEE5!”

    With 125,000 hours of content / entertainment across 12 languages, 800+ top-rated TV shows, 4100+ movies, 90+ path-breaking originals, super-hit music videos, 90+ live channels, 30+ news channels, 3000+ hours of kids content, lip-smacking food videos, and more, ZEE5’s depth of offerings across content types, genres and languages is hard to beat and appeals to the viewer looking for a complete entertainment package destination.

  • Edelweiss, Elara Capital stay bullish on ZEEL; raise target price

    Edelweiss, Elara Capital stay bullish on ZEEL; raise target price

    MUMBAI: Despite a decline in advertising revenue, EBITDA, brokerage firms Edelweiss and Elara Capital are bullish on the target price of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL). The analysts also expect ZEEL to maintain its momentum in subscription revenue growth.

    Edelweiss expects ZEEL to be a key beneficiary of the NTO regime given its strong pan-India viewership, comprehensive bouquet offerings, and entry in new markets. The firm maintains the target PE of 20x and roll forward to June 2021 to arrive at a target price of Rs 424.

    “We expect ZEEL to maintain momentum in subscription revenue growth; however, its secular growth is hinged on the resumption of the advertising momentum, particularly by FMCG and auto players. In our view, though promoters have sought a resolution on share pledging, watch out for the outcome of the ongoing audits. We maintain the target PE of 20x and roll forward to June 2021 to arrive at a TP of Rs 424. The stock is trading at ~14x/12x FY21E/22E EPS. Maintain ‘BUY/SP’,” says Edelweiss in a research report.

    “ZEEL trades at a fair valuation of 15x FY21E P/E and 14x FY22E P/E, which factor in concerns on ad revenues from macroeconomic headwinds and limit scope for potential downside. ZEEL also had an overhang due to strategic partner uncertainty, which negatively affected valuation for over a year; however, post the 22 November announcement that the promoter stake has reduced to 4.9 per cent to resolve group firm debt,” Elara Capital comments.

    It has raised its target P/E by 25 per cent to 17.5x (from 14.0x) forward P/E. It reiterates Accumulate and raise its December 2020E TP to Rs 350 from Rs 310. It predicts ZEEL will continue to trade at a small premium to SUNTV, given better ad growth prospects and scale-up in digital (ZEE5).

    However, it has mentioned that concerns persist on the ad growth front, as the FMCG vertical has yet to show signs of improvement in ad spend while macroeconomic headwinds persist with economic slowdown. Further, implementation to NTO 2.0 also would impact ad spend on the negative, given the transition period.

    It also says that the positive impact of new channel launches for the ad segment is likely to be offset by the negative impact of a decline in international ad spend as ZEEL plans to move away from traditional TV in overseas markets. It also pared off its ad growth estimates to 8 per cent in FY21, given the scope of outperformance has converged for the network, as ad spend remains weak for the GEC genre and some select regional genres seem to have peaked for strong double-digit growth.  However, there may be some respite for ad growth if Zee Anmol becomes a pay channel post NTO 2.0.

    After subscription growth of 23 per cent YoY thanks to NTO1.0, Elara Capital expects this segment to remain flat in FY21, due to NTO 2.0. It also adds that in an adverse scenario, scope exists for low single-digit decline. EBITDA margins remain under pressure, with content investment on the digital side and launch of five new regional channels in Q4FY20, which remain an overhang. Hence, it expects margin to fall below 30 per cent in FY21E.

  • ZEE5 records peak DAU base of 11.4 mn in December 2019

    ZEE5 records peak DAU base of 11.4 mn in December 2019

    MUMBAI: ZEEL's (Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd) digital venture ZEE5 has recorded a peak DAU (Daily Active Users) base of 11.4 million in December 2019. Along with more users flocking towards the platform, the engagement has also gone up to 140 mintues watch time every month during the third quarter. The media conglomerate has revealed the statistics in its third-quarter result. 

    During the quarter, ZEE5 ramped up its quantity of content, updated user interface and widened the distribution. The platform launched 26 original shows and movies, of which 14 were in regional languages. Moreover, a refreshed ZEE5 Progressive Web App (PW A) was released in December to enable a seamless user experience on mobile web.  The launch led to improvement in user engagement metrics across all parameters.

    Content slate for the quarter:

    After the success of the first season, the second season of Rangbaaz was premiered in December. The show was an instant success, garnering the highest video views and viewers on the day of launch for any show. Digital premieres of movies like Jabariya Jodi, Judgemental Hai Kya, Dream Girl, Saandh ki Aankh brought new users to the platform. In the regional space, Kaale Dhande in Marathi, God of Dharmapuri in Telugu and Karoline Kamakshi in Tamil were critically acclaimed and received positive reviews from users.

    Partnerships forged in the quarter:

    During the quarter, ZEE5's partnership with Tata Sky Binge and IRCTC went live, accelerating subscription growth. ZEE5 is the only OTT platform integrated with IRCTC. To leverage the rapidly growing penetration of smart TVs in India, ZEE5 has inked deals with leading smart TV brands for placement of hotkey on their remotes.

    International expansion:

    ZEE5's international expansion is seeing initial signs of success in the APAC and MENA regions which has close affinity to Indian content. A mix of high-decibel marketing campaigns along with partnerships with local telecom operators in key target markets like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, UAE, among others is helping increase the platform's reach.

    “We also continue to invest in original content for ZEE5, to create a rich content library that will make it a really compelling offering for consumers,” ZEEL MD and CEO Punit Goenka said.

  • Data has made us richer in thinking and approach: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    Data has made us richer in thinking and approach: ZEE5’s Aparna Acharekar

    MUMBAI: Data, touted as the new oil, has empowered creativity, especially in the segment of over-the-top (OTT) platforms. As audiences across the country are spoilt with options, streaming engines are integrating data massively in content strategy. ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar is also of the view that data has made the platform richer in thinking and approach, bringing a change in the decision-making of starting new projects as well as in content strategy.

    "Data is the first benchmark. It is the ammunition we have. Data is the new oil that runs the entire industry. The process is not different because all of these choices. Then again whether it is acquisition or buying, your filters will have to be the same,” she said.

    In a freewheeling chat with us, Acharekar, the mastermind behind all the great content ZEE5 is churning out explained how the decision-making process changed from what it was a couple of years ago. She also threw light on the evolution of the content strategy looking back at 2019 as time goes forward.

    While earlier a lot of commissioning was based on overall knowledge of what consumers in OTT want, now on the back of data they are noticing what each consumer likes. While ZEE5 has an enormous library of originals alongside catch-up content from the network, it’s important to keep a track of what a consumer is liking to retain him on the platform.

    According to her, last year the trends they picked up was different consumer sets and consumer tastes rather than the genres. She also added that most of the platforms have gone beyond from this typical thing of genres.

    “More than clear genres emerging as viewers, clear consumer taste evolved as viewers because at ZEE5 we tried out everything. We didn’t go after one genre because very early on we realised that if you go after any one type of content then you will get only one type of people, who are watching that type of content at multiple different sources. So for me to widen my base I have to keep attracting people who like different things,” she added.

    She also explained how the business and content strategy collide.

    “If two taste clusters overlap then we will make something that both of you like. The most valuable customer for us is the one who likes multiple things. If you are very rigid you are important for me but you give me less value. The ARPU I get from you is less. Content strategy is derived from business strategy,” she added.

    One big driver for the platform this year will be taking forward successful shows into the next seasons while the trend has been already set with Rangbaaz Phirse. As in last two years, the platforms have already set a base, now it plans to capitalise on all the wins that it had in the earlier seasons.

    “It is more of an evolution, not a change,” she commented on ZEE5's content strategy for 2020.

  • Aim to make product smarter, broader, deeper in 2020: ZEE5’s Rajneel Kumar

    Aim to make product smarter, broader, deeper in 2020: ZEE5’s Rajneel Kumar

    MUMBAI: A large numbers of Indians enjoy OTT experience across locations, languages, devices at any convenient time nowadays. Consumers as well as the industry players mostly talk about content but what goes on behind the seamless experience often goes unnoticed. From hyperpersonalisation to recommendation, consumer data platform, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL)’s digital arm ZEE5 has undertaken a number of innovations in technical segment along with content in 2019. In 2020, the platform, which boasts of 8.9 milion daily active users, aims to make the product smarter, broader, deeper.

    ZEE5 business head-expansion projects and head of product Rajneel Kumar took us through the back-end journey of the streaming platform during a candid conversation recently. In a freewheeling chat, he shared ZEE5’s innovations in 2019 and outlook for 2020.

    In three words he summed up his aim in the product side for the year 2020 – smarter, broader, deeper. When he said smarter, Kumar meant it is about how they create products which are more intuitive for the users and constantly keeps evolving. By the term broader he meant how the platform can serve wider cross-section of the consumers in the country ranging from high-end smart TV users to low-end handset users. Making the product deeper is about creating an engaging experience on the platform to be able to give more to the consumer very conveniently across various needs.

    “2019 was a very active year for us in trying to take our product significantly ahead of what we started off with and where we wanted to end with it. There are couple of areas in which we specifically focused on where we partnered with various organizations and with a lot of them we have seen the results come already and with some of them the results are still to come out but they will be out in 2020 with all the work we have done,” Kumar stated.

    The platform is extensively focusing on hyper-personalization which starts with a combination of a bunch of various heads including recommendation. Last year, ZEE5 worked with an Israeli company called Talamoos in the segment and that resulted in a massive uplift of content consumption of each user. Kumar added that recommendation is a journey that keeps improving not only on the content side but also on the experience side. In 2020, on the hyperpersonalisation side, the company is looking at customising the whole experience of the user as far as his entire journey on the application is concerned. While content is one part of it, navigation is the other part of it, notification and communication to him is another part of it.

    “The second part that we focused on getting a CDP in place which is a consumer data platform which becomes the heart and soul on which you start to do all segmentation and build out various clusters of consumers you can target for both communication and up selling so well and so forth. That’s when we worked with a company called Optimove. We rolled out a CDP which has been great at creating both consumers insights and taking action on it as far as communication to the users are concerned,” he said.

    ZEE5 also paid high attention in the previous year on how to give great playback experience to users. The company has come out with a progressive web app (PWA) which has a new interface, a new player, certain features and sections which were not available earlier. On the playback part of it, the platform worked with a foreign company Kaltura. Kumar claims to see good traction and results coming out from PWA implementation.

    While a lot of premium users now have started to consume content on large screen devices, ZEE5 worked highly last year on making living room experience better. They worked with large cross-section of manufacturers and operating system owners.  As people started to buy smart TVs back in 2015, the consumers who had brought it then face the challenge of support for the operating systems that were launched then. Hence, ZEE5 dedicated its focus on making its presence on these devices on being backward compatible to cover a broad spectrum of users.

    According to Kumar, the fundamentals of a great consumer experience first start with discoverability as the consumer present on the platform wants to discover content. To improve discoverability, ZEE5 has several heads under it including UI, UX. For better recommendation, the platform also looks at how consumers discover the launch of content and how they navigate through it.

    “Another part is recommendation. When I come to the platform how do I come to the content which is more relevant to me, which is where a lot work is done, in not only learning the users past behaviour but also looking at his persona and people like him and being able to see if he has watched this content and somebody else has watched other content, and what is it the most likely  he is also able to watch, not only his behaviour but also behaviour of the segments which is there,” he added.

    “The second part of it is how do I make it seamless for him across the platform and we do a significant amount of work on the player by itself. That's why we have gone from a refresh from the earlier player to a new player,” Kumar pointed out.

    For better consumer experience, ZEE5  is also focusing on handling languages. “We have 12 languages. So, when a user comes you are not forcing him to communicate in a non-native language which is where we give him the option right away to a native language of his choice and start his journey which helps him in navigation and looking at the content and leading more about the content which he needs,” he added.

    ZEE5 being a large multi-lingual OTT platform it cannot be focused on only the youth segment, Kumar added. From the very onset, ZEE5’s focus has been to be inclusive of the whole platform which includes people who are not that digitally native.

    “We focus on how do we make it easy to navigate in their choice of language. Number two, we have worked on voice search and being able to discover content purely using your voice. Number three, by being able to handle all types of handsets. Not only the higher-end handsets but also lower-end handsets, handsets which are not necessarily IOS, Android but KaiOS,” he added.

    Kumar predicted smarter use of AI and ML for the OTT segment in 2020. According to him, key trends in the industry in the tech segment will be how OTT platforms make an easier user experience, easier  payment journeys, grow the user base using AI and ML. 

  • ZEE5 to premiere State of Siege: 26/11 on 24 Jan

    ZEE5 to premiere State of Siege: 26/11 on 24 Jan

    MUMBAI: Few years after the 26/11 terror attack shook the financial capital of the country, several films attempted to portray the rather grim and harsh reality of the fateful day. Few films also realistically portrayed the series of tragic events.

    ZEE5, India’s largest video streaming platform will soon premiere ‘State of Siege: 26/11’ based on renowned author and journalist Sandeep Unnithan’s book – Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11.

    The eight-episode series unravels #TheUntoldStories and is a true to account narrative of the various events that turned into the prolonged terror siege of Mumbai on 26 November 2008.

    “The nation will witness unheard incidents from the 26/11 attack. ZEE5’s State of Siege: 26/11 will give you a perspective as to how it all ended in just 60 hours and the crises and challenges faced by our unit. Also, the show will give answers to everyone who thinks why the commandos were late to reach for the mission,” said Nariman (Chabad) House colonel Sundeep Sen, the second-in-command combating terrorists.

    The show, produced and created by Contiloe Pictures producer and creator Abhimanyu Singh and co-creator and director Matthew Leutwyler, features an impressive cast comprising Arjan Bajwa, Arjun Bijlani, Vivek Dahiya, Sid Makkar, Mukul Dev, Tara Alisha Berry, Khalida Jaan, Jyoti Gauba, Roshni Sahota, Suzanne Bernert, Naren Kumar and Jason Shah.

  • ZEE5’s original ‘Sexpionage’ to premiere in early 2020

    ZEE5’s original ‘Sexpionage’ to premiere in early 2020

    MUMBAI: ZEE5, the largest producer of originals in India, aims to continue its leadership position in original content in 2020. The platform has announced Sexpionage, an anthology of films produced by Azure Entertainment (Sunir Kheterpal) and co-produced by Hussain Zaidi & Jaspinder Kang for Gold Mohur. The film is on a scripting stage and will go on floors in early 2020.

    Sexpionage is written by renowned writers Bilal Siddiqui, Vibha Singh, Rahul Patel & Amit Agarwal, and Vivaan Shah. The stories revolve around spy agents stuck in a high-stakes spy game between two nations. Sexpionage is embellished with shocking exposures, betrayal, international espionage, and sexual favours to save each other.

    Hussain Zaidi said, “My partner, Jaspinder Singh Kang and I, are proud to be associated with AZURE Entertainment to bring this four-film spy thriller series, on the common theme of Honey Traps. I am extremely excited about collaborating with a top OTT platform like ZEE5 for these films.”

    Azure Entertainment producer Sunir Kheterpal said, "This is our maiden venture with Gold Mohur and we are looking forward to creating these exciting movies based on years of research by Mr. Hussain Zaidi. Azure Entertainment has time & again sought creative collaborations on high-concept and content driven stories and this new venture in the digital space reinforces the same ethos."

    "Co-producing with Sunir for this beautiful and special project makes us so grateful. ZEE5 coming up with such real content makes the audience witness some of the great unheard stories which need to reach out to people. I'm very excited about this association", said Hussain Zaidi.

    ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “Sexpionage is an amalgamation of interesting stories conceptualized by renowned writer Hussain Zaidi. It will consist of four spy thriller films and we have a fantastic team working on it. We are certain it will perform well on our platform. It is for our audiences, especially for those who love thrillers.”

    Sexpionage is Azure's first foray into content development & production for the OTT platforms for which it has joined hands with Gold Mohur, which is a newly formed content curation company owned by Hussain Zaidi, the celebrity crime journalist & writer and his partner, Jaspinder Singh Kang.

  • Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    Higher investment in content & tech, innovative marketing strategy led OTT industry in 2019

    MUMBAI: The over-the-top (OTT) market in India turned more saturated in 2019. To make a dent in the cluttered space, the contenders have significantly upped their game with a greater amount of high-quality original content, incorporating new technologies and increasing marketing spend.

    As per EY and FIICI 2019 report – ‘A Billion Screens of Opportunity,’ the OTT sector in India grew by a whopping 59 per cent in FY2019, growing from Rs 13.5 billion in 2018 to Rs 17 billion in 2019. The sector is estimated to reach Rs 24 billion by 2021.

    How OTT platforms significantly upped investment in content and technology

    While ZEE5 has been bullish on producing original content since the beginning among the domestic OTT platforms, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) CEO Punit Goenka said that the financial year FY 2019-20 will be the year of peak investment for its video on demand (VoD) platform. Throughout the year, ZEE5 launched over 80 originals across languages in the calendar year 2019. In this over-competitive market, ZEE5 stands ahead of SonyLIV by 1.7x, approximately 5-6 times ahead of each the platforms – MX Player, Amazon Prime Video, VOOT and 14x of Hotstar.

    Along with launching a number of Bollywood-starring web-series, bringing back popular franchises in Hindi, the platform had at least one original web series come out in six different languages each month on an average in regional languages including Marathi, Bengali, Telugu and Tamil. As Indian audiences have always been an avid follower of movies, the platform strengthened the movie library as well. While the platform already boasts of over 20 original direct to digital films, it also made Bollywood hits like URI: The Surgical Strike, Dream Girl, Simmba, Sonchiriya, Kedarnath, PADMAN, Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Parmanu, The Tashkent Files, The Accidental Prime Minister, Judgemental Hai Kya available for its users.

    After banking on catch-up and sports content for a long time, the leader in the Indian OTT pack, Star India’s Hotstar also decided to invest in premium original content. Reportedly, Hotstar jumped onto the bandwagon with a Rs 120 crore investment plan. The primary reason to launch originals is to convert users into paid subscribers in the face of increasing competition. Hitherto, adapting successful foreign shows by infusing local flavours had been an important aspect of Hotstar’s strategy but it is certain that the platform is not going to limit itself to adaptations.

    The traditional player Shemaroo also entered the OTT market in 2019 with its new platform ShemarooMe. The platform launched a host of new and exciting properties to keep the audiences entertained throughout the year including Shemaroo Bollywood Premiere, Shemaroo Comedy Studio, Shemaroo Bhakti Studio, Komal Nahta…aur ek Kahani, Mantlya Manat, etc.

    Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd COO Kranti Gada said that ShemarooMe’s Bollywood Premiere, the offering that showcases World Digital Premiere of critically acclaimed movies every Friday, was launched in September 2019 and has received positive response from not only the audiences but also the actors and the teams involved in the making of the films.

    “Shemaroo has seen a loyal base of audience as well as manifold growth with the increase of more varied content. Content is the only factor that lures viewers to any OTT platform or deters them,” Gada added.

    Times Internet’s MX Player, which entered the market in February 2019 after re-invention, also created a buzz with originals like Hello Mini, Immature, CheeseCake, Thinkistaa and Queen. International streaming giants are also looking at rich local content library to make their games stronger in India. Reportedly, Amazon Prime Video is looking to double its original content offering for India.

    At the same time, Netflix chairman and CEO Reed Hastings recently said at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit that the company is looking to invest Rs 3,000 crore for original content in India this year and the next. He also added the top-performing Netflix shows from India include Sacred Games, Little Things, and Delhi Crime. He highlighted Mighty Little Bheem, since its release in 2019, has been watched by 27 million households around the world, including in Latin America, Australia and New Zealand. Since launching here four years ago, Netflix has licensed hundreds of Indian films and shows, and invested in over 40 originals.

    According to a MediaPartnersAsia report in July 2019, ZEE5 holds 44 per cent, Amazon Prime Video holds 17 per cent, Netflix holds 11 per cent, SonyLIV holds 10 per cent, VOOT and Hotstar hold 9 per cent each of the cumulative original content hours for OTT in India.

    To retain users and advertisers on the platforms, all the major platforms highly emphasised on better user experience. The way ZEE5 made its content strategy stronger, it made significant investment in technology too. The platform launched a one-of-its-kind industry-defining ad-suite, the ad:tech solutions for advertisers. The offering hosts tools likeAmpli5, Ad-vault, Infonomix, PLAY5, Wishbox.

    ShemarooMe entered into an in-app travel partnership with ixigo, app in app partnership with Dainik Bhaskar, and made the platform available on Roku. According to Gada, the availability of the channel on Roku devices further strengthened ShemarooMe’s presence in the US market by offering its vast library of Bollywood and regional language content to the Indian diaspora residing in the US while it did a global launch after seven months of its domestic launch.

    “2019 for the digital streaming industry was a revolution with multiple shows being launched, and many platforms experimenting with new technologies and new business models. 2019 also saw the rise of gamification for the non – fiction shows that were tried as a successful experiment with at least two other platforms. However, they have been for network-related apps with shows being broadcast simultaneously on television. The crux lies in independent apps adopting this to engage audiences with their Original content as a scalable model. It also saw the OTT platforms experimenting with influencer marketing, AI and VR filters, microbloggers, VR innovations, extensive usage of UGC apps etc,”  ALTBalaji senior VP and head marketing  Divya Dixit said.

    In a recent interview withIndiantelevision.com, MX Player CEO Karan Bedi said that the platform has invested a lot of money on video compression which means that the amount of video the platform can deliver in 1GB data is much more than others. Bedi added that buffering or latency is much lower on the platform which translates into lower cost for the user and the platform. He also added that the platform has also been investing a lot in recommendation systems.

    PwC, in its 2019 annual report – ‘Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2019-2023,’ estimated that the Indian OTT market will grow to Rs 11,976 crore by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 21.8 per cent. During that period, India is also slated to be the eight biggest OTT market overtaking South Korea.

    How streamers innovated the marketing strategy

    “All the OTTs in India are suffering from a similar issue which is to get the audience to pay wholeheartedly for content. On top of that, very few OTTs have been able to create attractive content. People have also followed the GEC mantra in OTT advertising. Basically, you know like take a show and cluster it across. The most remarkable thing is the absence of remarkability,” McCann Worldgroup vice chairman and managing director Partha Sinha said.

    ZEE5 India SVOD marketing head Reilly Rebello said OTT platforms made communication a lot more contextual while talking about marketing trends in 2019. He added that even radio and outdoor were very contextual to location and geography this year. Moreover, OTT platforms are going on new social media platforms like TikTok, ShareChat, Helo.

    “The third one was that we saw a lot of OTT players going in the outdoor space. We did a lot of outdoor advertising in the first half of the year and it became noticeably larger in the second half of the year. We saw a lot of video advertising happening which was quite a move away from static poster-driven advertising. We emphasised on video and it was not only TV but also social media, YouTube and other OTT platforms,” Rebello added.

    “With each show the challenge is to break the mould and do something new appealing to the audience, Maybe that’s why the skyline of cities is dominated by OTT platforms. Billboards are prima facie an ‘announcement medium’ providing prominence across prime locations in target markets. It helps the vast audience pool notice and register a particular campaign, thereby increasing recall. However, from a show perspective, there are always several factors involved, largely the celeb value, the genre of the show etc. Marketing the show has science in its core element, in a never-seen-before manner. It lies perfectly in sync with adopting new-age technology that appeals to our target audience. If it’s an innovation hoarding, then it doesn’t just grab eyeballs, but registers in the minds of the audience owing to its novel concept,” ALTBalaji’s Dixit added.

    Shemaroo’s Gada commented that with bite-sized video content and emergence of regional social media apps gaining popularity, the industry eventually saw influencers and celebrities joining the bandwagon thereby driving adverting dollars to these new-age platforms.

    Rebello noted that ZEE5 changed the whole advertising game to be more video-focused as people are watching a lot more video. He also added that the measure has given a huge upside in terms of subscription and brand association.

    “We tried making things a lot more contextual. For example in our outdoor hoardings for Rangbaaz every line which has been there was made contextual to the location of the city. We got a lot of good feedback taking this approach. The dialogues are getting more popular. We also started our TikTok presence,” he added on ZEE5’s marketing initiatives.

    Talking about marketing mix, Rebello said that TV and digital hold equal importance as TV still gives most reach. Followed by TV and digital, outdoor and radio gets importance as those two mediums help in branding. He also emphasised on the importance of social media for the overall marketing strategy.

    “We saw many interesting campaigns by McDonalds and Burger King taking on each other through advertisements. Interestingly,  we also saw another form of this back home in India  when Shemaroo seized the opportunity of an ongoing “Masala Nahi Toh Mazaa Nahi’ campaign of Society Tea and placed their OOH hoarding right below the Society Tea hoarding with a continued conversation to say, ‘Toh Masala Chai ke Saath Ek Masala Movie ho Jaye? A unique way to complement each brand’s strength to woo audiences and strike a relevant connection seems natural and organic,” Gada added.

  • ZEE5 unveils ‘calendar for January’ 2020 with new originals

    ZEE5 unveils ‘calendar for January’ 2020 with new originals

    MUMBAI:  ZEE5, India’s largest over-the-top platform unveiled a power-packed calendar for January 2020 with new launches across genres and languages.

    ZEE5 has already launched over 100+ Originals across top Indian (regional) languages and created a milestone in the Indian OTT space in 2019.

    Gearing up for next year, ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said: “We are the only OTT platform in the country to have consistently delivered originals across genres and languages for all audience groups.”

    “We are all set to break our own records in 2020 and are constantly working towards ensuring an engaging experience for our viewers,” Acharekar added.

    The launch event hosted by Acharekar, marked the presence of actors Vivek Dahiya, Nakuul Mehta, Rituraj Singh, Sid Makkar, Vivek Mushran, Vipul Deshpande, Vikram Gaikwad, Chitrangada Satarupa, Rajesh Sharma, Aadesh Bandekar, Jiten Lalwani and Sneha Wagh amongst others.

    The indigenous OTT player has scheduled two shows adapted from books of popular Indian authors;  ‘Never Kiss Your Best Friend’ a millennial rom-com based on the young author Sumrit Shahi’s best-selling novel of the same name.

    And, State of Siege: 26/11 is a gripping tale of the terror attacks that rocked Mumbai on 26/11. The show is based on the book ‘Black Tornado: The Three Sieges of Mumbai 26/11 written by top journalist and author Sandeep Unnithan.

    Breaking the stereotype, the platform to also feature shows with women as protagonists; one such original called as Code M starring Jennifer Winget, Tanuj Virwani and Rajat Kapoor and Kark Rouge to be a bilingual series in Hindi and in Bengali starring Chitrangada Satrupa, Indraneil Sengupta and Rajesh Sharma.

  • ZEE5 adds ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ to its movie library

    ZEE5 adds ‘Saand Ki Aankh’ to its movie library

    MUMBAI: India’s largest video streaming platform ZEE5 is all set to premiere one of the most critically acclaimed films in recent times Saand Ki Aankh. The film showcases the inspirational story of the world's oldest sharpshooters – Chandro and Prakashi Tomar portrayed by Taapsee Pannu and Bhumi Pednekar. Directed by Tushar Hiranandani the film will go live on the platform on 27 December 19.

    The film is produced by Anurag Kashyap and Nidhi Parmar. It also stars Prakash Jha, Vineet Kumar, and Shaad Randhawa in pivotal roles.

    Saand Ki Aankh did very well at the Indian box office and was later also declared tax free by Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan government. The film will now be available exclusively on ZEE5.

    Sharing her thoughts, ZEE5 India programming head Aparna Acharekar said, “It has been a fantastic year for us where we have strengthened our content library with original content as well as acquisitions. We are constantly striving to curate a complete experience for our viewers and Sandh Ki Aankh is our latest addition. We have a range of content available for our audiences to watch this festive season.”

    ZEE5 has a robust film library with a fantastic curation of films. From URI- the Surgical Strike, Dream Girl, Simmba, Sonchiriya, Kedarnath, PADMAN, Veere Di Wedding, Mulk, Parmanu, The Tashkent Files, The Accidental Prime Minister, Judgemental Hai Kya, Jabariya Jodi to name a few.