“Brands are not competing with OTT for content, but want to reach consumers”

As the content library of OTT platforms grows, there is now need to break the monotony of predictable content and bring in product differentiation. The panel discussion on ‘Creating Differentiation – Avoiding the pitfalls of monotony’ at SCREENXX 2021 took a look at Content consumption from both a marketers’ perspective as well as a consumers’ perspective.

The panel was moderated by Neel Pandya, CEO - APAV, Pyxis One, and the esteemed speakers included:

Divya Dixit, SVP, Marketing & Revenue, ALTBalaji

Jai Lala, Chief Executive Officer, Zenith India

Karan Taurani, SVP – Research Analyst (Media, Internet & Consumer Discretionary), Elara Capital

Shalibhadra Shah, Chief Executive Officer, ABC Talkies

While the stress is on having differentiated content, how do OTT platforms actually create a budget for it, what kind of investment needs to be done into original content? Neel Pandya commenced the discussions with a very pertinent question on what differentiating content actually is and sought the panellists’ perspective on it.

According to Shalibhadra Shah, “When you look at Originals, it gives you the leverage to create content that differentiates your targeted audience. And when you say curated content, that helps you build the library based again on your targeted audience – so, both of them are very important.”

Replying to a question on what their perspective is on what clients or brands think about content creation, Jay Lala replied, “We are actually chasing the consumer, and content is a way of doing that, advertising is a way of doing that. Coming closer to content, brands are not in the way of creating content, that’s not their area of business, their area of business is largely about reaching the consumer. So, it is more about creating an engagement option. There is something which advertising cannot do, and that is where content steps in. So, brands are not competing with ALTBalaji or any OTT platform in the world. They are trying to reach out to the consumers.”

Speaking on the growth of regional content, Karan Taurani said, “Regional content is the next big thing. If you look at the web series today, almost 40% of the new web series productions today are regional genre in nature. Earlier, OTT platforms were not ready to invest heavily in creation content due to budget constraints, but now they are investing more on every episode, because they have realised the potential of this market. Two years down the line, I think regional genres will be the next big thing in terms of customers transitioning from traditional media to OTT media.”

Watch the complete discussion below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OhGMwojpX0