Brands shouldn’t be blindly carried away by technology & tools: Sukhpreet Singh

Till the beginning of 2020 or until March 2020, most businesses were buzzing and everyone was very optimistic to end the year on a good note. But the unprecedented pandemic wave crippled and disrupted entire businesses. At the same time, the pandemic also opened a new window for the entertainment business. With people staying indoors, television and OTT platforms became the sole sources of entertainment and information.

As 2021 dawns, there are several key trends for the entertainment industry in the year ahead. Sukhpreet Singh, Corporate Head – Marketing, DishTV & Watcho, Dish TV India, presents the industry outlook for 2021 as well as recounts some of the challenges and key developments in the DTH and OTT industry in the year ahead.

Outlook for 2021

The post-COVID-19 scenario will demand a lot of communication to reinforce positivity as well as spur consumption and growth. The mediums of communication will not be ‘pre-COVID’, but will change the basis of the new realities and changes in consumer outlook and habits. It is an emerging scenario and will have to be seen as it pans out.

My biggest learning from this year would be to relook at the brand promise, product propositions, and adapt basis changes in consumer outlook and behaviour in a watershed year like 2020, which has changed the world. We cannot operate in the same way as pre-COVID-19. Secondly, mitigating brand risk is important as anything can happen at any time. The brand promise has to be rooted with deeper insights and not on tangibles like features and price. Brands can only survive disasters if they can adapt to the changing needs of customers and not products. Lastly, technology and tools need to be used majorly, but rooted in insights. They can build on insights and deliver strategy, but they cannot replace them. So, insights and strategy come first, brands shouldn’t be blindly carried away by technology and tools.

Digital mantra for the new normal

In order to remain committed and understand the challenges and needs of our customers, we upped our presence on digital and encouraged people to stay indoors. Our strategy was to ensure that our services are uninterrupted, despite engineers not able to visit homes due to lockdown in many areas. In addition, we increased on TV and other modes of direct to subscriber communication on online recharge offers and ease of online recharge. We have observed a growing need among our customers to opt for self-help for their routine queries and issues using digital touchpoints. All our acquisitions recharge and service have shown a significant shift to digital modes.

Thanks to our efforts in transforming our business to digital over the last many years, we have been more than ready for this.

Navigating through tough times

Until a few months ago, no one could have imagined this new normal that we are embracing today. As India’s leading DTH company, we are leaving no stone unturned to swiftly respond to the fast-changing needs of our customers, both when it comes to products and brand experience. One such trend is digital acceleration, which we foresee getting robust in the coming months.

In India, where a large section of the population still prefers TV as their primary source of entertainment, it has also been observed that there is an emerging and growing set of viewers that prefer viewing content online on OTT platforms. As a result, we saw an increase in our subscriber base not just for our mainline DTH brands DishTV and D2H, but also for our OTT brand ‘Watcho’. Consumers today no longer want to use TV, mobile, laptops for just entertainment demands, but infotainment purpose too.

We introduced several new customer-focused initiatives and forged new partnerships, bringing online content from the best of providers to our hybrid devices under the umbrella of Dish SMRT and D2H stream and Magic. With a potential to deliver content from any mode (online or linear), to any screen (big or small) and anywhere (in the home or out of home), Dish TV’s smart range of devices can turn any TV into a smart TV or an Alexa enabled TV.

Opportunity in crisis

COVID-19 has been a game-changer for industries across the board. I think opportunities like this are the time that you can reconnect with the customer as a brand. No time is a wrong time to build trust, build credibility, and that is what we have been able to do. The lockdown forced most of us inside our homes and TV was the primary family entertainment medium supplemented by OTT on mobiles as individual viewing. Having said that, we have gainfully used the lockdown to ideate and put in place some blocks for building the new tomorrow. For example, we have stepped up the engagement with online partners; we have brought innovation in extending work from home to our partners so that business continuity does not suffer tomorrow.

We have been able to communicate very effectively through our home channels and filled in the gap to a large extent from a conventional advertising point of view. We created radio spots and banked on direct marketing like SMS, email, registered mobile numbers, digital marketing, and home channels to stay connected with our customers. We are driving demand back at a faster pace through concerted and well-thought-out actions on digital as well as on the ground.