Global Outlook, Local Strategy – How Lionsgate plans to woo India

The ‘Look global, think local’ strategy now extends to the content space as well. Today’s viewer is looking for narratives that he/she can connect with on a personal level, yet which is expansive enough to be universal in treatment. What are the key learnings from the global markets for OTT players in India? How can India’s rich storytelling heritage be given a global spin? And at the same time, how to bring in a sharper local focus to digital and content, especially in a country like India where regional content reaches a larger audience?

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Raman Kalra, Entertainment, Media and Sports Advisory Leader, PwC India, in conversation with Rohit Jain, Managing Director South Asia, Lionsgate, took up these issues and more in a special Fireside Chat on ‘Global Outlook, Local Strategy’ as part of SCREENXX 2020.

Starting the conversation, Raman Kalra remarked that “Lionsgate is a young studio, as you guys like to call yourself, a young Hollywood studio and a leading global content player. So, there is a larger play that is coming out of it. Lionsgate decided to enter the Indian market around a year back. How would you sum up a good one year in the Indian market for Lionsgate?”

Rohit Jain responded by saying, “On a starting note, just from a year gone by couldn’t be happier. We’ve gone on a slightly different trajectory, compared to everybody else. I think while the world has always gone out B2C and then looked at collaborations and B2B, we’ve done the reverse, as a new entrant also in the Indian market and from a brand point of view, not just OTT. This has allowed us to sort of settle into the market, understand the consumption patterns and study various things. I think it has allowed us to be a little more seamless in our entry into the market.”

Lionsgate entered the Indian market on August 14, 2019 collaborating with Vodafone. Jain continued, “And from there, we’ve gone from strength to strength. We collaborated with Airtel for telco, we also collaborated with Jio Fibre for home and we just went live with Airtel for the hybrid boxes. And more importantly, this one year has allowed us to understand the consumption patterns and know the consumers and how are they taking it up. And we are going all out in early November to mid-November, when we go B2C.”

The discussion covered several interesting points, especially regarding regional content and the complexities of distribution and how Lionsgate will be bringing their vast expertise, knowledge and experience to be strongly present and visible in the Indian market.

Watch the complete and engaging conversation.