Using short format content to create brand visibility, digital experts share

Content consumption on digital platforms has seen a phenomenal rise in the recent years. This growth has been largely triggered in India by the increase in Internet and mobile device penetration as well as the convenience of consuming content anytime, anywhere.

According to EY report on ‘Future of Digital Content Consumption in India’, published in January 2016, the Indian digital media segment is set for disruption with growth expected to reach Rs 200 billion by 2020, with digital ad spend expected to grow at 23-28 per cent. The report further states that by 2017, India will have more than 350 million smartphones. Inexpensive smartphones and the rollout of 3G and 4G broadband infrastructure are rapidly coming together to leapfrog traditional distribution and democratise online access. Together, these factors are the foundations for accelerated digital media consumption.

This digital media consumption is led by viewing of video content online, which has opened by a plethora of opportunities for both long format and short format content. While both co-exist in the digital ecosystem, short format can be seen to have a slight edge, given the price sensitivity of data consumption, as well as the ‘bite-sized’ sampling opportunity that short format content provides.

AdGully spoke to some of the leading digital and content experts to gauge the growth of short format content in India, how brands and marketers can leverage it, ways to make such content sustainable in the long run, and much more.

Key growth drivers

According to Arunabh Kumar, Founder & Group CEO , The Viral Fever (TVF), the key driver for short format content is essentially because people have started watching videos on smart phones as they have less time and want to get entertained by 5-minute videos. “All these technologies and social media engagement are key drivers of short format content, people not only want to watch a three-hour film, but also a 5-minute YouTube spoofy video. It’s all about storytelling. The time it will take, means it will take. But shorter format works more.”

Along similar lines, Sameer Pitalwalla, CEO, Culture Machine, remarked, “I think two things – the penetration of mobile, with people watching series on their mobile devices via high speed networks, and yes, it is very entertaining; and the second is right to access from YouTube and Facebook, which is a one-time watch on a go.”

Ashish Patil, VP - Y-Films, Brand Partnerships & Talent Management, listed the following among the key growth drivers for short format content:

Great penetration of mobile phones at competitive price points

• Cheaper & faster broadband/ mobile connections

• Reducing attention spans [Human attention spans are down to 7 seconds Vs. that of 9 seconds that a Goldfish has!] - so short is sweet! That’s what also why Twitter, Snapchat, etc., work so well in short formats

• Digital platforms opening up - democratising distribution without the middlemen of TV & Feature Films

• Variety of content available - and several big players, storytellers, actors, experimenting also in this medium

Patil further said, “We’ve seen this play out with the phenomenal success of Y-Films’ original digital content. Over 60 million views, 450k subscribers, India’s first Cannes Grand Prix Glass Lion and Webby, besides massive recognition in media and otherwise in less than nine months – in content that is on average less than 10 minutes long. Great testimony to that!”

Gurpreet Singh Bhasin, COO and Co-founder, One Digital Entertainment, too, felt that with the amount of content being produced and consumed on the go, attention spans are reducing and viewers have multiple options to interact and engage with all the time. “Short format content is growing because if executed with a right plan, this content can be very topical, relatable and of course shareable,” he added.

Ankur Garg, Producer & Partner, Luv Films, commented, “It’s the companionship that one has formed with their data-enabled smart phones and the explosion of good and unconventional content that is easily available across multiple VOD platforms that are the key growth drivers. Additionally, it’s the busier lifestyles that people lead these days, which leaves them with lesser time for appointment viewing, so they need on demand and quickly consumable content while they’re on-the-go.”

Is short format content the future of marketing?

When asked this question, both Arunabh Kumar and Ankur Garg emphatically stated that short format content is not the future, but the present of marketing. Garg added that it has already taken over people’s attention. “Brands are already using it optimally and doing wonders with it. Nike’s ‘Da Da Ding’ and Samsung’s Rio Olympics shirt format videos are the most recent and successful examples of this,” he said.

Sameer Pitalwalla explained, “There is a lot of competition happening in the form of ad-blocking, where people are now basically not hoping to watch the regular format, more of nuisance there. So what is happening with the people consuming content – especially video – is that there is a marriage that is required between the brands and their audiences and the creators, and I think that’s the piping of native content. Previously, native content, which was the dominion of websites on news and porting custom content for audience, made it look like it was content. I think the same is happening with short content as well – play content for consumers and find a way to brands to communicate to them, and brands are ready to pay money for that.”

Gurpreet Singh Bhasin commented that in times where a majority of the online audience is looking for quick fixes of entertainment, short format content – for brands, especially – is the best way to reach out and connect to a young group of people. “The online world has thrown open doors to a whole new world of celebrities – who we call social influencers – who have fiercely passionate fan bases. A lot of short format content also draws from the lives of regular people – which most influencers were, before they became big on the Internet – and that helps forge an instant connect with your desired audience. Using these videos as a tool to establish a brand or get it across to people is already happening, and we only see this trend pick up more and more traction.”

On a different note, Ashish Patil said that short format content is not an alternative or the future of marketing, but just one more tool or format to use to connect with the audiences. He added, “That’s why a lot of brands, partners do that with us. Be it Ching’s Desi Chinese for creating a mini-blockbuster in the form of ‘Ranveer Ching Returns’ with Rohit Shetty that we creative produced or Unilever’s Brooke Bond Red Label Tea for India’s first transgender band – the 6-Pack Band.”

He further said, “Pyaasa kuye ke paas jaata hai hamesha. Right now, all our thirsty consumers are flocking to digital due to lack of quality, new, fresh and interesting content elsewhere. So naturally, marketers are turning to the web with short form to quench their thirst and along the way serve their brand flavour.”

Engaging the social media audience

Ashish Patil’s advice for marketers to leverage short format content to engage social media audience is, “Don’t sell. Don’t sermonise. Entertain, Educate, Enlighten. Tell stories. Weave the brand and its attributes into that narrative. And the consumers will be more positively inclined towards you. And WILL convert. It happened with the first ‘My Name is Ranveer Ching’ jumping their market share by 10 per cent and doubling the sales topline. The new film, ‘Ranveer Ching Returns’, has done over 3.5 million plus in just two and half days. It will track even better. And try to deliver the most real, human experience possible across all platforms – social media, retail or live!”

According to Gurpreet Singh Bhasin, while short format content is great to engage an audience, at the end of the day it is critical that the content itself resonates with the masses. “Content that’s universally funny or strikes an emotional chord with the audience or addresses an issue of public concern in a unique way along with edgy packaging, is going to be heavily consumed. They automatically have the potential to be shared on social media platforms. The best way to leverage short format content though, is by ensuring the core message brought out in said piece of content resonates with a majority of the online audience, is pushed out on appropriate platforms in a non-intrusive way, and is given the right kind of organic push.”

Ankur Garg felt that while, marketers must definitely be thorough with traditional methods, when it came to short format content, they also needed to shift focus from going after just brand visibility to tactical storytelling and then marry the marketing campaign with the brand’s personality. “Short format content is more about storytelling than in-the-face brand visibility,” he added.

According to Sameer Pitalwalla, it is a marriageable bunch of things. “Number one is the ability to understand the audience, and that comes with the help of technology and data, what kind of content they like to watch, the format of content, the pattern of their consumption, this comes from to understand them deeply and their consumption pattern. The second is the ability to create the content which can regularly be used in a way to keep them engage with the brand. The third is to engage them with the multiple brand.”

Making short form sustainable in the long run

Pitalwalla noted that it all starts with why would people view it, share it and put on their social media, and all these understanding comes from technology and the creatives and making a decision what to produce.

Ankur Garg, too, stressed on the quality of content as the key factor here. “The audience will be responsive towards my content if I am showing them high quality content. Once the content quality and audience engagement is taken care of, brands will automatically be interested in my product and that takes care of the revenues. Also, what differentiates digital from other mediums is that it gives the creator and the brand the power to engage with their audience and make them feel a part of the journey,” he added.

“There’s an unwritten rule in the short format content world that the first 10 seconds of your video are the most critical in terms of determining audience stickiness. And thereafter, for every 20 seconds of content, there’s got to be at least 5 seconds of pure entertainment,” pointed out Gurpreet Singh Bhasin. He further said, “The idea is to present something so unique to the audience and in as little time as possible that they're hooked to your content and keep coming back for more. Another aspect unique to short format videos is their shoestring nature. Most independent short format creators and even agencies know that virality is hardly ever a consequence of high budgets vis-a-vis genuinely good content. As a result, since investments are kept at a minimum, you start seeing returns over a shorter period of time compared to long format where the investments are high. One sureshot way to increase footfalls to your channel and grow a subscriber base is by ensuring your programming is consistent and the audience knows when to expect the next video and waits in anticipation of it. Over time, as the channel racks up subscribers and there's a good amount of organic, meaningful interaction going on, brands will take notice of the content and will want to invest in it if the content is the right fit for their target group. It's a factor of three things – right, relevant content hitting the right digital platform and supported by a right promotion strategy.”

Ashish Patil noted, “Consistency. And as we reach a critical mass of audience. And eventually with paying consumers (like international), this will become sustainable. Self-Sustainable. Brands will automatically flock to where the audiences are. Every original piece of content that we’ve done till date has had with a relevant fit – see Airtel on Love Shots, Mia by Tanishq on Ladies Room, Lakme on Bang Baaja Baaraat or Durex on Sex Chat with Pappu & Papa…”