The last two years have not just forced a lot of us indoors, they have also pushed us to find “indoor options” for activities that we typically associated with going out. Entertainment is one such area of our life where we have become more reliant on more options being available to us at our fingertips than us going out and getting entertained. As you can easily guess, the major factor making this possible is the vast, almost explosive growth in “media streaming” platforms, which are also known as Over The Top (OTT) platforms.

The manifold increase in the amount of content available online, be it movies, web series, live sports telecasts or even gaming has heralded a new era of entertainment for the customers. Add to this the availability of affordable high-speed internet connectivity and the hunger of customers for content is only going to increase. This has given rise to a unique phenomenon which we call the “streaming wars”. Content streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Apple TV etc. funded with multi-billion budgets and backed by corporate behemoths like Apple, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros etc. are the biggest players in the game now.

One look at this scenario and you will realise that what is available now is a platform (or a bunch of platforms, rather) where the user is always engaged, often for a large amount of time. Nothing could be a better medium for a digital marketer to establish a great brand presence for their clients. Hence the answer to the question of “What is new in digital marketing?”. Enter streaming marketing. Another key factor is that ads can be displayed in a more non-intrusive manner as compared to search ads or social media ads.

For example, think of a ticker along the bottom of the screen or ads during breaks in the live telecast of a cricket match. Since these don’t disrupt the viewing experience, they are more likely to create an impression and boost engagement. This can be used to “tell a story” rather than just “pitch a brand” and build a more long-lasting connection between the brand and the customer. In fact, there have been instances where the actors from a web series have created promotional videos as part of a marketing campaign. Take, for example, the series "Family Man 2" where Amazon Prime Video arranged for actor Manoj Bajpayee to be interviewed by start-up head honchos like Manu Kumar Jain (Xiaomi) and Kabeer Biswas (Dunzo) and then used these videos to promote its own YouTube channel

Keeping the best for the last - many of the streaming platforms realise that the wealth of data available to their users can be effectively monetised via OTT marketing. Add to this the willingness of users towards watching ads if it means lower subscription fees and it means that it is a win-win OTT marketing strategy for everyone involved. While platforms like Netflix do not allow marketing, Disney+ Hotstar, HBO Max, Hulu and Prime Video already run ads. We can think of this as an online replication of the TV model, only in a less intrusive manner, with deeper data available on user engagement.

We believe that this is a golden opportunity to get any business to establish its brand presence in the minds of millions of users. If you want to know how to benefit from these new digital marketing trends, please reach out to us at Idecution Marketing Studio and find out more about digital marketing on streaming platforms.

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