Video streaming platforms line up ₹300 crore ad blitz
Indian arms of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other key video streaming platforms will spend an estimated ₹300 crore on advertising in 2018 to make individual viewing a habit instead of a fad, according to media buyers.
Advertising expenditure on mainline media is expected to be ₹250 crore, with an additional ₹50 crore to be spent on digital media this year collectively by the over-the-top (OTT) players, according to the estimates. About 250 million Indians viewed videos online in 2017 and this number is expected to double to 500 mil- lion by 2020, according to a report by the lobby group Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) released jointly with consulting firm EY.
“Advertising in the OTT category is witnessing a steady growth led by television as major players are trying to make video streaming a habit by drawing away viewers from television,” said Navin Khemka, CEO, Mediacom South Asia. Amazon Prime Video has been spending on advertising since its launch in December 2016. Its first fully integrated campaign ‘India ka naya prime time’ ran across television, digital and outdoor in February last year. The second campaign series, which is running now, features a young couple accessing the latest films and other content, emphasising the anywhere, anytime viewing proposition.
“Our advertising strategy has been to build brand awareness as well as to highlight content features offered by Amazon Prime Video. Anybody who is looking for a reliable and affordable digital streaming service becomes our customer and we remain heavily invested in the market both from content and marketing perspectives,” said Vijay Subramaniam, director, content, Amazon Prime Video India.
Prime Video not only show the latest films in Hindi, English and regional languages, but also offers television series, shows for children and a web series created by Amazon Studios, which it calls ‘Amazon Originals’. The company has so far created shows such as ‘Breathe’ featuring actor R Madhavan and Comicstaan featuring stand-up comedians like Tanmay Bhat and Biswa Kalyan Rath.
NEWDELHI:The