Riding the OTT wave successfully

I belong to the Before-Google (BG) generation, where I had to visit a friend’s home to watch my favourite Sunday movie on television. Today, thanks to over-the-top (OTT), I enjoy the luxury of watching my favourite shows & films at a time, place and device of my choice. Technology has surely come a long way and is moving at a rapid acceleration to please today’s always connected, demanding consumer.

Mind share – time share – wallet share
Indian market is huge in for content consumption & content marketers are constantly on their toes to grab a piece In the pie. OTT platforms are getting users addicted to original content where they can binge watch. The onus lies on content marketers to grab mind-share, then timeshare and eventually wallet-share in order to sustain.

6 second-advertising is smart way for advertisers to hammer branded content into consumer’s minds while they watch their favourite content. Pay-on-demand and pay-what-you-watch is becoming the norm & young consumers are ready to spend due to the sheer affordability.

Smart TV is slowly penetrating into Indian homes but still needs to catch up with competition. I believe that with the advent of 5G, smart TVs will grab bigger timeshares.

Big data analytics and AI
Data science is the catalyst and allows content producers to understand the behaviour patterns of content consumption among consumer segments. The recommendation engine of AI propelled e-commerce demand growth and is being replicated across the content industry. With analytics, one can dive deep and figure details of viewing habits, content type, age and gender-related patterns, viewing time, and time of watching.

Education – gaming – esports – religion
Apart from the entertainment industry, others using OTT to gain viewership are education, gaming, esports and religion. Education is the focal point of every home with kids and marketers have realised that parents invest heavily in their children’s education. That’s how gamification of education-related content is gaining ground and we will see more of this in the future.
E-sports and multi-user games are new playgrounds for children and youth. Gaming stadiums are common abroad and will enter India soon. Live streaming of sporting events has always been the chart-topper for viewership. Similarly, religious events and shows containing sermons of religious leaders will continue to grow.

Competition + cooperation = co-opetition
With multiple industries using OTT and the competition growing fierce, it is only logical that more mergers and acquisitions are on the cards. As the saying goes if you can not beat them, join them, top content brands would be more on the lookout for tech-companies/telcos having the capability and wherewithal to reach and engage audiences. The vice-versa is also true as tech-companies/telcos would source content from traditional content providers who have still not explored the magic of OTT.

More-for-less-for-more: Content is king but distribution is queen
The OTT providers who will distribute more content at less cost to reach more people will be the ones who will rule the market. As one of the most commonly used phrases in the Indian marketing industry Jo dikhta hai wo bikta hai, OTT is one tool, which can and will be the game changer in the content-distribution industry. And with the support of technology such as 5G, AI, VR, AR, IoT, cloud-computing and infrastructure, and Blockchain, good content powered with able distribution, the consumer will surely be spoilt for choices and the cycle of mindshare-timeshare-wallet-share will be yet again the decider of who will rule the market.