Hotstar, Amazon prime and well every other brand that provides us with digital media services are what we can call OTT (Over-the-top) players. Their advertisements pop up a gazillion times while watching a video on Facebook or YouTube or going through a post on Instagram.
What the stats and figures have to say?
Recent analysis has stated that digital marketing is not the only approach that OTT players are going for. They are being expected to spend Rs 350-400 crores on OOH (out-of-home) advertising which is advertising on things like billboards and hoardings. It must be noted that this figure is twice the last year figure.
For example, Zee5 is expected to compete with Amazon prime and spend Rs 70 crores on its one which is the same as Amazon’s service. Also, Netflix spent around Rs 50 crores on its OOH marketing last year and it seems like home companies are gearing up to give the international brand tough competition. Moreover, Hotstar would focus on OOH advertising for marketing its Hotstar special subsidiary.
Why Out of Home advertising?
There are various modern world reasons due to which OTT players are shifting to OOH advertising.
1) Heavy competition coming from both international and national companies have limited the usage and time-space on digital media for all players to market their products
2) OOH is a hyperlocal method of marketing. It targets consumers at their home grounds and impacts more in metro cities due to grabbing continuous attention of the common man.
3) Moreover, OTT players are now focusing on not just metro cities but Tier-II and Tier-III markets which are not very recognized for online advertising. Long-term campaigns and yearly deals in these cities are possible via OOH advertising.
What would be the possible impacts?
1) Nabendu Bhattacharya, founder of Milestone Brandcom feels that OTT players would cross 15% contribution to the OOH industry turnover in 2019.
2) Given the high demand, the OOH service price might also go up by 8-10%. Moreover, the costs vary from location to location and based on the type of market there is. For examples, A prime location in Mumbai can cost Rs 10-12 lakhs per month for a standard billboard.
3) Many OTT players have earmarked around 25-50% of media expenditure just for OOH advertising. For example, ALTBalaji has a 25% budget, sources said.
However, each company follows a slightly different strategy than another. Most use a mix of online and out of home media to reach its customers.
For example, Zee5 follows it’s main path of TV and digital media and uses outdoor ads as a supplement to those services, especially for its original shows likes Poison and Parchayee. On the other hand, Netflix used combined both services and used digital OOH and contextual advertisements for its shows like Little things and sacred games.
The world keeps changing every single day and so do the marketing game plans of these companies. Content is a priority but ensuring that content reaches the audience can only be served by the right combination of Inhouse and outdoor marketing.
