Direct-to-digital movie releases are gaining traction amid the pandemic, with brands starting to forge partnerships with platforms to reach out to the target audience. Several brands say that in the current situation, consumption of digital content has risen sharply as people are generally feeling starved of fresh and good content, given that most TV Channels are not coming up with new ideas. Movie releases have mostly stopped have stopped with film makers opting to release them on OTT platforms. It is this shift that is leading brands to forge such alliances.
Tata Tea Gold and Parle-G have collaborated with Amazon Prime Video for its news release Shakuntala Devi starring Vidya Balan.
TATA Tea Gold has entered into an innovative tie-up in the FMCG category, leveraging Online streaming (OTT) & E-Commerce. It is collaborating with Amazon’s prime video and Amazon.in to drive it’s #DilkiSuno message.
Puneet Das, VP–Marketing, Beverages India, TATA Consumer Products, says Tata Tea Gold has associated with Shakuntala Devi as the film brings great synergy and resonance with Tata Tea Gold’s narrative of Dil Ki Suno where the protagonist chooses to listen to her heart, breaking traditional stereotypes, and eventually becomes a household name by pursuing her unique talent.
"What makes this association even more special is the relevance of the platforms in recent times. OTT/Online streaming consumption has been steadily increasing. Hence, this partnership is truly unique in the sense that this will help drive brand recall through the Prime video movie partnership and complete the consumer journey for Tata Tea Gold, with association on Amazon.in.," says Das.
Tata Tea Gold has been bringing alive its Dil ko naa kahoge to pacchtoage positioning through pop culture stories of people who have listened to their hearts and pursued their own passion. The movie will bring alive Shakuntla Devi’s journey to the audience and her story will not only help in propagating the proposition of Dil ki Suno, but will hopefully inspire several others to tap into their inner voice and pursue their own dreams. Hence, there is a great resonance and synergy between the brand and the movie.
Earlier in the year, Tata Tea Gold had launched one of the first-ever web series in partnership with Girliyapa, on bringing alive Tata Tea Gold’ proposition, Dil ko naa kahoge to pacchtaoge, with a series of Dil Ki Suno stories. The association with Shakuntala Devi through Amazon’s prime video is in the same direction. It helps in strengthening the brand’s philosophy and at the same time, the collaboration with Amazon.in helps in simplifying the consumer's path to purchase.
"With the lockdown and the extended closure of cinema halls, releasing films on OTT seems to be the new normal in the world of entertainment, Hence, this association is even more special given the relevance of the platforms in recent times and increase in OTT/Online streaming consumption. This is a clear case of how ‘digital disruption’ is shaping up new customer experiences and how as a brand Tata Tea Gold is innovating to stay ahead in these changing times," says Das.
Parle Products, India’s leading biscuits and confectionery maker, has also partnered with the film Shankunatala Devi, with the launch of a new co-branded video on Amazon Prime Video that \will be promoted on OTT and digital platforms.
"Generally we do not get into associations with movies as most of the time it feels like a force fit. This time around we felt a natural synergy with this movie. The movie speaks of a genius and, in terms of our brand positioning, the movie is a perfect fit," says Mayank Shah, Sr Category Head, Parle Products. "In the current situation if you look at the consumption of digital, it has gone up dramatically. People are generally feeling starved of fresh and good content, given that most TV Channels are not coming up with fresh content. Movie releases have mostly stopped and currently we see them opting to release them on OTT platforms, since theatres are still closed".
This movie is among the first few to get launched after 3-4 months of lockdown. The interest level for movies being released around this time is generally higher due to the hiatus, which makes it interesting. "The movie has been crafted to appeal to those who are probably not nerds or math buffs. The TG we are looking at, though this movie is more mainstream and is not meant for a particular audience or a niche. It is a light-hearted movie with a broad appeal," explains Shah.
"Parle is planning multimedia activities, advertising on digital and OTT platforms and, going forward we may even explore press promotions. In the past we had associated with a movie of Shah Rukh Khan called Jab Harry Met Sejal and the association was for the Hide-n-Seek brand. The punchline of the movie was “What you seek is seeking you.” There was synergy between the positioning of the brand, which talks about “Don’t hide from one you are seeking” and the movie concept," said Shah. "As shared earlier, we associate very selectively and rarely with movies; if and only there's a strong synergy between the positioning of the brand and content of the movie."
He goes on to explain that consumption of digital media has increased manifold during lockdown because the only platform on which movies are being released today is OTT platforms, simply because theatres are shut. In such a situation people will log on and watch movies on OTT, as there is no other avenue available to them.
With Unlock 3.0, malls will open but cinemas will remain closed. But once they open, there would be a great deal of interest in movies, which will hit the screens after a period of five months and there will be higher viewership of movies compared to a normal release in the pre-covid period.
Brand strategist, author and founder of Brand-Building.com, a brand advisory, Ambi Parameswaran says, "From what I understand, OTT platforms are not taking ads (at least the big three). But even this may change in the coming months. We could see some sponsorship opportunities open up. In the absence of this, brands will have to examine in programme placements. These have been happening even in movies for over a decade, in a serious way. OTT may also want to explore this revenue stream."
As of now YouTube advertising has become almost like TV advertising with so-called better targeting. The viewership counts are not independently validated and it is also not clear what is counted as views, five seconds or the full ad. Then there are skippable ads and non-skippable ads. So it is a bit of a minefield. Brands are seeing YouTube as yet another channel with different measurements and not GRPs. The TV industry is also pushing for payments based on CPTs and not just GRPs. That is yet another possible development. There are today so many ways of reaching the same consumer that it has become difficult to exactly measure what works and what doesn’t. The issue of attribution is indeed getting bigger. OTT will add to the challenge. Exciting times for folks doing market mix modelling and marketing Analytics.