OTT imitates the film medium with unexpected successes

New Delhi: Just like cinema halls, where big star movies with aggressive marketing are complemented by a slew of small and medium budget films that make it big on word of mouth and targeted promotions, streaming platforms are also seeing no-star titles and low-budget shows that are not really marketed with much fanfare finding their own audience.

The trend comes at a time when streaming platforms have come under fire for focusing on shows starring names from mainstream movies, diluting the democratization of the medium.

According to media consultancy Ormax, during the week of July 29 to August 4, the list of most-watched streaming originals in India included titles such as Commander Karan Saxena (3.8 million views), Raisinghani vs. Raisinghani (2.5 million views) and Tribhuvan Mishra CA Ornament (1.6 million views).

These shows don’t come armed with big budgets, famous faces or bullish marketing campaigns, but entertainment industry experts say they have benefited from word of mouth around engaging content with OTT algorithms designed to recommend them to specific audience segments.

“While stars have their own appeal to the audience, compelling storytelling is the cornerstone of captivating content and hence audience engagement,” said Manish Kalra, Business Head, ZEE5. “The OTT landscape has revolutionised content consumption, giving viewers access to diverse, high-quality stories anytime, anywhere. Unlike traditional cinema, where audiences often gravitate towards familiar faces and blockbuster names, the digital platform offers a democratised space where unique narratives can thrive.”

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This democratization of content is evident in the success of various titles, such as Rangbaaz, Mukhbirand Tripling Season three, and Lakadbagha in Hindi; Pranaya Vilasam in Malayalam; and Writer Padmabhushan, Mayan Bazaar for sale In Telugu, the platform employs a multi-faceted communication strategy to ensure its shows gain popularity through word of mouth, Kalra added.

“We leverage a combination of digital marketing, social media engagement, influencer partnerships and community building to generate buzz around our content. We maximize reach and engagement by targeting specific audience segments and tailoring our messaging to resonate with them. Additionally, we focus on storytelling in our promotions, highlighting unique aspects and engaging narratives of our shows to spark curiosity and conversation,” Kalra said.

Rajat Agrawal, director of Ultra Media & Entertainment Group, which owns Marathi OTT platform Ultra Jhakaas, said the success of these shows is due to well-executed content, even if they do not feature well-known names. Also, some of them are streamed for free, which helps make these shows accessible to a wider audience. “Ad-supported platforms offer greater flexibility in terms of content, both for the platforms and the viewers,” he said.

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Certainly, entertainment industry experts believe that the current content promotion landscape is changing, with a clear divide between big-budget productions and smaller releases.

While show-oriented content or established franchises like The Constitution either Mirzapur Commercials naturally lend themselves to generating buzz, which requires larger marketing budgets, and more targeted and specific marketing strategies are adopted for smaller productions. This includes hyper-targeted digital campaigns that directly target potential audiences rather than broad and expensive traditional marketing campaigns.

“These smaller shows don’t have faces that can be advertised, but there is a definite science that goes into determining which audience might want to try out this content and then ensuring that the word gets out,” said Uday Sodhi, senior partner at Kurate Digital Consulting, agreeing that like movies released in theaters, some OTT content may start slow and then ramp up.

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“The fact that these shows are well-made and have a strong and relatable storyline definitely boosts the viewership. Another reason is that there has been a dearth of content with big faces, which has given more space to shows without stars to attract attention,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder of Chaupal, a platform specialising in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content.