'OTT, gaming, social media ripe for growth'

Elara Capital recently hosted Vibes 3.0 virtual conference on the media & entertainment sector. One of the sessions was titled ‘Social Media & Sports: Will Rise of Gaming & OTT Play Spoilsport?’.

The speakers on the panel discussion included Quora brand partnership Avirup Das, former Multi Screen Media (now Sony Pictures Networks India) CEO Kunal Dasgupta, Sportzlive MD Prasad Mangipudi, Former Vuclip country head Vishal Maheshwari. The session was moderated by Elara Capital VP Karan Taurani.

Avirup Das opened the discussion by saying that social media is going to become more dominant within the digital media pie it provides rich data for the digital advertising medium.

The rise of social media will be seen in commerce as well. Search, social media & converged video will dominate the next five years, he said.

He also noted that Facebook and YouTube dominate the social media and video markets respectively. Das stated that a new story is emerging in social media whereby emphasis on Facebook and Twitter (pure social platforms) are shifting to niche spaces like Quora (knowledge-sharing site).

In the case of Quora, the primary niche is knowledge sharing while social layers are added for user engagement, which adds value to the platform. Quora has 400 million+ users as it adds value to the user.

Internet space has too much information hence perspective is very important when there is information overload. Quora as a platform contains quality information that comes from users based on their own experiences. This makes Quora valuable for brands.

Speaking about the sports industry in India, Kunal Dasgupta said that the Indian market was always about one sport that is cricket. There is a vacancy at the second position for non-cricket sports, however, no sport has managed to break that glass ceiling.

He also highlighted that there has been a large consumption growth of sports content on digital platforms. While cricket leads there is an opportunity for other sports as well.

Sharing App Annie data, Dasgupta said that online gaming went through the roof from 3 minutes per day to three hours per week during the lockdown, which is solely from mobile gaming and fantasy sports.

Here too cricket is at the forefront but eSports is the fastest-growing segment among the youth. PUBG mobile (other than sports) was the fastest growing game in India.

There is a lot of interest among advertisers as far as gaming is concerned. Advertising and brands have not readjusted their strategy as far as gaming is concerned. They are yet to figure out how to take advantage of these eyeballs.

He also highlighted the inadequacy of the digital measurement system. For example, app users and metrics have been a big issue for advertisers. App Annie has generalised operating metric numbers but there is a lack of specific data. Platforms don’t provide any actionable metrics. On the OTT front, SVOD platforms don't share data while AVOD data is haphazard. Unlike digital, at least there is some measurement on TV.

Prasad Mangipudi said that the investments in non-cricket sports have seen a big jump. The investments are driven by changing tastes and trends. While cricket is the dominant sport there is an opportunity in other sports. He pointed out that the Badminton Association of India (BAI) has renewed its deal with Yonex at 3x growth. He also cited the viewership record created by PV Sidhu’s Badminton during the 2016 Olympics.

Mangipudi revealed that Sportzlive has finalised a deal with an agency for its sports property Premier Badminton League (PBL). He also noted that the strategy for the next five years is to create a community out for the league and monetise them.

He also sees an opportunity to have a fantasy and digital platform for Badminton, which is the most participative sport in the country.

On Facebook, PBL has more likes than Pro Kabaddi League (PKL). Badminton also has an advantage as it is the only sport where India has China.

Sportzlive is also exploring media rights deal for the next five years. It is also in talks with one of the social media giants for a prospective deal.

Vishal Maheshwari said there are paradoxical things happening in the video. There is a convergence happening between linear and non-linear on digital. There is a lot of fragmentation in the OTT video market with 60+ OTT players. In order to succeed, OTT players have to develop an identity and reach of their own. Some OTT platforms have such a tiny reach that they are not able to monetise it.

OTT platforms need to build reach in their individual markets in order to secure sustainable growth. He further added that there is a role for regional OTT. They need to break out of one and two million number and go to a base of 5-10 million.

While OTT platforms have their task cut out, video giant YouTube isn’t finding it easy. Brand safety is a big concern for advertisers on YouTube. YouTube is not finding it easy currently, due to the excessive supply of content and display ad, monetizing, and sharing revenue with content creators. It is also facing competition from short-form video platforms which are cutting into its user base. Mitron, he said, has started monetising. TikTok had given YouTube a run for its money.  

Avirup said that there is a huge concern among brands about brand safety on social media platforms due to the kind of content that is disseminated. These platforms have to moderate content on their conversation. Quora, he said, offers a brand-safe environment. Another concern is the intrusive nature of ads on social platforms. Due to the tracking of users, some platforms are hounding audiences with all kinds of ads. Social media platforms have to move out of that and look at intent-based advertising.

Dasgupta said that there are several new emerging verticals within the digital advertising domain as can be seen in the list of Indian Premier League (IPL) sponsors. Earlier, key IPL sponsors came from categories like beverages, auto, telecom, device manufacturers. These have changed to Dream11 and Byju’s of the digital world. Earlier the pricing structure was easy, but since digital use has increased significantly, everything is a service, and pricing methodologies have been changing.

Third-party measurements like BARC are needed for uniform measurement across platforms based on a single standard. Each platform has a unique thing, which might impact measurement and is not comparable. Hence, as an evolution, tools are being developed whereby sentiments are measured.