We're doing a lot of work in short-form programming: COO, Eros Digital
Ali Hussein talks about the platform's consumer engagement strategy, relationships with telco-partners and what made the 40-year-old film company want to march in the OTT space
Challenging the likes of Netflix and Amazon is Eros Now, the digital arm of movie production and distribution studio Eros International. The brand has managed to garner 7.9 million subscribers and has been growing quarter-on-quarter with 58% as of March 2018. Ali Hussein, COO, Eros Digital, spoke to exchange4media about the platform's consumer-engagement strategy, relationship with telco partners and more.
Hussein revealed that the platform is using technology to create viewership experience and various types of engagements. "Recently, we launched an interesting fiction app for the FIFA games. We’ve also done interesting language movie premiers week-on-week," he said.
The COO contended that they have been investing extensively on the marketing and content side, "We’re focusing on a lot on marketing alliance partners because we’re looking at infusing video viewing experience across various parts of the customer cycle. We're looking at interesting marketing partnerships," continued Hussein.
He shared that on the distribution front, a partnership has been in the works and is to be announced soon. "We do a lot of work in customisation and on distribution platforms to ensure that the product is more intrinsically inflated in the OEM universe," he said.
Hussein revealed that the platform's relationships with its telco partners have been of essence in garnering learning on consumer viewership patterns. "Whether its a Jio product, Airtel or Vodafone, we’ve got fairly exhaustive relationships with the telecos in terms of having the Eros Now app available. We do a lot of BTL marketing with them. There are a lot of insights in viewership patterns that we’ve able to learn from the larger pole of the telco customers," he reasons.
When quizzed on what made the 40-year-old movie company want to march ahead in the OTT space and compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon, he said, " I believe that because we’ve been in the movie business and understand content consumption and the pulse of the consumer behaviour, we're able to take that learning and build a customer brand ourselves."
Hussein said initially the brand had to grapple with a lot of distribution barriers, but now they are all broken and has enabled the platform to create an independent brand.
The brand is now targeting about 16 million paid subscribers by the end of March 2019. When asked about his multi-fold strategy to fuel consumer viewership and the game-plan to reach these targets, Hussein said, "It will be about ensuring that we remain true to our ethos. A killer product is key. While nobody views it differently, we’re looking at technology to play a key role here. We're also doing a lot of work in short-form programming."
Hussein revealed that the platform is using technology to create viewership experience and various types of engagements. "Recently, we launched an interesting fiction app for the FIFA games. We’ve also done interesting language movie premiers week-on-week," he said.
The COO contended that they have been investing extensively on the marketing and content side, "We’re focusing on a lot on marketing alliance partners because we’re looking at infusing video viewing experience across various parts of the customer cycle. We're looking at interesting marketing partnerships," continued Hussein.
He shared that on the distribution front, a partnership has been in the works and is to be announced soon. "We do a lot of work in customisation and on distribution platforms to ensure that the product is more intrinsically inflated in the OEM universe," he said.
Hussein revealed that the platform's relationships with its telco partners have been of essence in garnering learning on consumer viewership patterns. "Whether its a Jio product, Airtel or Vodafone, we’ve got fairly exhaustive relationships with the telecos in terms of having the Eros Now app available. We do a lot of BTL marketing with them. There are a lot of insights in viewership patterns that we’ve able to learn from the larger pole of the telco customers," he reasons.
When quizzed on what made the 40-year-old movie company want to march ahead in the OTT space and compete with the likes of Netflix and Amazon, he said, " I believe that because we’ve been in the movie business and understand content consumption and the pulse of the consumer behaviour, we're able to take that learning and build a customer brand ourselves."
Hussein said initially the brand had to grapple with a lot of distribution barriers, but now they are all broken and has enabled the platform to create an independent brand.
The brand is now targeting about 16 million paid subscribers by the end of March 2019. When asked about his multi-fold strategy to fuel consumer viewership and the game-plan to reach these targets, Hussein said, "It will be about ensuring that we remain true to our ethos. A killer product is key. While nobody views it differently, we’re looking at technology to play a key role here. We're also doing a lot of work in short-form programming."
Tags
Consumer engagement
Distribution
Fifa
Movies
Netflix
Telecom
Viewership
Eros digital
Ali hussein
