ZEE5 Originals is our biggest trump card: Archana Anand

Within a month of its launch, ZEE5, the latest entrant in the Indian over-the-top space, is going all out with its original content called ZEE5 Originals. With 20 Originals by the end of April 2018, ZEE5 is a holistic mix of web-series and short films across different genres and six languages (Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali).

“ZEE5 Originals is our biggest trump card. The range and variety of originals we are launching is way superior than anything that is available in the market at this point. We will also be the most prolific player as you will find us coming up with six web-series across languages,” claimed Archana Anand, Digital Head, ZEE5 India.

The web-series and short films will include nine Hindi web-series (Karenjit Kaur, Life Sahi Hai 2, Lockdown, Babbar Ka Tabbar, Zero Kms, Table Number 5, The Story, The Big Cover Up, Dhatt Teri Ki) and three Hindi short films (Mehmaan, Tamashree, Sone Bhi Do Yaaron).

For the viewers looking for a lingual experience, ZEE5 is launching two Marathi web-series (Liftman, Horn OK Please), two Telugu web-series (Nanna Koochi, Chitram Vichatram), two Tamil web-series (Kallachirippu, America Mappillai), a Malayalam web-series (Utsaha Ithihasam) and a Bengali movie (Aranya Deb).

“This year we have 135 content pieces ranging from six minutes to 22 minutes. And by next year-end, it is going to be triple,” Anand said.

The original content strategy team consists of 17 members, led by two -- one heading the short-format content and the other taking care of the long form.

“We are competing in an extremely competitive market. We definitely have the appetite to match it at every level,” Anand mentioned.

The content line-up features some of the well-known faces from the world of Indian entertainment such as Sunny Leone, Badshah, Sumeet Vyas, Swara Bhaskar, Shakti Kapoor, Swanand Kirkire, Raftaar, Naseeruddin Shah, Raima Sen, Naveen Kasturia, Kailash Kher, Jonita Gandhi, Neha Bhasin, Mallika Sherawat, Jisshu Sengupta, and celebrated filmmakers like Luv Ranjan and Ankur Garg, Q, and Tamil director Karthik Subbaraj.

Anand has already planned an integrated marketing campaign for the ZEE5 Originals across all medium, with more preference for the digital.

“Social media and digital are going to be very big for us. We realized that today social has the might of going regional. There will be content marketing involving a lot of influencers and bloggers,” Anand explained.

The first month of ZEE5 has got its traction from down south. Anand shared, “Suddenly, I have whole load of towns in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu jumping on to it (ZEE5).”

The platform, which operates on a freemium model, will be released in international markets soon. But with big-ticket cricket tournament IPL less than two weeks away, will it take away all the attention for two months?

Anand does not feel so. “There’s space for everything. I am sure IPL will do well. But during this season, we won’t stop other aspects of our life.”

Amit Goenka, CEO, ZEE International and Z5 Global, said, “With the launch of ZEE5 ORIGINALS, we are set to take the reach of ZEE5 to the next level with an unparalleled depth of content offerings.”

“Our aim, with ZEE5, is to present thought-provoking and relatable content which stirs emotions, triggers conversations and leaves the viewers feeling entertained and refreshed. Using our expertise as a global content company, ZEE5 ORIGINALS will feature a library of exclusive content which is relatable, understated, bold, progressive and layered. This will make for an immersive experience, keeping our core target audience engaged and stimulate their entertainment appetite in a language of their choice,” Goenka said.

“ZEE5’s technologically superior interface, be it voice search, progressive web app experience, content download options, multi-CDN strategy for an optimized video viewing experience and multi-platform support, has set it apart in the industry, making way for a ‘glocal’ content consumption shift among consumers,” added Goenka.