With apologies to none at all
By Vikas Mehta
Finally, home after two weeks on the road. Watching World Cup Cricket streaming on the mobile or laptop was fun. But I am a traditionalist. Give me large screen TV and a DTH connection and you have me hooked. You may say that I can watch streaming on my large screen at home also. True. But my streaming experience has been mostly imperfect. I may be watching streaming on 5G or on broadband but the fluctuation in internet speed is imminent and hardly a day went by while watching World Cup streaming when the quality of video did not deteriorate or I did not face buffering. DTH at least lets me watch all the action without any drop in picture quality or interruption. My wife though was quick to point out that DTH also faces interruption, when it rains or when the electricity supply is interrupted. At least 5G or even broadband with a mini-UPS assures no disruption due to power cut. Well, that’s India for you. So many permutations, so many pros and cons.
But I digress. Today, I am going to talk about what advertising I encountered on DTH and how it was different than on digital streaming.
The first observation I had was that digital streaming was always a ball slower than on DTH. The reason I found out was technical. But it definitely is a bummer, specially during close matches. Not that there have been many in this World Cup, but I would hate to be watching matches like Pakistan vs South Africa or Australia vs New Zealand on streaming and my daughter telling me the result before I know it!!!
The second obvious observation was the sheer number of advertisers on DTH vs digital streaming. And that was a surprise to me. Disney + Hotstar is streaming the matches free on mobile through its app and I would have imagined that this in turn will get them more advertisers. And the overall audience for streaming has been good. The India vs New Zealand match for example got over 4 crore viewers, more than the India vs Pakistan match. So, what explains the less number of advertisers on streaming?
The answer I think may lie in the type of viewership that DTH vs digital streaming offer. If I may take the liberty of slotting the type of audience by the media channel, though this is purely hypothetical and I have no data to back it up, but do hear me out.
During my travels, I noticed that mostly it is the GenZ which was comfortable watching the matches on mobile screens. Definitely because it was free but more importantly because matches on mobile could be watched anywhere. GenZ could watch it in her/his university, while travelling by public transport or at home in her/his own cocoon with earphones plugged on. There is a sense of individuality and privacy while watching the matches on mobile, something which GenZ craves for.
Laptop or maybe tablet screens is the preferred choice for the millenium. Specially during working days. The Disney + Hotstar window would be minimised, volume muted but catching the action every few minutes is the norm. I witnessed this even during a presentation!
DTH is a family pastime at home or for the retired people. The millennials with their friends, or spouses or even parents watch the action late evening at home. The exception here again is the GenZ. They value their privacy. But they multitask while watching the matches. Multitask in terms of chatting about the matches with friends, exchanging instant memes, all the while maybe doing their college or school tasks.
And I think advertisers have observed the same. And most of the advertisers are targeting the family or the millennial. No wonder, auto brands like Skoda and Mahindra are active on DTH but absent on streaming. GenZ is not whom auto brands are targeting. And they catch the millennials in the evening on DTH. That’s also the reason I do not recall seeing any Dream 11 ad on TV but discovered that it is a broadcast sponsor on digital streaming. Mostly, it’s the tech-saavy GenZ and to some extent the millennial who are the TG for gaming apps like Dream 11. Not necessarily a family type or retired person.
I guess that’s what public sector banks like SBI, PNB etc were thinking with their presence on DTH. So too was Fogg as it has had a family personality as opposed to Axe which is more individual, seductive. No wonder Axe is on streaming. But I was surprised to see that Axis Bank was advertising for its app on DTH. Maybe streaming would have been a better choice for the same.
The presence of health brands like Herbalife or Emami Herbal Kesh on streaming again was a no-brainer, since such health products are preferred more by millennials and GenZ to some extent.
And the best example of media segmentation and targeting came from Hero. It has used DTH for its festival offers on motorcycles under the sub-brand Hero GIFT (Great Indian Festival of Trust). Targeting the family and maybe more small-town buyer who is middle-aged and not into technology but wants an affordable mode of personal transport. DTH and cable are the perfect media to catch this person. Whereas for their EV scooter Vida, digital streaming is the targeted medium.
But then what explains the presence of a new brand of EV, Eblu Feo on DTH and cable broadcast? And it seems to be targeting independent women as Neena Gupta is the brand endorser. Your guess is as good as mine but I think it wants to announce its presence nationally on a medium which gives it a wider reach and also depth of reach. Digital streaming maybe is restricted on those parameters.
I was also impressed with the use of digital streaming by Whisper. Targeting young women who want the best protection for themselves, Whisper is alluding to the reality that these women are also avid cricket fans. Something that has been reinforced by the presence of Pantene, another P&G brand on digital streaming. As an aside, it sems that P&G is making a big play on cricket and that too through digital streaming. The first two weeks matches on streaming were dominated by an overwhelming presence of Tide and truth be told, the one ad being repeated ad nauseam had started to grate. Will Tide or Pantene make a comeback or some other P&G brand will come in the later stages on streaming?
Very few brands, I can recall only Phone Pe and Bookings.com, who were present on both DTH and digital streaming. The reason again is simple. They are targeting very wide instead of narrow focusing. They are still selling their categories and brand building is incidental.
But the most significant presence for me on DTH has unfortunately been the presence of surrogate brands. The various brands of Pan Masala posing as silver-coated elaichi or whatever and also liquor brands under dubious categories like water or experience or playing cards. Interestingly, none of these brands are on digital streaming. What does it tell us? That there is hope. That the advertisers know that targeting GenZ may get them into trouble. That the younger generation is more into healthy products and doesn’t care too hoots about such ads. That the same younger generation is maybe more ethical and frowns upon such surrogates. Or very simply it is the family man who is into these vices? Whatever the reason, the divide is stark.
Join me next time as some new campaigns unfold in the final phase of the World Cup. Let’s see if some new observations are going to unfold.
