OTT mirrors theatrical medium with sleeper hits

New Delhi: Just like movie theatres where big star films with aggressive marketing are complemented by a bunch of small and mid-budget movies that break out thanks to word-of-mouth and targeted promotions, streaming platforms are also seeing non-star titles and low-budget shows that aren’t really marketed with too much fanfare, find their own audience.

The trend comes at a time when streaming platforms have drawn much flak for focusing on shows starring mainstream movie names, diluting the democratization of the medium.

According to media consulting firm Ormax, for the week of 29 July to 4 August, 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 Topper (1.6 million views).

These shows don’t come armed with high budgets, mainstream faces or bullish marketing campaigns but entertainment industry experts say they have benefited from word-of-mouth around compelling content with OTT algorithms tailored for them to be recommended to niche audience segments.

“While stars do bring their own audience pull, compelling storytelling is the cornerstone of captivating content and therefore audience engagement,” Manish Kalra, chief business officer, ZEE5, said. “The OTT landscape has revolutionized content consumption, providing viewers with access to diverse, high-quality stories any time, 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 diverse titles, such as Rangbaaz, Mukhbir, and Tripling season three, and Lakadbaggha in Hindi; Pranaya Vilasam in Malayalam; and Writer Padmabhushan, Maya Bazaar For Sale in Telugu. The platform employs a multi-faceted communication strategy to ensure its shows gain word-of-mouth traction, Kalra added.

“We leverage a mix of digital marketing, social media engagement, influencer partnerships, and community building to create 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 compelling narratives of our shows to spark curiosity and conversation,” Kalra said.

Rajat Agrawal, director, Ultra Media & Entertainment Group that owns Marathi OTT platform Ultra Jhakaas, pointed out that well-executed content is responsible for the success of these shows, even though they don’t feature well-known names. Moreover, some of them are streaming for free which helps these shows to be accessible to a wider audience. “Ad-supported platforms offer greater flexibility in terms of content both for platforms as well as viewers,” he said.

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To be sure, entertainment industry experts feel the current landscape of content promotion is shifting, with a clear divide between big-ticket productions and smaller releases.

While spectacle-driven content or established franchises like Heeramandi or Mirzapur naturally lend themselves to creating buzz, requiring higher marketing budgets, there is an adoption of more niche, targeted marketing strategies for smaller productions. This includes hyper-targeted digital campaigns that speak directly to potential audiences rather than broad, expensive traditional marketing pushes.

“These smaller shows don’t have faces that can be advertised. But there is definite science behind figuring out which audience may like to sample this content and then ensuring word-of-mouth picks up,” Uday Sodhi, senior partner, Kurate Digital Consulting, said agreeing that like movies released in theatres, some content on OTT may start slow and then slope upwards.

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“The fact that these shows are well made and have a strong and relatable storyline definitely adds to the viewership. Another reason is that there has been a dearth of content with big faces that has given more space to the non-star shows to garner eyeballs,” said Ujjwal Mahajan, co-founder, Chaupal, a platform specializing in Punjabi, Haryanvi and Bhojpuri content.