Lloyd Xavier, AVP marketing, AHA, an Indian OTT streaming service in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, owned by ARHA Media and Broadcasting Limited. He spoke about how the usage of OTT platforms has garnered a positive impact during the pandemic. He was one of the eminent speakers on the second session of the Indian Communication Summit 2021.
SMX Networks had organized a two-day Media, Entertainment, and Communication Summit named INDICOMMS 2021 in association with Adamas University (University partner), Innoserv Digital (Digital partner), ORAI Robotics (AI partner), Asma, and Asentrek Global (community partner). This mega summit continued for two days, 4th-5th March 2021, with many eminent speakers across the globe. This mega event aimed to examine the current scenario and identify new trends and best practices emerging in the media, communication and entertainment industries
Going Regional
Xavier, who is currently associated with AHA, an Indian OTT streaming service, owned by ARHA media and broadcasting limited spoke about how the usage of OTT platforms have improved drastically during the pandemic. He talked about the evolution of AHA- from being watched in few numbers and suddenly the shift from National to Regional. Adding how it gained so much attention now. He said, “Now AHA, is one of the most popular OTT platforms of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. It is not only limited to mobile phones but has reached consumers’ 42-inch tv screens. Now when everyone can access data at the tips of their fingers the world is witnessing a massive change. This change is a revolution towards the digital era”.
He discussed the steps towards digitalization and the concept of going local that aid them to reach out to regional people. Like the upliftment of AHA- Diversity which played a key role. He said, “So one should learn to be flexible. It helped us to reach out to regional people in a more engaging way.”
How Regional OTT Platforms Performed During the Pandemic
Xavier said, “When we tried aligning AHA, we made sure that we positioned AHA as a 100 per cent Telegu platform so that everyone in this region had ownership on our platform. However, when pandemic occurred things changed drastically, the audience that we developed and the segmentation that we have created for the audience, kind of disrupted during the pandemic.” He further added that when the pandemic had set in, people who never bought any prime package started to adapt OTT platforms. Xavier said, “We just completed one year at AHA, we have already become one of the most preferred regional OTT platforms in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. People, here love silver screen too, so it was quite challenging for us to make sure that they get habituated with AHA. Research helped us a lot in targeting the right set of audience.”
Business Model for 2021: A Scope to Diversify
Xavier talked from a business point of view that how diversity plays an important role in marketing. He said, “During the pandemic, we could not create original content so we started dubbing original content sticking to our promise that we will come up with 100 per cent Telegu content. So, we kind of pivoted from one model to another.” For 2021 the vision is clear for him is clear to diversify a little and see how the Tamil and Malayalam markets react to diversify as a platform.
On a concluding note, Xavier stated that with marketing and proper execution OTT speaks volumes and the quality of content that is shown on OTT platforms is simply exemplary.
The author, Abhilash Mishra is associated with Adamas University Media School.
