Uday Sodhi of SonyLIV talks about the ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do’ campaign that celebrates the diversity of Indian cricket fans and implores them to spread the word about Indian cricket arriving on SonyLIV. Sudip Roy of ETV News Network, Network18 shares how increased competition in the regional space will expand the market size
CRICKET WILL COMPLEMENT OUR ROBUST FOOTBALL OFFERING: UDAY SODHI
SonyLIV, the digital broadcaster for the upcoming Indian cricket team tours to West Indies, Sri Lanka and South Africa, has rolled out a 360-degree campaign titled ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do’ to celebrate the diversity of Indian cricket fans and implores them to spread the word about Indian cricket arriving on SonyLIV. Uday Sodhi, EVP & Head, Digital Business, SonyLIV tells us more about the campaign and SonyLIV’s plans for the long cricketing season ahead.
ABOUT THE CAMPAIGN: SonyLIV owns the digital telecast rights of leading football leagues such as LaLiga, Serie A, France Ligue 1, and championships such as UEFA Champions League and Europa League. We now want to focus on cricket as a major category and the upcoming tours of team India set the perfect stage for a dedicated cricket campaign. We are talking to the digital fans and the best way for them to communicate is ‘Jahaan Fan Dikhe Bol Do’, the story of telling your friends to catch all the live action from anywhere at any time on SonyLIV.
INVESTMENT IN SPORTS: Since last year, we have invested a significant amount on upgrading sports and the overall app experience for our viewers. We have spent on technology to reduce buffering and support multiple devices, whether it is internet connected set-top boxes or other digital devices. With the acquisition of Ten Sports, we now have offer more cricket from across the globe. Our distribution efforts and technology upgrade will make sure that we are available across screens on low-end devices and high-end devices across bandwidths.
THE NEXT SIX TO NINE MONTHS WILL BE EXCITING: Cricket is a brand friendly sport in India with plenty of visibility opportunities for brands. We will have many brands partnering with us over the next few months for the cricket category which will complement our robust football offerings too. The FIFA U-17 Football World Cup will also be available on the platform, making it an exciting year ahead for all the sports fanatics on SonyLIV.
ETV NETWORK WILL EXPAND THE MARKET SIZE AND TAKE STRONG NATIONAL BRANDS HEAD-ON: SUDIP ROY
Increased competition in the regional space will expand the market size says Sudip Roy, National Revenue Head - ETV News Network, Network18 who adds that integrated solutions with multi-media impact is the way forward to drive up revenues
EVOLUTION OF THE REVENUE HEAD IN MEDIA: For a sales leader today, there is a never-ending pressure to deliver more - revenue, pipeline accuracy, top producing representatives, and all with less - less budget, time, and staff. With changing consumer habits and preferences, markets, marketers and media, the entire branding landscape is fast evolving. To keep pace with this dynamic mindset, new revenue generation streams are emerging. From more quantitative pitches using traditional selling skills of monetizing program breaks, present day revenue heads are increasingly pushing for quality, creativity and innovation as central themes for building bases. Revenue heads are reaching out to more qualitative leads/ markets and working out integrated media solutions across platforms. Already the Internet of Things, a huge futuristic revenue grosser, is staring at us and it needs to be exploited strategically for the medium’s advantage.
THE CHALLENGES: The three fundamental challenges are leadership, innovation and technology. Leadership to manage and motivate teams and relationships for staying ahead of the learning/ skills curve to deliver cutting edge performances; Innovation with speed and accuracy to match changing/ evolving brand plans; Technology is a very big competitive edge and must be harnessed to its fullest potential.
‘BIG DEAL CRACKED’: The ETV assignment at hand is indeed the biggest deal cracked and is the most challenging phase of my career as I spearhead and further strengthen the regional bastion. My role as the national head for all 13 ETV channels entails transfer of culture, systems and values of Network18 into ETV seamlessly. It is indeed a network within the Network18 that holds enormous potential for future growth.
REVENUE DRIVER: The regional space competition will heat up further with our emphasis on ETV network which will not only expand the market size but also take strong, national brands head-on in those markets. The network needs to fight out as a consolidated entity and leverage its vastly improved, cutting edge content and reach in defined geographies.
INNOVATION IN ADVERTISING SALES: The time for soft sell through automatic brand campaigns is over as most of these sales have traditionally yielded poor spot rates. The way forward is integrated solutions with multi-media impact. Innovations are already at the centre of most of the big pitches as brands and marketers demand integrations and activations as an integral part of their marketing mix.
