In a world constantly expanding, companies are constantly looking for more consumers for its products. Such is the case with Zee5 Global as it continues its pursuit to reach out to the Indian diaspora all over multiple regions with the entity being present in approximately 197 countries. Moreover, it is slowly transitioning into an aggregator from being a pure-play OTT platform in order to cater to its future ambitions.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited’s revenue in FY23 stood at Rs 8167.62 crore while total revenue for Zee5 stood at Rs 741 crore. The global entity, Zee5 Global, contributed approximately 30% to Zee5’s B2C subscription revenue. It claims to be s growing its subscription revenue by 35% year-on-year with the US being its biggest market consisting of 57% of its total global market. In a conversation with BrandWagon Online Archana Anand, chief business officer, Zee5 Global, talks about the transition of Zee5 Global, its marketing campaigns, and the future . (Edited Excerpts)
Which are the other significant markets for Zee5 Global? How are you reaching out to the South Asian diaspora in these countries? Are there any specific marketing campaigns that are being carried out which would only be relatable to the South Asian diaspora in these countries?
The mark we have made in the US is on the back of strategic initiatives, one of them being we figured that it costs $90 for customer acquisition, we had to get innovative to acquire customers. We recalled that there were a lot of Indian students coming in and we thought it would be an interesting cohort to tap. We collaborated with the North American Association of Indian Students. We took a Bollywood dance competition to 150 universities.
These Indian students come in with a shoestring budget and are missing the Indian content they are familiar with. We gave them a Zee5 subscription at a subsidised student rate and that was loved by all of them. We also tied up with the Patel Bros. Grocery stores because, within the grocery store, I believe every consumer was actually my target audience. Patel is one of the largest format grocery stores for South Asians in the US. We took actor Sonali Bendre across, we had the Zee5 logo on every shopping cart.
Middle East has a huge population of blue-collar workers from Kerala and we studied the consumers. We went to the labour camps and on weekends, we were screening Zee5 movies on large screens. We were giving them popcorn and coke during the movie experience. We went one step further because they have such little disposable income, they were sharing subscriptions and watching. We also had a contest with Zee5 and the prize would be a ticket back home that really got them going.
We also tied up with Lulu, the biggest format store for South Asians in the Middle East. We also undertake joint activities almost every year. We took the likes of actors Aditi Rao Hydari and Dia Mirza. Even the locals love Bollywood content like the Emiratis and the Middle-Eastern crowd.
What are your plans for originals targeting the Indian diaspora?
Movies are always the pull, big faces the crowd knows. It is harder to map an original for me in the global market. There is a difference when an original is launched here in India versus abroad. Here you will put up three of our big boards and you get a stretch but where do I market it in the US, it’s very difficult to be read and do all the targeted marketing, I can put a big hoarding in Times Square but if I’m saying 2% of the population, that only two in 100 in Time Square are seeing this hoarding, and so it does not convert the same way so it is hard to do the same kind of market is very different strategically.
What is the advertising and subscriber revenue share?
In the US, the advertising revenue model is popular. In most cases, the freemium model are also a plus one to introduce the lower tier subscription which allows ads. For me, the way I am looking at it, the South Asian diaspora is one the highest earning groups in the USA with approximately $123,000 average income which is almost thrice the median. An average American would only be earning $50,000 suggesting that affordability is not an issue here. Moreover, they have very scant access to new theatricals and stuff. This is a huge opportunity. There’s no reason for me to go out and support. In fact, every other market across the globe is a freemium model and unconsciously has taken the choice to go complete subscription in the US and it is a huge bet that has paid off well.
Why is Zee5 Global pivoting to becoming an aggregator in the streaming space?
While we are leaders by some distance, it occurred to us that other South Asian streaming platforms are struggling with the $90 customer acquisition cost and the kind of intensity you need to market. Hence, we thought to become the single destination for South Asia through which the partner platforms would get the reach that Zee5 has garnered. The smaller partners whose original dream was content creation and platform play was only a means of content distribution, suddenly get that reach without any cost to them because they sit within us. These partners don’t need to spend on marketing, distribution and technology as they become EBITDA positive from the get-go. The first six partners are Oho Gujrati, Chaupal, iStream, Simply South, NamaFlix, and EPIC ON.
If you ask anyone in the US why they go to a certain pirated content provider, they mostly give two reasons. One is because all the content is available in a single destination and the other is the price. With the launch of Zee5 Add Ons which is the aggregating solution, we are actually solving both these problems, providing all content in a single destination at a competitive price in the market ($74.99 annually). The partners joining Zee5 Global will be giving a direct-to-consumer value rate which is quite reasonable in the market. Hence, there is value in terms of economics when a customer comes to the Zee5 Global platform. We have been working on a campaign for approximately one and a half years now which signifies how film watching is linked to organised crime. I propose this legitimate, alternate solution in order to battle piracy.
What are the future plans for the global entity of Zee5?
I’m ambitious about doubling the subscriber base and having far greater stickiness. And I’m very ambitious about being the single best South Asian content because by virtue of the 12 languages Zee5 has, I have the most comprehensive insights into South Asians more than any other platform.