Viacom18’s OTT Platform Voot Prepares to Launch ‘Voot Studio’ for Advertisers
Voot Studio – a business performance-oriented content tech solution for advertisers looking to connect with digital audiences.
In a big announcement during the occasion of its AVOD (Advertising Video on Demand) OTT platform Voot’s third anniversary, television network Viacom18 unveiled few big initiatives that the company is going to take forward on behalf of the video-on-demand service. Voot launches a unique content creation platform for brands and advertisers called Voot Studio. This is one big step that the company is looking forward to. Voot Studio – a business performance-oriented content tech solution for advertisers looking to connect with digital audiences. The options will include branded shows, sponsorships, and interactive formats, in addition to other solutions.
Speaking on the same Akash Banerji, Head – AVOD Business, VOOT, says, “Voot Studio is a new and big initiative that the Voot team has created and is actually going to the market. It raises the bar. What we are clear about is one thing — we are not a TV network which is only be creating content for brands or advertisers and giving out brands some subtle ways of content integration. In fact, what we have clearly realized is that the entire complex ecosystem of storytelling has to be really played up in the best manner possible. The brands and advertisers can now come to us and we will help them create stories and produce stories.”
The brands today realize that a regular ad spot, while important, is not sufficient to drive resonance with the consumer. The branded content solution is, hence, the way forward given that it allows for bespoke content curation and subtle communication embedded into the narrative of the show. VOOT Studios will allow brands to bring the world of story-telling, data, and tech all together to deliver the brand message and the ROI effectively for the business,” adds Banerji.
The team went ahead with the plan because of the rich roster of storytellers, producers, freelancers, and writers who are part of Voot’s panel and business. Depending on the specific brand objective, Voot Studio will help brands do much more for the consumers with respect to interacting with them over the platform. “We are doing so many different interactivities formats. In one of the formats, the consumers can now choose what their favorite star can actually be wearing. If there is a fashion brand that actually wants its brand to be integrated into the interactivity format, we are more than willing to do so. Not only this, but we will also try optimizing on those content pieces, creatives, and stories with a very clear idea of how it actually is going to drive the retention on your platform. It is not simply above — what is it that you are experiencing and seeing on our platform with respect to consumers CPRs or their wanting and willingness to watch the content,” Banerji further speaks.
Sudhanshu Vats, Group CEO and MD, Viacom18 says, “This was the one big initiative that we wanted to unveil today. I think what we are committed to be taking this journey forward and building a very strong portfolio and therefore, we will also be having four distinct businesses as we go forward. Voot is currently the advertising led video on demand service that we have. We are segmenting the VOOT business into four uniquely focussed propositions – the existing AVOD model and the upcoming freemium offering, VOOT Kids and VOOT International.”
The AVOD also platform announced as part of its future growth strategy, the further scaling of its current content library. VOOT plans to launch over 30+ originals across genres and languages in the next 12 months. Also, Voot aims at 100 million monthly active users by March 2020.