Attracted by the world’s cheapest internet data plans and a mammoth number of people online, every business wants to utilise India’s content consumption prowess. Multiple brands, even those from completely different industries and sectors, are now competing and vying for the same consumer’s attention and time with their content.
In the past seven months, we have seen not only brands but content platforms and individual creators too, creating the bulk of content, mostly on similar lines — like how everybody started creating cooking videos.
With so much of identical content being produced, BuzzInContent.com finds out why the need to be the differentiator is at an all-time high.
The audience is hungry for content that is unique and at the same time can bring about some change or create awareness among the masses. Content consumption has been high across the board, irrespective of format, platform or genre.
Anish Mehta
According to Anish Mehta, CEO, Cosmos Maya, three factors that play an important role for any kind of content creation are — relevance, topicality and volume, which decides how effective or outstanding a piece of content will be.
As the studio plays into animation genre and in a competitive field— one needs to keep coming up with never-seen-before concepts. Therefore, on the basis of consumption patterns, it comes up with stories in an artistic way with a kind of narrative structure that can cater to a larger chunk of kids in a non-pedagogical manner.
Content creation has peaked in the country and the big studios are progressively making their presence felt in global markets. In a content-hungry nation like ours, platforms like Instagram and YouTube, too, have been at the forefront of telling stories for new brands with creative responsibilities.
Angad Bhatia
“The role of brands and creators in this new world economy are driven by a deeper sense of consciousness towards the community it serves, and to the environment at large. Relatability using your environment in your content, working from the comfort of home, and with your family members are some of the key trends observed. And creators have managed to turn this otherwise limitation into an opportunity to expand their user base by offering a unique voice in these trying times,” said Angad Bhatia, Founder, MensXP and CEO, Indiatimes Lifestyle Network (ILN).
According to Bhatia, at ILN, its brands, including MensXP and iDiva, have understood that their role in this new world order far supersedes just creating zeitgeisty content but also to bring about genuine cultural impact towards its community.
“There is no one-size-fits-all content, not in today’s day and age of choices and eclectic tastes — it’s all about knowing your audiences and being honest with them. One of the most important aspects to stand out in the current industry is how organically one integrates branded content into their universe,” he said.
And raising awareness about current situations even in a brand strategy has helped spark conversations that have helped widen the social network.
Some of its creators have incorporated their surroundings into their content but not without losing sight of their unique voice and what makes them distinctive and not doing something that’s a force fit.
Chhavi Mittal, Co-Founder, Shitty Ideas Trending and Founder, Being Woman, said not only is there a need to be different from others, but also to be different from oneself.
“It is painful to watch people trying to ape each other with the same kind of content. One tends to forget who started it all. So what shines is only what stands out from the horde. And the whole purpose is defeated if that simple goal is not met. The audience has many options, and what sticks depends on whether it stood out for the audience to watch it,” she added.
Shamik Ghosh
More than trying to stand out, Shamik Ghosh, Head of Content and Communications for Paisabazaar.com, thinks a lot of brands are, very effectively, using content online to establish their brand presence.
“Many have shifted away from just making ‘ads’ and producing content to meet the consumer gap. Many brands are beautifully using ‘story-telling’ to connect with the audience at an emotional and human level, rather than at a transactional level. More than ‘Buy from us. We are the best’, we are now seeing messaging around ‘We are there for you. We want to make a small difference in your life’,” he said.
Paisabazaar is focussing strongly to use strong consumer content to meet the consumer’s need for information and greater awareness.
Smita Murarka
Smita Murarka, VP, Marketing at Duroflex, said that content marketing being the backbone of marketing, understanding the pulse and mood of consumers is very important. And that has been the differentiated factor for Duroflex— to stay connected to the audiences.
“We always stood for sleep, to change the perception about the category and go beyond just the mattress and talk more about the sleep. You need to understand what is going to connect with your customers emotionally and approach with creative aspect and being consistent is very important,” she added.
In a nutshell, as India straddles the realities of this new world order, brands are continuing to assess the need for unique, outstanding pieces of work.
But how challenging it can be to be a differentiator amid the budget restraints, low consumer sentiments
Challenges often help level up the game, said Bhatia.
“With the wide sea of creativity and content and narrowing the game of budgets and production, our motivation to be the differentiator has widened our horizon and made us more nimble. We have expanded for the better with more unique content creators who in total have average views of over 30 million,” he shared.
Bhatia said one should analyse the audiences and create content accordingly.
“Do not hesitate to explore but do not even ignore the signs of content being liked/ disliked. Deep dive into the trends of the hour and merge it with your brand voice. Don’t follow trends blindly and keep chasing what doesn’t align with your unique voice,” he added.
Ghosh thinks most large brands are learning to work around the challenges.
In fact, he has seen some stellar content being produced in the last few months; many have embraced the situation and used it to their advantage. Other than just understanding the audience and be clear of what is the objective behind the content, he said one has to have clear measurable metrics.
Facebook’s latest ‘More Together- Pooja Didi’ is one example of it.
Mittal, however, pointed out that being a differentiator does not depend on anything but one’s own creativity.
“Gone are the days when you needed a fancy camera and equipment and crew to shoot. Today one can actually shoot and create with just a phone. And you will only grow in any field if you accept the challenges and overcome them. As far as low sentiments are concerned, I think most people oscillate between moods,” she added.
And that is why she suggested that one should find what he/she really connects with and feel happy creating and create that till one gets bored.
Echoing the same view, Mehta too said that differentiation isn’t necessarily affected by these factors.
There is some excellent low-budget animated storytelling being done in the world today, which is getting appreciated for its concept and not the commercial value.
“It’s just a matter of what kind of content you are conceptualising and what kind of resources would go into achieving your vision towards it. Aspiring creators should recognise their own creative voice and be able to align it with the right audience. Another thing that needs to be focused on is how one presents the story together so that you’re showing that you understand cutting, continuity and staging,” he said.
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