MUMBAI: Brands cannot overlook over-the-top (OTT) platforms while planning media mix. Broadcaster-led streaming services like ZEE5, Hotstar, VOOT with their impressive number of monthly active users and large scale of content have started taking away some of the TV ad dollars. But the lack of unified measurement has been one of the major concerns of brands as they want clarity on impact and reach. However, while the industry is grappling with the hardship, ZEE5 has initiated numerous partnerships to offer measurable results to its advertiser community.

ZEE5 entered partnerships with Moat, a standard verification across the digital industry that measures viewability of video and display ads. The streaming service’s digital creatives are exceeding Moat benchmarks thus giving more confidence to brands that users are spending more time viewing them and ads are reaching completion more frequently. While the Moat benchmark of ad playing to completion is 39.4 per cent, ZEE5 has touched 71 per cent. For Moat’s audibility, the benchmark for the percentage of impressions where the video was audible at a given period of time is 47.5 per cent, while ZEE5 has almost doubled to 93.9 per cent.

A recent report from Deloitte Global predicted that revenue from ad-supported video services will reach an estimated $32 billion in 2020 whereas Asia (including China and India) will lead with $15.5 billion in revenue in 2020, nearly half of the global total. Although the report came out before COVID-19 crisis and there might be changes in statistics, but the increasing affinity of brands towards streaming services is significantly noticeable. At such a critical juncture, ZEE5 will have an edge over others on the back of credibility from a third-party tool.

Last year, ZEE5 also integrated with Nielsen to deliver the best accountability for brands and partners on their advertising front. The Nielsen Digital Ad Ratings (DAR) provides a method of measuring online advertising audiences, delivering reach, frequency and gross rating point (GRP) metrics along with demographics like age and gender. Moreover, DAR reports demographic information from Facebook, with Nielsen correction & calibration factors.

ZEE5 has been taking proactive measures as AVOD business is poised for growth. The Deloitte report also added that these streaming services are in the process of convincing advertisers to shift some of the TV ad budgets to streaming video by placing forward innovative ad models and personalised content. 

As brands look at more consumer insights and metrics while deciding on marketing mix spends,  ZEE5 also offers data from the Media Rating Council (MRC). MRC is a standard devised to determine whether an ad impression is viewable or not. According to MRC, a display ad will be considered as “viewable” if 50 per cent of the ad creative is visible for at least one second in the viewable space of the browser. ZEE5 is overreaching CTR and VTR also, as per MRC standard. While other OTT platforms have 30-40 per cent VTR, ZEE5 has more than double, ranging between 75-85 per cent. At the same time, ZEE5 achieves 0.5-1 per cent CTR while other OTT platforms attain 0.2-0.5 per cent.

ZEE5 is leaving no stone unturned to maximise the ROI for brands. It launched an industry-disrupting ad-suite last year which helps deliver brand KPIs on aspects like reach, saliency, lead generation and SOV while allowing for segmentation, personalisation and measurability to ensure higher returns on marketing investments. 

AdVault helps advertisers to reach its target through a vast range of solutions as per the campaign needs. AMLI5 supports bands to intensify the impact by offering influencers marketing, social media, content marketing, brand integrations, SMS-email campaigns. On the other hand, Play5 helps brands integrate with the content through customised gamification, branded polls and quiz. Wishbox enhances the chart aiming at higher engagement through video commerce. Infonomix leverages the flexibility and effectiveness of Ad Suit to deliver value through action led campaign planning.

ZEE5’s humungous number of monthly active users have already accentuated its top position in the pecking order of the streaming services. The platform has also been named ‘India’s Most Desired Video Streaming Brand’ by TRA’s Most Desired Brands 2020 report. The smart user interface and depth of content across languages have taken it beyond the premium tier easily. ZEEL’s big bet on OTT has undoubtedly emerged as a way for brands to reach masses on the back of its content, tech and data.