SVF

Creating value for audiences in the niche space, experts reveal the gameplan

With the rapidly growing content base in the digital space, time has come now to stand out amid the clutter. It is where differentiated content comes into play and as Kranti Gada, COO, Shemaroo Entertainment , pointed out, “Differentiated content creates a hugely loyal audience and a lot of hard work goes behind that.”

Gada was helming a panel discussion on ‘Differentiated Content’ at the SCREENXX 2019 Summit. The panel members included Gaurav Gera, Actor, comedian, content creator; Rajeshree Naik, Co-Founder, Ping Digital Broadcast; Malini Agarwal, Founder & Optimist Prime, MissMalini; Jaskirat ‘Kabir’ Singh Gill, COO, USP Studios; and Soumya Mukherjee, Head – Revenue and Strategy, hoichoi.

All the panelists agreed that niche is the way to go in the digital space. But in a niche space, how do you create value for the audiences?

Citing her experience with Ping Digital Broadcast, Rajeshree Naik narrated that they had started out with several genres and still provided content in various genres with more to be added soon. However, she realised that it was important to master one genre and then replicate the success to many. “We have made niche a part of our DNA,” she said. The decision to commit to the niche stemmed from the founder’s experience in the broadcast space, which has to cater to the lowest common denominator for audiences.

At the same time, Naik admitted that being a niche platform was also very tough “because it also means that you will never have the large numbers which are very critical in the digital space. It takes a long time to build any kind of foothold. It’s about how you get the maximum value from the niche you build and take that to the best practices for more.”

Miss Malini portal has today carved out a special space for itself in entertainment content. Reminiscing about the time the portal was set up in 2008, its founder Malini Agarwal said that there was no concept of influencer marketing then. She also observed that, “In entertainment journalism, the content tends to be somewhat tabloidy and negative in certain cases, but we decided to be positive in our content, which was a risk because do people want to read anything besides gossip? I can only write what I can say it to your face. We were pleasantly surprised to find that people did want the kind of content that we provided.”

Miss Malini’s strategy has been to grow its content organically and platform agnostically, “because you have to go where the party is”. The differentiator is finding that gap in the market and having it influence your voice. Now, the focus …Click here to read the full story