MAM
Guest column: How to leverage social media for advertising
At a time when social media’s exact worth for most businesses continues to be hard to pin down, trying to comment on trends that will ‘make or break your business’ can sound like puffery.
And yet, the last couple of years have shown that dominance of social media can shape the destiny of the world’s largest democracies, swing elections (even when not aided by Russian interference) and change the world quite literally.
If it works for them, it just might work for you. It is therefore vital that you have the most updated maps of these ever-shifting but powerful forces. Here are the key drivers for the next few months:
VIDEO (+ LIVE VIDEO)
While there is a lot of action and froth in video (and mobile data), and consumers are reeling from the unprecedented oversupply of high-end content, the trend is undeniable. Brands have absolutely no reason to stay on the sidelines. This is the year to go all in with your DVCs, webisodes, video podcasts, guides, unboxings, ‘virals’ – just do it. And do it now, because live video is another growing in-demand feature on Instagram. It is still a bit more complex to work with, so use sparingly.
NEW PLATFORMS: WHATSAPP AND MORE
WhatsApp has become substantially more business-friendly, and even more change is around the corner. Ignore this behemoth at your own risk. It is time to look at all the presentations and plans you made for chatbots, Twitter, social CRM etc. because WhatsApp can be all those things and more.
Meanwhile, Twitter continues to attempt doing push-ups while still in the ICU. It is getting harder to justify this in a marketing plan (apart from scoring brownie points with a trend). Snapchat is still an edge-case for the cool kids, who now seem just as comfortable with Instagram. The one dark horse to put money on this year may be Reddit. The strong community moderation makes it a much easier place to hang out, the interface is getting better, and the Indian early-adopters have already seen some success stories emerge.
VOICE
Indians traditionally do not like to speak to appliances – no voice mail, no answering machines, and definitely not those dreaded customer service voice portals. But Alexa and her counterparts are rapidly bringing us out of our shells. Formal opportunities for marketing are still emerging, but globally, brands have already started to guerrilla their way in. At the same time, listening to voice aka audio podcasts has grown from being a geek-and maven stronghold to a content form with legit commercial-grade numbers and mainstream hits. Not to be conflated with radio/digital radio, podcasts are a low-cost, high-engagement form of content. While the landscape is still relatively less crowded, it may be a good time to give a call to experts like IVM to evaluate opportunities.
NEW CONTENT FORMATS: STORIES
Even as we got used to the relaxed 280-character tweets that made things easier for content writers, we ran head-on into the ‘status update’ or ‘story’ (depending on which platform you were on). Disposable, time-limited updates that built for rapid consumption, restricted engagement and minimal intellectual overhead. This new weird creature, evolved from Snapchat, is here to stay on Instagram, on Facebook, and even WhatsApp. They are even selling ad inventory around it, for crying out loud. The challenge will be to rapidly create content for these, because it doesn’t fit into well-established content processes between clients and agencies. These stories need to be fresh, near real-time to be effective. Fortunately, you needn’t update this like clockwork, ‘sporadic’ and ‘irregular’ work just fine as posting intervals.
SECURITY
While you may not have to worry about Russian operatives infiltrating your company just yet, you can’t afford to ignore the other risks that have exponentially increased: comment spam is just an irritant now, but things rapidly get more sinister with malicious code injections into your blogs, social media impersonation, and debilitating ransomware blockades. The challenge is that these issues are black-swan events for most businesses, so there are no processes to address them quickly and effectively, especially when they can often fall into the canyon between client responsibility and agency scope.
MOVEMENT
Consumers are loving brands that take proactive stands and taking responsibility for improving the world. Burger King talking about net neutrality can’t have really sold many burgers, but it drew global respect for their gentle activism. Brands don’t have to grandstand, even small gestures like a no-creepiness ad targeting policy can build respect. The important thing is to do, not talk.
BEST PRACTICES AND PROCESSES
For a domain that goes through a sea-change every three months, benchmarking can be a moving goalpost. Recent structural changes like Facebook reducing organic reach for branded content may, ironically, help create a more stable world. As ‘hygiene’ posts lose their raison d’être, clients and businesses should consider how to best utilise their agency best. Here is a test structure for the coming future:
• The agency becomes a content marketing brand custodian, handling ‘spikes’ and campaigns with analytics and listening, design/UX, plus media buying.
• Taking a page from classic B2B practices, hygiene content becomes an in-house deliverable – hire smart creators who haven’t yet hit fame levels (example, talent from the ATKT college creator community, or the talent house network). With such talent, casual content like Instagram stories become easier, with faster turnarounds and more depth.
• The corporate communication team can be the right strategic base for these.
• Develop branded entertainment with publishers that have deep community roots (or sponsor it) and let it deploy from the creator/publisher pages rather than from your restricted reach brand pages.
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The author is the co-founder of ATKT.in. The views expressed here are his own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them. |
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MAM
Lessons from global media markets on building enduring content franchises
Rose Audio Visuals COO and CFO Mitesh Patel.
MUMBAI: The global media landscape has undergone a fundamental shift. Success today is no longer defined by a single hit show. It is defined by the ability to build intellectual property (IP) that travels, evolves, and compounds over time.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this shift is central to how we think about content pitching and creation. We are no longer in the business of just making shows. We are in the business of building IP ecosystems.
From Hits to Franchises
Globally, the most successful content is designed to extend beyond its first outing. It travels across: Seasons, Platforms (TV → OTT → Digital), Formats (series → spin-offs) Shows like Stranger Things and Money Heist are not just successful series they are multi-layered franchises with global recall, fan engagement, and long-term monetisation. The key learning is simple: If content cannot scale beyond one season or one platform, it remains a project not a franchise.
Local Stories, Global Impact
One of the most powerful global trends is the rise of culturally rooted storytelling. Platforms today reward local authenticity combined with universal emotion. Stories that are deeply regional are no longer limited by geography they are amplified by it. Consider the global impact of Squid Game or India’s own Sacred Games. The takeaway is clear: The more authentic the story, the greater its potential to travel if the emotion resonates universally.
Monetisation Begins After the First Window
A critical global learning is that the true value of content is not realised at launch, it is realised over time.
Strong franchises unlock multiple revenue streams: Licensing, International remakes, Brand integrations, Digital extensions , Events and immersive experiences
Global players like The Walt Disney Company have mastered this approach, turning content into long-term ecosystems that extend far beyond the screen.
The first window is just the beginning. The real value lies in what follows.
At Rose Audio Visuals, we increasingly evaluate projects not just on commissioning value, but on their long-term franchise potential.
The Rise of Creator-Led Franchises
An important global shift is the emergence of creator-led IP ecosystems.
Creators today are not just content producers they are building full-scale franchises across platforms, formats, and businesses.
A powerful example is MrBeast. What started as YouTube videos has evolved into: Multiple content formats, Global audience scale , Brand extensions and businesses, High-impact experiential content This is a fundamentally different model digital-first, audience-owned, and infinitely scalable.
This model is still in its early stages in Indian but it represents a massive opportunity.
The next wave of Indian content franchises may not come from traditional studios alone but from creators who think like media companies.
Balancing Data with Creative Instinct
Streaming platforms today are deeply data-driven. Data helps Identify emerging genres, Predict audience behaviour , Inform commissioning decisions However, global experience shows that data alone does not create hits. Data informs scale, but storytelling creates impact.
Talent is the Foundation of Franchises
Enduring franchises are rarely accidental they are built through long-term creative partnerships. Globally, there is a clear focus on nurturing Actors, Writter, Show runner and director. Franchises are not built on scripts alone they are built on creators. This is an area where we continue to invest deeply building long-term relationships with talent rather than project-based collaborations.
Multi-Platform Thinking from Day One
Content consumption today is inherently multi-platform. A successful show must be designed not just for its primary platform, but for: Short-form extensions, Social media amplification, Digital-first engagement. Every show today needs a second life beyond its original format.
India: A Market at an Inflection Point
India today stands at a unique moment in its content journey.
We are seeing significant opportunity in Regional markets (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and others) Emerging formats such as micro-dramas, Scalable, franchise-driven fiction IP
India does not lack stories. What we have historically lacked is structured franchise thinking something that is now beginning to evolve.
The Way Forward
The biggest lesson from global markets is this: The future belongs to companies that do not chase hits, but systematically build franchises. Because while hits may deliver immediate success, franchises create long-term value, recall, and compounding growth.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this belief shapes how we develop, greenlight, and scale content across platforms.
For content companies today, the question is no longer “Will this show work?” It is: “Can this become a franchise?”
A Personal Note
Having worked across content, business, and strategy, one thing has become increasingly clear to me, the most valuable companies in our industry will not be those that create the most content, but those that create content that endures.
Building a franchise requires patience, conviction, and a long-term lens something that the industry is only now beginning to fully embrace.As we continue this journey at Rose Audio Visuals, our focus remains simple: to move from volume-driven creation to value-driven storytelling. Because in the end, stories may start conversations but franchises build legacies.
