iWorld
Hotstar most popular video streaming platform, finds study
MUMBAI: It’s a tough game for international OTT players to beat Hotstar in India. A study conducted by SEMrush found Hotstar crossed the mark of 35 million searches during April 2018 having a difference of over 30 million searches with Netflix. It revealed the dominance of Hotstar on all other online TV and entertainment platforms.
Hotstar with its range of content in every domain including cinema, sports, English TV series, regional shows, serials has number of options to lure viewers. The OTT platform has outrun its global peers and domestic competitors in the Indian market including Netflix, Eros Now, YuppTV, BoxTV, and others. The search volume trends for Hotstar showed that the platform gained maximum popularity in the months of June and September 2017, and broke records in April 2018.
The study also revealed Game of Thrones(GoT) as the TV series with the highest search volume in India marking over 600,000 searches during the year 2017-18. Hotstar having the rights of this over popular show could have acquired high number of viewers. GoT became the TV series with most searches in India since the telecast of its 7th series in August 2017.
e-commerce
Instamart gold dig event at Hussain Sagar goes viral
Hyderabad activation ties to gold price lock offer ahead of Akshaya Tritiya
MUMBAI: All that glitters isn’t just gold, it’s also great marketing. A quirky on-ground activation by Instamart at Hussain Sagar Lake has turned into a viral spectacle, with videos of people digging for gold coins flooding social media feeds this week. The campaign, executed in collaboration with Moms, transformed a patch of the city’s iconic lakefront into what online users quickly dubbed a “mini gold rush”. Armed with spades, participants dug through a mud-filled pit in search of hidden gold coins, an activity that drew crowds, cameras and plenty of commentary online, ranging from amused disbelief to outright fascination.
At the heart of the frenzy was a promotional push for Instamart’s ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature, which allows users to secure prevailing gold rates between April 10 and April 16 and complete their purchase later during Akshaya Tritiya, a period traditionally associated with high gold buying. The mechanic cleverly blended physical participation with digital conversion, turning curiosity into a potential transaction.
Branded as ‘Gold Diggers’, the activation leaned into gamified engagement. Those who struck lucky walked away with coins, those who didn’t were nudged with a simple message: lock the price now, buy later. The result was a steady stream of footfall and a surge in user-generated content, as onlookers and participants alike documented the spectacle.
The timing is significant. India remains one of the world’s largest consumers of gold, with demand peaking around Akshaya Tritiya. Data from the World Gold Council suggests the festival alone accounts for roughly 25–30 tonnes of gold purchases annually, making it a high-stakes window for brands looking to tap into consumer sentiment.
As the ‘Gold Price Lock’ feature remains live until April 16, the campaign has already done its job turning a simple product feature into a citywide moment. Because sometimes, the quickest way to get people talking about gold isn’t to sell it, it’s to make them dig for it.
