iWorld
LoveBytes 2: SonyLiv’s Sodhi says prime focus is youth issues; international Aus matches after Diwali
MUMBAI: What happens when love revisits your door and you decide whether to let it in or not. This is today’s basic situation which youth is facing, according to SonyLiv team.
Addressing this confusing state of mind that most of us go through, SonyLiv takes on the concept of love, break-ups, unrequited love and the repercussions of the ‘second chances’ with the second season of its signature web series LoveBytes, with LuvIt.
The new season got under way on 11 October 2017.
SonyLiv EVP and digital business head Uday Sodhi said, “Season first was a great success in terms of gaining audience. We wanted to create a new audience for OTT. And now, we have audience who would come to us to watch our originals. LoveBytes season 2 is an expensive series with six television actors in it, and the production cost per episode is more than the cost of a television episode. The shooting of LoveBytes season 2 has been done on locations in Mumbai, Lonavala and Madh Island.”
LoveBytes season 2 came after two years of season 1, which released in September 2015. Sodhi said, “In the last two years, we have experimented with 40 originals on our platform. Besides our sports, movies and shows offerings, originals became a new category for us which brings in a lot of digital natives who live and breathe digitally. Hence, it has created a bigger buzz for us. Therefore, we are creating more shows based on issues related to urban audience, related to youth and issues which common people face in their day to day life.”
SonyLiv team says, “LoveBytes Season 1 beautifully encapsulates the nitty-gritties of relationships and sheds light on the things that are necessary for an urban relationship to sustain itself. The first season took us through the clicks and clashes between Ananya (Sukhmani Sadana) and Abhishek (Kushal Punjabi), a new-age couple.”
“The first season ended on a bitter note with the lead couple Ananya and Abhishek ending their relationship. After the success of season 1, the second season takes on from there and revolves around how the two of them are dealing with their lives after choosing their individual paths. This season also introduces characters like Gunjan (Shweta Gulati), Varun (Manish Goel), Soniya (Manasi Scott) and Vikram (Ayaz Khan) who impact the relationship of Ananya and Abhishek in their own ways. The series underlines the journey of these characters, all while discovering the true meaning of love.”
About BARC India entry into digital measurement, Sodhi said, “When there is an industry standard on the point of measurement, it helps industry to grow. We are excited about it. OTT measurement will become easier and transparent, so we are participating in the process and giving all information to BARC.”
After Diwali, Sodhi said, SonyLiv will be streaming all men’s international matches played in Australia, beginning with the Ashes Series in November 2017 played between England and Australia.
iWorld
Prashant Iyer joins Sony LIV as head of marketing
The former Netflix India director grew the streamer’s social following from half a million to 55m
MUMBAI: Sony LIV has poached one of India’s most battle-hardened streaming marketers. Prashant Iyer, who spent nearly eight years at Netflix building its India operation into a social-media juggernaut, has joined the platform as head of marketing.
Iyer leaves Netflix having done rather a lot. He grew the streamer’s India social community from roughly 500,000 followers to over 55m, delivered engagement and organic impressions double those of rivals, and ran more than 250 campaigns across titles, brand and partnerships. In his final role as director, marketing, he sat on the core leadership team credited with driving 15-times revenue and subscription growth over eight years. He also served as the only director-level social leader across Asia-Pacific, a regional mandate that stretched across a 200m-plus follower community.
Before Netflix came Nike, where Iyer spent three and a half years straddling digital brand commerce and key account management, including ownership of Myntra, the brand’s largest digital account in India. Earlier still, Titan Company gave him his first crack at brand and digital marketing.
Sony LIV, which has been muscling for position in an increasingly crowded streaming market, has landed a marketer who knows precisely how to build an audience from scratch and, just as importantly, how to keep it. For a platform still chasing the kind of cultural cachet Netflix India took years to earn, that is not a bad place to start.
