iWorld
Revenue model of ZEE5-Airtel deal is cost per subscriber, duration viewed: Tarun Katial
MUMBAI: The OTT players in India seem to have found telecom partnerships fruitful. Recently, ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) struck a three year deal with Airtel. Under the deal, the partners will do a co-branded promotion while the revenue model will be based on cost per subscriber and duration viewed.
“There is select premium content from ZEE5 library that will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively in addition to being available on the ZEE5 platform,” ZEE5 India CEO Tarun Katial says. Though this deal is unique, ZEE5 is open to striking deals with other telecom operators also.
“Revenue model is based on cost per subscriber and duration viewed for both in the three buckets. In the first bucket, it’s for cost per subscriber and there’s a minimum guarantee, in the second bucket it’s about volume deal for a subscription for a high-end Airtel consumer and the third model is about upscaling ZEE5 subscription packages,” he adds.
Katial thinks this co-branding promotion across platforms will enable to create an understanding of content among consumers of ZEE5 as well Airtel. “It’s also a really good opportunity to be able to do both consumer insight as well as big data and create a recommendation for Airtel TV consumers of ZEE5 premium content,” he says. The partners will leverage each other’s social media assets also.
Under the partnership, other than ZEE5 premium content, video content produced by ZEEL, including TV shows and movies will be available exclusively on Airtel’s digital properties like Airtel TV. Since ZEE5 already streams content produced by ZEEL along with its originals some of the selected curated content may be available on ZEE5 first while some will be concurrently available on both platforms but “deeper premium library” will be available only on its own OTT platform.
Recently ZEEL snipped its deal with Reliance Jio pulling off all its available content on Jio TV. Though this kind of incident happens due to the failure of negotiation of cost, both the companies remained tight-lipped about the problem.
However, the deal can boost Airtel also which has had its dominance in the telecom industry threatened after Jio’s entry. Reliance is already in a better position as it holds stakes in production companies like Eros International, Balaji Telefilms and Roy Kapur Films.
As ZEE5 is a late entrant in the market, it is still far behind other domestic players like Hotstar, Voot and Eros Now. Moreover, international rivals like Netflix and Amazon are also eying the same OTT market. Hence, the deal is very critical for ZEE5 to reach more consumers across the country as well as to increase the visibility of existing shows on the platform. The industry being in a nascent stage does not have any clear winner till now, hence, leaving enough scope for each of the players.
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.
