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Campaign Face Off: Amazon Prime's Breathe V/s ALTBalaji's Haq Se

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Sarmistha Neogy
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Amazon Prime Breathe Vs ALTBalaji Haq Se

The articles studies Amazon Prime Breathe V/s ALTBalaji Haq Se's marketing strategies to understand how both the OTT platforms use digital as a platform differently.

With 950 million phones and 300 million smart-phones in the country, video content industry has evolved into an independent ecosystem. Rise in demand has let to a rise in supply and how! Adding to their kitty, with yet another big budget series are Amazon Prime and ALTBalaji with Breathe and Haq Se, respectively.

From the house of Amazon Prime is 'Breathe' which is a suspense thriller starring R Madhavan and Amit Sadh. The series that released on January 26, has gone big in terms of marketing across mediums. The show banked on the popularity of Madhavan to create buzz and curiosity.

ALTBalaji, on the other hand started streaming their show Haq Se from February 2, starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Surveen Chawla as protagonists. The show is being touted as Rajeev's comeback, banking on the picturesque location and a story revolving around the life of a family in Kashmir.

The Indian online video industry is expected to touch $1.6 billion in revenue by 2022, from the estimated $340 million in 2017, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35 percent - an industry that everyone wants to be a part of!

As OTT platforms and content creators take up this challenge head on with original content, competitive marketing takes a better shape.

Social Samosa takes a look at the marketing strategy of Amazon Primes' Breathe V/s ALTBalaji's Haq Se to understand how both the brands use digital as a medium for driving more downloads.

Breathe

R Madhavan plays Danny Mascarenhas, a football coach and the doting father of a six-year-old Josh, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening lung disorder. On the other hand, Sadh, who plays the role of a cop, also battles haunting memories of his daughter's (Shreya) death. Breathe, therefore, explores the lives of ordinary men faced with extraordinary circumstances.

publive-imageVijay Subramaniam, Director, Content, Amazon Prime Video India, said, "When we launched a little over a year ago, we realized there is a clear expectation and desire from our customers to have access to gripping storytelling, high-quality and compelling content. With the customer being at the center of everything we do, we are committed to bringing the best of content for our audiences, supported by immensely talented content creators matched by the most innovative ways to bring them to our audiences. We have rolled out a robust, 360-degree campaign across India including highly engaging TVCs, print, digital, cinema, mobile, outdoor campaigns and activations for Breathe."

Also Read: 6 OTT trends that will lead the way in 2018

Breathe Logo unveiled

Breathe's was unveiled in a video by Madhavan, where he unboxed a parcel delivered to him by Amazon, revealing the logo in contained.

Teaser & Trailer videos

The official trailer garnered more than 10 million views in less than 3 weeks on YouTube and the teaser has acquired 3.8 million views till now.  In order to create more noise and excitement around the show, the trailer launch was followed by retweets by Madhavan, Amit Sadh, Sapna Pabbi, Mayank Sharma and Abundantia Entertainment.

Buzz

Amazon Prime has created a separate Facebook page for Breathe which has around 75k likes and 76k followers. The page with the help of pictures around the episodes, keeps the interest of the audience high. Pictorial episodic recap is a property created by Amazon Prime.

Content collaboration with TTT & Ola Cabs

Amazon Prime further tied up with TTT and Ola Cabs to promote the show.

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Cinema Hall/ Mumbai Metro branding

Adequate promotion of the movie was done to woo the Padmaavat audience in the cinema theatres. Each compartment in Mumbai metro was also branded to promote the show. Along with outdoor hoardings, a crime scene from Breathe in a highly visible area of Infinity Malad was recreated. The area was marked out with “do not cross” crime scene tape, chalk marks and was a complete recreation of the crime scene from Breathe, with Breathe branding. 

Lead actors interacting regularly with fans on social media

The actors Madhavan and Amit Sadh have been regularly interacting with their fans, by thanking them for the success of the show and also sharing updates. During the trailer launch at the press conference, Madhavan sent out the trailer to all his fans on Twitter, tagging each fan personally.

Social Chatter

There is a positive sentiment on social media around the show and people are appreciating the plot and Madhavan's acting. A fan video has also been released by Amazon.

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Haq Se

ALTBalaji's Haq Se, featuring Rajeev Khandelwal and Surveen Chawla, with a storyline that is set in the spectacular location of Kashmir is a delight to the eyes. An adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s classic Little Women, the web-series is a fearless look at the dreary realities and political mayhem that has torn apart families in Kashmir.

publive-imageSharing Haq Se's marketing strategy, Manav Sethi, CMO, ALTBalaji said, "Our marketing plan is a unique combination of digital and TV and before this, we created buzz by getting the opinion leaders and the industry thought leaders to view the screening. It is a typical soap, but with a lot of fineness in production quality and pace to the story. It is being targeted to audience above 30+ years and it is mainly women skewed. We are also leveraging on Rajeev's comeback after a long time on social."

ALTBalaji's TV plan is 4-week long for HSM market, largely using GECs.

Trailer launch

The official trailer has garnered more than 2 million views.

Also Read: #TheSocialCMO: Manav Sethi shares ALTBalaji’s marketing mantra

Influencer marketing

With the help of online influencers, the show is being promoted on social media. Buzz is being created around Rajeev Khandelwal's comeback

"Digital gives us the ability to create affinity segments and target groups.  I believe, TV allows carpet bombing and digital is about sharp shooting. We also reached our existing customers and fans of our previous shows, or those who have interacted with us, either on the trailer or on the show. It was a very focussed digital spend. Today's urban woman, top 20-30 metros, they all have smartphones and they have started to consume a lot of content on it. Therefore, we purposely keep our main focus fixed on digital as part of our marketing strategy," Sethi added.

Tie-ups with content platform & brands

Content tie-ups have been done with Pinkvilla to market the show.

Creating buzz around the show

To create buzz around the show, ALTBalaji is using social media to keep the buzz around the show alive with snippets and teasers. The cast has also been active, adding a personalized tone to their communication.

Social Noise

Haq Se too has managed to garner a positive sentiment with people raving about the story line and Rajiv's stellar performance.

Both, Amazon Prime and ALTBalaji have used digital as a medium with difference approaches, While, Amazon Prime takes a broader approach, ALTBalaji refers to specific targeting. Nonetheless, both their marketing strategies compliment the content that Breathe and Haq Se have managed to deliver.

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