5 million strong: zoOm is the youth's 'chosen one'

The youth has always loved their entertainment. But with just one TV screen entertaining an entire household, how much access did a youngster really have to the entertainment he/she really loved? Enter - an attractively affordable range of smart-phones, laptops, tabs, a decent network connection and a plethora of social media platforms that allowed picking, sharing, commenting, trendifying. And suddenly we have the birth of the alternate screen; the rise of access and finally the time for true choice is truly here! Fulfilling this newfound appetite for entertainment by fitting into a digitally powered social environment was surely every content provider’s dream. TV went social. It had to. But did everyone make it there – significantly enough? The numbers speak for themselves. When it comes to Bollywood and glamour, zoOm has so far been the most preferred destination on TV. In the social media space also, especially without the restrictions of sharing screen / time with others, the brand has further emerged as a youth destination of choice. zoOm’s community on Facebook is the biggest amongst all TV channels. With the fan count crossing the 50 lac mark recently, its bigger than the online communities of some of the mainline GECs combined (Star Plus, Zee and Sony Entertainment Television)! Just the Facebook community of zoOm ropes in a weekly reach of 95 lacs, with its posts delivering impressions in the excess of 4 crores every week. A whopping 80.19 crore views on Youtube, a ‘people talking about’ stat of nearly 5 lacs on Facebook at any point of time and a Twitter following of 2.2 lacs – shows how zoOm’s social media destinations are buzzing with activity at all times. As India’s largest consumer survey on mobile usage, ‘Airtel Mobitude 2012’ revealed, zoOm is also the 3rd most consumed TV channel on Mobile TV. Whether it’s the latest news about upcoming releases, tangy reviews, steamy gossip, fashion trends, photo-releases or an exclusive byte of their favorite stars – the youth don’t seem to be getting enough of it. Yet, its only through careful monitoring and studying past trends that zoOm ensures that it puts out content that the audience is looking out for the most. In this space, it is key to be first. zoOm has systems in place to ensure that even if one is not in front of the TV – one never has to lose access to the latest. The reach and speed of zoOm’s news has not only found popularity among viewers, but celebrities too. Recently, an exclusive picture of Priyanka Chopra with Pitbull tweeted by zoOm and then retweeted by Priyanka herself, drove more than 53 lac impressions by the tweeple. Speaking about the digital edge and zoOm’s strategy, Avinash Kaul, Chief Executive Officer of ET NOW, TIMES NOW and zoOm said, “A user’s interaction with content online or on social media happens entirely out of an individual’s choice. Being the No.1 TV channel in our category, a dominating presence in this space is a double whammy for zoOm as it goes on to show that the youth finds a real connect with our content. Beyond just viewership, it is also engagement with the content, using it as a social currency, a conversation starter. So much so, that they are actively seeking it, consuming, sharing and interacting over it on a regular basis.” Despite the huge outreach that its social media space is able to offer, zoOm doesn’t only use it to inform its loyal fan base about upcoming content, but also to design the content itself. A show called ‘zoOm it’ – which plays song dedications made by fans on Facebook is one such example. This property was initially built exclusively in the social media space and as the requests came flooding in, a dedicated property on the channel called ‘zoOm it!’ was created to close the engagement loop. The show is now a long-term hit and its social jockey Nikita continues to enjoy her own loyal following in the social media space. With the present avenues conquered, the success for zoOm now lies in constantly observing and responding to the changing trends of the mediums itself. It already has a following of 11 lac+ on Google+ that many other brands are yet to explore. A presence on SocialCam, Tumblr and Pinterest – offer opportunities of better content curation experience amongst its more evolved audiences. When asked about the scope of getting other brands to integrate with zoOm in its social media space, Avinash responded, “The digital medium has given us an added advantage to target relevant audiences in a highly focused manner, engage with them and gain further amplification across peer groups, making it an interesting choice for contextually cobranded activities. It’s not a mere marketing outreach, but a strong resonance with the youth that we can look at tapping into.” At a time when increased clutter and rapidly evolving consumption habits of audiences are finding media brand owners asking desperate existential questions – zoOm has managed to not only extend its identity into the online space seamlessly, but build it even further. Fitting right into the changing consumption trends of its key audience, the youth, zoOm has managed to bridge its various entertainment avenues and deliver a consistent brand experience across. With effective social listening and content planning along with an efficient content delivery system it has successfully created a content haven that the audience themselves seek out for.