Kantar and VTION team up to gauge OTT consumption in India
Global marketing consultancy Kantar is looking to monitor over the top (OTT) content consumption in the Indian market, evidenced by its new partnership with analytics firm VTION. As part of the agreement, the two firms have developed and launched an OTT audience measurement framework.
Consumption of OTT content has skyrocketed in India recently, particularly since the rapid spread of low-cost internet access. Data connectivity is reaching the most remote corners of rural India, and the country is set to have as many as 850 million online users over the next half a decade.
While more advanced forms of digital familiarity such as engagement in ecommerce and online payments is expected to be slower in its permeation through the Indian market, consumption of video content has picked up rapidly. A Boston Consulting Group report from earlier this year revealed that more than half of India’s mobile data traffic is occupied by video consumption.
The scenario represents a substantial business opportunity for the media & entertainment sector in India, and Kantar is looking to become an integral part of this growth story. The firm offers a range of advisory services that span the analytics, research, media and marketing domains.
An understanding of video consumption patterns, as a result, is a crucial asset to the firm. In combination with VTION, the firm is now set to get a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of OTT consumption in the India market, through its new OTT audience measurement tool.
VTION is a media technology firm that focuses on research and analytics. The firm has a proprietary tech-based audience measurement mechanism, which can be applied in a variety of contexts using Kantar’s expertise in the consumer insights and analytics domains. The new measurement technique is expected to have a considerable impact on determining returns on investments in the media sector.
Commenting on the new partnership, Managing Director of Kantar Insights Division Hemant Mehta said, “With consumers moving seamlessly across screens, it is imperative that their behaviour across different media platforms is tracked comprehensively. The explosion in smart phone ownership, availability of affordable data plans and the launch of multiple OTT based media options, have resulted in consumers increasingly spending time on the phones and seek their entertainment solutions.”
“OTT platforms have broken the shackles of linear broadcasting and are changing consumers’ entertainment and media consumption habits. With the launch of our OTT audience measurement solution, we hope to provide rich insights into audience profiles, their content and platform preferences as well as give guidelines for communication planning and activation,” he added.
