Zoom makes a big splash in social media

With the fan count crossing the 5 million mark recently, it's bigger than the online communities of some of the mainline GECs combined (Star Plus, Zee and SET)

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | September 18, 2013

The youth has always loved its 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. Suddenly we have the birth of the alternate screen as TV went social! Fulfilling this newfound appetite for entertainment by fitting into a digitally powered social environment was surely every content provider's dream. But did everyone make it there?

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 5 million mark recently, it's bigger than the online communities of some of the mainline GECs combined (Star Plus, Zee and Sony Entertainment Television). The Facebook community of Zoom has a weekly reach of 9.5 million, with its posts delivering impressions in the excess of 40 million every week.

A whopping 801.9 million views on YouTube, a 'people talking about' stat of nearly 5 lakh on Facebook at any point of time, and a Twitter following of 2.2 lakh shows how Zoom's social media destinations are buzzing with activity at all times. As India's largest consumer survey on mobile usage, 'AirtelMobitude 2012', has shown, Zoom is also the 3^rd 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, it's only through careful monitoring of past trends that Zoom ensures that it puts out content that the audience is looking 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 5.3 million impressions by the tweeple.

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 to show that the youth find 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, 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 an 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 offers opportunities of a better content curation experience amongst its more evolved audiences.

Regarding the scope of getting other brands to integrate with Zoom in its social media space, Kaul said, “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. 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.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com