5 Qs With Simran Hoon On Joining The Q

As The Q gears for even greater growth and expansion in India, it has onboarded Simran Hoon, the new CEO, to strengthen its leadership team. With her keen business acumen and in-depth understanding of the industry, Hoon will leverage her experience and insight to provide strategic direction to create new opportunities for The Q in India, thus driving the organization’s overall growth.

She brings over two decades of industry experience, with her previous stints with Viacom18, Zee Entertainment, Sony Entertainment and Star India.

In a quick conversation with BW Marketing World, Hoon highlights her navigation path of making The Q the fastest-growing youth-focused, Hindi General Entertainment channel in India.

Excerpts:

Q. The market is going through a grim time, with some very dynamic changes on the consumer & business front. What does the new face of GEC look like today?

There is an entirely new world that is developing around what the next generation of video consumers want.  It is being driven by "social video" and that is content that is interactive, directly relatable and even to some degree transactional. We believe this is the future and that is why our brand and channel are focused on the next wave of what will become known as "General Entertainment" and that is, for us, from the world of social video. None of this is a secret, it is more about being committed to it as a brand and we are in every way. Both our channel and our marketing (that you will soon begin to see more of) and our relationship to our viewers is driven by this commitment to what the Young India viewer will want to see and experience in their programming. We actually don't see this as a "grim time" but as the time of endless opportunity if you are creative and if you listen and interact with your audience....they have to be part of the strategy and execution on every level.

Q. How will your experience and insight benefit and create opportunities for The Q in India?

When we started with Colors from the Viacom18 stable, none of us imagined that it would be the No. 1 channel in 9 months, displacing established players and networks. Of course, that was what we all hoped for but getting there was a real test of perseverance and not being afraid to try things that at that time were new.  That is what I found so compelling about The Q. The founders wanted to make something BIG happen and they simply would not give up or take "no" for an answer.  That is the way I think too "let me do something everyone else says is impossible".  That is all I needed to get excited - a new challenge to think big and explore fresh ideas that all leverage my knowledge and experience from the past. It is truly a great canvas to work on. 

Q. You recently quoted that it is of extreme importance to stay differentiated, relevant and meaningful. In this very cluttered environment, how will you define The Q to the new-age millennial audience?

It is a mindset and a commitment. It is so easy to want to chase something that everyone else is having success with and that is never where we are headed. We are the opposite of a "follower" mindset. We are committed to making our own success. This requires a lot of patience, a bit of acceptance of failure and the thrill of doing new things. And by the way, it is NOT just millennials. We actually thought that ourselves in the early going. It's Gen-Z, or those in their early twenties and younger who may be the true driving audience of all of this change.  

Q. How are you looking at the advertiser front? What kind of expectations do they have from GECs today and how do you wish to fulfill them?

The Q is unique in a way that our content is differentiated & dynamic, something that the advertisers find refreshing and appealing. Where do you have a TV channel which curates hit digital content from social media stars? We have the perfect platforms across TV & Digital to reach out to Young India, a very coveted target group for Advertisers backed by GRPs that have made us the fastest-growing GEC in recent times.

Q. What does the growth playbook of The Q look like in 2021?

Sometimes we hear people say  "a TV channel? That is so old school and yesterday".  We beg to differ.  TV is still very relevant all around the world and in India, very specifically, it continues to be a growth market.  With that said, that is only one arrow in our quiver and there are many more. 

Today, we believe, it adds brand equity, revenue, value, opens doors for digital content creators and offers something new and different. But, this is only the beginning. Digital and Social Commerce and the entire creator economy is where we are headed. The goal is simple and straightforward - Let's create a 'Truly New Media Company', one that relies on and respects "old school knowledge and values", but where the future of a new world is ever-present and considered in every decision we make.  

This is the reason I am here! We operate in a different way than the traditional media companies. We are a hybrid of the best of TV and Digital.  That is our sweet spot and making that happen is what gets me excited when I wake up every morning.