We Aim To Bring Diversity To Digital Video Space: Paul Yang, Lomotif
India has witnessed an exponential boom in the creation and consumption of digital video content. With the growing popularity of digital media, Indians are hooked on emerging platforms, especially on short format social video apps. The pandemic accelerated the growth furthermore by making digital content consumption an intrinsic part of everyday life.
In an invigorating conversation with Paul Yang, Founder and CEO, Lomotif, he observes an upsurge in digital users as more people create, share and watch content on social media to find solace amidst the social distancing and lockdown restrictions. “The pandemic also propelled many platforms to enable creators to monetise their content, which will continue to attract creators to post content that will fuel the economy,” he says.
For Lomotif, the surge in demand for online content consumption and the increasing popularity of short format social video apps amongst Indian GenZs and millennials have played an instrumental role in our aggressive growth strategy for the market. Along with investing a substantial amount of funds, they have already made some senior-level acquisitions.
“As a global platform, we aim to bring diversity to the digital video space in India and connect local creators to a worldwide audience. Our team is constantly striving to delight our Indian users with local music and content while surprising them with a curation of international creators and influencers,” he mentions.
The Creative Consumer
As a natural consequence of the pandemic, the behaviour and habits of online users altered drastically. For Yang, two irreversible aspects of the emerging content consumption behaviours include the dual role of an individual as both a content creator and a content consumer and content monetisation/video marketing.
“With the ease and accessibility of tools and mediums today, everyone can hone their creativity and express themselves in the most imaginative way. Content creation is now a thriving profession across the world and plenty of new creators are coming up with interesting avenues to monetise and entertain audiences through their content,” he explains.
Obstacles & The Silver Lining
Short format social video platforms are game-changers in the content marketing category. These platforms have tremendous potential for both marketers as well as for content creators.
“Short format social video platforms are leaving no stone unturned to attract creators and users through various campaigns and initiatives. There is still white space for players in this market.
In addition to a cluttered market, general challenges would be subjective. For instance, there is an information and sensory overload that leads to monotony and a lack of quality content. Content creators are also confused about where to showcase their talent so that their content reaches the right audience,” comments Yang.
Digital Goes Deeper
Evidently, viewers in tier II and tier III cities have started to understand the power of video marketing and how millions of views on just one video can make them a ‘Digital Star’ overnight. The exponential rise in smartphones and internet penetration is enabling people across generations to create and consume new and engaging content.
“Witnessing this trend, we are also planning to enter and focus on regional markets for our growth and development. We have started to tap the creator community by providing them a platform to rise to stardom by launching the #Danceoff Challenge’, where one of India’s most famous choreographers, actors, and directors – Remo D’Souza was the face of the challenge. And winners from Indore and Surat won the challenge along with cash prizes. Our other challenge #DanceRemix provided a platform for creators to match hook steps with their favourite stars and we even roped in the immensely talented Shakti Mohan to mentor the participants for the same,” he shares.
Their recently concluded global campaign, ‘You’ve Been Scouted’ gave participants across the globe, a platform to showcase their singing talent. The contest’s winner received an exclusive record deal valued at USD $250,000, including a song produced by Grammy® Award-winning producer, singer, and lyricist Teddy Riley. Teddy has worked with iconic artists such as Michael Jackson, Lady Gaga, Pharrell, and BTS.
Live Stream To Rule
“Usage of vertical videos and live streaming are a couple of key trends that are gaining massive popularity amongst GenZ and gradually gaining traction in the Indian market as well. Live Streaming is one of the best ways to boost brand awareness,” believes Yang.
A few months back, Lomotif partnered with LiveXLive to stream their Annual Global Music Festival – Music Lives 2021 featuring a massive line-up of nonstop live performances by global icons such as Pitbull, John Mayer, Wiz Khalifa, and Zac Brown Band amongst many others. This is the first time a concert or event of this scale has been live-streamed to audiences in a vertical video format. Given the ease of naturally shooting and watching videos on a mobile device in a vertical format, without the extra steps of turning it, etc, he expects that vertical is going to be the video format of tomorrow.
