Oye Kuch Ker Guzar: Quantum Leap in Innovative Content Development

Oye Kuch Kar Guzar— is not just a name but probably the beginning of a new era of innovative content development in Pakistan.

Oye Kuch Ker Guzar: Quantum Leap in Innovative Content Development

Importantly, we are witnessing a complete change in the mindset of mobile operators. As technological forces are shaping the economy, the telecom industry as a whole and organizations at individual level are evolving. Slowing up of economic environment and decelerating growth, especially the ARPU depletion is putting lot of pressure on all the telecom operators to alter the way they operate. As the growth rates decline and core markets shrink, telcos need to rejuvenate their growth platforms to ensure future profitability. Telcos are forced to face a host of challenges like introduction of new technologies, maturing markets, greater competitive pressure, expanding and proliferating product offerings, and most importantly, the increasing pressure to meet changing customer expectations. Therefore, all the operators need to adopt new tactics to extract more value from their existing services. If they continue to be dump pipes, they may not survive for long.

Slowing up of economic environment and decelerating growth, especially the ARPU depletion is putting lot of pressure on all the telecom operators to alter the way they operate

One of the potential growth strategies that the operators will need to pursue is content development to move from a dump pipe mindset into more intelligent and profitable entities.

With first of its kind online movie initiative “Oye Kuch Kar Guzar”, Telenor Pakistan has probably taken the first step and opened new venues for innovative content development that will act as a stepping stone to strengthen the digital transformation process of all industries in the country.

With first of its kind online movie initiative “Oye Kuch Kar Guzar” Telenor Pakistan has probably taken the first step and opened new venues for innovative content development

The operator’s idiosyncratic approach to introduce this sort of online content in the form of a movie establishes the fact that it is trying do business at an accelerated pace and in a distinctive direction. Telenor Pakistan also came up with “Digital Pakistan Report” to explore the data market of the country and has always played an active role in initiating moves toward digital transformation of Pakistan. The realization of Easy Paisa and the way it has moved the Telco into commerce space (that, for decades has been dominated by the conservative banking channels) is definitely a success story that many can learn from. Also, how it is expanding its wings in other mobile services is quite impressive. This time, it has taken another leap and explored completely different market i-e interactive online movie making. The move by the telco might have gone unnoticed by some but it does ring bells on how this will modify the future business model for the rest of telcos.

Although, sometimes back Telenor used similar technique while repositioning its Talkshawk brand. Back then, Telenor launched its Lollywood themed webisode series, “Razia Ghundo me Phans gayi” which unfortunately failed to capture viewers’ attention and was heavily criticized for its loud and rough storyline. Now just after two years, the company rebounded by venturing into online film making with Oye Kuch Kar Guzar; featured solely on YouTube. Besides the apparent aspect of entertainment, there are also some underlying ideas that have been touched upon through this movie.

The movie makers have employed big screen movie making techniques and at the same time provided a new dimension to online movies. Although there are numerous YouTube users who make short YouTube films and Vlogs but the level of refinement we saw in Oye Kuch Kar Guzar is quite remarkable. The production quality, music, acting and direction is up to the mark, making the movie suitable for all screens. The conventional way of story writing has been replaced with a new and interactive method that encourages readers to develop a story of their own. Such an online content is not only a great source of entertainment but a very strong marketing tactic to promote and trigger customer engagement.

The Voice and SMS revenues are getting jeopardized due to availability of free OTTs including Whatsapps, Skype, Line, Snapchat etc. This probably is less problematic for developed markets with relatively higher ARPUs where data bundling is common and prices are high. So, it does not affect the operators’ revenues as seriously as in emerging market like Pakistan. Therefore, it has become imperative to compensate for lost revenue in voice/SMS through other ways. Since small data packages at competitive price do not generate enough revenues, Telenor is acting smarter through proliferation of Data by utilizing its data-centric brand Djuice that targets youth segment.

To keep viewers interested and engaged, movie has been made in series of small clips. At the end of each clip viewer is given an option to select what the character should do next, hence engaging the viewer in the story. This interesting and interactive story telling urges viewers to move from one clip to the next and watch the whole series of videos. By developing such a never-seen-before content, the operator has actually increased the on-line activity of viewers hence, triggering the data usage. So through this online movie, Telenor is not only engaging its existing customers but at the same time further expanding its market by creating awareness about its services.

To succeed in a fiercely competitive market like that of Telecom, operators must employ proactive strategies that enable the delivery of an improved customer experience”. With the launch of 3G/4G technologies in the country, the technology uptake has improved tremendously and has created many new opportunities, especially in digital sphere. Now a large portion of population has gotten access to technology. Internet has become the next big thing, not only for entertainment purpose but also for usability and effectiveness due to its mass reach. During, this phase when the customers have been well exposed to mobile broadband, its a perfect time to introduce such online innovative content.

Earlier telcos only used social media for marketing and promotion but this time a unique initiative is introduced i.e online movie.

Since telecommunication is evolving at a breakneck speed and customer demands are keeping pace with these sweeping changes. Meeting future challenges require the operators to metamorphose uniquely in terms of their marketing stratagem. The online movie ‘Oye Kuch Kar Guzar’ or ‘take the plunge’ can be considered a message for rest of the operators. Earlier telcos only used social media for marketing and promotion but this time a unique initiative is introduced i.e on-line movie. Such marketing tactics will become essential in the coming decades for in order to keep up with the fiercely competitive market scenarios and cleverer customers.