It's all about negotiating with the kid, says Voot Kids ad campaign

Kids content is now a key differentiator and a huge driving force behind VOOT's viewership and user growth.

VOOT, Viacom18's OTT platform, has just announced a marketing campaign for its Voot Kids service. Since the OTT platform's launch in May 2016, the premium kids content depository has 1,750 hours of content, more than 7,000 videos, and over a 100 characters.

Gaurav Gandhi, chief operating officer, Viacom Digital Ventures, says, "Kids content is turning out to be a key differentiator and a significant driving force behind VOOT's viewership and user growth. Right from its launch, we built the largest repository of premium kids content in the digital space in India. At 15 per cent share of the overall traffic, Voot Kids is a significant contributor to VOOT's growth."

The campaign for Voot Kids

The new campaign has multiple TVCs featuring the 'fandom' of kids' favourite characters.

The films created by Mullen Lintas depict kids gladly embrace the very tasks they may not usually do willingly. With, of course, the proverbial carrot dangle before them. The range of situations where the kids turn to their 'goody goody' best include a boy getting out of bed at night to brush his teeth unprompted, another boy with spiky hair comb it into a 'good-boy hairstyle', a little girl finish the last drop of a glass of milk, a girl wipe clean the wall that once was her canvas, another boy tidy up his bed and yet another boy refuse potato chips. Parents are impressed and happy. They hand over their mobile phone to their kids for a well-deserved Voot Kids time.

In the background is an anthem which mentions the favourite characters of the kids and that ends with the core thought of 'Bachche Hum Goody Goody Banenge, Voot Kids Ke Liye Kuch Bhi Karenge!'

Commenting on the new campaign, Gandhi says, 'The campaign captures how kids from across India have taken to the new way of life and turned 'goody goody' in their ultimate quest to earn Voot time. Today's kids know what they want and they're smart enough to get it effortlessly. Parents are aware of this and are willing to reward good behaviour. The campaign captures this dynamic between parents & kids."

The team reveals significant insights in kids' consumption pattern. Unlike the traditional, linear form of content consumption (TV) wherein the peak viewing of kids content happens during the early evening, Voot Kids peak viewing schedule coincides with prime time on national GECs (the 9 pm slot). The mobile gets passed onto the kids as the parents take control over the remote. Also, kids use the mother's phone during the day and the father's at night, with Sundays at an overall 40-50 per cent higher viewing time.

Talking about parental control, he says that since the Voot Kids service is ensconced within the VOOT app, there is a pin system that serves as a tool to prevent kids from entering the entertainment zone for grown-ups.

Gandhi elaborates, "The challenge for the marketer here is that though kids are the end-consumers, parents are still the gatekeepers. With 80 per cent of the top 100 kids characters, ours is a platform that is well curated and makes parents feel good about its premium content."

VOOT's recent content tie-up with Turner International has brought in a whole lot of the latter's popular characters into its kitty. Speaking about keeping it innovative, Gandhi says, "While kids usually spend 70 per cent on the same character, we have a phone shaking search function that throws up new characters periodically."

VOOT overall has reportedly garnered more than 10 million app downloads, over 15 million monthly active users across mobile and web with viewers spending approximately 40 minutes on an average per day.