MUMBAI: SonyLIV, which provides multi-screen engagement to users on all devices, leveraged Akamai's dynamic ad-insertion capabilities during the India-South Africa cricket series held over January and February 2018.
Akamai Technologies regional VP, media Asia Pacific and Japan Sidharth Pisharoti said, “SonyLIV has a vast library of original content. However, in India, few entertainment options have the capability to attract mass audiences like cricket. While the challenge on the one hand is to keep audiences engaged with a TV-like experience, the equally hard part is ensuring that advertisers see value in leveraging digital platforms to drive views and consequently, revenue through advertisements. With Akamai’s capabilities, we were able to successfully deliver what audiences and advertisers wanted over the course of the India-South Africa series.”
SonyLIV was the official and exclusive mobile and internet broadcaster for the India tour of South Africa series and delivered it to millions of users seamlessly across a variety of devices. Digital advertisers gained the most through the course of the series with Akamai’s dynamic ad insertion delivering targeted advertisements during the live stream. With this partnership, SonyLIV achieved a near 100 per cent ad fill rate without compromising on the viewing experience for users.
Commenting on the partnership, SonyLIV EVP and business head Uday Sodhi said, “The India Tour of South Africa series was a huge success for SonyLIV and our audiences had a seamless experience throughout. We partnered with Akamai and leveraged their technology and added it to our already existing capabilities. The series was a huge hit with all the brands we associated with.”
Pitch Madison’s Advertising Report for 2018 projects advertising spend on digital platforms to reach Rs 11,629 crore in 2018, representing a 19.5 per cent increase over the Rs 9,303 crore spent in 2017. In 2017, the spend on mobile was 78 per cent (Rs 7,256 crore) of the total digital outlay. Video represented 35 per cent (Rs 3,300 crore) of the total spend. This indicates a strong reflection of growing consumer trends in the country. A report by MoMagic Technologies found that 40 per cent of Indians prefer to watch advertisement videos on their mobile phones over other media. Additionally, as per IDC, India is the fastest growing smart phone market globally with a total of 124 million units shipped in 2017.
Powered by advertising technology expert Yospace, Akamai’s dynamic ad insertion is designed to help content providers offer greater monetisation opportunities through online advertising, while maintaining a TV-like experience for viewers at scale.
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