The Hindu Business Line : Digital platforms reach out to Net-savvy youth

New Delhi, July 5 With streaming of live coverage, Nautanki.tv is hoping to open up Budget 09 to the social media. Now you can blog along the live Budget running on your Web site or Facebook.

“Net usage among 20 to 30 years old in cities is fast catching up with the hours spent watching TV,” says Mr Kiruba Shankar, Founder CEO of Business Blogging. It’s a small step towards taking the budget beyond serious-minded people to college-going and young professionals who can be more actively involved.

“While the average Internet user may not vote, he has strong opinions and can make himself heard to a wide variety of people,” says Mr Sunil Nair, CEO and Founder, nautanki.tv Networks.

Nautanki TV is a broadcast platform that enables TV channels, filmmakers and other content creators a wide range of digital options and offers opportunities for advertising. It had enabled the streaming of Zee News’ election coverage recently. This time, it has tied up with UTVi.

“The Elections were viewed by nearly half a million people, with an average viewing of 15-20 minutes. For the Budget, we also expect to tap the office traffic. Given the current economic situation there is a great deal of interest in this time’s Budget,” says Mr Nair.

The socially networked urban youth received its fair share of wooing in recent election campaigns. But while most Obama campaign copies had negligible impact to the party, it did help build individual brands of twitter-savvy politicos, says Mr Shankar.

This year’s Titanium and Integrated Grand Prix winner at the recently concluded Cannes advertising festival was the Obama campaign for its digital savviness. “For me it was an example of a brand that for the first time has been so clearly co-created by the consumer and brand owners,” says Mr Prasoon Joshi, Chairman, McCann WorldGroup India and one of the jurors.

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