Behrouz Biryani leveraged Disney+ Hotstar’s multiple ad formats for a successful OTT campaign

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned human lives upside down, almost overnight. Small actions – travelling, meeting loved ones, and shopping at a mall, to name a few – have completely stopped over the last several months.

The food and restaurant business is one of the most adversely affected industries by the pandemic. Consumers are unable to step out of home, and thus, unable to visit their favourite restaurants for a meal. However, the World Health Organisation has absolved cooked food from spreading the virus*, but cautious consumers have still been hesitant to order in from their favourite restaurants. This is the case despite a lot of food joints following strict health and safety measures.

*Source: https://www.thequint.com/coronavirus/faq/covid-19-is-it-safe-to-order-food-from-outside-should-i-do-so

Safety first

Food brands have their challenge cut out for them: First, they need to convince customers of the safety measures they follow. Behrouz Biryani, a food tech brand, tapped into this insight early on.  It has had the strictest safety measures in place, wanting to relay them to the target audience through strategic marketing. It wanted to establish itself as ‘The Royal Biryani of India’, hygienic and at the top of its game.

The brand partnered with Disney+ Hotstar to take its message to consumers. Behrouz targeted specific ‘foodie’ cohorts – people who are interested in food and therefore more likely to indulge their cravings.

Covering all bases

Disney+ Hotstar helped Behrouz pick a clever combination of various ad formats to get its message across. First off, the brand went with mid-rolls to land the brand story, consequently showing completion rates as high as 97% as displayed by consumer behaviour. The mid-rolls were combined with swipeable carousel ads for higher user engagement, whose message articulated the stringent safety measures adopted by Behrouz.

Next, the online streaming platform advised Behrouz to go with pre-rolls for higher consideration, along with a ‘hunger time intervention’ – strategic campaign messages displayed at times consumers are most likely to make meal decisions, namely, between 11.30 AM to 2.00 PM and between 6.00 PM and 11.00 PM in the evenings.

Lastly, Behrouz incorporated sponsorship vignettes for popular Hindi show ‘Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai’ aimed at the Hindi speaking market, for high top-of-mind awareness.

A ‘royal’ success

In just a little over three weeks, the brand’s ‘The Royal Biryani of India’ saw a sharp 13% increase in brand association. The campaign observed higher user engagement with ~2% CTRs.

Further, Behrouz saw a 7% rise in brand awareness within the online biryani category, with a 12% increase in purchase intent amongst users already aware of biryani delivery services online.

With these numbers, it is evident that Behrouz’s strategy involving multiple ad formats worked wonders for the campaign’s success.