Exclusive | Tapping the talent pool digitally: #fame's Saurabh

Adopting a multi-platform approach in distribution, To The New’s (TTN), digital content based platform #fame, with strong presence across all digital and social platforms including YouTube, Facebook, WeChat etc., is all set to reach out to over 6 countries with 5,000 channels and 50,000 content creators over the next 3 years.

Apart from building digital video channels with emerging and celebrity talent, #fame’s content will center around digital IPs created through high impact tentpole properties, innovative digital shows and formats in genres such as food, fashion, music, comedy and technology.

Very recently the company announced the launch of a new web show called ‘#fame School of Style’ which will be hosted by filmmaker Karan Johar. Adgully caught up with Saket Saurabh, CEO, #fame to understand company’s plans, their ideology and opportunities they see in India.

Saurabh mentions that talent-first is at the core of #fame’s philosophy. He believes that digital video and mobile are democratizing entertainment fundamentally and emerging talent will be the stars in this paradigm shift. "We want to be the leading catalyst of this change in the region. #fame’s ‘talent-first’ agenda will be strengthened by its multi-tier talent management program, which is designed to help talent grow their digital presence and evolve as performers. #fame will work with signed-up talent to deliver a wide suite of services, benefits and revenue opportunities", he added.

Speaking about how different is #fame’s platform viz-aviz other talent platforms, he said, “It’s fundamentally different from other talent platforms because we are focusing on talent which is not about videos but about creating good quality digital content which the audience will like. Our focus lies in building emerging talent, bringing them into the network, managing them, making them grow and that’s what makes us stand ahead of others. We will be investing in technology, creating programs for emerging talent to ensure that they’ll evolve in their performances.”

The network is also focusing on building technology-based solutions to aid talent in content publishing and monetization. Responding to our query of whether or not is research involved in getting the right talent on board, Saurabh said, “In a way digital video platform is a live research all the time, we can easily see how people are engaging and interacting, the medium is flexible so there is no research required. Anywhere in the world today there is huge inflow of fashion bloggers, musicians, chefs and artists who are embracing digital because for them it’s a career platform.”

#fame believes that India has a very vibrant young creator ecosystem that needs to be encouraged and supported. #fame plans to help young talent to build their career on digital. Elaborating further,  Saurabh said, “We are a network who facilitates creators and in the process we co-create with talent i.e. talented people like Gang no.1, AIB, School of Styles, Websinger, that’s our intend as a network. The idea is to get established/experienced talented celebrities because they are the best catalyst for this change. When celebrity embraces a medium it excites and encourages emerging talents.

Speaking about the challenges that come in way of creating a platform of this type and get aspiring talent on board, he said, “Challenges are always going to be there but fundamentally I feel we are trying to ensure that talent management programs picks the right talent and moves them up in their career and creates content of certain quality. Our initiatives are designed to discover new talent and overcome those challenges. For our last property, we got entries from over 20 towns all over the country. For us, geography doesn’t really matter because I think we’ll get entries from everywhere, we are looking for talented youth and artists.”

In terms of marketing strategies he said, “We are a social and digital brand and believe in continuously engaging with our audience and communicating with them. Having said that, as the properties will get launched; there will be more marketing activities build around the core i.e. social and digital which will continue. With 24X7 marketing, we will do offline marketing too.”

All four properties i.e. Gang no. 1, School of Styles,Webchef and Websinger are examples of what the company is and focusing on. “We are very clear that in the next 3 years we want to be Asia’s premiere talent lead digital entertainment network. Digital entertainment is already there and will continue to be there but we believe that there is whole new wave of content and a new way of making that content #fame believes in doing both,” said, Saurabh.

Obsevers state that the kind of properties #fame is mounting on digital videos have not been done on global level as yet; hence this may be posed as innovative method to use digital video platform considering the impact of it (just like television) and intimacy of digital. “The learning’s which we’ve picked up from the other countries is not with the respect of our property but respect with the ideas that the creators have found as a good business opportunity to be partner in, the journey which is very clear in US and Europe. These kinds of models will take time to develop in India and we want to lead that and to bring change in the nation", he added.

Shedding light on the future that talent-led platform like #fame has in India, Saurabh said, “I think digital is growing extremely fast in India, i.e. 30 percent a year for many years now. In next 5-10 years from now digital will grow over any other medium in the country. Within digital I feel digital video is the fastest growing segment  in last 3 years  it has 56% CAGR growth, it’s going to be biggest segment, video is the new text and has great future.”

#fame has identified 6 key markets in South-East Asia to build local digital video businesses. These include Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Philippines apart from India.