A billboard that is 1,000 feet long, courtesy Hotstar

Online streaming platform Hotstar has just unveiled its out-of-home (OOH) initiative, a billboard spanning 10,000 sq. ft in Uttar Pradesh. The billboard highlights the variety and scale of content available on the platform. With entertainment options moving indoors lately, because of the Coronavirus, the platform provides viewers the convenience of sitting back and exploring its range of free content from the comfort of their own homes.

'Itna zyada free entertainment ki ye board bhi kam pad jayega' (so much free entertainment, that even the longest billboard falls short), reads the copy of the advertisement.

The billboard is part of Hotstar’s new 360-degree marketing campaign 'Hotstar ka vaada, free entertainment sabse zyada'. It is aimed at reaching out to millions of viewers in Hindi-speaking markets in Tier II and Tier III cities, who currently have little access to high-quality free content.

The brand has collaborated with The Social Street for this campaign from idea to execution, to sourcing out and constructing the billboard from ground up. Located along the arterial road joining Shastri Setu (Shastri Bridge) to Jaunpur Tiraha in Mirzapur, the structure was completed within a week. The billboard constructed is 1,000 feet long and 10 feet high, with an additional two feet of height of cut-outs. It has used a framework of bamboos and iron frames to sustain weather conditions.

The billboard showcases Hotstar’s library of free content, including movies like 'Chhichhore', 'Mission Mangal'; TV shows from Star Plus like 'Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai', 'Nazar', 'Kasauti Zindagi Kay', and Star Bharat like 'Savdhaan India', along with news.

Mandeep Malhotra, founding partner and CEO, The Social Street, says, “We wanted to create something that would send out the brand’s message in a way that wows people. We were able to leverage media in a way that managed to create brand new boundaries.”