How would you approach the task of launching an OTT (Over-the-Top) product if the CEO of Ola Cabs requested it?

Launch OTT product in Ola Cabs

What is OTT? Online streaming platform where content producers can upload content and users can view it either for free or through a paid subscription

What problem is this solving? Users can view the content of their choice from their place without the need to go anywhere

Goal of this product is to increase revenue for OlaCabs

Market research -

Assuming, ola cabs is in India, we want to launch the OTT product in India only. So, I will try to understand the Indian OTT market. In India, there are already a lot number of OTT providers each of which have their free and paid subscriptions charged at a monthly/ yearly basis. Typical content include movies, web series, live shows, live sports, etc. Few companies provide regional content as well catering to specific localities in India, while few stream international shows as well. 

Content is available in multiple languages with subtitles support as well for people who don't understand a particular audio language.

In terms of users, the dominant user segment where OTT is popular is the college going students and working professionals who watch most of the content in OTT platforms only and all the more who belong to top tier cities

Value proposition - Watch your favorite content on click of your fingers while riding a cab at a very affordable rate

UI personalization - A completely new section for OTT to be launched in the existing Ola app. There should be a link to the OTT feature from the home page. An AI assistant embedded into the OTT section which can guide users through recommendations on their topics of interest.

Strategy -

Scope - MVP launch should be restricted to one Tier-1 city, say Bengaluru and the content should be tailormade based on in-ride experience, e.,g short entertainment videos or educational, financial videos, which can be viewed during the ride, etc.

User onboarding - Cross sell this feature to existing ola users, push notifs, in app banners, push notifs to increase awareness. To increase the adoption and engagement, the MVP phase can start with a free trial period for 30 days, where we can attract more and more users to this product

We can bundle this with Ola premium, ola money and sell as a subscription model to users

Apart from these we can partner with online ad companies, like google ads, meta ads, etc. to run sponsored ads about Ola OTT product

Content producer onboarding - Reach out to a mix of top producers and budding producers and offer commission free platform usage on top of selling content to Ola at competitive prices.

Monetization - In order to increase the consumer base, we first need to offer the new product for free to increase user adoption and engagement through quality and popular content. Once, the usage is stable, we can come up with a tiered pricing subscription model, eg., basic free version (inclusive of ads); Ad free version as the next paid tier; premium version where all the content is free to watch ad free. etc. This way we can make money through subscriptions and through ads as well.

Metrics to monitor -

• # new users
• % users who opened the OTT feature
• % users who watched atleast one content
• % producers who uploaded atleast one content
• Avg time spent per user on OTT as a % of tht time sepnt in cabs
• % users who liked/ shared/ commented on the content
• DAU/ WAU/ MAU
• D7/ D30 returning users
• NPS
• % conversion from free to paid
• ARPU
• Churn rate

• Align on rollout plan, value proposition and user segments
• Align with marketing team to activate all channels of marketing the product and content as well
• Align with sales team for reaching out high potential users
• Align with the support team on training related to objection handling
• Align with ops team on the pilot testing with early adopters
• Early access (invite only) to selected customers
• Ops dashbaord readiness
• Healthy pilot results

• Production deployment for all users
• Production sanity
• SMS, push notifs, in app notifs to targetted users
• Infuencer/ celebrity campaigns

• 14 day free trial period
• Metrics monitoring
• User feedback
• Post mortem
• Roadmap reprioritization
• Continuous improvement