Mumbai: JioHotstar is redefining the advertising landscape with a bold move—offering advertisers unparalleled access to consumer engagement data. By providing deep insights into viewership patterns, content interactions, and ROI metrics, the platform is breaking down the long-standing ‘black box’ of digital advertising. This newfound transparency empowers brands to optimize strategies, drive performance-driven investments, and reshape media planning with data-driven precision. As advertisers gain access to granular analytics, ad spending priorities are set to shift, and ad-tech solutions will evolve to meet growing demands for accountability and measurable impact.
In a 4 part series MadeInMedia.in’s Kalpana Ravi spoke to Digital Pundits on this move by JioStar. Siddharth Devnani, Co-Founder & Director, SoCheers, on this move by JioStar and how the budgets will be allocated, competition, the need for ad- tech firms to step up their game and much more……
How will JioHotstar’s consumer engagement data impact the way brands allocate their digital ad budgets?
One hundred percent. Gone are the days of “this looks like a prime slot, let’s buy it.” If JioHotstar’s data shows that viewers drop off after 10 seconds, brands will tweak their creative. If a Zomato ad sees more clicks during the final overs of an IPL match, food delivery platforms will bid higher for those clutch moments. Instead of parking money for entire campaigns, brands will now target precise moments, audiences, and content types that actually drive action. Expect ad budgets to become leaner, meaner, and way more ROI-driven.
What are the potential challenges for competing platforms that do not offer similar transparency? In what ways could this move influence media planning strategies across industries?
Today, advertisers aren’t spending significant money on any platform which doesn’t provide the kind of visibility on performance. Sure, you’ll do a test budget here and there, but when you’re investing for serious brands, you’d absolutely only choose platforms that give you relevant performance reporting. The higher you go on scale, the more seriously you take measurement.
With the merger of Jio with Hotstar, and the subsequent maturing of their ad platform, it’s kind of expected at their new scale. It’s a demand by the market forces – they need to always work on giving these kinds of tools to advertisers to measure performance as well as continuously improve it by providing more in-depth metrics.
How can advertisers leverage granular engagement metrics to improve campaign performance?
No more gut-feel decisions—every rupee will be backed by data. Regional content vs. national ads? Shorter formats vs. longer storytelling? Brands will now know exactly what works, tailoring their media spends accordingly. Imagine an FMCG brand realizing that a 15-second snackable ad in Tamil Nadu drives more conversions than a 30-second Hindi ad—this kind of insight could redefine regional media planning.
Will this shift push ad-tech companies to innovate new measurement and attribution models?
Absolutely. If platforms like JioHotstar raise the bar, ad-tech firms will have to step up their game—building better attribution models, real-time optimization tools, and even AI-driven content recommendations to help brands decode consumer behavior faster. Expect smarter programmatic ad buys, personalized ad placements, and performance-based pricing models to become the norm.
How will it affect traditional TV advertising in comparison to digital platforms with detailed analytics?
TV is still very big, but it’s a one-way street—brands don’t get instant feedback. With digital offering extremely nuanced engagement and performance tracking, and stronger attribution to creatives and target audiences, advertisers are likely to continue the shift to digital or anything which is more measurable.
In fact, with Jio and Star coming together, we are seeing more combined deals for the same property – on TV and digital together, and this will further help in ensuring you have a unique reach and can reach larger audiences watching the same content. The lines are blurring.
Is this transparency going to lead to performance-based pricing models for digital ads?
Yes it will. Expect a move towards performance-based pricing, where brands pay more for ads that actually work and less for those that don’t. Instead of flat rates for ad slots, we’ll see dynamic pricing based on audience interaction. This has seen a spillover in outdoor advertising as well! We’ve seen realtime bidding products by some DOOH players and integration with programmatic as well. So performance based pricing is the way to go for platforms to lure in advertisers. Even if this pushes digital ad costs up, brands feel like they’re getting their money’s worth.
How does the consumer behavior insights shape the type of content brands choose to associate with?
Brands will get way more strategic about content sponsorships. Instead of just chasing big-name shows and events, they’ll look at what drives actual engagement. Data will make brand-content partnerships smarter, not just bigger.
The additional data points advertisers will find value beyond engagement metrics?
Beyond the basics (views, clicks, watch time), brands will want to know why people engage. Expect deeper insights into drop-off points, interactive elements, audience sentiment, and shareability trends.
Another key one is attribution of action on the brand’s platform to a specific ad or audience, where an advertiser can trace say conversions trends on an online shop to a particular cohort or a specific creatives and copies.
This level of data will help brands fine-tune every little detail—from ad length to messaging tone to call-to-action placement, to focus products in certain markets to different RTBs (reason to believe/reason to buy) in different campaigns.
How will this development influence the future of programmatic advertising?
Programmatic advertising is about to get way smarter. With real-time audience insights, AI-driven ad platforms will adjust bids dynamically based on what’s working at the moment. Imagine an e-commerce brand running a campaign during a cricket match—if a close finish is keeping fans glued, the system automatically increases bids for the next ad break. If a travel brand sees a spike in engagement after a beach vacation ad, they’ll instantly push more budget into similar placements. Programmatic advertising will shift from pre-planned automation to real-time, AI-powered decision-making, making digital ads hyper-relevant and cost-effective.
