MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • Dance reality show gets viewers to put on their dancing shoes through an online game

    Colors launches Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa online game

    By A Correspondent

     

    General entertainment channel Colors announced the launch of a first-of-its kind online game allowing viewers to be a part of the popular dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa. Exploring digital avenues to enhance the popularity of the show, the initiative allows fans to partake in the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa experience online. Designed by BBC Worldwide Productions India, the game takes fans on a whirlwind ride while allowing them to learn and experience different dance forms that makes the show a hit among audiences.

     

    Commenting on the launch of the game, Vivek Srivastav, Digital Head – COLORS said, “With the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa game, we aim to connect with our strong online fan base which elevates the show to a higher mass platform. The more virtual formats we explore, the more it enables us to tap newer audiences across the world.”

     

    Elaborating about extending the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa experience across digital platforms, Myleeta Aga, General Manager & Creative Head – BBC Worldwide Productions India, said, “We are very excited to explore newer avenues in the digital media space and bringing the television experience of Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa to the virtual world. We believe that with the launch of this game, the overall experience will create an addiction among the Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa fans and dance lovers.”  The game can be accessed at http://colors.in.com/in/jhalak-dikhhla-jaa.

     

  • Moneycontrol.com has recently launched Investment Watch, a real-time alert service that will keep subscribers updated about the markets and will also let them stay updated with their portfolio

    Investment Watch from moneycontrol.com

    By A Correspondent

     

    Moneycontrol.com has recently launched Investment Watch, a real-time alert service that will keep subscribers updated about the markets and will also let them stay updated with their portfolio.

     

    With this service, users can get stock quotes, commodity prices, currency rates, Indian and global market indices as well keep up with the ups and downs in their portfolio.

     

    Subscribers can get the alerts through SMS, Emails and desktop notifications, which they can customize according to their preferences.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Joyson Thomas, COO, Web18 said, “Investment Watch keeps its subscribers constantly updated about the markets and their portfolio. This is an extremely comprehensive product that covers all major financial instruments and also manages to reach users through all devices viz desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile phones.”

     

    Investment Watch can be accessed at http://investmentwatch.moneycontrol.com/.

     

  • The digital business of DisneyUTV has associated with Gameloft, a leading international publisher and developer of games to distribute their mobile games in India via operator channels and UTV Indiagames’ destination sites

    DisneyUTV brings Gameloft’s mobile games to India

    By A Correspondent

     

    The digital business of DisneyUTV has associated with Gameloft, a leading international publisher and developer of games to distribute their mobile games in India via operator channels and UTV Indiagames’ destination sites.

     

    Gamers in India will now have access to global hits like Asphalt 6: Adrenaline – from the blockbuster Asphalt franchise, Prince of Persia Forgotten Sands – an epic adventure game from the Prince of Persia saga series, along with some latest releases like The Dark Knight Rises – an action game inspired by the movie trilogy’s final chapter. Further the tie up will also bring the Indian audiences blockbuster MARVEL titles like Ironman, The Avengers and Amazing-Spiderman – the official web-slinging adventure game. These games will be available on Java phones with select titles available on Android as well. Gamers can download the exciting titles in the price range of Rs. 30 / 50 / 99.

     

    “This is one of the most strategic alliances that we have made especially in light of some of the MARVEL franchises that we will be able to engage Indian audiences with, in addition to the world class repertoire of Gameloft IPs. The gamer base in India is expanding rapidly and at this critical juncture we believe the right content offering will catalyze growth further,” said Samir Bangara, Managing Director – Digital, DisneyUTV.

     

    Sarabjeet Singh, Country Manager Gameloft India said, “Gameloft has been distributing its games for over 5 years in India, and we are thankful to our Indian fans for the strong interest and appreciation they have shown over these years. We are now pleased to partner with the digital team of DisneyUTV who will be distributing our mobile games via the various operator channels in India. We are confident of their rich experience and local expertise in the market and will be working closely with them to bring our Indian users an even better gaming experience.”

     

  • Digital marketing agency Digitas has announced the launch of its integrated e-commerce offering in India, an end-to-end e-commerce solution for brands seeking to launch and maintain a professional and effective retail presence on the internet.

    Digitas India launches integrated e-commerce

    By A Correspondent

     

    Digital marketing agency Digitas has announced the launch of its integrated e-commerce offering in India, an end-to-end e-commerce solution for brands seeking to launch and maintain a professional and effective retail presence on the internet.

     

    This e-commerce solution has a vast selection of technology capabilities; it can be used to build every store conceivable, from a small boutique to an entire online mall. Digitas’ offering not only builds the online store but helps the store owner achieve their desired ROI, ensuring traffic and motivation to buy by romancing the customer throughout the consumer’s online journey.

     

    Kanika Mathur, President, Digitas India said, “We romance the customer using insights, visual presentation and technology to give them a unique experience leading to enhanced ROI and business results.”

     

  • BoxTV's content includes blockbuster movies, TV shows, short films and much more that can be accessed via web browser, smartphones, tablets or any other internet-enabled device

    Online video entertainment service Box TV launched

    By Ananya Saha

     

    After a lot of buzz around its premium online video content service, Times Internet Limited has finally unveiled BoxTV.com in India, the US and UK. BoxTV’s content includes blockbuster movies, TV shows, short films and much more that can be accessed via web browser, smartphones, tablets or any other internet-enabled device.

     

    The website, which can initially be accessed only by invitation, will work on the ‘freemium’ model. Content will be available on an ad-supported free-to-user basis and the rest of the content will be available on a monthly subscription basis. The subscription in India is Rs 199 per month, in US $4.99 per month and in the UK, £4.99 per month. With 12 content partners currently, the content currently is available in English, Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada. Box TV plans to add more regional content and more content partners. The site boasts of having accrued more than 50,000 invite requests following its invite-only alpha preview in August this year.

     

    Satyan Gajwani

    Making an impact with a paid model can be a tough strategy. Satyan Gajwani, CEO of Times Internet Ltd agreed, and said, “This is the first-of-its-kind model that we are trying in India. We are positioning ourselves as premium. We will not be offering user-generated content like YouTube. And we are sure that people who want to see the content we offer, will be ready to pay.”

     

    Mr Gajwani added, “In the US and the UK, it is easier to be a pay-model. It will definitely be difficult in India. In the first year, we will obviously be getting more subscriptions from outside India. However, we are hopeful that this ratio will change in the next 2-3 years.”

     

    Pandurang Nayak, GM-Digital Video Initiatives, Times Audience Network/Box TV, said, “With the premium content, we are targeting SEC A in urban markets in India. And we will be adding more premium content as we go along.” For India, thanks to the broadband issues, Box TV has an in-built auto-bandwidth optimizer for working well on low or inconsistent bandwidths.

     

    The premium video destination, though has no advertiser on-board yet, will be selling the space at price 3-4 times higher than the current internet sites in India, according to Mr Gajwani. Before opening the site for advertisers, Box TV is aiming at having a sizeable number of registered users. The marketing and promotional activities will also begin 2-3 months down the line. “We are aiming at finding early adopters, and make our service better on the feedback. Then, we will aim at viral growth. We will start marketing as the business model makes its case to spend,” said Mr Gajwani.

     

     

  • 9XO, the international music channel from the 9X Media Group, has launched a comprehensive international music store online called www.9xo.56060.in

    9XO launches online music store and WAP Portal

    By A Correspondent

     

    9XO, the international music channel from the 9X Media Group, has launched a comprehensive international music store online called www.9xo.56060.in. This is the second online store by 9X Media Group which has earlier successfully launched a Bollywood music store for 9XM. Besides www.9xo.56060.in, 9XO has also created a WAP Portal to download Videos, Wallpapers, Ringtones and Audio Packs.

     

    9XO in association with Techzone — aggregators, developers, publishers and distributors of entertainment content, boasts of an enviable collection of the best of international music. This online music destination will allow music lovers to stream as well as download the audio content of their favourite international music.

     

    Speaking on the initiative, Vibha Gosher, Sr. VP, Digital, 9X Media Group, said, “We are extremely pleased to partner with Techzone for this initiative. In India, International music is seldom promoted in comparison to other genres of music content. Despite of this, the consumption of international music on mobile is almost five to seven per cent of the overall music content in the country. In the age of smart phones and tablets, great content, at an affordable pricepoint powered by robust technology is a sure formula to make a significant footprint in the Music industry. The availability of a large repertoire of international songs on the store will definitely make it the preferred destination for international music enthusiasts.”

     

    Thrilled about the tie-up with 9XO, Naveen Bhandari, Director of TechZone says, “We are glad to be associated with 9XO in creating this online web store. Techzone is the only player in India that has presence in the international music market and captures majority for mobile. Our users are mobile and internet savvy and the online store is a part of our efforts to make the entire gamut of international music available to consumers legally and at a very affordable price. We are sure to delight our users with the large library of songs and video titles available through our online store.”

     

  • InMobi to rename Sprout to InMobi Studios; eyes huge revenue jump this quarter

    Mobile ad platform Sprout is now InMobi Studio

    By A Correspondent

     

    InMobi, a mobile ad network company which acquired Sprout in August last year, has decided to rebrand the leading platform for creating mobile HTML5 rich media advertising. Sprout will now be called ‘InMobi Studio’ while the details about the rebranding were not available at the time of reporting, Sandeep Deshpande, Country General Manager, InMobi said, “We will be rebranding Sprout, a company we had acquired last year to InMobi Studio.” The company website however states that “InMobi Studio is a simple, yet tremendously powerful platform that empowers marketers to build, run, and measure mobile rich-media ads without compromise.”

     

    InMobi which is said to be the largest independent ad network company in the world claims to reach over 600 million mobile internet users worldwide. In India, the ad network company claims to reach over 85 per cent of mobile internet users. “About 85 per cent of the entire mobile internet users in India can be reached through our network (InMobi), worldwide however we reach over 600 million mobile internet users worldwide” pointed out Mr Deshpande.

     

    According to Mr Deshpande, by 2014 more people across the globe are expected to access internet on their mobile phones rather than their PC or laptop. As a result mobile advertising will become a very important medium for brands to reach out to and engage.

     

    InMobi is currently working with over 150 advertisers in India namely NDTV, Indian Express, NIIT, Levis etc. InMobi aims to offer significant opportunities for brands to connect and engage with its users by using its reach and super engaging creative solutions. Mr Deshpande was of the view that there is a need for evangalising the benefits of mobile advertising in India. He said, “These are still early days for mobile advertising in India and we are investing a significant energy as a team to build the momentum of mobile advertising in India. It will take time for advertisers to realize the benefits of this medium”

     

    InMobi is said to have a total of over 800 employees currently, and about half of them are expected to be based out of India. With the festive seasons approaching and a lot of cricket tournaments coming up, InMobi expects a big jump in its revenues this quarter as compared to the previous quarter.

     

  • Myntra aims to further strengthen leadership position through new segments; to launch private labels soon.

    Myntra, clicking faster

    By A Correspondent

     

    Myntra.com, an online retailer of fashion and lifestyle brands, has expanded its range of apparel to sarees this month. The online retailer of fashion offers 12 brands of sarees namely, FabIndia, Satya Paul, Satyavee Designs, Ambica Bridal Sarees to name a few. Myntra which is said to be witnessing consumer interest and traction in this category also expects to register daily sales average close to 1000 units within the next 30-45 days. In addition to these brands more brands and designs are expected to be added soon. While 65 per cent of its shoppers are males and 35 per cent are females, Myntra eyes an increase in female shoppers with its introduction to apparels like cosmetics and sarees.

     

    Myntra will be promoting these new categories across online platforms including Google ads, affiliates and social media platforms. On basis of its research findings, Myntra found that there is a huge demand for categories like sarees and cosmetics especially from tier 2 and 3 markets because of lack of choice and availability. Myntra aims to further strengthen is leadership position through its strong connect and high reach.

     

    Ashutosh Lawania

    In an email interaction with MxMIndia, Ashutosh Lawania, Co-Founder and Head – Sales and Marketing, Myntra.com said that Myntra is working on launching private labels in a few months time. These private labels will be Myntra’s own brand of clothing line. More details were however not available at the time of filing the report. “We are working towards launching our private labels which would go live in a couple of months,” said Mr Lawania.

     

    Footwear continues to be the most popular category on Myntra which is said to contribute approximately 45 to 50 per cent of its daily sales. Footwear is then closely followed by clothing for men, women and children, along with accessories such as jewelry, watches, glares, handbags, and so on.

     

    In addition to these developments, Mr Lawania also spoke about his mobile plans in the coming few months. “We believe that mobile will be the next big thing and that today it is only at a tipping point. We are working towards enabling our interface to make it ready to deliver the full Myntra experience across a plethora of handheld devices.”

     

    Speaking about the scope of e-commerce business in India and whether online buyers would increase their trust in online transactions, Mr Lawania said, “With the internet penetration currently at 120 million and expected to touch 300 million by 2015, we believe that ecommerce has a huge potential to grow over the years. We believe that CoD will play a huge role in the success of ecommerce in India. CoD is here to stay as we (India) are a huge cash economy and people are comfortable transacting in cash. Online retailers need to make this process of handling cash more efficient and cost effective.”

     

  • Broadcasters to observe half-a-minute switch-offs to get viewers to switch to digital transmission with set-top devices.

    TVs in 4 metros to go blank for 2 mins to stress need for viewers to go digital

    By Himanshi Dhawan

     

    Your TV set will go blank for two minutes on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. In a strategy to persuade viewers to shift to digital systems, all broadcasters will switch off transmission simultaneously at 7:58 pm, 8:58 pm and 9:58 pm for the next three days.

     

    All channels will stop programming to show a 30-second advertisement in Hindi and English informing viewers to change to digital set top boxes before October 31. The advertisement ends with the warning “Go digital or go blank” in English and “Set top box lagaye ya TV bhool jaye” in Hindi.

     

    The blackout has been planned for the four metros: Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai, where the first phase of digitization is expected to kick in from November 1. The move to phase out analogue addressable systems and shift to digital has been mooted by the information and broadcasting ministry. The deadline for shifting to digital was June 30 but it could not be met due to a several reasons, including a lack of set top boxes and other procedural problems.

     

    The number of TV households in India is estimated to be around 147 million. The cable industry has grown from 0.4 million cable homes in January 1992 to an estimated 94 million cable TV homes in 2011 with more than 800 registered channels. Of these around 160 are pay channels.

     

    There are a large number of channels which are transmitted as free channels. The rollout for digitization has been slow but industry experts say this is likely to pick up pace. In the four metros about 50,000 set top boxes are being seeded every week with Mumbai showing maximum progress. There are about 10-12 million TV homes in the four metros of which over 50% have been digitized so far.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • After launching a career counseling portal targeted at engineering college aspirants, the company announced the launch of a portal for student aspirants who wish to study abroad.

    Careers360 goes digital to help students looking abroad

    By A Correspondent

     

    Careers360 has taken the digital route to speed up its journey towards becoming the largest career counsellor in the country. After launching Careers360, the English magazine in 2009 and the Hindi edition in 2010, the company has now turned its attention to leverage the content, data and information, to reach out to the students through their Digital initiative.

     

    After launching a career counseling portal targeted at engineering college aspirants (www.engineering.careers360.com) in July 2012, the company announced the launch of a portal for student aspirants who wish to study abroad.

     

    The company is focusing to build a strong ecosystem involving various stakeholders for dedicated verticals; In Engineering portals, Careers360 launched one of its kind, innovative mock counselling engine. To help the various stakeholders, the engineering portal has unique features like a ‘Campus Ambassador Program’ which helps students contribute college reviews and stakeholders engage students in chat sessions, counselling sessions etc.

     

    The new portal www.studyabroad.careers360.com aims to be an unbiased counsellor helping the student make a well-informed decision. The country- and course-specific content for this portal would come from regulators, embassies councils and agencies supported by the respective governments. The portal would answer the how, why, when, where, what for students in a simple but comprehensive manner.

     

    Maheshwar Peri

    Commenting on the new product, Maheshwer Peri, chairman and publisher of Careers360, said “Career counselling on studying abroad is plagued by agents also doubling as counsellors, leading to mis-selling and misleading the students. The launch of our study abroad vertical will help student aspirants interact, engage and talk to us, the regulators, the trade authorities of various governments, and universities directly through our portal and take better decisions. Our features such as chats, discussion forum and counselling sessions would help students engage and interact with the right people. We would also be launching counseling products at nominal fees that would help the students get a deeper insight into the domain before committing themselves.”

     

  • Spuul.com aims to combat online piracy by acquiring newer movies immediately after theatrical release and offer them to consumers in good quality and at a relevant price

    Spuul’s 1-stop entertainment to beat piracy

    By A Correspondent

     

    Spuul.com was founded by Sudesh Iyer who is the Founder of Sony Entertainment Television and S Mohan, the Founder of Accellion, buUuk and a number of other technology and venture companies. Spuul.com was launched in 2010 and aims to combat online piracy by trying to acquire newer movies immediately after their theatrical release and offer them to consumers in good quality and at a relevant price. Spuul.com, which aims to launch newer genres of Indian content too, wants to be a one stop entertainment destination for Indian content in the long run.

     

    Spuul.com is an advertising supported subscription service that provides on-demand access to the best of Bollywood movies and television programmes via the web and mobile devices. If the year 2011 was all about focusing on technology and content acquisition, the year 2012 will see the company increasingly focus on building up its content. Only recently this year, Spuul.com had launched the iOS app i.e. the apps for iPhone and iPad etc, thus making it easier for the users across the globe to watch Indian contents online whether it is Hindi Cinema, television shows or even regional contents.

     

    Spuul.com offers three levels of content to its consumers, ‘Freemium content’ which includes access to a broad range of free movies. ‘Specials’ which are pay per view movies, available at a certain price (pay per movie for 72 hours of unlimited views) and premium subscription which provides consumers access to the very best of Bollywood for a month. Spuul.com is said to be receiving good traction from India, and particularly from other parts of the world namely, the US, UK and even Middle East wherein users are increasingly visiting Spuul.com and consuming Indian contents online.

     

    Prakash Ramchandani

    According to Prakash Ramchandani, South-Asia and India Head, Spuul, “We are in the evolution phase and we want to grow and set a benchmark in the industry. Content consumption is getting more fragmented today. We see a trend in India as well as internationally that there is no dedicated service which is legal, purely for Indian content. So we are targeting just the Indian segment, which includes the Hindi cinema as well as television programmes as well as regional content. Thus we will be across multiple content genres, pan India for consumers across the world. We want to be ready for India when India is ready for it.”

     

    Spuul.com which is said to have pre-roll ads that does not interfere or disrupt the consumers viewing experience, also aims to combat piracy and make it a better monetization model for the producer and the content provider. “Our entire focus is to combat piracy and to provide better monetization model for the producer and content provider. If we can get the movie as soon as possible post theatrical release and give it to the consumer on the go, it is better than somebody giving it away for free. Our focus is also providing good content and customer experience. In fact we had our first subscriber within one hour of launch, this shows that there are consumers and that they are ready to subscribe or buy online if they are given different content, at the right price and with a good customer experience, they will buy it” added Mr Ramchandani.

     

    In the long run Spuul.com wants to be a one stop entertainment destination for Indian content wherein its breath of content would include all types of genres as long as it is premium focused.  Currently, Spuul.com has a total of 15 employees in its Singapore office, it has also has an office in Mumbai and aims to open more offices across the globe in the near future. Speaking on the future of online video streaming in India, Mr Ramchandani was of the view that smart phone and tablets will drive the online video consumption as the growth of smart phones will be much faster in the near future than what it was in the last six years. “Online video streaming is exploding in India and globally and this is the best time for the second screen i.e. mobile” said Mr Ramchandani.

     

  • iProspectCommunicate 2, a search and digital consulting agency, has roped in Mr. Sayan Banerjee as VP – Business Development, key client relationships, digital consulting for BFSI and other core verticals

    iProspectCommunicate2 appoints Sayan Banerjee as VP – Biz Devpt

    Sayan Banerjee

    By A Correspondent

     

    iProspectCommunicate 2, a search and digital consulting agency, has roped in Mr. Sayan Banerjee as VP – Business Development, key client relationships, digital consulting for BFSI and other core verticals and to drive client engagement, planning and revenues for iProspectCommunicate 2.

     

    An alumnus of IIM Calcutta, Mr Banerjee comes in with over 11 years of work experience spanning across Digital Marketing, Strategic Planning and Product Management in Banking, Media and IT. Over the last few years, his primary focus has been in driving the overall digital strategy and the marketing programme implementation for Direct Channels at HSBC India and at Newscorp India. He has created several digital marketing success stories using Search, Display, Social, Web Analytics and award winning Emailer Campaigns. Mr Banerjee has also worked with companies like Hurix Systems and Bennett Coleman and Co. Ltd in the past.

     

    Vivek Bhargava, Managing Director iProspectCommunicate2 says in an official communique, “We intend to drive our leadership in digital consulting with this appointment. Sayan comes in with rich client end experience and as such is best suited to understand marketing rationale from a client perspective and provide digital solutions to such marketing opportunities.”