MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • Mr Mehta joins as Head of Business – India and Senior Vice President at technology-led digital company Razorfish

    Razorfish gets Taproot’s Manan Mehta to launch India biz

    By A Correspondent

     

    Manan Mehta

    Technology-led digital company Razorfish has announced the appointment of Manan Mehta as Senior Vice President and Head of Business – India. Mr Mehta joins Razorfish from Taproot where he was Managing Partner and a founding member of Taproot India. His mandate will be to introduce and establish Razorfish in India and put together an A-team to run client operations.

     

    Speaking on his appointment, Mr Mehta said, “The opportunity to impact client’s business by combining cutting edge technology with creativity has compelled me to take up this assignment with Razorfish.” He further added, “In India, businesses at large have started acknowledging the active role that digital and technology can play in building their brands, and are gearing up to embrace this new world order. In fact, there are organizations that have started institutionalizing social thinking across departments. I have always admired Razorfish’s work, and today I am really excited to be part of the team.”

     

    Kanika Mathur, Managing Director, Razorfish said, “Manan is an enterprising young professional with solid fundamentals about business and brands. His experience in the field of advertising and communication will be a huge asset for Razorfish in providing focus and driving growth for us in India.”

     

    Recently, Publicis had announced the entry of the Razorfish in India with the acquisition of Neev Technologies, which would now operate as Razorfish Neev. Saurabh Chandra, CEO, Razorfish Neev said, “Manan spearheading Razorfish’s India business focus is going to be a great asset for us. His understanding of what brands want and need to succeed in India is superlative. Together with Razorfish Neev’s technical strengths this is a winning combination.”

     

    Mr Mehta, a Post Graduate from Xavier Institute of Communication, Mumbai (XIC), has worked with Brand David (then RMG David) in Delhi and Mumbai. He then moved to Leo Burnett, Mumbai, where apart from handling key brands as Brand Partner, he was also assigned additional responsibilities of Leo Entertainment as Business Head and Arc worldwide as Retail Director. From Leo Burnett he moved to Taproot India as a founding member in the capacity of Managing Partner. He has worked on numerous brands across various categories such as Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7Up from PepsiCo’s stable. Coca-Cola, Thums Up, Minute Maid and Maaza from Coca-Cola regional business, Airtel, Set Wet, Hair & Care, Tata Capital, Myntra.com, Times Of India, Mumbai Mirror, GQ, Conde Nast, Reliance Mutual Fund, Reliance Capital, Sony Entertainment Television, Reliance Mobile, Cox & Kings and LG.

     

  • WeChat, a global mobile social communication application, unveiled its latest brand campaign with Bollywood stars Parineeti Chopra and Varun Dhawan as its brand ambassadors

    WeChat aims to reinvent social communication on mobile

    By A Correspondent

     

    L toR: Varun Dhawan, Dennis Hau, Parineeti Chopra and Rahul Razdan

    WeChat, a global mobile social communication application, unveiled its latest brand campaign with Bollywood stars Parineeti Chopra and Varun Dhawan as the brand ambassadors of WeChat in India to boost its marketing effort.

     

    The brand campaign captures the spirit of WeChat of being young, effervescent and instant. The campaign also showcases WeChat’s features like voice messaging, group chat and special emoticons in an engaging manner.

     

    Sharing his views on WeChat’s success in India,  Dennis Hau, Head of International Product Center, Tencent International Business Group said, “India is an exciting youth-driven smartphone market and we are committed to it. With its unique product features like Voice Messaging and Moments, WeChat enables Indian users to communicate with their friends and family in a richer manner. We are encouraged by the very positive response that we’ve got from Indian users so far, and with this brand campaign, we hope to consolidate our market leadership.”

     

    With a bundle of innovative features, WeChat is all set to re-define the way people communicate with each other. “With WeChat, we aim to provide users with our innovative mobile social sharing features and a more secure communication platform. WeChat not only allows friends to connect with each other, it also allows brands to interact with their customers creating a personalized two-way channel. We have also selectively released our SDK and API for developers to develop apps on WeChat. WeChat is creating a unique ecosystem where users connect socially with their friends as well as engage with celebrities, brands, and businesses making it an all-in-one app, to serve the different needs of our users,” said Rahul Razdan, Head of Tencent India.

     

    WeChat has also introduced “Official Accounts” on its platform, a feature that can be utilized by companies and merchants to build interactivity with their fans in a new and innovative way. Leading brands like Café Coffee Day, Big Bazaar, Yahoo! Cricket, Goibibo, Santa Banta, and Tradus are amongst the earliest brands to start their Official Accounts on WeChat in India.

     

    The global free mobile social communication application WeChat, was launched in India in July last year across iPhone, Android, Symbian, and Windows Phone platforms and was recently launched on the BlackBerry platform as well.

     

  • The IPL is being streamed live by Times Internet Ltd, the official digital partner of IPL, in partnership with YouTube

    IPL 6 records 52% growth in online viewership

    By A Correspondent

     

    The IPL’s sixth season is proving to be a smashing hit online. The 20-20 cricket tournament is being streamed live by Times Internet Limited (TIL), the official digital partner of IPL in partnership with YouTube. As per the viewership numbers recorded at 38 matches, which is 50 per cent of the tournament – IPL online across both www.boxtv.com and www.youtube.com/indiatimes combined recorded a 52 per cent growth viewership over 2012 (75.2M vs 49.3M last year.). Furthermore, the combined viewership of users watching highlights and clips saw a whopping 480 per cent growth in watch hours over 2012. That’s a staggering number and no other live event has ever created this kind of reach in India.

     

    In India, Bangalore and Hyderabad lead the viewership with 14 per cent each, with Delhi coming in a close second at 10 per cent. The matches that registered the maximum online views were: RCB vs PW on 23 April and MI vs RCB on April 25.

     

    “Over the last two years, we’ve offered IPL fans across the world a superior experience online and steadily grown a loyal viewer base. For IPL 2013, we’ve worked hard to make the online experience more social and interactive than ever before, and our traffic numbers so far are proof enough that IPL fans are loving it,” said Satyan Gajwani, CEO, Times Internet.

     

    Speaking about the response to IPL season 6, Praveen Sharma, Head of Media Sales, Google India said, “Better streaming experience, increased mobile and tablet device access and growing awareness about the availability of IPL online is fuelling the growth in viewership. In the past, we usually saw rise in the first two weeks of the tournament and then it picked up again during the final week. But this year, the growth has been consistent through the tournament. At this rate we are hopeful of registering strong growth in total viewership by the end of the tournament over last year.”

     

  • MSLGroup India, Publicis Groupe's strategic communications and engagement company, has announced the launch of its global digital and social practice in the country, Social Hive

    MSLGroup India launches Social Hive

    By A Correspondent

     

    MSLGroup India, Publicis Groupe’s strategic communications and engagement company, has announced the launch of its global digital and social practice in the country, Social Hive.

     

    Jaideep Shergill

    Jaideep Shergill, CEO, MSLGroup India, said, “While MSLGroup India has been a leader in digital and social engagement for years, the launch of Social Hive means that we are taking the practice to a new level, with even tighter connections across the globe. Digital and social capabilities are central parts of idea -based and fully-integrated client communications solutions. Our top talent at Social Hive makes us well positioned to continue to create award-winning work for our clients across all platforms”.

     

     

     

    Parveez Modak

    The Social Hive team in India is led by Senior Vice-President Parveez Modak and Vice-President Narendra Nag. The team comprises of more than 40 consultants in Mumbai and Delhi who manage 5 million people across communities. Social Hive’s strategic storytelling approach helps brands create stronger connections and relationships with the consumer.

     

    Glenn Osaki, MSLGroup Asia president, added, “In this fast-moving industry, keeping up is not enough. We have to lead. This large investment in Social Hive might be surprising given that we are already an industry leader in the digital and social space in India. But if we want to continue to attract the best talent and create the best campaigns for our clients, we have to constantly innovate and invest. Our expanding content creation capabilities, tools and insights will drive our digital and social leadership into the future.”

     

    Alongside Social Hive, MSLGroup has also launched a new proprietary and social tool: the Social Hive Index, which can benchmark a company’s social engagement and compare it to its peers.

     

    MSLGroup India’s social and digital communications is the leading practice of its kind, advising clients such as Sony, Monsanto, Volkswagen, KPMG, Singapore Tourism Board, Australian High Commission (OzFest), Whirlpool and eBay. The network has also won several international awards which showcase world class, outstanding performance in digital and social media, such as the International Business Awards (Bronze, Social Media Focused Campaign 2012, Sony Mobile) and the Bees Awards (Winner, Best Social CRM 2012, eBay India).

     

     

  • Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder and CEO, Rediff.com, will speak at the IAA Webinar on 'World Goes Digital', on May 23 at 3 pm, using Google Hangout

    Rediff’s Ajit Balakrishnan on IAA webinar on May 23

    Ajit Balakrishnan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Close on the heels of the successful inaugural webinar, the International Association of Advertisers (India Chapter) has announced its next webinar on ‘World goes Digital’. Ajit Balakrishnan, Founder and CEO, Rediff.com, will be the speaker at this webinar, being held on Google Hangout. The webinar with Mr Balakrishnan will happen on Thursday, May 23 at 3pm *(see Disclosure).

     

     

    Srinivasan K Swamy

    Srinivasan Swamy, President, IAA India Chapter, said, “IAA’s first webinar with Rajan Anandan, in April, was an impressive success. We had nearly 200 people participating and more than 1000 people seeing it on our YouTube channel later. Going by that, I am confident that this second webinar will have at least twice the number. A small service, that IAA is providing, for young professionals and others to learn more about the digital medium.”

     

     

     

    Abhishek Karnani

    Abhishek Karnani, Director, Free Press Journal and Manish Advani, Head – Marketing & Public Relations, Mahindra Special Services Group, are co-chairing this IAA webinar series.

     

    * Disclosure: MxMIndia is partnering IAA’s webinar initiative

     

  • Sports motorcycle Bajaj Pulsar has recently crossed the one-million-fan mark on Facebook

    Pulsar Facebook fans cross 1 million

    By A Correspondent

     

    Sports motorcycle Bajaj Pulsar has recently crossed the one-million-fan mark on Facebook.

     

    Commenting on the accomplishment, Sanjay Saraswat, Vice-President (Marketing), Bajaj Auto Ltd, said, “Bajaj Auto considers its Facebook fan page reaching a million mark as a testimony to the sporty evolution that it has brought in the country. Much in line with the brand’s DNA, it created a community of bikers and biking enthusiasts. Over the social media these biking enthusiasts found the Facebook page a platform to share their videos, pictures, stories and travelogues. Overtime, this became a community of people who spoke a similar language. This is a true testament to the kind of brand power that we have with us in Brand Pulsar.”

     

  • Salar Kamangar will be presented with the Media Person of the Year honour on Wednesday, June 19, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France

    Cannes Lions names YouTube’s Salar Kamangar as media person of the year 2013

    By A Correspondent

     

    Salar Kamangar

    The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is the world’s largest and most prestigious annual awards and celebration of creative excellence in advertising and communications. Every year, the Festival organizers present The Media Person of the Year Award to a prominent personality who is an influential figure in the development of today’s media landscape, ultimately playing an integral part in shaping the future of the industry.

     

    This year, Cannes Lions is honouring YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar.

     

    Founded in 2005, YouTube was acquired by Google the following year. Since taking on the role in 2009, Mr Kamangar has overseen the expansion of YouTube into a global broadcast platform. Under his leadership, YouTube’s site design and its investments have been reshaped to focus on channels and the emerging content creators behind them. YouTube’s usage has been increasing at tremendous rates, to six billion hours of video watched each month, a 50% increase over the past year. YouTube has also launched TrueView, the advertising format whereby advertisers only pay for ads watched, and has doubled the number of advertisers using it in the last year.

     

    Philip Thomas, CEO of Cannes Lions, said, “YouTube has become a global phenomenon under Salar’s leadership. The statistics say it all: more than one billion unique users a month watch more than six billion hours of video. In 2011, YouTube had more than one trillion views – a simply staggering statistic. But YouTube is more than a formidable communications tool of everyday life. YouTube has become a key way for people throughout the world to share their cultures and stories, helping us understand and connect with one another. And for businesses, YouTube is enabling the next generation of great channels, similar to how cable systems enabled the emergence of modern TV programming and advertising. In the coming years, YouTube will surely become ever-more important to content-creators and advertisers the world over, and so Cannes Lions is delighted to recognize Salar’s achievements and present him with the Media Person of the Year award.”

     

    Mr Kamangar said, “Content creators and advertisers alike are building successful YouTube channels that tap into a global community of fans, with more than one million of these channels now earning revenue. I’m delighted to accept this award not just on behalf of YouTube, but on behalf of the artists and producers across the world whose creativity has established YouTube as the global destination for video.”

     

    As Google’s ninth employee, Mr Kamangar’s early roles at Google included drafting its first business plan, starting its early legal and finance functions, and helping to found Google’s product team. While leading product management for Google’s advertising and monetisation products, Salar and his engineering partner designed and launched AdWords, helping the program grow into a business generating billions of dollars a year. Salar also led product management teams for Google’s web applications, including Gmail and Docs. Salar earned his bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with honours from Stanford University.

     

    Salar Kamangar will be presented with the Media Person of the Year honour on Wednesday, June 19, in the Palais des Festivals, Cannes, France.

     

    Previous recipients of the Media Person of the Year Award include, Jack Dorsey, Creator, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Twitter; Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google; Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook; Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft Corporation; Tsuneo Watanabe, Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of The Yomiuri Shimbun Holdings; Sumner Redstone, Chairman and CEO of Viacom; and Gerald Levin, CEO of AOL Time Warner.

     

  • Ventes Dundh has announced a partnership with Talenthouse India, a part of Reliance Entertainment, signalling its plans in the crowdsourcing segment

    Niloufer Dundh partners with Talenthouse India to tap crowdsourcing space

    By A Correspondent

     

    Niloufer Dundh

    Former senior vice president and head of Integrated Media at Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt Ltd, Niloufer Dundh, has announced a partnership with Talenthouse India, a part of Reliance Entertainment. This move signals Ms Dundh’s plans for her firm Ventes Dundh in the crowdsourcing segment and her belief in its appeal to brands.

     

    Ms Dundh has scored a six this IPL season, with a key role in Talenthouse’s crowdsourcing initiative for Vodafone’s IPL campaign where 22 children will wear the winning design comprising of jersey and cap while leading the final two teams to the ground. With an overwhelming response, Talenthouse (www.talenthouse.co.in) had crowdsourced 433 designs out of which Vodafone has chosen one design by Parth Gondaliya who received Rs 1,00,000 as cash prize.

     

    Besides providing the leading telecom brand in the country with an innovative method to crowdsource, Ms Dundh has connected one of her clients to an upcoming nation-wide campaign by Talenthouse. With a theme that is sure to connect with every Indian and targeted in its appeal to the youth, Talenthouse will announce this campaign over the next month.

     

    Speaking of the association, Ms Dundh said, “We often fail to meet the objectives of digital campaigns due to the poor quality of content. Good content has proven to be a differentiator for a brand, as it increases talkability and engagement quotients. This is a gap that I am confident that Talenthouse will fulfil, as we will be able to reach out to several brands across the country. Together with Talenthouse, we plan to up the ante and execute different projects and deliver unique crowdsourcing initiatives.”
    Arun Mehra, CEO, Talenthouse India said, “Crowdsourcing is essential for brands to be taken seriously in this increasingly digital age. Talenthouse has consistently delivered quality content for brands, having successfully engaged consumers. We are excited to work with Niloufer who has a strong reputation in the industry, with some stellar work to her credit. We have a string of projects in the pipeline that we are excited to announce and will continue to grow successfully in the crowdsourcing space.”

     

  • As per the agreement, Yahoo! has promised not to screw Tumblr up, which will operate independently as a separate business. Tumblr is home to, among several others, Amitabh Bachchan's blog

    Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr, promises “not to screw it up”

    By A Correspondent

     

    Yahoo! Inc and Tumblr announced yesterday that they have reached a definitive agreement for Yahoo! to acquire Tumblr.

     

    “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” a communique notes. “David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.”

     

    With over 300 million monthly unique visitors and 120,000 daily registrations, Tumblr is one of the fastest-growing media networks globally. Its popularity and engagement among creators, curators and audiences of all ages brings a new community of users to the Yahoo! network. The combination of Tumblr+Yahoo! is expected to grow Yahoo!’s audience by 50 percent to more than a billion monthly visitors, and to grow traffic by approximately 20 percent.

     

    The deal offers unique opportunities for both companies. Tumblr can deploy Yahoo!’s personalization technology and search infrastructure to help its users discover creators, bloggers, and content they’ll love. In turn, Tumblr brings 50 billion blog posts (and 75 million more arriving each day) to Yahoo!’s media network and search experiences. The two companies will also work together to create advertising opportunities that are seamless and enhance the user experience.

     

    The total consideration is approximately $1.1 billion, substantially all of which is payable in cash.

     

    “Tumblr is redefining creative expression online,” said Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer. “On many levels, Tumblr and Yahoo! couldn’t be more different, but, at the same time, they couldn’t be more complementary. ”

     

    David Karp, CEO of Tumblr, addressed the Tumblr community, “Our team isn’t changing. Our roadmap isn’t changing. And our mission – to empower creators to make their best work and get it in front of the audience they deserve – certainly isn’t changing. But we’re elated to have the support of Yahoo! and their team who share our dream to make the Internet the ultimate creative canvas. Tumblr gets better faster with more resources to draw from.”

     

    The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the second half of the year.

     

    It may be remembered that in July last year, Amitabh Bachchan moved his blog to Tumblr. The former Tumblr editor-in-chief had then written on the staff blog: “…he’s right here on your dashboard. Go give him a warm welcome and a hearty follow-click.”

     

     

  • It's nice to see use of the language we use every day. But, more importantly, will Yahoo! let Tumblr be? And will Tumblr be as nimble and fun as it would be without all the dosh?

    1 Minute View: No screwing it up, puhleez!

    So Yahoo! promises not to screw up Tumblr’s case. And, note, this isn’t an off-the-cuff remark by a high- or low-ranking official, but on record, on the official press release of Yahoo! stating its intent to acquire Tumblr and the agreement of both firms to go ahead with it.

     

    It’s nice to see use of the language we use every day. So will we soon see the use of the F-word in a communiqué? Well, if the TRAI chairman can use it in an interview to a columnist with a leading Indian business daily, one should perhaps not be too surprised if we actually see the F-word in black-and-white.

     

    But this ‘1 Minute View’ is not trying to hijack what our Deputy Editor Vidya Heble writes in her popular column ‘Speaking of Which’.

     

    It’s about what Yahoo! declared: that it will not screw it (Tumblr) up.

     

    The biggest fear amongst tech-watchers, Yahoo-baiters and Tumblr-lovers has been whether Tumblr will retain its energy post the acquisition? Yahoo! guarantees it will, detailing how the buy will be a win-win for both.

     

    The problem with large companies is their inability to think small. Yahoo! has been a huge success of the 1990s. But in 2013, successful media companies require a different kind of DNA. Even a Facebook started facing tough waters after it started growing bit. Twitter too has to think of the future now that it’s the most happening blogging platform.

     

    So will Yahoo! let Tumblr be? And will Tumblr be as nimble and fun as it would be without all the dosh?

     

    Apart from us, there’s one more person who’s going to be watching all of this very closely: Big B Amitabh Bachchan. The megastar moved his blog from Big Adda to Tumblr in July last year. But, of course, more than the posts on his blog, it’s his tweets that create more of a flutter in recent times.

     

    Back to Yahoo and Tumblr: let’s hope there are no screw-ups.

     

  • TAM is adding 11 million digital households within its base of 60 million-strong TV-owning households

    TAM updates Universe, adds 11 mn digital households

    By A Correspondent

     

    Given the significant change in the base post the second phase of digitization (DAS-II), TAM has announced on its website that its Universe will be updated in week 19, 2013 (week beginning May 5, 2013)

     

    “We are also using this opportunity to update not only those markets that are under the purview of DAS Phase 2 but also non-DAS markets that may have registered a significant increase in digital penetration,

     

    “With this update, we will be adding a significant 11 million digital households within the TAM surveyed markets (a base of 60 million TV owning households). This update now tips the C&S universe profile towards digital: Digital now accounts for more than half the TV owning households (56%) within the TAM surveyed markets.”

     

    The changes will mean some issues with those working on the TAM software. Details for this can be accessed at: http://www.tamindia.com/tamindia/NL_Tam/DAS_Phase_2-Universe_Update_Document.pdf

     

  • Vuclip provides insights into key brand metrics for mobile beyond click-through-rates to help brands achieve engagement and attention, Millward Brown study results have shown

    Vuclip provides third party authentication with Millward Brown for mobile ad effectiveness metrics

    By A Correspondent

     

    Independent mobile video and media company Vuclip has announced that it now offers a solution to evaluate mobile campaign effectiveness. Vuclip has partnered with Millward Brown to give brand metrics that provide meaningful insights beyond click-through-rates. This enables brand advertisers to measure and optimize the brand metrics on mobile ad campaigns, allowing them to measure performance against their key marketing objectives and compare effectiveness against industry averages.

     

    Reaching 45 million monthly users on 5,500 different mobile handsets, Vuclip has an unparalleled, global consumer base. This critical mass, combined with Millward Brown’s independent survey capabilities and robust analytics, allows Vuclip to analyse six metrics: top-of-mind brand awareness, brand familiarity, mobile ad awareness, brand association, brand favourability and purchase intent.

     

    Vuclip and Millward Brown recently conducted an AdIndex Advertising Effectiveness Study to assess the success of a mobile video advertising campaign on behalf of one of India’s leading toothbrush brands. The study included respondents from the 18-45 years age groups, with 41 percent belonging to the 25-34 years of age category. Respondents were segregated into two groups, one of which was exposed to a banner brand ad, while the control group was not.

     

    Advertisements displayed on the Vuclip site generated favourable opinion among the online audience. Purchase intent towards the brand was significantly higher post campaign exposure. Brand favourability was 7.9 percent higher among the exposed group compared to the control group, while purchase intent went up by 11.1 percent.

     

    “Mobile technology has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Anywhere in the world, consumers turn to their mobile device for instant news, videos and product information. While brands have recognized this shift from ‘prime time’ to ‘real time’ advertising, mobile metrics have not kept up with the changes. Click-through-rates reveal little about brand engagement or purchase intent,” said Meera Chopra, Global Head & Vice President, Ad Sales at Vuclip. “By partnering with Millward Brown we have found a way to successfully apply traditional TV and online metrics to mobile. This gives brands the opportunity to measure the impact of their mobile initiatives against their overall marketing goals.”

     

    Ritesh Dutt, Head Media Practice, India of Millward Brown commented, “As an industry leader, Vuclip is helping brands define success on the most important platform of our age – mobile. We are delighted that Vuclip has recognized our track record in mobile ad metrics and analysis. Through our partnership, we can help transform the way brands view mobile measurement and believe the impact will benefit the entire mobile ecosystem.”