MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • The smart footwear has already got tech lovers and travellers around the world eagerly awaiting the delivery of the shoes

    Salt Brand Solutions wins mandate of Lechal

    By A Correspondent

     

    Salt Brand Solutions has won the brand mandate for Lechal, the world’s first haptic footwear.

     

    “The entire team fell in love with the shoes. In fact, every member of the pitch team placed their pre-orders as soon as they got the brief.” said Siddhartha Singh, CEO, Salt Brand Solutions.

     

    Krispian Lawrence, Co-founder and CEO of Ducere Technologies, which manufactures Lechal, said, “While we make smart footwear that knows its way around, we look forward to Salt’s expertise in telling us where to take the brand.”

     

    Siddhartha Singh pointed out that, “Lechal would be the first global Indian brand. We are aligning our strategies to match the brand’s ambitions.”

     

    The smart footwear has already got tech lovers and travellers around the world eagerly awaiting the delivery of the shoes.

     

  • Users in India to surge significantly, with base to reach 31.4 crore by 2017

    India Shining for Mobile Internet

     

    By A Correspondent

     

    India is projected to have 23.6 crore mobile internet users by 2016, and this will leapfrog to 31.44 crore by 2017. This was reavealed in a report by the IAMAI & KPMG “India On The Go – Mobile Internet Vision Report 2015”.

     

    The report also points out that India will have over 50 crore internet users by 2017. As of June 2015, internet users in India stood at over 35 crore. According to the report, 2G user base in India is projected to decline in the coming years as more and more customers are expected to migrate from 2G to 3G. The 3G user base in India is rapidly gaining market and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 61.3 per cent from 2013-17. There were approximately 8.2 crore 3G subscribers in India by the end of year 2014 and the number is projected to reach 28.4 crore by end of year 2017.

     

    Commenting on the release of the IAMAI-KPMG report, Ashvin Vellody, Partner – Management Consulting, KPMG in India said, “With more than 30 crore internet users, India has the second largest internet user base in the world. But the internet penetration at 19 per cent (approx) is poor and limits the potential. The next wave of growth in penetration of internet will driven by adoption of mobile internet. The mobile internet growth story would be written by the large population in the hinterland and meaningful and compelling content/ use cases would enable adoption of mobile internet.” He further stated, “It is imperative to connect Indians through internet of which the mobile internet will play a key role since reliable accessibility will be the killer app that will bind the internet ecosystem together, increase adoption and enable innovation in business models around voice and data services.”

     

    Speaking at the launch, Dr Subho Ray – President IAMAI reiterated that growth in the internet space will come from the non-metro and rural areas. He said, “While the urban market has not reached its saturation point, it will be non – metros and rural India that will be driving internet growth in India. And this is where mobile internet will be playing a pivotal role. The advent of low cost smartphones coupled with low mobile tariffs has empowered consumers in the hinterland to use data connectivity and we will seeing more usage of internet from these areas in the months to come.”

     

    As per the Report, rural India is steadily moving towards a more Internet friendly and exploratory mind-set. As of 2014, the Active Internet User (AIU) base in rural India was 6.7 per cent of the overall rural population of 90.5 crore and accounted for 61 million users. 4.4 per cent of the total rural population used a mobile device to access the Internet; a figure that stood at a meagre 0.4 per cent in the year 2012.

     

    The Report has found that the rural growth story in the coming years will likely be written by 2G technologies. 3G and 4G may continue to be primarily an urban phenomenon for the next few years. Increased Internet enabled device penetration, decreasing handset prices and data plans tariffs are helping to create a suitable environment for a rapid growth of Mobile Internet in India, with rural India set to take the lead. As of June 2014, nearly 50% of the AIU in rural areas accessed Internet using mobile phones, Community Service Centers (CSC) and Cyber Cafes. 38% of the Active Internet Users use Mobile phone as the main access point.

     

  • Gadre has also signed on renowned Michelin Chef Vikas Khanna to endorse the brand

    Onads wins creative and digital duties of Gadre

    By A Correspondent

     

    Onads has won both the creative and digital duties of Gadre Marine. The account is estimated to be in the range of Rs 10 crore.

     

    Speaking on the win, Onads founder Jignesh Maniar said, “We are absolutely delighted to work on this business especially because it gives an opportunity not only to build a brand but a new category. Crabsticks is very popular around the world and our mandate is to make it popular in India.”

     

    Gadre has also signed on renowned Michelin Chef Vikas Khanna to endorse the brand.

     

    Gadre Marine, established 1978, is the leading Surimi manufacturer and exporter of highest-quality and best tasting marine products the world over. Gadre Marine is the largest exporter of Surimi Paste made from fish and of value added products made from Surimi. Gadre Sea Food is also the largest exporter of crab sticks in India.

     

    The company has made grand plans to market this product in the Indian markets as they see a strong potential in the product. The product has already garnered a great response in the soft release done at select retailers across India. The vision is now to make this product popular.

     

     

  • Gerard has done stints with Havas Worldwide, TBWA, DDB Mudra and Mcann Erickson

    Gerard Jayaranjan to head creative at FCB Ulka Digital

    By A Correspondent

     

    Gerard Jayaranjan

    FCB Ulka Digital, the digital arm of FCB Ulka, has appointed Gerard Jayaranjan as Creative Head – Digital. Prior to this, Gerard was with iContract, the digital division of Contract Advertising where he worked as the Senior Creative Director. He will report to Satbir Singh, CCO, FCB Ulka.

     

    Gerard has done stints with Havas Worldwide, TBWA, DDB Mudra and Mcann Erickson. With a blend of mainline and digital advertising, he has a strong understanding of brands and creative solutions irrespective of the medium used.

     

    Commenting on the appointment, Satish Ramachandran, Senior Vice-President, FCB Ulka Digital, says, “We have been growing way ahead of industry, this has been possible due to fact that we have been consistently investing in talent and technology. Gerry is a perfect addition to the team with his passion and experience in the space.”

     

    Satbir Singh

    Satbir Singh, Chief Creative Officer, FCB Ulka, says, “Gerry is one of those handful of creative guys out there who can think compelling ideas and have a firm grasp on the role of technology. He just had to be in our team.”

     

  • He joins the agency from Soho Square

    Pramod Sharma returns to Rediff as ECD

    By A Correspondent

     

    Pramod Sharma

    Rediffusion Y & R has announced the appointment of Pramod Sharma as Executive Creative Director. He joins the agency from Soho Square (Ogilvy). This is his second stint in the group.

     

    Pramod comes with over 15 years of work experience across agencies like Ogilvy, Dentsu, Percept-Hakuhodo, Everest and DDB Mudra. During his career he has worked on brands such as Parle Products, Sony Sab TV, Sony Pal, Pantaloons, Maxx Mobiles, Fedex, ICICI, Reliance Communications, Readers Digest, Cisco,Tata Housing, Raymond Apparels.

     

    Dhunji S. Wadia

    Speaking on his appointment, Dhunji S.Wadia, President, Rediffusion Y & R says, “We welcome Pramod’s return to our agency. He understands our clients, brands and our work style. We appreciate his work ethic and calibre. And everyone can expect sparkling creative work.”

     

     

    Rahul Jauhari

    Speaking on the appointment, Rahul Jauhari, Chief Creative Officer, Rediffusion Y & R says, “It’s great to have Pramod back in the team. His passion for creativity is very well balanced with his understanding of business issues. Pramod comes as a shot in the arm for the creative team in Rediffusion YR Mumbai.”

     

  • Vishwanathan started his career in JWT (then HTA) as a media planner in 1994

    Hariharan Vishwanathan to head South at MediaCom

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hariharan Vishwanathan

    MediaCom has announced the appointment of Hariharan Vishwanathan (Vishi) as the Head – South. He will report to Rathi Gangappa, COO, MediaCom India. Vishwanathan takes over from Sriram Sharma who is moving to another role in Mindshare.

     

    Vishwanathan started his career in JWT (then HTA) as a media planner in 1994. Since then he has worked across categories, agencies and roles in GroupM. Most recently he was part of the CTG team in GroupM.

     

    Debraj Tripathy

    Commenting on his appointment, Debraj Tripathy, MD MediaCom India, says “We are happy to have someone with Vishi’s experience and caliber on board. Our business in the South has seen fantastic growth in the last few years under Sriram’s leadership. I am confident Vishi will bring renewed energy and focus to our business. I wish Sriram all the best in his new role.”

     

  • Two new TVCs reiterate that there is something valuable in every OLX transaction

    Olx kicks off Phase 2 of ‘Keemat Bhi…’ campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    On the back of a positive response to ‘Keemat Bhi, Kuch Keemti Bhi” launch campaign earlier this year, Olx has launched the second edition of the same. Two new commercials released under the campaign depict that there is both value and something valuable hidden in every Olx transaction. The two films aptly bring out the importance of being able to make others happy, while fulfilling one’s own aspirations.

     

    Said Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO, OLX.in, “Our second ‘Keemat Bhi, Kuch Keemti Bhi’ campaign is based on the resounding response to the first campaign from across the country earlier this year. As a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) platform, human connection is at the core of our business. Olx has always given people the best value for their used products, but every product is also tied to its user through a unique story, which is invaluable. These two Ads celebrate those invaluable aspects of an Olx transaction.”

     

    The latest “Keemat Bhi, Kuch Keemti Bhi” campaign features two films – A Phone. A Picture. And a lifetime of friendship in Kashmir’, which has been shot entirely in Kashmir, and ‘Old Treasure Found’, which has been released in Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

     

    ‘A Phone. A Picture. And a lifetime of friendship in Kashmir’ depicts the story of a local shopkeeper and an army officer, and the beautiful friendship shared between the two. The second film features legendary actress Kanchana, who has acted in films in various languages including Tamil, Telugu, and Malayalam.

     

  • To focus on online outreach for its brands – Wild Stone & Secret Temptation with a special emphasis on consumer engagement

    McNROE appoints 22feet Tribal as its digital agency

    By A Correspondent

     

    McNROE Consumer Products has announced the appointment of 22Feet Tribal Worldwide as its digital agency. The company, which is known for its brands Wild Stone and Secret Temptations, has brought the digital agency on board to lead its digital efforts across online platforms with a special emphasis on consumer engagement.

     

    22feet Tribal Worldwide will be responsible for the digital strategy across the McNROE’s entire portfolio- Wild Stone and Secret Temptation. The agency will lead digital brand planning across businesses and develop strategic brand campaigns for the digital platform to strengthen the connection between the two brands and their respective consumers.

     

    NK Daga, Director-Founder, McNROE said, “We have always been committed to bringing top international quality fragrances to Indian consumers and delivering the best innovative experience in the industry. As we continue to grow, our intention is to place even greater emphasis on engaging with our customers through online experiences. 22feet Tribal Worldwide’s strong strategic capabilities combined with the understanding of our business made them the perfect agency partner to help us engage with our customers online.”

     

    Commenting about the partnership, Vineet Gupta, Managing Director at 22feet Tribal Worldwide, said, “We are extremely excited about our partnership with McNroe Consumer Products Pvt. Ltd. for its brands Wild Stone and Secret Temptation. Wild Stone is a brand that has cemented itself in Indian consciousness with their distinctive communication and offering. Secret Temptation has created a niche for itself by appealing to young girls with its contemporary fragrances. We want to bring this equity into the web and create a robust digital framework that yields results for the brands and the business.”

     

  • From banks to e-commerce biggies, Big Day's appeal is extending to several categories and businesses.

    Big Data is Big Business

     

    By Ravi Balakrishnan, Amit Bapna, Delshad Irani & Shephali Bhatt

     

    Big data, like every other industry, has its early adopters and usual suspects: banks, retail chains and telecom. But now its appeal is extending to several categories and businesses.

     

    According to Nishant Kalra , business leader, IBM Commerce India/SA, “81 per cent of the CMOs in consumer brands believe they have a holistic view of customers, but only 22 per cent of customers believe the average retailer understands them.” The first challenge: to capture customers as individuals, focusing not merely on transaction data but their interests, preferences and interactions. The second challenge: changes in the customer journey with 50 per cent to 80 per cent of the buying process taking place before the brand gets a chance to speak. “How do we seamlessly give an integrated experience across channels?” puzzles Kalra.

     

    Says Sandeep Mittal, founder & MD of marketing analytics firm Cartesian Consulting, “The trick but take the decisions with better information and predictability.”

     

    The answer it would appear is in the numbers and knowing what to do with them.

     

    Big data is how companies both online and offline are trying to solve the personalisation challenge. It’s a brave new world out there, one that requires yes, a great deal of left brained number crunching but also some good old right brained creativity.

     

    The goal: to leave consumers feeling less like a test subject with the barest illusion of privacy and more like a special valued patron of the brand who manages to snag the best. Here’s how four companies are doing it.

     

    Right Brain, Left Brain: Big data is how companies, both online and offline, are trying to solve the personalisation challenge… it requires a great deal of left brained number crunching as well as some good old right brained creativity

     

    IBM/Matrimony.com –NOW MARRIAGES ARE MADE WITH DATA

    According to IBM, time taken for Matrimony.com to identify a market segment, tailor a campaign and launch it has been reduced by 90 per cent.

     

    As any Indian will tell you, getting hitched is a serious business. Even more so for a site in the business of getting people hitched: Matrimony. com. With 150 customised websites, call centres and even physical outlets, and an estimated 3 million users at any given time, the task of getting relevant messages across was getting incredibly complicated. To say nothing of giving a user a seamless experience irrespective of which touchpoint was used.

     

    Says Nishant Kalra, business leader, IBM Commerce India/SA, “For a bank, churning is bad. For Matrimony.com it’s good. The task: How do you deliver consistent messages across multiple channels? And how do you make users opt in for paid services?”

     

    The No 1 challenge with this born on the web company was its data was on open source standards. IBM applied its predictive tools to segment data, assign weightages and built campaigns around these. For instance, it helped the site run a campaign encouraging users to update their profiles with more information, something that significantly raised their chances of finding a match. Says Kalra, “We started with predictive analytics and marketing campaign solutions which were rolled out in real time across multiple channels” including physical stores.

     

    Once the users began to enrich their profiles with data, Matrimony.com was able to send them prospective soul mate profiles and run offers for its paid services. A third objective that data helped with was to serve up the next best option in case a potential alliance fizzled out.

     

    Askme (and AskmeBazaar) –ALL THAT SHE WANTS

    Over 70m searches per month on Askme produces 7 billion data points… combine it with deals and classifieds, the number would be 10 to 20x more.

     

    Creepy, she thinks. How did the Internet know she needs a dupatta to go with the kurta she just purchased? And then it suggests matching accessories. “What sorcery is this?” she cries. No Hogwarts degree needed though, one simply stalks the individual within an inch of sanity. And we’re just scratching the surface of what our digital footprint reveals.

     

    Consider what transpires on local search and classifieds portal, Askme and its online marketplace, AskmeBazaar. The company captures every touch point in the consumer’s journey on its sites and then refines algorithms to churn out tailor-made experiences. The goal: Create serendipity moments. Says Manav Sethi, group CMO, Askme, “The future will belong to those who create personalised experiences that will build stickiness and engagement.” Let’s face it, there is no differentiation between, say, the top four or five ecommerce companies clamouring for your phone-swipes.

     

    “Expect the same discounts and 2 million SKUs everybody shouts about. What is the value proposition?” asks Sethi. That value proposition is buried under mountains of data on consumption triggers and consumer history.\

     

    But if marketers can’t leverage billions of data points to create individualised experiences, the entire exercise is pointless.

     

    The future of grocery, for instance, is in predicting what Lalitaji will need next on the basis of her consumption history. And not just stopping there. Using mapped consumer identities and purchase patterns, Askme can help convert a P&G customer into a Unilever loyalist or vice versa.

     

    “Big data can give the company an edge that becomes a strategic business lever. That’s where the long tail comes into play,” says Sethi.

     

    Maruti Suzuki –FROM KITNA DETI HAI TO KITNA DATA HAI

    Maruti Suzuki realised as early as 2006 that their dealers were sitting on reams of data that needed to be aggregated, organised, cleaned and then analysed.

     

    Most marketers prefer to hide under a rock the moment their CRM guys start talking about Big Data. Sanjeev Handa, vice president and head of marketing at Maruti Suzuki isn’t one of them. Big Data intrigues him. “It is this stream of database from your phones, credit cards, TV audience measurement metres and even airplanes these days. The total data collected in the last two years is larger than the data collected throughout human civilisation and it is in Zettabytes (1 zettabyte = 1,000,000,000 Terabytes),” says Handa.

     

    Awareness of Big Data hasn’t got him caught in the hype cycle though.

     

    “We use relevant data of the 15 million customers that we have accumulated over the last 30 years. We don’t want to know every detail, just their profile, likes and dislikes, insurance status et al.”

     

    Maruti Suzuki realised as early as 2006 that their dealers were sitting on reams of data that needed to be cleaned and then analysed.

     

    “Last year, we sold 50,000 extra cars purely because of data mining,” he says. This was 4.5 per cent of the sales for the year. They plan to sell two million cars through their CRM initiatives by 2020. The internal target is to get 10 per cent of the sales via database management.

     

    And management of database is not expensive, he says, especially since “we spend crores on advertising.” It’s just a pinpointed effort – keeping a track of customers who’ve had the same model of car for five years, for instance, helps them inform dealers about upselling to them. Maruti Nexa, the premium dealer network, is also a byproduct of data mining. “Psychometrics showed that more people were flying business class, keeping relationship managers and switching from Maruti to Ford. That was the trigger.”

     

    Club Mahindra –COUNT YOUR HOLIDAYS

    By data mining members’ past holiday behaviour, customised and personalised mailers were sent, often layered with an offer.

     

    One of the prime challenges that inhibits brands from deep-diving into data and analytics is an obvious one – lack of rich data. In case of Club Mahindra, lack of data was not the challenge. Being around for almost 20 years has helped the brand build on a formidable width and depth of data about its 1.8 lakh membership base. Says, Deepali Naair, CMO, Mahindra Holidays: “Having database of 1.8 lakh members as against 18 lakh members (for example) can be an advantage since it makes the data much more manageable.”

     

    Holidaying, especially in India, is dependent on both the climate as well as vacation time, which for a category that Club Mahindra is operating in, creates challenges of erratic occupancy. Data was sought to resolve this issue via the ‘Reshaping demand’ project. The idea is simple: solve seasonality-led low occupancy challenges by reaching out to members and nudging them to plan holidays through the year. Maybe getting people to go to Goa during the monsoons and to Jaisalmer in the summer heat. Backed by the data mining on the member’s past holiday behaviour and other analyses, customised and personalised mailers were sent out, often layered with an offer as well Member nights which can be attributable to ‘Reshape Demand’ are upwards of 15 per cent, shares Naair. Big data is making the difference to the life of the businesses, points out Sandeep Mittal, founder & MD of marketing analytics firm Cartesian Consulting, thanks to its ability to frame a hypothesis or post a business challenge and actually get results with correlations across multiple data sources, very quickly.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • … but 'baat' doesn't always ban jaaye, as only a few out of a zillion apps make it to devices!

    APP jaisa koi mere smartphone mein aaye…

     

    By Shelley Singh

     

    Three weeks ago, all the 5,000 employees of Snapdeal, one of the big four diversified e-commerce companies in India, were asked to drop everything and experiment with its two-year-old app. They checked for bugs, tested ease of use, noted the time to complete transactions and compared the features with those of rival apps. It was a concerted effort aimed at suggesting ways to improve the shopping experience on the app, which would go on for three hours, and result in an avalanche of feedback. A thousand engineers then worked 24 hours non-stop to overhaul the app – the first major upgrade since launch. The rebooted app, said Anand Chandrasekaran, chief product officer, Snapdeal, “is the lightest e-commerce app, stable (read, no crashes) and performs better”.

     

    Conversions, industry jargon for downloads, of the app have since jumped 10 times, according to Chandrasekaran, whom Snapdeal recruited from Bharti Airtel in June.

     

     

    Why firms move fully to apps

    On August 1, Ola, the car hailing company, switched completely to apps. On May 15, fashion e-retailer Myntra ditched its website for app. Both claim compelling reasons drove the switch.

     

    “We never got (much) business from the site even when we started back in 2011 – it was either through the call centre or the app,” said Pranay Jivrjka, COO, Ola. Ola has since ended call centre bookings as well because its app contributes 99 per cent of the business.

     

    When Myntra was contemplating junking its website, it was already getting 90 per cent traffic and 70 per cent revenue from its app. “Subsequently, revenue and traffic (from the website) dropped less than what we expected,” said Shamik Sharma, chief technology officer, Myntra.

     

    Myntra has not regretted the decision. “Users are always logged on, they are always with us and an app enables quick access to our collection,” said Sharma.

     

    Besides, apps help customise better. “We know whether the user is male, female, college going or professional. All sensors on a smartphone – GPS, sound, voice, camera etc – can be weaved into the app for better experience.” Ola sees apps as a better problem solver than the website. “I know my frequent users better – what car he prefers, places he travels to and when will he need the car. That makes us respond better to user needs,” said Jivrjka. “Besides, via the app we give a quarter million cars across 100 cities.”

     

    Both companies are upgrading their apps. Taking a cue from its global competitor Uber, Ola now offers food delivery in select cities such as Mumbai and Bengaluru. Myntra is about to launch visual search, which gives users purchase options by simply pointing to a product.

     

    Apps are certain to drive the future of ecommerce and businesses are rushing in headlong.

     

    If the entire company was involved in the app’s reboot, it was with good reason. Snapdeal competes with a host of ecommerce companies such as Amazon, eBay, Flipkart, Myntra, Jabong and a phalanx of smaller players. Even diehard shopaholics would not have the apps of all these companies on their smartphones. They would have two. Maybe three.

     

    Snapdeal was vying for a coveted space – the mobile phone screen.

     

    In overhauling its app, Snapdeal has come to represent the growing focus of businesses on apps and their scramble to coax smartphone customers to turn users. Fashion etailer Myntra sells its wares only on an app. In June, Facebook launched an app called Facebook Lite targeted at low-end smartphone users. In recent weeks, Urban Ladder and Foodpanda have refreshed their apps while a revamped Makemytrip app will be launched in two weeks. It is not hard to see why.

     

    Competition for squeezing into a mobile phone is intense – jostling for that limited space are nearly 3 million apps! Only about 20 have a shot at making it, depending on a user’s penchant for news, staying connected via the social media, travel, music etc. And there is no telling if they will last on a phone. The flavour of a season dock in – Candy Crush replacing Angry Birds – but they are dispensable. It’s virtually the luck of the draw for the rest.

     

    Ninety percent of apps are deleted, according to Rajan Anandan, vice-president and managing director, South East Asia & India, Google. “Apps that users retain are for daily use.”

     

    Globally, only 27,334 of the 2.9 billion apps have been downloaded more than one million times, according to Uninstall. IO, a mobile analytics company that counts CommonFloor, Gaana and Snapdeal, among others, as clients. “Users don’t like them or don’t want them. Competition is brutal and shelf life is very short,” said Alok Mishra, founder, Uninstall. IO

     

    It’s a Slugfest

    The stakes are evidently high. The Indian e-commerce segment, valued at $7 billion in 2014-15, is expected to grow to $65 billion by 2020, according to Technopak, a retail industry consultancy. Nearly 65 per cent of the e-commerce traffic at present is already on mobiles, a combination of mobile browsers and apps. But by 2020, about 80 per cent of e-commerce transactions will be done via apps, according to Pragya Singh, associate vice-president, retail and consumer products, Technopak.

     

    Already, apps contribute 75 per cent of Snapdeal and Flipkart’s traffic.

     

    Shankar Nath, senior-vice president, Paytm, the online payment platform and e-commerce app, said the website versus app contest is analogous to winning a battle versus winning the war. “For a business to have a bigger footprint, it has to be mobile (app) focused.”

     

    True, but how does an app maker attract users? Vijay Shekhar Sharma, founder, Paytm, said unlike the web where search engines could easily browse a site and index, apps are closed systems. “Apps are like closed gardens, and only a user and the app to be searched know about the data inside.”

     

    The good news for app-makers is people are spending more and more time on their smartphones – almost three hours a day in India and also use it for everything from gathering information to shopping. Apps, with their improved features, feed their needs. “Apps are superior. They leverage many more features of smartphones like gyroscope, sensors, locations and other system data,” said Sharma.

     

    Users, sadly, need more convincing. Three factors typically decide a user’s preference for an app – frequency of use, memory or space it consumes and relevance.

     

    To increase frequency of use, app makers are trying to increase the engagement with users. Take Makemytrip.com, an online travel company. The rarity of holidays – usually once or twice a year – rules out people having a travel app as a fi xture on phones. To fi x this handicap, the new Makemytrip app will notify users on last-minute hotel bookings, discounts and help book cabs as well.

     

    “Our focus is to earn the right to be on users’ phone every day,” said Anshuman Bapna, chief product offi cer, Makemytrip. com. Some services such as like flight delay information and the ability to book cabs are best delivered via an app, according to him.

     

    Even apps that are already engaging with users – like Flipkart’s which has been downloaded more than 10 million times – are turning to technology to improve experience. A user has to simply point the app at a shirt to get similar options on Flipkart he can purchase. This technology called visual search was introduced two weeks ago, said Punit Soni, chief product officer, Flipkart.

     

    Fashion etailer Myntra, which recently switched fully to apps, will introduce visual search in six weeks. The Myntra app has been downloaded 12 million times, with frequency of usage 7-8 times a month per customer and amount of time spent at 80 minutes a week, according to P Komapalli, head, e-commerce platform, Myntra.

     

    Nitin Chugh, head of digital banking, HDFC Bank, said an app can stay on a phone if it is continuously used. He believes banking apps have perpetuity compared with say, gaming apps. HDFC Bank is hooking consumers to its app by enabling them to pay bills or even shop. It has partnered e-commerce players like Flipkart; users can make purchases from their websites using the bank’s app.

     

    Light & Fast

    As space is a constraint, developers are looking to make apps lighter. App makers cannot afford to lose sight of even upgrades and notifications that use data, which means users delete apps they rarely use.

     

    Google’s Anandan believes a 1-3 mb app is perfect. By that reckoning, most apps in India are ‘obese’. Snapdeal is 6 mb, Makemytrip.com is 10 mb, Foodpanda is 8 mb, Practo is 6.7 mb and HDFC Bank is 17 mb. Popular messaging app WhatsApp is a whopping 40 mb. WhatsApp gets away with the flab because it is relevant and extremely sticky – it’s the largest messaging app globally with 800 million active users.

     

    Furniture etailer Urban Ladder has three apps – Urban Storage, a wardrobe app, which is 30 mb, Urban Living for sofas, also 30 mb, and the basic Urban ladder app of 4.5 mb. Rajiv Srivasta, cofounder, Urban Ladder, said the first two apps are heavy as they use graphics and a 3D engine to create a great experience. No doubt. But Urban Ladder’s basic app has about 1 million users while the other two have just a few thousands, underscoring the pervading pattern of consumers fretting more about space than experience.

     

    Some apps are betting on change in user habits. Kunal Shah, founder of Freecharge, a mobile recharging app, said only 3-4 per cent of users re-charge their mobile phone online. But that number will eventually grow, according to him.

     

    Likewise, Foodpanda, a food ordering app with 1.2 million downloads so far, is preparing to attract people who order food by calling up restaurants. “Food ordering is a $15 billion a year opportunity on phones,” said Saurabh Kochhar, cofounder & CEO, Foodpanda. “We are eying this market.”

     

    As competition intensifies and space shrinks, apps are adapting. “There will be multiple apps under one app,” said Rajat Kohli, engagement lead, Zinnov, a management consulting firm.

     

    Cross-linking too will increase, like how HDFC Bank app users are routed to the Flipkart app. Consolidation will be inevitable. “Apps will ride on messaging apps, which are used more frequently,” said Mishra of Uninstall.IO.

     

    Alok Goel, CEO, Saif Partners, said granted companies will have to keep their apps relevant to create higher engagement and downloads, but perennial favourites such as Facebook and WhatsApp will be the highway into their ecosystem. It is the Google model – people visit the search engine to discover websites. In China, apps are already riding piggyback on WeChat, a popular messaging app.

     

    That could be the future for second-fiddle apps at least.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • The problem is with the caveat in the notice mentioning “which do not have child pornographic content

    Notice to ISPs is misleading, cautions IAMAI

    By A Correspondent

     

    Internet and Mobile Association of India [IAMAI], in a press statement has said that the latest Government notice dated August 4, 2015, to the Intermediaries (ISPs) is vague and has led to a chilling effect.

     

    The notice states that the intermediaries (ISPs) are free not to disable any of the 857 URLs, as provided in the list earlier, which do not have child pornographic content. However, the problem is with the caveat in the notice mentioning “which do not have child pornographic content.”

     

    The problem is that the said notice is not accompanied by any specific list of sites or links and the Intermediaries (ISPs) are expected to find out the links or sites containing child pornography themselves. This is not how it works under the law. The correct procedure should have been to provide the Intermediaries (ISPs) with a specific list along with the notification, as was done in the earlier notice dated July 31, 2015.

     

    The ISPs have rightly asked the Government to withdraw the notification. The ISPAI letter states: “We urge you to withdraw the said vague directive as it is not only confusing, but also putting responsibility on ISPs of the website on which ISPs does not have any control.” However, they are wrong in saying “But till further directives, the said 857 sites will continue to be blocked.”

     

  • Askme's campaign, 'BAAP of all trends' is in line with brand ethos of being ahead of the curve

    Askme & Askmebazaar unveils unique insights led communication campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    Leading consumer Internet platform www.askme.com and its online marketplace www.askmebazaar.com have launched two comprehensive campaigns. Ranbir Kapoor is seen in these commercials for ASKME whereas Farhan Akhtar is new face in Askmebazaar iconic TVC. Both these campaigns aim to bring together Askme’s single proposition of ‘One stop destination’.

     

    Askme’s campaign, ‘BAAP of all trends’ is in line with brand ethos of being ahead of the curve. Through this campaign, the company aims to position itself as the one stop destination that caters to diverse needs of a customer. With enormous options available online, today’s youth seeks some credible advice. Where to go, what to do and what to eat are questions that grapple today’s youth from Kanpur to Bandra. Askme seeks to provide answer to these questions and many more in times to come.

     

    In a move to connect with today’s youth, the campaign aims to fill the gap between a whole plethora of options available in the online space but lack of one credible source for the same. Askme allows its customers to stay ahead with all the information from best places to travel to best places to eat at, and so on, all from one trustworthy online platform that is ASKME.

     

    Further, with the launch of the campaign by Askmebazaar.com, the company introduces a novel concept of online retail therapy. ‘One Click Therapy’ as the name suggests acts as the driving force for customers to lead a stress free life. Online marketplace in Askmebazaar is positioned as stress buster via retail therapy as it offers next day delivery on top brand with best deals.

     

    Conceptualized by the creative agency JWT, both the campaigns use a comprehensive multimedia approach, compelling facts and vivid imagery designed to change consumers buying behavior.

     

    Speaking on the occasion Manav Sethi, Group CMO, Askme said, “Both these campaigns are built on consumer insights. Search has moved from discovery to aggregated opinions and hence Askme assumes that leadership position across India to communicate best places to eat, wear, and relax etc. The option to transact these products and be in the trend is made available by Askmebazaar where majority find platforms such as these an option full of choices, brands and best prices and hence “stress mein don’t go bizarre; shop on askmebazaar”

     

    Saurabh Saksena, Senior Vice President & Executive Business Director, J Walter Thompson said, “Over the past few years the consumers are turning to the internet to see what choices they have to make, whether for eating-out, travel destinations, fashion, gadgets, plays, etc. While there are many destinations that offers them choice, few offer them advise. The poor consumer is left asking people who they know (and who may not be experts) for their advise about where to eat, where to travel to, which movie to watch, what to wear and what gadget to buy, etc.

     

    And these ‘advisors’ may not be the best people to ask. This forms the basis for our campaign, we have had most fun coming up with. “Don’t ask just about anyone, ask the BAAP of all trends, askme.com” askme.com offers to satisfy this need to get advise/ recommendations from a credible source, through curated experiences.”