MxMIndia

Category: Digital

  • Introduces LinkedIn Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics for Hyper-Customization of Messages to Brands' Target Audiences

    LinkedIn Strengthens Follower Ecosystem

    By A Correspondent

     

    LinkedIn – the world’s largest professional network with more than 14 million inIndia- is furthering its commitment to help brands build a more effective follower ecosystem in a business context with the launch of LinkedIn Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics. LinkedIn has signed on a select group of early release partners – including DSP Blackrock, AT&T, Dell, Microsoft, and Samsung Mobile – who will be immediately using these new follower tools.

     

    With these new offerings, this initial group of marketers will have access to the most robust targeting and analytics capabilities for their campaign initiatives on the platform from their LinkedIn Company Pages. They will be able to create hyper-focused follower lists – based on several targeting criteria, including Industry, Seniority, Job Function, Company Size, Non-company Employees, and Geography – to which they can deliver highly relevant content to increase engagement.

     

    In addition, marketers will also have self-service access to an insights dashboard that will further support their efforts by allowing them to assess their follower acquisition efforts; track engagement metrics, including likes, shares, comments, and percentage engagement, over time; and review their followers’ demographic information.

     

    LinkedIn Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics, through the hyper-customization of messages and campaign performance analysis it provides, is enhancing the LinkedIn follower ecosystem and the ability of brands to communicate with their most impactful audiences on the platform.

     

    • LinkedIn’s Unique Follower Ecosystem:

    LinkedIn’s follower ecosystem has been designed to enables marketers to: identify and acquire the right followers; more effectively engage and communicate with followers on a regular basis via relevant content; and analyze and optimize the impact of their follower relationships.

     

    • LinkedIn’s Follow Company Button:

    LinkedIn Targeted Updates and Follower Statistics’ launch follows on the heels of the introduction of the LinkedIn Follow Company button – the first phase of LinkedIn’s follower ecosystem strategy in February. It facilitates engagement through a button added to businesses’ Web pages and other marketing materials.

     

    Also 63 per cent of LinkedIn members expect companies to have a presence on LinkedIn. Members “following” companies and want to maintain these relationships: 70 per cent of LinkedIn members follow or would follow companies on LinkedIn; two out of three LinkedIn followers (64 per cent) would follow companies “indefinitely”; followers are active on LinkedIn (global).

     

     

     

  • New DelhiandBangalorelead the viewership with 14 per cent each, with Mumbai coming in a close second at 13 percent

    IPL 2012 first week online viewership registers a 56% increase

    By A Correspondent

     

    Solidifying last year’s stupendous growth during Indian Premier League (IPL), Times Internet Limited (TIL), in partnership with YouTube, is on an upward curve, yet again. In the first week of the tournament, including the opening ceremony, the IPL website has already recorded 13.7 million views, as against 8.8 million views last year. This represents a 56 per cent growth over last year.

     

    New DelhiandBangalorelead the viewership with 14 per cent each, with Mumbai coming in a close second at 13 percent. This leap reflects the growing trend of watching IPL matches online. This year, the IPL website offers a virtual battleground for fans to fight it out, which got 1.5 million engagements in the first week itself.

     

    The matches registered the maximum online views on 10th April for the matches between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders, and between Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings. The day saw a total of 2.15 million views on the site, which included 0.7 million unique visitors.

     

    Almost 0.6 million viewers have enjoyed the match action on their mobiles over the last seven days on Apalya mobile TV platform across Airtel, Idea and Vodafone. This is double the traffic registered last year.

     

    Rishi Khiani, CEO, Times Internet Ltd said: “Last year, we delivered a superior viewing experience and garnered significant audiences. This year, our emphasis is on higher interactivity and our strong social focus has paid off right at the start, becoming a sign of things to come over the season.”

     

    Praveen Sharma, Head of Media Sales GoogleIndiasaid: “We’re really excited to see the continuous growth in online viewer ship of IPL. This is the third year of our association with live streaming of IPL and the viewership numbers clearly indicate the distributed media consumption pattern of the Indian consumers.”

     

  • The motive behind launching the site was that a challenging business environment demands versatile skills and subject matter experts have to transcend the boundaries of management and communications to stay in the game and keep winning

    Now upgrade your skills with Gyaan Niketan

    By A Correspondent

     

    Recently www.gyaanniketan.com – an online platform for upgrading your skill sets, remain relevant in your jobs, and survive in a highly competitive global environment – was launched.

     

    The motive behind launching the site was that a challenging business environment demands versatile skills and subject matter experts have to transcend the boundaries of management and communications to stay in the game and keep winning.

     

    The website helps one optimize their performance and constantly raise the bar. With the help of the website, one learns to hone their skill sets; enhance their performance at work; and track the trends, developments and technological changes defining their specialized fields/markets.

     

    At Gyaan Niketan, one also get the opportunity to interface with mentors and consolidate domain-specific and managerial credentials that will enhance their performance at work and accelerate their movement up the growth curve.

     

    The focus of the website is to combine relevant theories with the practice of conducting business in today’s global economy. Their focus is on re-skilling professionals, through Education (Learn), Experience (Do) and Expertise (Act).

     

    Their aim is to enable the applicants to equip themselves through the online platform and expand their horizon in their chosen areas of specialization.

     

    One can achieve all these and more with Gyan Niketan – a group of knowledge networked individuals with extensive experience in coaching, mentoring, training and teaching-by logging into our online collaborative platform.

     

    The site will be online with full blown features of payment gateway, video, chat room and so on.

     

  • TSM has plans to reach a scale of 3000 head-ends by the year end spanning more than 2000 towns including key less-than-class-1 towns (LC1 markets)

    Television Street Maps (TSM) expands coverage

    By A Correspondent

     

    TV Street Maps (TSM), What’s-On-India’s newly launched television channel distribution & connectivity monitoring vertical has just announced its aggressive plans to expand its National coverage. TSM recently increased its footprint from 750 head-ends to more than 1000 head-ends spread across 450 towns, up from 220 towns.

     

    “Our goal is to create the widest & largest TV channel distribution monitoring system in the market, and with this latest expansion we have achieved that!” said Joydip Kapadia, Executive Vice President, What’s-On-India.

     

    The move to go aggressive on ‘TV Street Maps by What’s-On-India is considered strategic, especially in the context of dramatic changes expected in the distribution side of the TV business over the next couple of years due to the digitalization regime being introduced by the government.

     

    Given this ground reality, TSM has plans to reach a scale of 3000 head-ends by the year end spanning more than 2000 towns including key less-than-class-1 towns (LC1 markets).

     

    TSM covers day-to-day TV channel monitoring for availability, frequency & changes by head-ends & towns. Its current coverage is 1000+ analogue & digital head-ends across 450+ towns and cities. Mapping includes DTH, Analogue Cable and Digital Cable. Other services include vicinity connectivity, Flash Street News, dispute resolution.

     

  • As youngsters go digital, there is need for marketers to not only engage but also offer a unique experience

    Digital is the way to go, but…

     

     

    By Robin Thomas

     

    Consumers in India are evolving rapidly from print and radio to television and now digital. Just when you thought that digital was all about display advertising, bulk SMS, search, email advertising and online classifieds, in came the social media, video advertising, smart phones, tablets, apps, mobile advertising and so on.

     

    According to industry estimates there are 120 million internet users in India today, of which almost 30 per cent are from small towns. While India’s broadband internet penetration is still low, it is believed that the next phase of growth in internet will come from mobile users which are estimated to be over 800 million.

     

    As more and more youngsters gain access to various digital platforms, there is a greater need for marketers to not only engage the young consumers, but they must also be able to give them a unique experience across the digital platforms. The IAMAI (Internet And Mobile Association of India), which held its 8th Marketing Conclave, 2012 – ‘Digital Marketing 3.0’ on April 13 in Mumbai, extensively discussed the role of social media, video advertising and mobile advertising in the near future.

     

     

    Using Social Media:

    Today most companies have multiple social networking sites – Facebook, Twiter, LinkedIn and others. There are separate teams handling social media marketing for the company, but, are brands listening to their consumers? Do they interact and respond to queries and complaints? Do marketers understand the social media and know how to monetize it? Or are brands simply satisfied with the number of ‘Likes’ and views they generate on their social networking sites?

     

    Karthik Nagarajan, National Director, Social and Insights, Group M was of the view that unless one is not ready and mature enough as an organisation for the medium, the organization must stay away from social media.

     

    According to Usha Sangwan, Executive Director, LIC India, what brands lack today is the courage to be transparent, they don’t respond to negative feedback and fail to turn the customer as an advocate of their product. “Brands must not see social media as a mere marketing tool and limit to generating numbers alone, but social media must be used mainly for connecting with the TG and co-creating the product. Brands must try and understand their TG and become a part of their customer’s day to day life.”

     

    Virginia Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer, IBM India hit the nail on the head by stating that brands must have the ability to admit their mistake and apologise to the customer. She admitted that while there is a certain amount of fear among brands to apologise for a mistake committed because it may lead to negative public opinion, but felt it is always better to apologise and rectify the mistake which could lead customers to becoming an advocate of the brand.

     

    Vinay Bhatia, Customer Care Associate and Vice President Marketing and Loyalty, Shoppers Stop added that it a company’s reputation is harmed only when it fails to act responsibly to a complaint made, and not when it apologises for a mistake and tries to rectify it. “The problem with the companies today is that they make policies as if the consumer is a criminal. Accepting a feedback and acting upon it will not harm the brand but, if one chooses to remain silent about a complaint, that’s the worst one can do to his brand.”

     

    Leveraging Mobile Advertising:

    Besides the social media, mobile advertising is another challenge faced by marketers who have more or less failed to leverage the small screen. Sadly, mobile advertising is largely limited to only SMSes. Marketers are said to often mistake mobile as an extension of broadband internet and as a result they fail to give their consumers a unique experience on mobile.

     

    Speaking from a marketer’s point of view, Ajay Kakar, CMO, Financial Services, Aditya Birla Group stated that although the potential for mobile advertising is high, there is still a section of people who have not seen the mobile as an opportunity. He added that mobile industry must follow the ‘Jo dikhta hain, wahi bikhta hain’ policy and evangalise the benefits of mobile advertising. “Content is very important, don’t tells me about your brand, but tell me what’s in it for me? Give me the case study of successful mobile advertising. What I want to know is how much money mobile advertising is making for my brand and for my business? What you must do is to stop saying ‘buy me, buy me’ but, instead tell me ‘why me, why me’?”

     

    With the introduction of 3G and now 4G services, mobile internet is expected to be faster and with high quality content, better mobile applications, much better video and much more. In addition to these, smart phones and tablets are also said to play important roles in the growth of mobile internet in India.

     

    Mahesh Narayanan, Country Head-Mobile, GoogleIndiasaid that there is not only lack of understanding about mobile advertising, but also lack of discussion about mobile as a medium in board room meetings. “The consumer shift is already happening from traditional media to mobile; however, great amount of content for mobile is yet to be created. People are looking for your brand on their mobile phones but, ironically brands are absent on mobile.”

     

    While mobile subscribers will continue to grow and more people will access internet through their mobile phones, the challenge lies in monetizing the medium and to find newer ways to reach out to consumers besides SMS advertising.

     

    Paul Griswold, Director Product Management, Mobile Marketing, Velti was of the view that mobile is not treated as an integrated part of marketing strategy, but is seen as an extension to online. “There has been a failure to take the advantage of the one on one interactivity mobile offers and just sending SMS is definitely not the way.”

     

    The participants outlined not only the problems but also possible solutions. According to Srinivas Mothey, Head Mobile Marketing and Advertising, One97, the first step is to educate advertisers and agencies about the benefits of mobile advertising. Although every advertiser may have a different view about the medium, nevertheless they need to be encouraged to invest in mobile. “We are also encouraging advertisers to create mobile assets and not just mobile apps. We are beginning to see the positive results but, in order to see more results, it may take some more, but the first step needs to be taken.”

     

    Video Marketing:

    Video advertising/ marketing is not a new phenomenon for marketers. Traditionally, marketers are said to be comfortable with video and we have been seeing that on television, and will probably see the same, and in a much bigger way, online and on mobile in the near future.

     

    According to Debadutta Upadhyaya, Vice President, Vdopia Media, there has been over 50 per cent growth in video consumption in the last one year alone, the fourth largest globally. “Unlike other countries,Indiahas made the leap from web to email to social media and now video. There is still a long way to go on the creative aspect because the primary advertising medium of a creative agency has always been television, so creativity in video advertising is bound to take some time.”

     

    As India’s broadband penetration and mobile internet accessibility increases, it would be just a matter of time when video marketing would explode inIndia. Besides online, with 3G and 4G services, video consumption on mobile should be an altogether different experience for users and marketers.

     

    But Shubhranshu Singh, Marketing Director-IndiaandSouth Asia, Visa cautioned: “There is a difference between video on web and video on mobile, and the difference between the two is galloping ahead in terms of content. Perhaps the youngest audience in our country today will watch television online for the first time which could be an opportunity or a threat if we are not ready for it.”

     

    Digital marketing in itself has become 360 degree for marketers. It has gone beyond display and banner advertising, to becoming more interactive and innovative to reach out to consumers. Digital marketing, as the industry players pointed out, is in a transition phase from web, to email and now brands are trying to reach out to their customers through social media, mobile and video.

     

    Marketers must stop considering mobile internet as an extension to online and, therefore, give mobile users unique experience of mobile advertising. Social media must not be seen as a mere marketing but, a medium to interact with their consumers, know their behavior and be a part of their day to day life.

     

    Brands must be receptive to both positive and negative feedback of customers, admit to their mistakes, apologise to the customer and rectify the fault. Digital marketing will undoubtedly grow but, marketers must first be evangalised not only about the benefits of the medium but, also ways and means to leverage it.

    Imaging: Rafiq

     

  • B2B Connect 2012 was the first such attempt by the network as they bought together marketing enthusiasts

    For LinkedIn, it’s abt being relevant & contextual

    By A correspondent

     

    While social media in India is largely about congregating on two of the busiest portals in the space, mostly for the sake of networking and fun, there is another experience – led largely by B2B marketers – that is setting the business community abuzz for a while now.

     

    Having arrived in India only in 2009, LinkedIn has emerged as one of the fastest growing professional networks in India, being valued by its members as professional, trusted, and creating a remarkably different social environment. Having managed to outperform expectations by clocking over 14 millions+ users in a span of just two years and further generating business leads in the range of 149 million, it was an opportune time for the network in India to get together the community responsible for driving such a change.

     

    B2B Connect 2012 was the first such attempt by the network as they bought together marketing enthusiasts – led largely by blue chip clients, evangelists and practitioners to look into the scope that the medium offered for professionals to liaise, interact, get business leads and even look out for talent – new and experienced. Not wanting anyone from the network to miss out on the excitement, the Indian contingent were even successful in getting the otherwise hesitant global CEO Jeff Weiner to be a part of the event as they got him to kick-start the proceedings with a keynote address.

     

    Mr Weiner began by admiring the efforts and innovations bought in by late Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, who he described as a talent to reckon with. “The reason Apple is what it is, because it managed to find the right talent for the right opportunity. Obviously, it helped in having a team that was as instrumental in achieving the desired objective.” Likewise for LinkedIn, the focus was on making sure that the right talent matched with right opportunity in making the association with professionals more productive and successful. Emphasising on the three key attributes that would drive the network in the future, Mr Weiner said that it would be about creating an Identity, Insight and being Everywhere.

     

    Throwing up impressive numbers put up by the three divisions at LinkedIn, Mr Weiner said that Hiring Solutions contributed about $261 million, Marketing Solutions contributed about $156 million while Premium Subscriptions contributed about $106 million to the overall growth. Overall, the network witnessed a growth in excess of 100 per cent YoY.

     

    Dhiman Mukherji

    According to Mr Weiner, India was at top of the the markets that were putting up an exciting show, as it grew by more than 300 per cent in terms of user base. Drawing from what Mr Weiner had expressed at the event regarding India being a force to reckon with, Dhiman Mukherji, Director, Marketing Solutions said that the focus is on how the network is positioning B2B in the forefront of everything it does.

     

    In an interaction with MxM India, he said: “What has really worked is that we have been able to create a B2B marketplace and this event is a celebration of that. In two years’ time we have been able to leverage with some of the leading brands in India and that is what has helped us take our business to new levels. When I joined the company in 2010, we were at 3 million-odd user base and today we are at 14 million users. So it’s all a result of not only good trade marketing that has happened but a lot of PR communication drive that has taken place. The fact that increasingly people are finding value in the LinkedIn proposition is what is making this medium click.”

     

    Having already created a strong user base in the realm of IT, according to Mr Mukherji, the focus, going forward, would be to break into each and every vertical, including energy, construction, real estate, and so on. In fact, they are already seeing some amount of traction in these verticals as well. “Going forward we would be increasing our focus towards financial, travel & tourism, auto, and others,” he said.

     

    Providing an APAC perspective, Olivier Legrand, Senior Director – Marketing Solutions, APAC said that India’s current hold is such that “some of the most sophisticated campaigns that have been running in Asia Pacific have been coming out of India. The Indian market has proven to be successful from the users’ perspective. Even in terms of the marketers, as they are really leveraging what’s really available on the platform. We have been consistently working with marketers on what are they trying to achieve and how we could help them in their journey,” he said.

     

    On how India stacks up to other Asia Pacific countries for LinkedIn, Mr Legrand said, “APAC and India are very critical for us in achieving our objective of connecting professionals. Of the 150 million professionals that we have connected thus far, about 25 million are from APAC. We are anticipating a big part of the growth in users to come from this part of the world. Other markets that have been delivering good growth include Australia, Malaysia, Korea, Japan.” He further stated that the key markets going forward would be Indonesia and Malaysia.

     

    On comparisons being drawn to other popular social media platforms of today, Mr Mukherji said: “The two pillars that separate us from the rest is relevance and context because at LinkedIn, it is all about being relevant and contextual. It’s about a network of people who are bonding to share insights, to get feedback from each other and really benefit from each other. Our solutions are such that they give marketers an ability to position their brand in a way that it turns out to be productive and in a manner which is in context to whatever is happening around them.”

     

    Mr Legrand has another version to offer. For him, it all boils down to the mission set by the network: “To connect the professionals in a way so as to make them productive and successful. So what we bring is focus, what we bring is professional identity online, what we bring is opportunities for users to connect with businesses.”

     

    According to him, other social media firms deliver different values. “For example, if we look at Facebook, it deals with fun, entertainment, pictures, and so on and is an environment that has an interest for certain categories for users but we are a place for professionals and are very attractive for B2B marketers. So that’s how we are positioned and that’s what’s going to be our focus going forward. We are about providing identity, providing insights and being everywhere.”

     

    When asked on the growth put in by the Marketing Solutions division, Mr Mukherji said: “Where Marketing Solutions is concerned, we have grown by leaps and bounds. Not only has the user base grown but the sheer number of marketers who want to experiment with LinkedIn – that in itself is growing. So we have been growing substantially from where we started off in 2010.” Even the Hiring Solutions and Premium subscriptions too, contribute significantly to its business, he revealed.

     

    As for the goalpost of increasing the user base in India by a large sum this year, Mr Mukherji said: “We are not in a hurry to add more users as its basic philosophy is putting the user first. Have we improved the experience for the existing user – that is the core of our philosophy. If I can make his current experience on LinkedIn better by giving him access on the mobile, i-Pad, smartphones and others that’s what we would ideally like to concentrate on. So yes, we are not in a tearing hurry to get in more users; that will come when the experience in itself sees an improvisation over a period of time and when it starts benefiting our online community at large.”

     

    The event saw an impressive line-up of guests present interesting case-studies and examples of leveraging LinkedIn for deriving success for their brands. Dell, Philips, Citi India, Microsoft, HCL Technologies, Siemens were some blue chip clients who came in good numbers to imbibe meaningful solutions from the meet.

     

  • DoT secretary R Chandrashekhar acknowledges the need for the government to have a systematic engagement on social media

    Govt ought to leverage social media for public consultations: DoT secy

    By A Correspondent

     

    The World IT Forum 2012 came to a close on Wednesday after two days of deliberating on the role of ICT in agriculture, education, health and e-governance, within the overall theme of ICT for sustainable human development.

     

    On the second day, during the Plenary Session on ‘Networking – connecting people’, R Chandrashekhar, Secretary, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications and IT acknowledged the need for the government to have a systematic engagement on social media. He said the government has prepared the draft of a Social Media framework.

     

    Underlining the importance of social networking, Mr Chandrashekhar said there are issues and programmes like NREGA, Food Security Bill and e-governance projects where it is imperative for the government to engage the public through consultations. This is where the government can leverage the power of social media.

     

  • Infosys and WPP firm Fabric have unveiled a first-of-its-kind cloud-based platform for simplifying digital marketing

    Infosys & WPP’s Fabric unveil cloud-based platform for digital marketing

    By A Correspondent

     

    Infosys, leading consulting, outsourcing and technology company, and WPP unveiled Infosys Brandedge in partnership with Fabric, a WPP company. This first-of-its-kind comprehensive cloud-based offering simplifies digital marketing by bringing together integrated marketing and technology expertise on a single unified platform. It transforms the full spectrum of digital marketing activities including creation and management of digital properties, data management, coordination with multiple partners, and campaign execution

     

    The platform was launched by S D Shibulal, Chief executive Officer and Managing Director, Infosys and Sir Martin Sorrell, Chief executive Officer, WPP at the newly inaugurated Infosys experience Center in London.

     

    Infosys Brandedge, in partnership with Fabric, a WPP company, is designed to provide a single, flexible solution for large-scale organizations to simplify this complexity, a communique added.

     

  • Appoints Vikas Gulati as Vice President – Business Development for the region

    Vserv.mobi Strengthens South East Asia Focus

    By A Correspondent

     

    Vserv.mobi, a leading global mobile advertising network with a strong focus on emerging markets, on Tuesday announced the appointment of Vikas Gulati as Vice President – Business Development forSouth East Asia. Based inSingapore, Vikas will spearhead the company’s growth in this region.

     

    Vikas Gulati, a media and marketing industry veteran, has had a long and successful career track record of over 14 years. Earlier, Mr Gulati was Vice President – Marketing and Business Development, Asia at Sprice.com, a leading online travel network (now a part of Travelport). He was instrumental in raising Sprice’s revenues and company profile in Asia Pacific through business development, partnerships and marketing programs. He has also held various leadership roles at ZenithOptimedia and CaratIndiaamongst other companies.

     

    Commenting on the new development, Mr. Dippak Khurana, Co-Founder and CEO of Vserv.mobi, said: “Expanding our operations in the burgeoning mobile market ofSouth East Asia is a key phase of our growth strategy. Vikas’ solid experience and customer relationships in this region will help us leverage newer opportunities and strengthen our goal of being the #1 mobile ad network in emerging markets.”

     

    Speaking on his appointment, Vikas Gulati, Vice President – Business Development, Vserv.mobi said: “Over the last two years, Vserv.mobi has grown to be an admirable company in the segment, and I am excited to join them at this opportune time. Given the growth momentum the company is witnessing, I look forward to being part of the success story. With our differentiating proposition in the marketplace, we are attractively poised to capitalise on this growing demand of the mobile medium amongst developers, publishers and advertisers inSouth East Asia.”

     

    Vserv.mobi is a leading global mobile ad network with strong presence in emerging markets. Vserv’s pioneering technology AppWrapperTM powers ad-monetisation for 10000+ Apps. Vserv is the only Ad Network with App media across feature phones, smart phones and tablets, thus providing advertisers reach and engagement.

     

  • CSX is a virtual trading game where users can trade (buy and sell) shares of their favourite cricket players and teams

    Hungama’s Cricket Stock Exchange in 2nd season

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hungama Game Studio has announced the second season of its awardwinning Cricket Stock Exchange (CSX).  Sponsored by Maruti Suzuki, CSX currently boasts over 150,000 registered users and attempts to be to cricket fans just what the stock exchange is to investors.

    A virtual trading game where users can trade (buy and sell) shares of their favourite cricket players and teams, CSX bagged the best online game award at WAT awards and the Indian Digital Media Awards. Considering the millions of hungry cricket fans in the nation, the inspiration behind CSX (Cricket Stock Exchange) was to offer consumers a format to experience and enjoy cricket in a new avatar. The concept behind the game is of buying and selling virtual shares of players and teams. The shares fluctuate depending on the real life performance of the players on field and also on expert articles written and published by Cricketwallah and Hungama’s proprietary algorithm. CSX was conceptualised with leading cricket journalist Ayaz Memon (who writes as Cricketwallah) and includes the International Cricket World Cup, IPL teams and Champions League T20.

     

    Commenting on the success of the game, Shashank Srivastava, Chief General Manager – Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India, said: “Maruti Suzuki India has been associated with CSX for two seasons. This game is unique as it combines all elements of cricket (scores, predictions, expert analysis and the game itself) and allows us to associate with a product that has good engagement levels with our consumers. The association with Ayaz Memon lends huge credibility to the property. Maruti Suzuki CSX has also won 2 digital awards for best gaming product. In the last season of Maruti Suzuki CSX, starting May 3 to July 10 2011, we saw phenomenal traction and engagement levels with 1.44 lakh registered users and 7.76 lakh unique visitors.”

     

    Said Ayaz Memon: “I am delighted to learn that participation in CSX has grown exponentially in the past two years. With new and improved features, it has become not only more fun but also more challenging. While the premise of the game is basic, it still needs a good understanding of the current form of players and also cricket logic.”

     

    In the current season of CSX, the gameoffers new features like casual games, introduction of mini applications, Predictor and Forecaster to increase interactions while matches are in progress and an independent market place to maximize trading across the site. It also offers its registered users a chance to participate in contests, leader boards, cricketing statistics provided by  leading statistician Mohandas Menon.

  • The MxM Quarterly Review of Must-Have Apps for Media Professionals… our selection of apps that you can't not be armed with!

    It’s an appsolutely ‘appy world!

     

    By Insiyah Rangwala

     

    With the smartphone getting near-ubiquitous, there are several thousands of apps floating around. But along with some splendid ones out there, there are also several which are, well, no great shakes.

     

    We bring you this report, after several hours spent on using them, surveying power users and then doing this final shortlist of 15 apps that should make you appy!

     

    ZITE:

    Zite is a personalized magazine which automatically learns what you like and gets smarter the more you use it. It gives you everything from articles, videos and blogs and helps you discover a whole variety of things that line up with you interests. It’s a smart magazine for your smart phone. It changes the way you discover and enjoy new content. It’s a free App

     

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    SEESMIC:

    Seesmic lets you manage multiple social network accounts. It lets you organize your search lists and trends the way you want to on a customizable dashboard. It helps you to share photos on all platforms as well as save links for reading later. All this in just one free App.

     

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    1PASSWORD:

    1password is an identity manager. It securely stores all your important information and can automatically log you into multiple ID’s. With 1password you don’t need to remember the several different usernames and password or even website address. It even saves credit card or membership information. You can jot down private notes as well. It has a two layer defense system with an unlock code and a master password. It can also be used to back up all your data. It’s a paid App.

     

    On Android

    On iOs

     

     

    DROPBOX:

    Dropbox helps you get to everything that is most important to you when you are on the go. You can access all your documents, photos and videos that are on your computer or on your phone. Data uploaded on Dropbox can also be accessed on your computer and you can share directly via text or email from Dropbox which has a very easy to use and understand interface. It’s a free App

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    EVERNOTE:

    Evernote helps you save ideas, thoughts, things you see or like immediately and with ease. There are times when we have an idea of which we don’t make a note and then forget. All our small thoughts brought together can help us make huge changes in our professional as well as personal life. Now with Evernote You can find them on any device that you use. This free App helps you stay organized and also improves your productivity.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    MUMBAI LOCAL:

    Mumbai is the hub for business professionals, even those who don’t work out of Mumbai. But Mumbai roads are a traveler’s worst nightmare making Railways the fastest mode of transport. Mumbai Local is an easy and free app which gives you concise details on train timings, fares, routes and anything else you need to know, making it very simple to travel in Mumbai locals.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    CONVERTER PLUS:

    Converter plus is a unit converter with an extensive list covering 167 world currencies which are refreshed every 6 hours to keep you up-to-date. Staying globally informed has become a part of the job and now this easy and free App makes your job easier. It also coverts areas, weight, energy, force, length, mass power, pressure, speed, temperature and volume.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    CRICKBUZZ:

    Everybody in India loves cricket and it is almost considered a religion by most. Crickbuzz is a free and easy to use app which keeps you up-to-date with real time score updates and ball to ball commentary. With our heavy packed schedules, we cannot always ensure that we can go and watch a match live or on TV but this App ensures that you know all the action happening on the field.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    GATEGURU:

    If you hate getting to the airport on time and then wasting that precious time when your flight gets delayed, Gateguru is a real time updated and free App which helps you know your flight status, the real-time airport security, wait lines and also helps you carry out a quick search for the amenities at your disposal at whichever airport you might be.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

     

    GOOGLE SEARCH:

    With Google search you can avoid going through the browser on your phone to access all that you want. This free App also retains your previous searches and highlights what you might want to find on your web page.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

     

    STUMBLE UPON:

    The Web has opened up a whole new area to gain information. We don’t always find the time to make the most use of it and gain new information the way we would like to. Stumble upon is a free App which helps you discover new and interesting things across the web and easily share them. Start exploring today.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

    TRIPIT:

    Isn’t it a hassle managing your travels when you not only have to worry about the meeting that you need to go to, but you also have to take care of your travel details. Tripit takes all your trip details and automatically creates a helpful itinerary which can be accessed whenever you need it. This free App also helps you share your travels plans with family and colleagues.

    On Android

    On iOs

     

     

    WEAVE

    Weave helps you organize, track and manage your expenses for your business, hobbies and anything else. It helps you organize your projects, based on what is important. This free App also helps you track and share projects  and the order of their importance. It records what you spend in any currency you choose. It also helps you coordinate these expenses with people you work with.

    On iOs

     

    BUSINESS-CARD-MANAGER:

    After every event and every meeting there is always a pile of new business cards. Business –card-manager, a paid App, helps you click a picture on your phone camera, scans it and saves all the information on your phone directly. So you can avoid the hassle of sorting through each card manually and feeding in the details.

    On iOs

     

     

    MUMBO MESSENGER:

    Mumbo Messenger is a fun and free App for sharing what you really think. You won’t get hit with SMS charges while sharing and commenting with this app. Setup groups for your family, neighbors, co-workers, classmates. Post interesting content from Mumbo to your existing social networks.

    On Android

    On iOs