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  • AliveNow will carry out digital marketing activities for Forum Mall, Koromangala and Forum Value Mall, Whitefield

    Forum malls appoints AliveNow for social media

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Forum Mall, one ofBangalore’s first full-fledged malls, has appointed AliveNow as its social media partner. AliveNow will carry out digital marketing activities for Forum Mall, Koromangala and Forum Value Mall, Whitefield.

     

    Rama Raju, GM – Mall Operations said: “Forum Mall, being one of the pioneers of the mall culture inBangalore, is gearing up to elevate the brand proposition to the next level. Understanding the demographics of our TG who are significantly prevalent on social media platforms, we are pursuing to establish a better user interface to engage them further. We aim to create such an experience wherein our customers, even while being seated within the comfort of their homes, can still interact with us. Our goal is to enable our customers to carry the experience of visiting our mall out of the premises and beyond, thus creating effective brand recall.”

     

    AliveNow CEO, Adhvith Dhuddu added: “We are very excited to partner with Forum Mall and the Prestige Group to promote this iconic mall on social media. Malls could benefit from these social media tools and push the brand towards better visibility, and we plan to execute some very innovative and interesting campaigns for Forum Mall on Facebook and other social platforms.”

     

  • The jury at Cannes is a mature set of people, so one cannot pass off mediocre work and fool the judges

    Road to CL2013: The way to win at Cannes is by not aiming for a metal

    The Cannes metal wins for India has been disappointing. There could be various reasons for it and the metal tally definitely doesn’t point that the work coming out of India is of inferior category. However, it does point that there is something more required from India n agencies to gain attention of the international jury. Who better that people on the Cannes jury this year to show us some light on where the agencies could improve and what really went behind the judging. We spoke to a few on the jury this year to understand where India went wrong and what can be done to reclaim some of the lost ground this year.

     

    Rahul Jauhari, National Creative Director, Everest Brand Solutions

    Rahul Jauhari

    I don’t think you can aim at Cannes by doing something that can win at Cannes . Most winning entries at Cannes are brilliant solutions to one business issue or another. “Let’s do something like that one” ­ is not going to get you anywhere. The point is to solve the business issue facing your brand with a wonderful idea and execution. If it is that wonderful, it will win.

     

    And yes, the glorious part is in doing it in a way that is relevant to the India n audience. The jury are not fools. They can see through scams, in most cases. They ask relevant questions and give a lot of importance to the logic of the communication. They reward ingenuity, but not at the cost of authenticity.Brazilwins a lot of awards at Cannes . But their work is unmistakably Brazilian. The same goes for other countries. So, the language of your entry is not a minus point, as long as you send in a good explanation.

     

    The jury at Cannes is now well represented by different countries. And that shows in the selection of work. “Let’s do something that integrates social media” is not the answer either. More Facebook likes is not equal to higher chances at a Cannes metal. If the idea is loved, people will spread it on social media. A print ad can lead to online furore or fan-following. The same goes for a TV ad or a radio spot. The consumer builds in social media integration without asking you. So there.

     

    Simply put, the way to win at Cannes is not by aiming for a metal at Cannes . Aim for a brilliant solution or idea. Execute it brilliantly. Even the simplest of ideas can win. There is that little bit about the packaging, though. When a jury member has to sift through a thousand plus entries, he or she will not suffer a poorly packaged entry. Keep it simple, keep it to the point. Sure make it enjoyable. But remember, the jury wants to know how you did it, why you did it and what it achieved. Inform them, but don’t bore them to death. And don’t try to con them. Most are highly experienced and can tell a fake from a real. Instantly.

     

    Sunil Gautam, Founder, HanmerMSL

    This is the fourth year for Cannes PR Lions which saw 1,130 entries from 61 countries, the highest number of entries received by Cannes Lions in this category ever. 134 entries were short listed. India had 19 entries, 1 was short-listed.

     

    The composition of jury was very good and it represented the cross-section from the world over. There was a lot of interaction and discussion before finalising the winners. According to me, it was very professional judging and the experience was awesome.

     

    India had 19 entries in this category, and many of them came up for lively discussion. Of these, one entry was short listed. Unfortunately, this entry didn’t get any metal. But the overall effort by the India n agencies was excellent. All the campaigns that were reviewed were very imaginative, with good strategy, execution and measurable impact and results.

     

    My advice to the India n public relations industry is to focus on innovative strategies, immaculate execution and measurable results in such a way that the campaigns that they implement for a client are a huge success. And not to plan campaigns from the short sighted of just winning awards. Good campaigns are appreciated everywhere and they may end up with the awards. The client comes first and they will get awarded if they deserve.

     

    Vikram S Gaikwad, Partner & Executive Creative Director, Creativeland Asia

    Vikram S Gaikwad

    I think there are three simple yet significant aspects to any entry. The idea, its execution and the category in which it is entered. A brilliant idea can miss out simply because it is not entered in the right category.

    With the number of entries running in thousands even in each category, each panel has a unique criteria while judging entries. So, the chances are that a great entry submitted in a wrong category might fail to even get a shortlist.

    Also, we should look at the new categories introduced at Cannes every year.I was disappointed to see little or no work in categories like Mobile, PR and Brand Entertainment & Content categories. With the size of the Indian
    market, number of brands, consumption etc, we are very much capable of capitalising on various opportunities and entering more quality work in the future.

    This year the number of metals that India won has gone significantly low. This definitely is disappointing. So, I am hoping we will make up for it
    next year.

  • The primary role of marketing is to drive sales and bring in revenues, writes Lloyd Mathias, as he lists the six vital lessons marketers learn on the job

    The Anchor: Lloyd Mathias on the 6 things every marketer learns on the job

    By Lloyd Mathias

     

    1. No matter how good your campaign is, it won’t work till you have your team fully aligned with it. So, as much as you spend time on zeroing on the consumer insight, researching the proposition, fine tuning the communication – it is important to “sell” the campaign to your internal constituents.  Hence the need for internal communication – point-of-sale material for trade, detailers for the sales force.  It is also critical to align campaign breaks with availability of field materials and widespread distribution.  The best campaigns don’t succeed without product in the shelves.

     

    2. The past is no guarantee to the future. Most marketers believe if it’s worked well in the past, it will work again. The fact is consumer tastes change over time. Even more importantly, the market dynamics change. Also, most consumers need fresh stimulation.

     

    3. Treat your agency as an integral part of your marketing team.  It is amazing how many marketers have near adversarial relationships with their agencies (creative, media, digital PR).  Your agency is the co-custodian of your brand – the more they know about your business and the issues facing it – the richer will be their input. Treat them as co-owners. Give them the freedom to do the occasional over the tip creative.  Long term they won’t let you down.

     

    4. Marketers tire of their campaigns much faster than consumer do. Remember most consumers see a whole lot less of your brand than you do.  Refresh if you need to, don’t revamp.

     

    5. Meet real consumers as often as you can. An hour with consumers is worth many hours of pouring over research data. Consumers today – more than ever – have a strong point of view and want to be heard. Some of the finest ideas come from immersing with your consumers. And remember – don’t confuse your sales force or trade partners with REAL consumers. No, not even analyzing the brands’ Facebook page responses or looking up the Twitter handle can beat real consumer face time!

     

    6. Always keep the larger business objective in mind. Remember the primary role of marketing is to drive sales & bring in revenues. Everything else comes next. So try not to be overly protective about the marketing budget – especially if the business needs cuts.  In the long run if business wins – marketing wins.

     

    Lloyd Mathias is Director, GreenBean Ventures. He was President & CMO, Tata Teleservices until late last year and was Sales & Marketing Director of Motorola India prior to that.

     

  • Too harsh a question? India's dismal showing in Cyber & Mobile at Cannes Lions 2012 pushed us to discuss it with industry leaders

    Are we Duhs in Digital Media?

     

    By Tuhina Anand and Shruti Pushkarna

     

    India has once again drawn a blank in the Cyber Lions category at Cannes 2012. From the 27 entries from India in this category, none made it to the shortlist. Considering that digital is the talk at all industry forum and the future, or is it actually the present, of advertising, its dismal performance at Cannes makes one realize that India is still miles behind on this medium.

     

    Nagesh Alai

    Nagesh Alai, Executive Director – India Operations at DraftFCB Group, pointed out: “It is not surprising not seeing a shortlist in the Cyber Lions from our shores. Most in our industry continue to see and use Digital as a ‘medium of messaging’ instead of seeing and using Digital as a ‘medium to engage with and start a conversation about the brand’. It is a classic case of getting stuck in hoary mindsets of a 30-second TV commercial. The day our digital specialists get out of this mindset, I reckon one will see a sea change in the digital executions and becoming award worthy. I am sure we will see that happen in the not too distant a future.”

     

    Talking about the digital in India, Carlton D’Silva, Chief Creative Officer, Hungama Digital Services Pvt. Ltd, said: “As I have mentioned in the past, the standard of good digital work in India to compete at the Cannes can only be made possible if the playing fields are even.”

     

    He listed the factors that go against good digital creative work, which remain remains the same – the inability to acquire the requisite budget for a digital campaign, the lack of time and the lack of risk taking (both from the client as well as agency side) the digital medium is still used more for its effectiveness than creativity.

     

    A senior mobility and digital media executive with a leading media agency felt that India’s performance in Cannes Digital categories should at least have some positive side-effects. “Why this happened? If I have to sum up in short, it is because of lack of respect for the Digital medium, which comes from ignorance about the medium and its possibilities; lack of budgets, which comes from lack of respect for the medium; lack of creative talent, which stems from lack of budgets,” she added.

     

    The executive explained that there is a need for a reality check on how evolved the consumers, marketers and agencies are, as compared to Cannes shortlisted entries or winners. “Look at the short-listed entries for Cyber Lions, they come from countries which have more than 75% internet penetration, while we are celebrating our 10% mark. Of course, one can argue that the population of these countries is lesser than some of our states but one also needs to understand that their consumers are also much more evolved. Again, take a look at the Mobile Lions winners, what do you see? Smart phones and Tablets! In our country Voice is the most penetrated medium on Mobile and we have 21 million smartphones in a mobile subscriber base of 900 million plus. If rich media creatives are the tickets to Lions, I would rather design mobile campaigns that work in Indian eco-system and bring value to advertisers in terms of media effectiveness,” she said.

     

    Vikas Tandon

    Giving his take on India’s performance in this category, Vikas Tandon, Founder and Managing Director, Indigo Consulting said: “To start with, I think we should recognise that Cannes is as big as it gets, the competition is really tough with hundreds of entries from all over the world, so there is no shame in not winning. We must keep learning from the experiences and pegging away at it. Let’s not write off the Indian team because we lost one tournament. But, definitely it must serve as a reminder that we need to commit ourselves a lot more to Digital than we are now. Among Indian marketers, it is still not as important/critical a piece in the marketing game plan as it is in many other countries and hence, while it seems to get some attention, it just does not get the time or budgets. One of the most frustrating challenges that digital agency invariably have to encounter in India is lack of execution time. Once you have an idea/construct, and even detailing it takes time. Execution is, of course, equally critical for success, and the time constraints often do not allow an idea to reach its full potential.

     

    So one thing has clearly come out from this, is that for Indian marketers, digital is an after-thought and not still a critical medium.

     

    Naresh Gupta

    Naresh Gupta, Managing Partner, Bang in the Middle when asked on what ails Indian digital advertising said that he would rather look from the perspective of why the Indian digital advertising is not growing up. Giving his take, he pointed out four aspects: “The digital advertising in India is stuck in a time wrap. The traditional method of advertising is about creating awareness, to generate Interest that creates desires that leads to action. More often than not, digital campaigns are built around the same parameter. Digital behaviour is really about search and share, and that is a paradigm that marketers haven’t been able to factor in. This is part of the reason why campaigns neither aid search, nor motivate share.”

     

    Mr Gupta also mentioned that Digital engagement has been reduced to a Facebook page and a Twitter handle: “I am not saying they are not important, they are, but they are just the tools. For a lot of brands getting the followers or number of likes becomes the strategy. Now that’s not really smart. The brands have to have a strategy for social media.”

     

    His third points is that the TV-led thinking for brands where an idea is crafted for TV and then adapted to digital is actually the biggest problem. Consider this, all marketing theories were written before the advent of Internet. The need to position, the need to leverage a singular attribute and build on one are all fine with TV-centric thinking, but not so for ‘word of mouse’-centric thinking. The digital medium has its own dynamics and needs a different take. The strategic thinking that leads to ATL idea needs to be interpreted keeping digital dynamics in mind.

     

    And lastly: “Most importantly, the brand owners need to recognize the importance of digital and craft the entire strategy accordingly. The brand owners too fret to get their TV brief right, but rarely debate to get their digital idea right.”

     

  • Some have paid a huge price for being Twitter-happy. Relationships have broken down. Posts have been used as evidence in courts. People have lost their jobs

    Anil Thakraney: The ten commandments of social behaviour

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    Tweeters and Facebookers often get into strife, and find themselves with their feet stuck firmly in their mouths. Some have paid a huge price for being Twitter-happy. Relationships have broken down. Posts have been used as evidence in courts. People have lost their jobs. A few like Lalit Modi have turned into fugitives.

     

    Here are my commandments for social media usage. Strictly obey them so that you can have fun, make new pals and remain trouble free.

    1. Thou shall think before posting. The problem with social media is that there’s no editor whetting your content, you are on your own. Instant accessibility and the urge to be the ‘first out there’ is too strong to curb. And this can lead to trouble. I suggest you delay your post/tweet by at least 10 minutes. That will give you a little margin of safety. Mama said ‘look before you leap’. In today’s context that reads ‘look before you tweet’.

     

    2. Thou shall try to familiarize yourself with the basic laws of the land. Social media is a public platform, it’s not your private spittoon. No defaming people, no communal slurs, no porn stuff and definitely no negative comments on Mamata Didi.

     

    3. Thou shall NOT post pictures of you partying wildly with buddies from the opposite sex (or the same sex if you are gay). This can and will be used against you at an appropriate time.

     

    4. Thou shall not befriend colleagues from your organization on Facebook. Some of them will use your posts at the opportune time to stab you in the back.

     

    5. Thou shall not post boring tweets. If you aren’t born witty, steal someone else’s updates. Or quote Abraham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi or Mother Teresa or Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Always works.

     

    6. Thou shall not beg movie stars to retweet your garbage. That’s like admitting to lakhs of people what a dull and desperate moron you are.

     

    7. Thou shall not post cho-chweet utterances and playful deeds of your little kids. Remember, just as in real life, only you find your bachchas cute. Deal with it.

     

    8. Thou shall promote your work. But only once a month. If you do it every hour, you will find yourself sad and lonely in the virtual world. Unless you look like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie.

     

    9. Thou shall not post holiday albums. No one wants to spend time watching 1000 pictures of you and your family posing near a little waterfall at Khandala. Unless you are wearing really skimpy clothes, of course.

     

    10. Thou shall not troll anyone on Twitter. It’s the most offensive form of social behavior. (PS: An exception can be made for Mr Chetan Bhagat. Go after him!)

     

  • The survey was conducted to gauge the growing popularity of the social networking sites and its impact on the matrimonial sector

    Singles spend more time on matrimonial than social networking sites: Shaadi.com survey

    By A Correspondent

     

    In a survey conducted by the matrimonial portal, Shaadi.com, it has been found that 63 per cent singles searching for a match tend to spend more time on matrimonial sites than the social networking sites.

     

    The survey was conducted to gauge the growing popularity of the social networking sites and its impact on the matrimonial sector. The findings of the survey clearly showcase that even though the social networking sites are gaining momentum, when it comes to partner search matrimonial sites are considered reliable and trustworthy by singles and hence they tend to visit these sites more often through the day.

     

    The survey also highlights the importance singles give to the social networking sites during partner search. The survey findings reveal that 31 per cent singles agreed to be searching for the profile of their potential partner immediately after they receive Expression of Interest (EOI). While, 27 per cent have denied checking the potential/ short listed partner’s profile till they finalizes someone. 25 per cent singles add each other on social networking sites post their chat on the Shaadi.com instant Messenger and the rest 17 per cent do so after their first meeting.

     

    This trend of visiting the potential partner’s profile on social networking sites like Facebook is mostly noticed amongst the male respondents (74 per cent) as opposed to women respondents (63 per cent). Women respondents have said that they mostly feel the social networking sites are meant for their friends and hence they refrain from adding potential partners to their social network.

     

    Commenting on the survey results, Gourav Rakshit, Business Head, Shaadi.com, said: “The survey findings clearly confirms the fact that people consider matrimonial sites like Shaadi.com more reliable while searching for a partner outside their social circle and hence singles log in more often to these sites as compared to social networking sites which are meant mainly to be in contact with their social circle. These sites are also meant for individuals who can connect with others from a relevant community or having common interests. Members who initially meet through Shaadi.com tend to check potential partners profile on social networking sites to know the common interests, friends, hobbies they might have but certainly do not look for a match through these sites.”

     

  • The collaboration between Project Nanhi Kali & StrawberryFrog has witnessed the design and launch of some unique and successful digital campaigns like the 'A Girl Story', 'Girl Store' and the more recent 'Girl Epidemic'

    Nanhi Kali: Story of the triumph of communication

    By Tuhina Anand

     

    Project Nanhi Kali along with StrawberryFrog has set a fine example of what an evocative communication can do for a cause. When KC Mahindra Education Trust, a registered public charitable trust in India and Mahindra Foundation USA, both not-for-profit arms of the Mahindra Group commissioned StrawberryFrog NYC (known for being the world’s first cultural movement agency), it had an inkling of the path ahead. The task for the agency was to help create awareness and support for its Project Nanhi Kali globally, especially through digital and new media campaigns.

     

    For decades, Project Nanhi Kali relied on paid advertising to generate awareness and support. Seeing the immense potential of the world wide web and the recent social media boom, the management decided to focus all its resources towards the cause and completely reinvent its marketing strategy to harness the potential of the digital media and online space.

     

    The collaboration between Project Nanhi Kali & StrawberryFrog has witnessed the design and launch of some unique and successful digital campaigns like the ‘A Girl Story’ (http://www.agirlstory.org/), ‘Girl Store’ (http://www.the-girl-store.org/) and the more recent ‘Girl Epidemic’ (http://thegirlepidemic.com/).

     

    Through these innovative campaigns Nanhi Kali has not only been able to successfully create mass awareness globally and raise sponsorships amounting to $44,218 for the project as well as drive traffic to the official Nanhi Kali website and generate a buzz on online communities such as Facebook and Twitter.

     

    The StrawberryFrog-Project Nanhi Kali collaboration has witnessed the launch of some innovative and hard-hitting campaigns that have created a buzz online. StrawberryFrog has purposefully designed these campaigns to be provocative to create an initial shock and awe response to the campaigns, and thereby create awareness and break through the wall of indifference.

     

    The websites individually and collectively not only put the issue of uneducated girls being most vulnerable to exploitation upfront, but also provides the viewer with a solution to join the fight against it by sponsoring the education of young girls. The idea is to bring about a shift in the “culture of silence” in our societies and bring critical issues to the forefront and seek global support to bring about effective change.

     

    Sheetal Mehta, Executive Director Project Nanhi Kali, on the Girl Epidemic (the recently launched campaign) said: “The Girl Epidemic must be seen and shared, there’s never been anything like it.”

     

    She added, “The work for Nanhi Kali could convert those who think that creativity in advertising is on the wane. The sheer volume of first-rate award winning work being produced is impressive. From the simple brilliance of “A Girl Story” which is the world’s first donation-based online film series to another standout – The Girl Store an opportunity to bring e-commerce and creativity together in an innovative campaign and where you can buy a girl her life back before someone else takes it.

     

    The creative excellence, strategic smarts and work ethic of StrawberryFrog working on Nanhi Kali has helped spark something special for brand Nanhi Kali. Further, StrawberryFrog has always understood that a nonprofit has limited resources, and therefore the message being sent needs to be strong and powerful enough to start a movement. The momentum, being slowly built over the past four years, has created a body of work that is outstanding. We are seeing Nanhi Kali at its best.”

     

    Scott Goodson, Chairman of StrawberryFrog said: “Our goal with this work is to generate more money to educate girl children through Project Nanhi Kali. Period! And we wanted to do this with the greatest weapon we have at our disposal: creativity and innovation.”

     

    Here’s a look at what StrawberryFrog has created for Nanhi Kali Project

     

    The Girl Epidemic

    StrawberryFrog & Nanhi Kali recently launched the Girl Epidemic. It shows how girls in some parts of the world are treated as an infectious disease. It highlights the centuries-old absurdity that would value the life and potential of a young girl less than a boy, the result of which is the disappearance of girls, the selling of young girls as young as 8-years-old into sex slavery or marriage. The extremely powerful campaign brings home the message that this is wrong, that it must stop, and that education is the cure. In fact, it is the cure to solving the most important challenge we face as human beings. If you educate a girl, you educate a family, and as a result you reduce overpopulation, environmental impact, hunger, disease and a host of other world problems. The Girl Epidemic shows how educating a girl can save the world.

     

    The multiplatform Girl Epidemic campaign features an innovative e-commerce site. The main spark to ignite the Girl Epidemic is a major film production for YouTube and the Girl Epidemic ecommerce site where you can make donations. It is a unique trailer-style film that dramatizes an already disturbing societal norm. Young girls are often sold into sex slavery, child labor, and are frequently killed at birth because they are not of the desirable sex: male.

     

    The cure for The Girl Epidemic is education. Donating to www.TheGirlEpidemic.org can help change deep-seated social norms by allowing girls to receive an education, therefore transforming young girls to become valuable members of society – making them indispensable.

     

    The Girl Store

    In 2010 KCMET & StrawberryFrog together launched www.the-girl-store.org. ‘The Girl Store’ is an innovative website which allows the viewer to sponsor the supplies that allow an underprivileged girl in India to go to school and get an education. The Girl Store operates like an e-commerce site. The site asks visitors to a buy a girl her life back by donating school materials to underprivileged girls in India. Visitors can buy specific items, such as a backpack, workbooks, or school shoes for a girl pictured on the site.

     

    The core idea reiterated throughout the site is that the life of an underprivileged girl is not a condemned fait accompli. It is up to the viewers to change her destiny by ‘buying’ her life back – empowering her through education.  Funds raised through the site are used to provide holistic educational support (not only academic support through classes, but also material support in the form of a comprehensive material kit) to underprivileged girls in India. This website has raised $40,000 through online donations on the store, from 1115 donors globally till date providing educational support to 500 underprivileged girls in India.

     

    The site has received over 3 million hits till date, raising enough funds to send hundreds of girls to school, and has also received global media coverage. The ‘Girl Store’ has earned critical acclaim to its credit, including the ‘Bronze Pencil’ at the prestigious One Club Annual at One Show Awards held in New Yorkin 2011. It also received a ‘Bronze Cyber Lion’ at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival 2011.

     

    A Girl Story

    Launched in 2010, A Girl Story is a unique, donation-based film series that combines technology, film, and storytelling to shed light on the global challenge of educating young girls. The animated, emotional story follows the path of a young Indian girl named Tarla who wants to go to school to better her life. Whether she succeeds, however, is completely up to you, because Tarla’s story progresses only by audience donations that unlock new chapters within the film series. This website raised approximately $4,000 from 182 donors globally.

     

  • Komli's CEO Prashant Mehta declined to disclose the valuation of the Mumbai-based company in a deal which takes the total private equity capital raised by it to $62 million

    Online ad platform Komli Media raises $39 million

    By Radhika P Nair

     

    Komli Media, India’s biggest online media technology platform for advertising, has raised $39 million, or Rs214 crore, in the biggest round of fundraising by an internet company in the country this year.

     

    Norwest Venture Partners led the latest round with participation from existing investors- Nexus Venture Partners, Helion Venture Partners and Draper Fisher Jurvetson- along with one new investor, Western Technology Investment.

     

    Komli’s CEO Prashant Mehta declined to disclose the valuation of the Mumbai-based company in a deal which takes the total private equity capital raised by it to $62 million. Industry experts said that internet companies in India are typically valued at up to five times their revenue. Komli, which is targetting revenue of $100 million in 2013, can therefore be inferred to have a value of up to $500 million.

     

    “Considering that advertising spends are the first to get affected in a downturn, this investment has greater significance than just the amount invested,” said Mayank Rastogi, a partner who specialises in private equity at consultancy Ernst & Young.

     

    The month of May saw the lowest amount of private equity investment in the past year, with just $385 million in funding for 32 deals. In contrast, in May 2011, there were 44 deals, in which close to $1.3 billion was invested. Mr Mehta, whose company counts Facebook as an exclusive partner in India and expects a Nasdaq listing within 18 months, was of the opinion that even though the overall environment is gloomy, it is not so for the digital media industry.

     

    “We are at a tipping point. Komli thinks the digital medium is far more accountable and provides greater return on investment,” he said The online advertising market in India is estimated to be worth Rs1,850 crore, which is just 7 per cent of the overall advertising pie, according to an Avendus Report. However, the sector is expected to grow rapidly to Rs7,000 crore by 2015. Google and Facebook collectively account for about 29 per cent of direct advertising spends.”

     

    Founded in 2006 by Amar Goel, who is also the chairman, Komli has been aggressively buying companies overseas to speed up growth. In February, it made its sixth acquisition in two years, buying Singapore-based online advertising network Admax.

     

    Last year, Komli took over the India business of video advertising venture Jivox and in July 2011, it acquired mobile advertising and publishing network Zestadz. The Zestadz acquisition marked Komli’s entry into the fast-growing mobile advertising segment.

     

    “It is in the mobile advertising space that Komli competes directly with Google’s AdMob, which is the market leader globally and in India, and with InMobi,” said Srinivas Chari, cofounder and chief marketing officer of Xerago, a digital and interactive marketing company.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • These mechanisms wouldn't be introducing young children to Facebook for the first time, but rather would give them a way to be there officially By A Correspondent

    Facebook tests tech to link pages of under-13s with parents’ accounts

    If Facebook wants to open its doors to kids under 13 – as well as acknowledge the millions that are already there – it’s going to need to tread cautiously.

     

    The social network is testing technologies that would link children’s pages to those of their parents and enable parents to approve friend requests and access to applications, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

     

    These mechanisms wouldn’t be introducing young children to Facebook for the first time, but rather would give them a way to be there officially.

     

    While the fact that young children are using Facebook is about as secret as the gambling at Rick’s in “Casablanca,” the notion of shepherding more kids onto the platform is bound to be controversial for reasons ranging from cyber-bullying to the unseemliness of potentially feeding their data into the engine that drives Facebook’s advertising business.

     

    The report has already triggered a reaction from regulatory powers, with US Reps Ed Markey and Joe Barton, co-chairmen of the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus, writing to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg: “While Facebook provides important communication and entertainment opportunities, we strongly believe that children and their personal information should not be viewed as a source of revenue.”

     

    There’s evidence to suggest that millions of parents would welcome the opportunity to give their children access to Facebook, with a Microsoft Research-backed study showing that 36 per cent of parents surveyed had knowledge of their children joining Facebook before they turned 13. But even though millions of children are already illicitly using the platform, Facebook could be more exposed legally if it opts to bring them out into the open, since the current setup allows for the company to maintain that the site is not designed for children under 13, according to Linda Goldstein, chair of the advertising, marketing and media division at law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

     

    “I think they’re going to be buying a lot of additional regulatory headaches,” Ms Goldstein said. “The value of the data and the ability to eventually capture this data at such an early age is interesting, but they’re going to have to weigh that against consumer perceptions.” In order to move forward with any plan to open up the platform to children under 13, Facebook will need to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which states that sites collecting data from children under 13 must obtain parental consent.

     

    Source: The Economic Times
    Copyright © 2012, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

     

  • By Invitation: Mahesh Murthy on the Pinstorm list of the most influential Indian individuals and brands in the social media

    India’s Most Influential

     

    If you’ve been in the Indian media and are active on social networks, you just can’t ignore Mahesh Murthy (~5500 Facebook followers, ~18500 Twitter followers, 11600+ Linked-in connections!). On Saturday, he tweeted about the new Influencers rankings that his company Pinstorm produces, and the last time he did that, we noticed it was pretty well-received. However, we thought it would be a good idea to wait a bit and let the system get more robust. So when chanced upon his tweet on the Influencers 2.0, we checked out the list and invited him to write this piece for MxMIndia readers. And slipped in a request to send it the next day. That would be an impossible suggestion for most people, but we knew that Mr Murthy can will deliver. The Pinstorm founder and Seedfund managing partner is online nearly 24×7. Plus he understands the needs of our site and the profile of our readers: he has had first-hand experience of working with brands – now at Pinstorm and earlier with Ogilvy, Grey etc in advertising. He headed Channel [V] for a bit in the mid-1990s and a slew of media/onlne properties his companies PassionFund and now Seedfund have backed, including afaqs.com. – Ed

     

    By Mahesh Murthy

     

    Imagine you were a brand that bought a spot on Satyamev Jayate, or on one of the many IPL matches that we just got done with. Depending on the deal you struck, your placement must have cost you between Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for every 10 seconds of airtime. Not counting the Rs 1 crore or so it must have cost you to produce the ad and pay the agency.

     

    Now both these programs got TRPs of around 3. That means around 3 per cent of India’s 121 million cable and satellite homes had tuned in. That’s 3.6 million households.

     

    Now imagine you were interested in the youth audience – and let’s keep it broad – say anywhere between 14 and 30 years of age. That would be about 1 such person per household – or 3.6 million people. And now let’s imagine you were interested in SEC A/B and not so much in C/D/E. So you have to cut that 3.6 million youth down to around 1 million at the most, that is if you’re feeling generous

     

    So it cost you around 500,000 or more rupees to reach 10,00,000 upscale youth once, for 10 seconds. On the programmes with the greatest reach in India. Most other TV programmes will have a fraction of this reach – where you’d be lucky to get 100,000 upscale youth watching your ad.

     

    Youth online

    Now let’s turn our attention to an entirely different medium. Let’s say that for some reason, Farhan Akhtar mentions your brand on a tweet. Or on his Facebook fan page. Or on a blog. Guess what your direct reach would be? About 10,00,000 people – mostly all upscale youth. Now let’s say just 1 per cent  of those re-tweet it. That’s 10,000 people. And if each of those re-tweeters has an average of around 150 followers, it’s now gone out to another 15,00,000 people. Even adjusting for duplication, that’s a total reach of 20,00,000 or more people. That’s more youth than the biggest TV shows in India can get you to.

     

    Now imagine that all of it is for free. Or, at best, for a teeny-tiny budget.

     

    And now imagine other people also talk of you online.

     

    Shashi Tharoor, our parliamentarian from Kerala directly reaches 13,00,000 people. Amitabh Bachchan reaches twice as many. Keeping showbiz aside, Yuvraj and Dhoni both directly reach more than Shashi Tharoor does. And the Dalai Lama, from his remote outpost in Dharamsala, directly reaches out to an amazing 44,00,000 people. The Delhi and Mumbai editions of The Times of India together don’t do that.

     

    But it’s not all celebs. Kiran Bedi reaches 4 lakh people online – mostly SEC A/B folks. That’s more than any show on MTV can get you across to. My friends Mehul Patel and Vishal of Pentagram can each get you to over a lakh people apiece, directly. More than any English business programme can.

     

    A section of the Pinstorm India Influencers 2.0 rankings of resident Indians (Please click to be taken to the live page)

    Mankind is the medium

    In this digital world, people don’t necessarily get their news and information from websites or TV channels. They get it increasingly from other people. The new medium isn’t digital: it’s you and me – and the places we talk.

     

    Facebook has 50 million Indians on it. That’s more people than watch Star Plus in the country. And 7 million of those are on Tata Docomo’s Facebook page. Approximately 7 times the monthly reach of MTV’s TV channel. So who needs who – does Docomo need MTV? Or is it the other way round?

     

    Once a Shahrukh Khan needed Filmfare and its circulation of 25,000. Today @iamSRK has a circulation of 25 lakh and a reach of twice as many. One would imagine a single tweet from him could double Filmfare’s newsstand sales if he chose to be gracious.

     

    Potential influence, not just reach

    But the power of different people on social media isn’t just that of their Facebook fan base or Twitter followers. That would be as silly as saying Doordarshan has a reach of 135 million just because every set in India can receive it.

     

    Social influence is measured based on many factors. How often do you talk – is it the notoriously taciturn @Aamir_Khan who has tweeted all of 90 times in the last few years? Or is it the motormouth @Agnivo who has tweeted over 2 lakh times in the same period?

     

    How often are your tweets forwarded or re-tweeted? What is the reach of those re-tweets? How often do people act on your tweets by replying to you – and how often do you engage back in conversation?

     

    All of these are factors that go into measuring one’s potential to influence online.

     

    The Pinstorm India Influencer Rank

    At Pinstorm we track the online influence of almost 5,000 Indian people and brands every day.

     

    We first created this list of social media mavens -and we add to it every month. Then we use scores from three different international measurement services – Klout, PeerIndex and Kred which look at an entity’s strength on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Quora and blogs – and then apply our own algorithm to these scores to arrive at a consolidated score and rank.

     

    Our scores are graduated out of 100 – and you can see them live at Pinstorm.com/ii. As at the time of writing this – and things can change every single day, Aamir Khan leads the individual influencer rankings with an II score of over 80 out of a possible 100. The only other entity with a similar 80+ score is NDTV, who heads our influencer rankings on the organisational or brand side.

     

    As you can imagine, Bollywood and sports personalities dominate the individual rankings, with 15 of the Top 20 individual rankings. The five exceptions being Rajdeep Sardesai, Shashi Tharoor, The Dalai Lama, Kiran Bedi and ex-adman and now comic tweeter Ramesh Srivats.

     

    Surprisingly, media properties don’t quite dominate the brand influence rankings, with just 8 of the top 20 positions. But cricket leads with 10 of the top 20: with CricInfo, CricketNext, IPL and 7 IPL teams holding top ranks.

     

    The best-ranked consumer brand in online influence terms is Samsung, followed by IndiaGames, Ixigo, Vodafone, Flipkart, Airtel and HCL.

     

    A section of the Pinstorm India Influencers 2.0 rankings of Indian brands (Please click to be taken to the live page)

    The purpose of maintaining these lists wasn’t just so social celebs could boast of their rankings to each other.

     

    Truth is that the vast majority of the 5,000 people we track aren’t celebs in the traditional media world. Perhaps you’ve not heard much of Madhavan Narayanan, Malini Agarwal, A R Karthick, Jaydip Parikh, Rahul Banker, Kaveri Ahuja or Sundar Raman. These people (and, I must somewhat embarrassingly add, myself too) appear in the Top 75 influencer list for India. With online influence scores greater than that for Viveik Oberoi, Shabana Azmi or the online avatars of The Economic Times, MTV or Star Plus.

     

    In India’s online world where there are more people on the net than there are TV sets – and where more people already access the net from their mobile phones than do from their desktops and laptops – where would you put your marketing rupees?

     

    At Pinstorm we suggest to marketers that a well-thought-through group of online evangelists, people who are interested in your product category and have credibility – should be lovingly tended and cared for. New announcements and launches should be shown to them first – because if they like what they see, they might talk about it online.

     

    And that combination of reach and credibility could do you a lot more good at lot less than a Rs 1 crore TV commercial shown repeatedly for Rs 10 lakh every 10 seconds.

     

    The Pinstorm India Influencer List is live and visible online at http://www.pinstorm.com/ii  We maintain lists across brands, residents of India, Indian non-residents and politicians. Mahesh Murthy is the founder of Pinstorm, India’s leading digital-first brand management firm.

     

  • Besides the corporate mandate, Hungama Digital will also manage three other businesses for Microsoft India on social media – MSN India, Windows Azure and Microsoft Office

    Hungama Digital to manage Microsoft India’s social media

    By A Correspondent

     

    Hungama Digital, part of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., has won the social media mandate for Microsoft India’s corporate brand. Hungama Digital will manage all social media interaction on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other collaborative mediums on digital media.

     

    Besides the corporate mandate, Hungama Digital will also manage three other businesses for Microsoft India on social media – MSN India, Windows Azure and Microsoft Office.

     

    Commenting on Hungama Digital’s appointment, Meenu Handa, Director – Corporate Communications, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. said: “Over the last few years, we have invested significantly in social media, and it is today a substantial part of our media mix. To take our social media platforms to the next level of growth, we were looking for a creative and experienced team to support us and have found a passionate and engaged team in Hungama Digital.”

     

    Speaking on the winning the account, Siddhartha Roy, COO, Hungama Digital Media said: “With the growing number of interactions over digital, especially on social networking sites, this is a great opportunity for the team at Hungama to build Microsoft’s corporate image on the social platform. The team also brings to the table over 13 years of digital marketing experience – over the internet, mobile, and other connected platform, that have resulted in award winning campaigns over the years. We are extremely excited about the business and look forward to a long sustainable relationship with Microsoft India.”

     

    Currently, Microsoft’s corporate social channels in India include Twitter, Facebook  and YouTube.

     

  • The task for Lintas is not only to build saliency for the brand but also to encourage a change in shopping habits for apparel and accessories

    LMG bags Yepme’s media duties

    By A Correspondent

     

    Online fashion brand Yepme has awarded its media planning and buying duties to Lintas Media Group. Yepme already has a line of men’s fashion wear and accessories and is launching the women’s wear line on May 30. The brand has signed leading Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut as its style ambassador. Yepme has over 1.1 million fans on Facebook, making it the largest fan base amongst Indian e-commerce sites.

     

    The task for Lintas is not only to build saliency for the brand but also to encourage a change in shopping habits for apparel and accessories. As Vivek Gaur, CEO at Yepme said: “Yepme is creating a category for itself. Unlike most other brands that are using the online route, Yepme has a non-metro focus and is creating a network of clients across the country. The role of media for such a challenge is extremely critical and requires a fine balance between mass reach and narrow targeting. We are glad to have Lintas Media Group partner us and give us very strong support in media as we nurture the brand further”.

     

    Suresh Balakrishna of Lintas Media Group was very enthusiastic about the addition of this new age business: “Yepme will go a long way in adding a young and futuristic character to the portfolio of brands that we work with. Fashion and e-tailing are both growth areas of the future and their media needs are extremely dynamic. We are very glad that the management of Yepme recognized our strengths and decided to partner with us for their future growth”. The account size is estimated at Rs30 Crores annually. This win comes soon after the recent wins at Lintas Media Group of Henkel,EdenCityand OCL.