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Category: iWorld

  • Airtel launches ‘Airtel Zero’

    Airtel launches ‘Airtel Zero’

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, has announced the launch of ‘Airtel Zero’ – an open marketing platform that will allow customers to access mobile applications at zero data charges. Akin to the established concept of toll-free voice calling, ‘Airtel Zero’ will allow everyone from big marketers to small-time application developers to make parts or their entire mobile app free for customers – thus reviving interest of dormant customers, attracting new potential users and increasing retention. The platform will be a big win for customers as it will allow them to access their favourite mobile applications at no data charges, and also encourage them to try out new applications.

     

    “We are excited to launch ‘Airtel Zero’, which is an open and non-discriminatory marketing platform for all developers in India – irrespective of the size of their business. We believe that this platform is consistent with India’s Digital Inclusion agenda and also contributes to the government’s ‘Make in India’ vision by providing a platform to millions of small businesses to reach out to the end consumer,” said Srini Gopalan, Director – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel (India).

     

    Specifically, ‘Airtel Zero’ can work as a highly efficient marketing mechanism for small developers or startup shops that face budget constraints towards driving promotions and app downloads. “The results of our pilot program indicate that ‘Airtel Zero’ can deliver the same results as traditional digital marketing channels at 1/3rdthe cost – thus underscoring the immense value it can deliver for developers across. Following an extremely successful pilot phase, we are seeing a lot of interest from businesses across the board (including several small startup firms), and expect a large number of applications to sign on. We invite all application developers to register their interest in ‘Airtel Zero’ and see the compelling reach it can deliver to Airtel’s 200 million plus customers across India” added Gopalan.

     

  • Reliance Jio Infocomm extends free 4G wi-fi service in Kolkata

    Reliance Jio Infocomm extends free 4G wi-fi service in Kolkata

    KOLKATA: Reliance Jio Infocomm, the company owned by Mukesh Ambani’s flagship Reliance Industries, has said that four more areas in Kolkata will turn into wi-fi enabled zones by next month.

    In February, the company rolled out a free 4G wi-fi service at Park Street, enabling Kolkata as the first metro city with a 4G-enabled high-speed internet service.

    South City to Lords crossing, Medical College to Barnaparichay Mall and the areas around Lady Brabourne College, National Medical College and Don Bosco School, and Rashbehari crossing to Hazra crossing, are the new public wi-fi zones where the services are likely to be stretched. Two more zones were added last month — Gariahat-Golpark and the area near Jadavpur 8B bus-stand.

    Sources said that it takes a week to set up power connectivity with access points so the system and the wi-fi zones are likely to be active by the end of this month or in the first week of May.

    Sources further added that the company is extending the service to four more areas because of the increasing demand for data services. 

    Around five lakh users have availed of the free wi-fi service since it was rolled out at Park Street on 5 February. Park Street has around 230 wi-fi routers online, allowing around 9,200 people to connect to the wi-fi network at a time.

     

    While inaugurating wi-fi in Kolkata, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that in around next two months, the whole city will be connected with wi-fi.

    The Chief Minister further said that the company has laid down the cable connectivity covering 2,000 km, and around 250-300 km cable laying work was likely to be completed soon. “Reliance Jio Infocomm has completed more than 90 per cent of the work,” she said.

    The company, which is investing around Rs 3,300 crore to roll out 4G in Bengal, plans to offer the free service as part of a sampling experiment. The official commercial launch will take place later.

  • Star Sports India tops Twitter brand index for World Cup 2015

    Star Sports India tops Twitter brand index for World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: Star India’s sports venture Star Sports sustained its reach on social media platform to gain the pole position on the Twitter brand index for Cricket World Cup 2015. Star Sports was followed by HDFC Life and Alto K10 in the second and third position respectively.

     

    Twitter brand index for ICC Cricket World Cup 2015

     

    Star Sports 

     

    Star Sports has consistently been featured amongst the top conversations on CWC15 with its popular video series that started with the India vs Pakistan group game. Every India victory in the competition meant a new video for the upcoming game. Using the viral hashtag #MaukaMauka that spawned its own memes and tribute versions, the campaign managed to capture the imagination of Indian cricket fans. Over and above this thematic campaign, Star Sports continued to connect with fans over its hashtag #WontGiveItBack – People could tweet to the handle with the hashtag and get the schedule of the matches in the cup.

     

    HDFC Life

     

    HDFC Life brought the Indian cricket fan together with the hashtag #MyTeamMyPride. Under the aegis of the hashtag the brand engaged with fans on predictions, contests and general comments around the game. Users loved the hashtag and used it as one of the top rallying cries this CWC15.

     

    Alto K10

     

    Alto K10 is one of the few car brands that used CWC15 to talk to its target group. With a creative spin on their brand tagline Chase Life, Alto has engaged the Indian cricket fan under its chase campaigns across the hashtags #ChaseCricket and #ChaseMaster. They ran a popular Sorry Sir contest where they invited people to tweet back to them with funny ideas for ways to skip college or office and watch India games. Using topical caricatures, contests and celebrating the team’s victory with fans Alto K10 got people to send them their selfies in blue to show support to the team – Chaselife. They were able to successfully take things that fans enjoy and blend their brand into that conversation.

     

    Nike Cricket

     

    A part of the #BleedBlue campaign – Nike created a chant (BleedBlue), which has been reverberating amongst supporters of the Indian cricket team since 2011. This has become the war cry of the Indian fan and this World Cup, Nike shared BleedBlue stories of fan and celebrities alike. As a part of the BleedBlue campaign, the official apparel manufacturer of the Indian cricket team also sent out personalised jerseys to sports stars, celebrities and other members of the sports fraternity. This helped the personalities show their loyalty using the hashtag BleedBlue. The most retweeted advertiser tweet of the CWC was the tweet that they sent out on the day of the semi-finals – asking people to show their support to the team by RT-ing the tweet.

     

    Lays India

     

    Lays climbed the chart by rallying the cricket fan on Twitter with the hashtags #LaysKePlays and #TicketKaGame contest. Winners of the contest were given the opportunity to watch the finals of the CWC15 live in Australia. They asked people to tweet with the hasthtag #TicketKaGame to reveal what the contest was going to be. The more the tweets, the faster was the reveal. #LaysKePlays asked users to tweet back to the handle with creative uses of cricket lingo and make it relevant to Lays.

     

    Lava Mobile

     

    Lava ran a prediction contest with goodies to be won. Technology brands and contests seemed to be a potent mix on Twitter and users loved it. They tied this in with a brand campaign around their X8 handset. The hashtag they used was #X8HighPerformer. It was a smart way to build the X8’s positioning on performance basis strong performances in the matches.

     

    Castrol Cricket

     

    Castrol followed, what in hindsight, seems like the winning model of a good hashtag, a contest and good content. They entered with the hashtag – #ClingOnToTheCup. Their biggest execution this CWC was when they asked people to tweet to them with their pictures and they would put those pictures up on the digital fence at the stadium during the game. Fans loved the idea of being able to become a part of the game in this manner.

     

    Axis Bank

     

    Axis Bank built engagement around cricketing rituals. Given the level of fanatical support for the game and the national team, people tweeted about how they do not take bath before games, drink water during games or leave their seats when a particular player is on a roll. Axis Bank used this insight to great effect by inviting people to share their rituals. They sustained engagement by continuing activity on Twitter beyond just match days to an Always On Strategy.

     

    Score With Data

     

    The Indian cricket fan loves data and statistics. IBM latched on to this insight and created this handle to share powerful data led insights through the CWC. People followed this account for live insights on players as the game progressed.

     

    Dairy Milk

     

    Dairy Milk was another brand that used contests very well. People joined in on the contest FansOfJoy where they were asked to WhatsApp their #FansOfJoy pics to grab their moment of fame in leading dailies. Apart from this there was a quiz where people stood to win Cadbury Dairy Milk hampers.

     

    Club Mahindra

     

    Club Mahindra was able to find creative ways to integrate stories from their resorts into the game. They put the Mandala from their logo to great use with tweets around the toss, when Virat Kohli was hitting 4s and 6s and when he reached his 100. When there was a great catch on the pitch they were ready with a tweet that showed someone catching a fish at one of their resorts and drew parallels of what a great catch looked like at Club Mahindra.

     

  • Facebook accounts for three-quarters of global social network ad spend

    Facebook accounts for three-quarters of global social network ad spend

    MUMBAI: Boosted by solid growth in usage and advertising spend across major social networks, the global social network market continued to show strong growth in 2014, as per Strategy Analytics Global Social Network Forecast. Globally, social networks surpassed two billion users for the first time in 2014, of which Facebook accounted for 68 per cent.

     

    Ad spend on social networks grew a robust 41 per cent globally in 2014 totaling over $15.3 billion, accounting for 11 per cent of global digital ad spend. Facebook accounted for three-quarters of global social network ad spend in 2014, while Twitter accounted for eight per cent. In 2015, ad spend on social networks is expected to grow by 29 per cent, totaling $24.2 billion.

     

    “Overall, the social network market continues to show strong growth across all regions as the major social network platforms drive usage and engagement via improved integration of digital media content. While Facebook currently dominates the global social network market, its absence in China allows local social networks such as QZone and Tencent Weibo to gain traction in the rapidly expanding Chinese digital advertising market,” said Leika Kawasaki, author of the report.

     

    Other key findings from the report include:

     

    1) Nearly half (46 per cent) of social network users reside in the Asia Pacific region.

     

    2) China accounts for almost 25 per cent of global social network users with 495 million users in 2014.

     

    3) North America had the highest ratio of social network users to its population (64 per cent) in 2014, followed by Western Europe at 55 per cent.

     

    4) The US accounts for the largest share of global social network ad spend (41 per cent), totaling $6.2 billion in 2014, up 35 per cent YoY.

     

    5) The UK is the second largest market for social network ad spends, accounting for 8.2 per cent of global social network ad spends in 2014, just edging out China (8 per cent).

     

    6) The US had the highest social network ad spend per social network user at $31.37 in 2014. This is expected to grow 27 per cent to $39.84 in 2015.

     

  • Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    Five Reasons Why Hotstar is Hot

    With 10 million users in just 40 days, it set a benchmark in the digital space. In a record time span, Hotstar the new app from the Star India network, catapulted the audience’s attention and is showing continued signs of growth.

    While VOD platforms are being selective in drawing up their content map, Hotstar has opened its large library for users, that too in regional languages. With smartphones increasingly altering the consumption landscape in the country, Indiantelevision.com gives you five reasons why this is a must have app for your phones.

    A rich video experience

    Gone are the days when enthusiasm levels of experiencing a video would be marred by buffering issues. Through almost zero buffering, the app claims that it can change the pixel value of the content depending on the bandwidth so that users witness uninterrupted services. In layman’s terms, when the bandwidth decreases, the video will continue playing but there will be a decline in the HD pixilation value. Video is downward optimized to playback continuously in as little as 64 kbps.  

    Want IPL, download Hotstar!

    With the eighth season of India Kya Tyohar returning, the Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the biggest event on the sports calendar this year. Therefore, it is imperative that you download the app so that you don’t miss out on your favourite Kolkata Knight Riders or Chennai Super Kings scoring some brilliant wins on the palm of your hands. 

    Novi Digital Entertainment, a unit of Star India, which owns the digital rights of the Indian Premier League, will stream this glitzy event on the VOD platform in its first such endeavour. Plus, in this cricket event, India has no fears of losing in the semi finals. Everyone is a winner here including Stuart Binny!

    India’s content hub 

    Where will you find 20,000 hours of content, across languages including 12 plus full length TV shows, 500 plus movies and live screening of popular sports like cricket, football, tennis and kabaddi on a single platform? The answer is – Hotstar! 

    In a first for India, Indya Interactive Services (which runs Hotstar.com) earlier premiered the Star Guild Awards 2015 on the video on demand service on 17 January. The award function was aired on Star Plus a day later on 18 January.  It recently also premiered Bollywood movies like Baby and Roy first on the platform, much before the world TV premieres. Star India also recently acquired the weekly film and entertainment broadsheet Screen from the Express Group. Content from here will now move to digital as the print edition gets closed. Hotstar is definitely turning hotter! 

    Marketers, catch up with your digital audiences

    Marketers and brands dread when audiences click on the tiny yet powerful option Skip This Ad Now. Weeks of ideation and production of a costly advertisement that is invested on digital mediums, goes down the drain. But fret not, Hotstar does not allow this potent option as audiences have to witness the ads. Besides, consumers wouldn’t mind the same as fresh as well as nostalgic content like Sarabhai versus Sarabhai too is up for grabs. With the India-Pakistan match during the World Cup receiving 25 million views on digital, there is a large chunk of young audiences that can’t be missed by marketers and brands alike. 

    Personalization and availability across devices

    The app allows users to create their own playlists with content they curate for at leisure viewing. Individual episodes, movies, full collections of even movies can be curated. It has also managed to do the impossible as it unites a diverse range of mobile phone users. It doesn’t matter if you own a Samsung or an iPhone, it is compatible for Android, iOS and Nokia ASHA users too.

     

  • Airtel launches Platinum 3G in India; Mumbai first city for launch

    Airtel launches Platinum 3G in India; Mumbai first city for launch

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel is all set to enthral Mumbaikars with the launch of its Platinum 3G service. Winning the 900 MHz band in September 2013, Airtel will be using it to complement the existing 2100 Mhz resulting into greater speed and connectivity. 

     

    Being the first telecom operator in India to launch Platinum 3G, Airtel will offer the services of Platinum 3G at existing 3G tariff. Mumbai is the primary Indian city to experience the superior connectivity. The company has further plans to extend the services to Kolkata. 

     

    Airtel Platinum 3G is India’s best 3G network offering a variety of benefits. Till date, Airtel has 50 lakh subscribers in Mumbai and claims to be the only network that works on the Platinum band. Airtel customers in Mumbai can browse the Internet 34 per cent faster, get 30 per cent better indoor coverage and enjoy 16 per cent longer extended battery life. Additionally, users can stream videos 25 per cent faster than the existing speed.

     

    Bharati Airtel India Mumbai Maharashtra, Goa Gujarat Hub CEO Ashok Ganpathy said, “As a leader in the telecommunication space it is our endeavour at Airtel to consistently innovate and provide a seamless network to our customers. The launch of Platinum 3G is an integral part of this commitment to enhance customer satisfaction by providing superior connectivity on existing 3G tariffs. Considering this we would now like to invite data savvy customers in Mumbai to enjoy this world class experience.”

     

    Airtel signed a contract with data networking and telecom equipment company, Nokia Networks to enhance its 3G network in Mumbai. As part of the deal, a dual band, dual carrier 3G network has been set up at Mumbai, reframing 900 MHz to complement the city’s existing 3G network on 2100 MHz. This is expected to enable higher throughput and thus improved 3G services for Bharti Airtel’s customers.

  • Spuul inks deal with MSM to stream shows from Sony and Sab

    Spuul inks deal with MSM to stream shows from Sony and Sab

    MUMBAI:  Online streaming service for Indian TV & film content, Spuul has inked a partnership with Multi Screen Media (MSM) to stream their TV shows from the Sony stable on the digital platform in India.

     

    Spuul users from India can now watch these shows on all second screen devices including mobile phones, tablets, web, smart TVs as well as stream to their TVs via Chromecast.

     

    In the current partnership, audiences from India will benefit from Spuul’s download feature, which will also allow them to download the TV shows on their devices apart from streaming. The shows from Sony Entertainment Television and SAB TV, which will be available on Spuul are Adalat, CID, Maharana Pratap, Chidiya Ghar, Tarak Mehta Ka Oolta Chasma and Hum Hai Na. These shows can be viewed for free on Spuul.

     

    Spuul CEO Subin Subaiah said, “India ranks fourth in world for content consumption. With 4G roll out, these numbers are expected to rise tremendously. Spuul data shows that about 80 per cent content is being consumed on mobile devices. Such partnerships reflect an increase in user figures and help us to provide content to our users on the go.”

     

    MSM EVP and head – digital business Uday Sodhi added, “We’re delighted to partner with Spuul to widen our reach. The second screen is quickly becoming the primary screen and it’s important for us to ensure that our content is available to all audiences across platforms and this association will certainly go a long way in making that happen.”

  • Godrej Nature’s Basket revamps ecommerce platform

    Godrej Nature’s Basket revamps ecommerce platform

    MUMBAI: India’s retail innovation for fine foods from across the world, Godrej Nature’s Basket has launched its ecommerce platform.

     

    Godrej Nature’s Basket is the first-mover among brick and mortar retailers to bet big online when it started retailing through its website two years ago. The brand recently partnered with Snapdeal.com increasing its reach to 5000 plus cities. Nature’s Basket offers the wide and exclusive range of gourmet products that includes fresh fruits & vegetables, international cheese and cold cuts, bakery products, ice creams, desserts, fresh made-to-order party snacks, patisserie, frozen veg and non-veg ready to cook/ serve range and much more.

     

    Godrej group executive director and chief brand officer Tanya Dubash said, “One of the strategic pillars of achieving a full potential plan for Godrej Nature’s Basket is to have a world class integrated ecommerce platform, which will significantly enhance the omni channel experience that we wish to provide our customer with. We are confident that our offering will redefine the standards of online shopping in the food and grocery segment and make food shopping a finer and brighter experience for the ever evolving Indian consumer.”

     

    Godrej Nature’s Basket MD Mohit Khattar added, “With the launch of a new powerful online platform, we are in a position to offer our customers, a host of user friendly features that would certainly enhance their shopping experience significantly. Our unmatched proposition of delivery within 3 hours of placing an order would be a first-of-its kind in the industry. We expect an exponential rise in traffic and conversions rates that can lead to about 10X growth in our online business revenues. The new platform is a result of the successful integration of existing online presence and a robust and proven technology platform from Ekstop.”

  • Anne Sweeney & Microsoft’s Brad Smith joins Netflix board

    Anne Sweeney & Microsoft’s Brad Smith joins Netflix board

    MUMBAI: Netflix, Inc has added former Disney Media Networks co-chair and Disney-ABC Television president Anne Sweeney, and Microsoft Corp executive vice president and general counsel, legal and corporate affairs Brad Smith to its board.

     

    With this the total number of directors are now nine.

     

    “We look forward to benefitting from Brad and Anne’s perspective as we continue to build our global Internet TV network,” said Netflix co-founder and chief executive Reed Hastings.

     

    Sweeney’s entertainment experience spans more than three decades including senior roles at the Walt Disney Co., 21st Century Fox and Viacom. Until she stepped down in January, she oversaw Disney’s cable, broadcast and satellite properties around the world since 2004. Previously, she helped establish and served as FX Networks chairman and CEO, part of the Fox Entertainment Group of 21st Century Fox. Earlier in her career, she spent more than 12 years at Viacom’s Nickelodeon network.

     

    Smith, who has served as Microsoft’s general counsel since 2002, has amassed broad global technology and public policy experience since joining the company in 1993. He spent three years leading the company’s legal and corporate affairs team in Europe and five years as deputy general counsel responsible for such teams outside the US. His area of expertise includes competition law, intellectual property, government surveillance and privacy.

  • Payback inks strategic partnership with MobiKwik

    Payback inks strategic partnership with MobiKwik

    MUMBAI: India’s multi-brand loyalty program Payback has tied-up with mobile wallet MobiKwik to extend the strengths of the two platforms to more than 50 million consumers. This partnership will provide MobiKwik’s 15 million customers value from Payback-enabled loyalty benefits for their transactions at MobiKwik and all other Payback partners.

     

    The mobile industry in India is growing at an increasing rate and M-Wallets are the next big trend. The partnership between the two promises to reach out to the customers by offering them with loyalty points.

     

    Payback India CEO and MD Rahul Rana said, “Mobile wallets are a fast growing category as India embraces technology and witnesses strong growth of e-commerce. People prefer to store their cash digitally and use it seamlessly via mobile and online transactions. This partnership will allow MobiKwik customers to earn rewards when an online transaction is made. Further Payback customers also get access to a seamless payment experience with wide merchant coverage. Our endeavor is to continue to partner with newer categories in online and offline commerce such that Payback Customers can have greater choice in earning and redeeming their rewards at the click of a button.”

     

    MobiKwik provides a user friendly, app-based interface for recharges, bill payments, shopping, and money transfer to friends and family, through the MobiKwik wallet. MobiKwik’s wide merchant coverage ensures that existing Payback customers can redeem their points for MobiKwik wallet balance, and thus use MobiKwik at coffee shops, to make e-commerce purchases, buy bus, flight, and movie tickets, recharge mobile phones and DTH. MobiKwik is now enabled across more than 20,000 merchants including Café Coffee Day, Jabong, Snapdeal, BookMyShow, Domino’s Pizza, eBay, HomeShop18, Infibeam, Purplle, MakeMyTrip, Naaptol, Pepperfry, ShopClues, TastyKhana, and JustEat.

     

    MobiKwik CEO and founder Bipin Preet Singh added, “We are happy to be associated with Payback as it will benefit the MobiKwik users at large. The aim behind this partnership is to create loyalty for MobiKwik users and attract Payback users to adopt MobiKwik as their mobile wallet option. With this increase in our network strength we are confident of leveraging on economies of scale to deliver higher value to our customers.”