ITV

Category: iWorld

  • Times Internet announces strategic partnership with Electus Digital

    Times Internet announces strategic partnership with Electus Digital

    MUMBAI: Times Internet (TIL), a digital product company and the digital arm of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times of India Group, has added another partnership to its Times Global Partners (TGP) portfolio by inking a deal with Electus Digital, the digital creative and distribution arm of Electus. The strategic partnership for India includes Electus Digital websites CollegeHumor.com, Dorkly.com and WatchLOUD.com. The alliance was brokered by TGP, who will be responsible for growth and monetization of the three Electus Digital websites sites in India as part of the deal.

     
    “We are pleased to join forces with the immensely creative and high-energy team at Electus Digital,” said Puneet Singhvi, Business Head, Times Global Partners, of the alliance. “CollegeHumor, Dorkly and WatchLOUD are great lifestyle properties and we look forward to building a strong presence for these websites in India and helping advertisers reach out to this young audience through video and display opportunities.”

     
    “The international reach of our digital brands has continued to benefit from our success in the US,” said Shane Rahmani Vice President, Corporate Development of Electus & General Manager of CollegeHumor.com. “Already the number one most-visited comedy network online and the number one most-viewed YouTube comedy channel, we’re thrilled to team up with Times Internet as we elevate our portfolio of brands to new heights in India.”
     

    A business unit of TIL, TGP partners with global digital companies across publishing, product and platform to help them launch and grow in India, APAC & ME. TGP has already rolled out the Indian editions of AskMen, Gizmodo, Lifehacker, TechRadar, Remodelista, ReadWrite, Business Insider & IGN and has tied up recently with Huffington Post and Advertising age for their India edition.

     

  • Ofcom to release terrestrial TV spectrum for mobile broadband services in UK

    Ofcom to release terrestrial TV spectrum for mobile broadband services in UK

    NEW DELHI: Even as the dispute about Defence releasing spectrum continues in India, mobile broadband services in Britain will get a boost with British telecom regulator Ofcom releasing some digital terrestrial spectrum.

     

    The strategy of Ofcom is to ensure that UK’s network operators can continue to deliver mobile broadband using some of the frequencies used for digital terrestrial TV services such as Freeview, and wireless microphones. Ofcom said these frequencies make up the 700 MHz frequency band.

     

    Ofcom CEO Ed Richards said, “This important decision ensures that we are making the raw materials available with which investors and companies can build the services which will support the digital economy of the future.”

     

    Ofcom said that viewers can continue to enjoy the free-to-view TV services without another switchover. Ofcom is keeping a target of 2022.

     

    Ofcom will ensure that users — theatres, sports venues and music events – of wireless microphones will have access to airwaves to deliver cultural benefits.

     

    Some industry reports predict that demand for mobile data could be 45 times higher by 2030 than it is today.

     

    In October, Ofcom has already invited potential bidders to comment on proposals for auction of spectrum in the 2.3 GHz and 3.4 GHz bands, which is expected to take place in late 2015 or early 2016.

     

    The company has identified a number of frequency bands that wireless microphones could potentially use. Working with the PMSE community, Ofcom will confirm what spectrum will be available to them next year.

     

  • From advertising to selling saris, Arvind Sharma turns entrepreneur

    From advertising to selling saris, Arvind Sharma turns entrepreneur

    MUMBAI: The e-commerce sector in India is going through a purple patch and the latest one to enter the bandwagon is none other than Arvind Sharma.

    After spending over three decades in the advertising industry, Sharma has been bitten by the entrepreneur bug. He along with one of the founding members of Yepme, Amit Gaur, has launched an online platform for the treasured Indian outfit – sari.

    The self-funded, Indiasarihouse.com, aims to enhance and simplify the sari shopping experience along with benefitting the weaver community.  

    “A sari is more than a piece of commerce.  It is the Indian women’s attire for every day and for special occasions. It represents the spinning, dyeing and weaving arts of India, nurtured by kings, queens, and princesses and perfected by India’s craftsmen over centuries. Each sari woven by a weaver’s family represents a piece of Indian history and culture. India Sari House aims to build a self-sustaining long-term channel directly between the weavers and sari consumers around the world. Amit’s wealth of experience in sourcing and e-commerce operations will help us hugely in our ambitions,” says Sharma.

    The platform has recruited textile and fashion graduates, who find and verify the weavers across 20 centers in the country.  From pure silk offerings like Kanjivarams, Dharmavarams, Banarasis to pure cottons ones like Ikkats, Mangalagiris, Tants and Kerala Cottons, the recently launched website has everything a woman would desire in her wardrobe.

    Apart from increasing the number of sari centers in the near future, the sari house plans to get some of India’s famous designers to each adopt a weaving center and help modernise the designs some of these centers produce.

    On funding the project, Sharma highlights that after three to four months he will start talking to the investors to raise funds for the platform and take it to the next level.

    Gaur says, “We are building a channel with quality and integrity. To deliver these to the consumers, we have deployed a team that visits and identifies weavers that India Sari House will deal with. They hand pick saris from these weavers. We have put together another team of qualified textile and fashion experts to examine each sari and rate it on 4F factors – Fabric authenticity, Fine workmanship, Fashion quotient and Fitness for occasions. Each sari we sell will come with a 4F certificate. Since, India Sari House buys and stocks all the saris it sells, consumers can be sure that all saris will be shipped to them within 24 hours.”

    Indiasarihouse.com is accessible to consumers around the world. However, initially it is being promoted in the US, Canada and the UK. Over time, it plans to cover 23 major countries of the world where there is a significant Indian diaspora presence.

    Currently, Resultrix is handling the digital promotions of the web store while Underdog is the creative agency for the account.

  • AT&T-DirecTV deal gets clearance from Mexico, US still undecided

    AT&T-DirecTV deal gets clearance from Mexico, US still undecided

    NEW DELHI: The controversial acquisition of DirecTV by AT&T has received the necessary approval from Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT).

     

    Earlier, AT&T received approval in Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago.  AT&T has also filed an informational notice with the Hawaii Commission.

     
    However, AT&T is yet to receive the necessary approvals from the Federation Communications Commission in the United States.

     

    AT&T has already said it will invest further in mobile internet, a condition set by the US. Following the merger, AT&T will expand its deployment of both wireline and fixed wireless internet to cover at least 15 million customer locations across 48 states – most of them in underserved rural areas.

     

    The merger review process was completed among regulators at the US state level in July. AT&T said its petitions with the Public Service Commissions in Louisiana and Arizona did not receive protests or interventions and the petitions were deemed approved in July.

     

  • Games, network services raise Sony Q2-2015 revenue, impairment of goodwill widens loss

    Games, network services raise Sony Q2-2015 revenue, impairment of goodwill widens loss

    BENGALURU: Sony Corporation (Sony) reported sales of ? 1,901.5 billion (US$ 17,445 million) in Q2-2015, (quarter ended 30 September 2014, current quarter) an increase of 7.2 percent compared to ? 1774.2 billion in Q2-2014. An operating loss of Y 85.6 billion yen (US$ 785 million) was recorded in the current quarter, compared to operating income of 13.9 billion yen in Q2-2014. This significant deterioration was primarily due the ? 176.0 billion yen (US$ 1615 million) impairment of goodwill recorded in the company’s Mobile Communications (MC) segment says the company.

    Sony says that increase in sales was primarily due to a significant increase in its games and network services segment (G&NS) sales, reflecting the contribution of the PlayStation 4 (PS4), a significant increase in devices segment sales primarily due to the strong performance of image sensors, as well as the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates. This increase was partially offset by a significant decrease in sales in All Other, primarily related to Sony’s exit from the PC business, explains the company.

    Mobile Communications Segment (MC)

    Sony’s MC segment’s sales increased 1.2 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 308.4 billion (US$ 2829 million) from ? 304.6 billion, primarily due to the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates, partially offset by a decrease in sales mainly in Japan.

    Operating loss of ? 172.0 billion (US$ 1578 million) in Q2-2015 was recorded, compared to operating income of ? 8.8 billion in Q2-2014. As mentioned above, this deterioration was primarily due to the impairment charge of goodwill recorded in this segment. Further, in the current quarter, marketing expenses and research and development expenses increased year-on-year in order to expand sales channels adding to the loss says Sony.

    Games & Network Services Segment

    G&NS sales increased 83.2 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 309.5 billion (US$ 2839 million) from ? 169 million in Q2-2014. This significant increase was primarily due to the contribution from PS4 hardware sales, a significant increase in network services revenue related to the introduction of the PS4 and the contribution from PS4 software sales, partially offset by a decrease in PlayStation3 (PS3) hardware and PS3 software sales. Sales to external customers increased 97.0 per cent year-on-year.

    Operating income of ? 21.8 billion (US$ 200 million) was recorded, compared to an operating loss of ? 4.2 billion in Q2-2014. This improvement was primarily due to the impact of the above-mentioned increase in sales related to the introduction of the PS4, partially offset by the impact of the above-mentioned decrease in PS3 software sales says the company.

    Imaging and Print Services (I&PS)

    I&PS sales increased 1.8 percent year-on-year to ? 178.6 billion (US$ 1639 million) in Q2-2015 from ? 175.5 billion in Q2-2014. Sales were essentially flat year-on-year primarily due to the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates and an improvement in the product mix of digital cameras reflecting a shift to high value-added models, partially offset by a significant decrease in unit sales of digital cameras.

    Operating income of ? 20.1 billion (US$ 184 million) was recorded, compared to an operating loss of ? 2.3 billion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. Sony says that this improvement was mainly due to a reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses, the above-mentioned improvement in product mix reflecting a shift to high value-added models and the favourable impact of exchange rates.

    Home Entertainment & Sound (HE&S)

    HE&S sales increased 7 percent year-on-year to ? 282.4 billion (US$ 2590 million) from ? 263.8 billion in Q2-2014. This increase was primarily due to a significant increase in sales of televisions and the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates. The company says that unit sales of LCD televisions increased significantly in Europe, North America, and Asia-Pacific, partially offset by a significant decrease in unit sales in Latin America. Audio and video  category sales decreased mainly due to a decrease in sales in Latin America reflecting adverse market conditions.

    Operating income of ? 8.0 billion (US$ 73 million) was recorded, compared to an operating loss of ? 12.1 billion in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year. This improvement was primarily due to cost reductions and an improvement in the product mix reflecting the shift to high value-added models, partially offset by a decrease in the average selling price of LCD televisions.

    Sony reveals that television sales increased 14.7 per cent year-on-year to ? 199.7 billion (US$ 1832 million) in Q2-2015. This significant increase was primarily due to the above-mentioned significant increase in unit sales of LCD televisions, and the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates.

    Operating income of ? 4.9 billion (US$ 45 million) was recorded, compared to an operating loss of ? 9.3 billion in Q2-2014. This improvement was primarily due to cost reductions and an improvement in the product mix of LCD televisions reflecting a shift to high value-added models, partially offset by a decrease in the average selling price.

    Devices

    Devices segment sales increased 23.1 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 247.7 billion (US$ 2273 million) from ? 203.1 billion in Q2-2014. This increase was primarily due to a significant increase in sales of image sensors reflecting higher demand for mobile products, an increase in sales of camera modules, as well as the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates. Sales to external customers increased 25.1 percent in Q2-2015 reveals the company.

    Operating income increased ? 17.7 billion to ? 29.6 billion yen (US$ 271 million). This increase was primarily due to the above-mentioned increase in sales of image sensors, the favourable impact of foreign exchange rates and an improvement in the results of the battery business.

    Pictures

    Pictures segment sales increased 2.4 percent to ? 182.2 billion yen (US$ 1671 million) in Q2-2015 from ? 177.8 billion in Q2-2104 primarily due to the favourable impact of the depreciation of the yen against the US dollar. The decrease on a US dollar basis was primarily due to a decrease in sales for Motion Pictures, reflecting lower theatrical revenues, partially offset by higher home entertainment and television licensing revenues.

    Theatrical revenues decreased as the same quarter of the previous fiscal year benefited from a higher number of theatrical releases. Home entertainment and television licensing revenues were higher as the current year benefited from the home entertainment releases of ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’ and ‘Heaven is for Real’ and from the television licensing sales of ‘Men In Black 3’ and ‘The Amazing Spider-Man’.

    Operating loss decreased ? 16.7 billion y-o-y to ? 1.0 billion (US$ 10 million), as Q2-2014 included higher marketing expenses as a result of a higher number of theatrical releases as well as the underperformance of ‘White House Down’.

    Music

    Music segment sales increased 1.5 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 116.8 billion (US$ 1071 million) from ? 115 billion. The decrease in sales on a constant currency basis is primarily due to lower music publishing and recorded music sales, partially offset by higher visual media and platform sales. On a constant currency basis, sales of music publishing decreased primarily due to a decrease in revenue outside of the US recorded music sales decreased slightly as the worldwide decline in physical and digital download sales were partially offset by higher digital streaming revenues. Visual media and platform sales increased mainly due to higher sales of animation products. Best-selling titles included Barbra Streisand’s ‘Partners’, Chris Brown’s ‘X’ and Sia’s ‘1000 Forms of Fear’.

    Operating income increased ?2.1 billion in Q2-2015 to ? 11.8 billion (US$ 108 million). This increase was primarily due to an improvement in equity in net income (loss) from EMI Music Publishing and a reduction in selling, general and administrative expenses.

    Financial services

    Financial services revenue increased 10.6 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 269.6 billion (US$ 2473 million) from ? 243.7 billion primarily due to an increase in revenue at Sony Life. Revenue at Sony Life increased 12.1 percent in the current quarter to ? 242.5 billion (US$ 2225 million), mainly due to an improvement in investment performance in the separate account resulting from a larger rise in the Japanese stock market compared to the same quarter of the previous fiscal year, as well as an increase in insurance premium revenue reflecting an increase in policy amount in force.

    Operating income increased ? 9.3 billion to ? 47.7 billion (US$ 437 million). This increase was mainly due to an increase in operating income at Sony Life. Operating income at Sony Life increased ? 9.3 billion y-o-y to ? 45.7 billion (US$ 419 million) primarily due to an improvement in investment performance in the general account.

    All Other

    All Other segment sales decreased 48.8 percent in Q2-2015 to ? 108.6 billion yen (US$ 997 million) from ? 212 billion in Q2-2014. This decrease was primarily due to a significant decrease year-on-year in unit sales of PCs reflecting Sony’s exit from the PC business.

    Operating loss increased ? 15.7 billion year-on-year to ? 18.2 billion (US$ 165 million). This deterioration was primarily due to a gain of ? 12.8 billion from the sale of certain shares of M3 recorded in the same quarter of the previous fiscal year and the recording of PC exit costs in the current quarter.

  • Yahoo homepage now offers access to Flipkart marketplace

    Yahoo homepage now offers access to Flipkart marketplace

    MUMBAI: Yahoo and Flipkart have announced a partnership to host a gateway to the Flipkart.com marketplace directly on the Yahoo India homepage. Users can now get easy access to the Flipkart shopping site while simultaneously consuming news and content of their choice on the Yahoo network.

     

    Commenting on the partnership, Yahoo India managing director Gurmit Singh said, “Online shopping is seeing increasing adoption with users in India. People are spending a significant time on the Internet searching for products and deals. Flipkart is a market leader in Indian e-commerce, with a huge marketplace and an exciting range of products.  With easy access to Flipkart directly from the Yahoo homepage, we believe that the millions of users who visit the Yahoo network daily will now enjoy not only premium content, but also an exciting shopping experience.”

     

    Added online marketing senior director Mausam Bhatt, “At Flipkart we are always looking for innovative ways of engaging the customer. Flipkart and Yahoo are both market leaders in their own space – and in a market where people are increasingly consuming content on digital platforms, a partnership like this helps bridge content and commerce to enhance the product discovery and purchase cycle for online shoppers.”

  • Obama wants FCC to remove roadblocks on internet, private sector disagrees

    Obama wants FCC to remove roadblocks on internet, private sector disagrees

    NEW DELHI: President Barack Obama has urged the American telecom regulator Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to keep the internet open and free.

     
    But this plea will give a blow to top US wireless carriers who are looking to control price and quality of internet services.

     

    The FCC is already in the process of considering new rules for how to safeguard competition and user choice. “Ensuring a free and open internet is the only way we can preserve the internet’s power to connect our world,” Obama said.

     
    “We cannot allow internet service providers (ISPs) to restrict the best access or to pick winners and losers in the online marketplace for services and ideas. I am asking the FCC to answer the call of 4 million public comments, and implement the strongest possible rules to protect net neutrality,” said Obama.

     
    However, the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), an association representing the manufacturers and suppliers of high-tech communications networks, said: “We are concerned over President Obama’s endorsement of reclassifying the internet as a Title II utility-like telecom service. Such a move would set the industry back decades, and threaten the private sector investment that is critically needed to ensure that the network can meet surging demand.”

     
    “We saw a significant negative impact on investment the last time restrictive Title II regulation was in place, and no one will benefit from returning to that failed policy.  As manufacturers and suppliers who build the internet backbone and supply the devices and services that ride over it, our companies strongly urge regulators to refrain from reclassification that will guarantee harm to consumers, the economy, and the very technologies we’re trying to protect,” said TIA CEO Scott Belcher.

     
    Four years ago, the FCC tried to implement rules that would protect net neutrality with little to no impact on the telecommunications companies that make important investments in the economy.

     
    Earlier, the court reviewing the rules agreed with the FCC that net neutrality was essential for preserving an environment that encourages new investment in the network. The court ultimately struck down the rules because it believed the FCC had taken the wrong legal approach.

     
    Obama said there should be no blocking and throttling by ISPs. There should be more increased transparency. Some sites should not get more treatment.

     
    Some companies should not enjoy paid prioritisation. Wireless carriers should not keep some services in “slow lane” because it does not pay a fee. “That kind of gatekeeping would undermine the level playing field essential to the internet’s growth. I am asking for an explicit ban on paid prioritisation and any other restriction that has a similar effect,” Obama said. FCC should reclassify consumer broadband service under Title II of the Telecommunications Act — while at the same time forbearing from rate regulation and other provisions less relevant to broadband services.

     
    Referring to the White House proposal, AT&T senior executive VP, external & legislative affairs Jim Cicconi said, “If the FCC puts such rules in place, we would expect to participate in a legal challenge to such action.”

     
    Time Warner Cable, a top cable company, remains committed to an open internet, but disagrees with President Obama’s statement that an open internet can only be achieved by reclassifying broadband as a public utility.

     
    “Regulating broadband service under Title II, as the President proposes, will create uncertainty, lead to years of litigation and threaten the continued growth and development of the internet. The FCC has sufficient tools without reclassifying broadband to protect the openness of the internet, while at the same time encouraging continued investment and innovation in the internet ecosystem,” said Time Warner Cable chairman and CEO Rob Marcus.

  • ESPNcricinfo gets ready for ICC World Cup 2015

    ESPNcricinfo gets ready for ICC World Cup 2015

    MUMBAI: Digital cricket brand ESPNcricinfo has announced that that Ricky Ponting is joining the portal both as a columnist and video commentator. Ponting will offer his insights and comments on the key cricket action of 2015 including the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Ashes.

     

    ESPNcricinfo editor in chief Sambit Bal speaking on the different initiatives  said, “With three marquee events – India vs Australia, the World Cup and Ashes – coming back-to-back over the next 12 months, Ricky Ponting is a massive signing for us. Apart from being a legend of our game, and a World Cup and Ashes hero, he is also a keen and articulate student of the game. His insights and intimate knowledge of the contemporary game will be an invaluable addition to our coverage.”

     

    The signing of Australia’s most successful Test captain and triple ICC Cricket World Cup winner forms part of ESPNcricinfo’s wider ICC Cricket World Cup coverage and content plans. It recently launched its 100 day countdown to the start of the tournament with a completely responsive microsite dedicated to World Cup 2015 which will include an ICC Cricket World Cup trivia section, an editorial and blog features covering the teams, players, and venues alongside video and photographic content along with a comprehensive World Cup travel site highlighting key information for anyone wanting to attend any of the match venues during the ICC Cricket World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

     

    Ponting commented, “I’m really excited to be joining the team at ESPNcricinfo.  I’ve been an avid consumer of the site for many years and now can’t wait to share my insights as a contributor especially as the next 12 months will have so many highlights and gripping contests.”

     

    ESPNcricinfo will also give global cricket fans the World Cup timeline section which deep dives into each of the previous World Cups, including galleries, quizzes, overview and videos from each of the World Cups. World Cup Vignettes, a new video series, will allow fans to relive 50 landmark moments from the ten previous World Cup tournaments. From exceptional individual performances to the raw emotion of the crowd, each vignette will feature interviews from players, umpires and journalists and be accompanied by a written article.

     

    Additionally, Mark Nicholas will present Men of the Finals, a series analysing the individuals who have produced exceptional performances to help their country win cricket’s most coveted international trophy. Hearing from the players themselves and those who witnessed their exploits first-hand the backstory and performance will be critiqued during each episode of the series. Users in the United States, Canada and the West Indies will be able to watch actual match clips for both World Cup Vignettes and Men of the Finals.

     

  • Vdopia announces APAC launch of Chocolate

    Vdopia announces APAC launch of Chocolate

    MUMBAI: Vdopia, the global leader in mobile and online video advertising has announced Asia-Pacific (APAC) launch of programmatic buying and selling platform exclusively for mobile video advertising.

    The new marketplace product called, Chocolate, is built from the ground up solely for mobile video advertising. It is designed for brand marketers and demand partners who want a highly functional marketplace platform that offers top quality mobile video inventory at significant scale with complete transparency. Chocolate is being launched with a potential audience reach of more than 200 million unique users globally.

    “Vdopia has constantly delivered excellent video ad campaigns for top brands in APAC. With more than 10,000+ mobile sites and apps globally, we are excited to support brands and publishers to deliver amazing ad experience in a more efficient manner,” said  Vdopia CEO Saurabh Bhatia and added, “With Chocolate, we’re providing an automated, scalable solution for advertisers to further take control of their campaigns; advertise on mobile with a high ROI; and generate more loyal customers. Chocolate is positioned to capitalize on macro trends including moves into programmatic and the emergence of mobile native advertising.”

    The Chocolate platform is device-agnostic and is compatible with all major operating systems. All ads served through Chocolate are vast compliant. The platform is integrated with leading demand partners, analytics providers such as Metamarkets and measurement partners including Nielsen (mobile OCR) and comScore vCE to provide a highly transparent, scalable and measurable advertising experience for brands and their agencies.

    “One of the unique advantages of Chocolate is its capability to provide real-time bidding to demand partners which have only basic VAST support but no RTB or Real Time Bidding capability,” said Vdopia CTO Srikanth Kakani.

    “The new marketplace unifies a fragmented mobile video market space and addresses growing mobile industry complexities including lack of standards, brand safety and a dearth of quality mobile video inventory” said Vdopia APAC senior VP Preetesh Chouhan. “Chocolate is the only marketplace that offers end to end functionality for scaling video ads on mobile and best monetisation opportunities for publishers”.

    Chocolate also allows leading brands to auto-play video ads on mobile web pages and apps, adjacent to content, on virtually any smartphone, without disrupting the user’s web-browsing experience. This keeps users on the page without annoying distractions and increases video reach and measurability. Chocolate takes advantage of Vdopia’s proprietary .VDO technology, which enables advertisers and publishers to seamlessly run video-enabled ads on the mobile web and apps using simple tags and SDKs.

     

  • Facebook partners with VivaConnect to scale-up its ‘Missed Call’ ad unit business

    Facebook partners with VivaConnect to scale-up its ‘Missed Call’ ad unit business

    MUMBAI: Keeping in tune with trends of emerging markets, Facebook has launched ‘Missed Call’ ad unit business in the feature phone heavy Indian market. To scale-up its reach over mobile devices, Facebook has partnered with VivaConnect for its missed call platform. VivaConnect holds India’s largest infrastructure for voice and missed call services.

     

    The ‘missed call’ advertisement is Facebook’s first foray into mobile service to empower advertisers effectively reach their consumers in developing markets. India, the second most populated country in the world is quickly catching up to the US as Facebook’s biggest market. In last April, Facebook had announced the crossing of 100 million users in India and thus expects higher revenue from this emerging market.

     

    The new missed call ad format comes in action as around 66 per cent Indians access Facebook on mobile devices of feature phone segment and a whopping 95 per cent of India’s mobile subscriber base has a pre-paid connection. A country where it’s a common norm among family and friends to dial a call and hang up after a ring expecting a response in return, the missed call ad format will definitely bolster brands advertising over Facebook, happening on mobile.

     

    “Consumer behavior in high-growth markets is changing very rapidly and we are poised to respond to that as quickly as possible. We see brands delivering useful and entertaining content like sports scores, news, or celebrity messages that people find valuable enough to take the time to listen to and interact with. There is also a good tie-in for direct response advertisers who can use the missed call unit as lead generation, where a person is essentially raising their hand and expressing interest in a good or service,” said Facebook product marketing manager for emerging markets Maxine Schlein.

     

    When a person sees an ad on Facebook they can place a ‘missed call’ by clicking the ad from their mobile device in the return call, the person will receive valuable content, such as music, cricket scores or celebrity messages, alongside a brand message from the advertiser, all without using airtime or data.

     

    The combination of user’s social data assembled over Facebook and the reach offered by VivaConnect’s missed call platform, together will allow brands to effectively target their consumers with the right kind of advertising. Content will be personalised effectively, matching up the highly diverse Indian user base. Also, mobile access will grant an individual reach for retargeting consumers in brands subsequent activities.

     

    “Facebook has been a hot trend over mobile in India and so have been missed call services. Together they would be a perfect solution for delivering an enhanced brand experience over Mobile. Missed calls offer an instant way to spark the conversations,” said VivaConnect managing director Vikram Raichura.

     

    Facebook’s ‘Missed call’ advertisement is a harbinger of great things to follow leveraging brand-consumer connect over mobile.