Connect with us

MAM

IAMAI talks digital

Published

on

MUMBAI: It’s time to take conversations on digital to the next level believes CMOs. At the 10th marketing conclave hosted by Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) the point of discussions revolved around how brands are and should revise digital business and promotional strategies.

 

While it is understood that for brands today ‘digital’ is a must have platform in its media mix; marketers are willing to go beyond the traditional line of communication. It is interesting to note how CMOs are thinking digital to push business as not just another medium of promotion, but are now ready to revise digital strategies too.

 

Today, traditional advertisements are created thinking whether or not it would be shared online. Word-of-mouth now happens more on digital platforms like social and mobile.

Advertisement

 

According to Taj Group’s director internet marketing Namrita Sehgal, the change will begin when marketers start thinking digital. “Humanising communication and offering personalised experiences is what brands need to start doing on digital. Consumers should be spoilt for choices because today there are multiple windows to cater to.”

 

There will always be price parity and someone will always give you that extra per cent off believes Pinstrom founder Mahesh Murthy.

 

Advertisement

Different brand categories have different needs to take care of on digital but the bottom line of every move needs to revolve around the engagement factor. Vodafone Group head- marketing Vodafone Solutions- Emerging Markets advices, “Brands shouldn’t shy away from the changing dynamics of communication.”

 

MoneyControl.com chief operating officer Rubeena Singh thinks this challenge comes from the ever changing consumer need. Brands need to start looking at integration with more seriousness; if the plan is to make a mark. Valuefirst chief executive officer, Vishwadeep Bajaj is of the opinion that the need of the hour is to make content contextual. On the other hand, Puma India’s head-marketing Isaac John, thinks that brands should focus on putting across content to the point and not bombard them. “The art of storytelling needs to be crafted well if brands want to make a mark on digital too,” added John.

 

For Sehgal, spotting loyal consumers and building communities on digital media is on his to-do list for the days to come. Singh too believes that content marketing is the way to go. Marketers have started looking at roping in the right talent to enhance digital business and communication. It can also be observed that SMEs are getting it right on digital. For these scale of businesses digital has been like a game changer. Mass brands are impressed by the way these small businesses are hitting the right cord on digital.

Advertisement

 

To create digital first strategies, brands over time have also transformed themselves to suit the current screen to screen era. McDonalds director marketing & PR Rameet Arora emphasises on the point that today a customer wants everything with just one click of a mouse. “For instance, if a person wants to know how many calories does a type of burger has, we at McDonalds have to give him that. Brands have to make sure that all the criteria’s of a customer’s needs are fulfilled.”

 

The CMOs feel that the digital model has helped smaller brands to compete and grow as well. Marketing Unplugged CEO Suman Srivastava pointed out the Zomato model.

 

Advertisement

MTV India digital head Ekalavya Bhattacharya went on say that the need today is not only to get a viewer on board but to also know his/her preference and work according to that so he/she comes to the medium again and again. “If a person listens to a particular kind of a song say on the website or on our app then we should be equipped enough to know that he/she needs to be contacted when say a musician of his/her choice plays in the city.”

 

An idealist thought indeed.

 

It is impressive to see how serious marketers are towards digital. For marketers the road ahead on digital looks easy to discover because the communication has definitely gone to the next level. The only thing that might come as a hurdle is the challenge to decode big data smartly and get focused. 

Advertisement

MAM

Nielsen launches co-viewing pilot to sharpen TV measurement

Super Bowl pilot to refine how shared TV audiences are counted

Published

on

MUMBAI: Nielsen is taking a fresh stab at one of television’s oldest blind spots: how many people are actually watching the same screen. The audience-measurement giant on February 4 unveiled a co-viewing pilot that uses wearable devices to better capture shared viewing, starting with America’s biggest broadcast stage.

The trial begins with Super Bowl LX on NBC on February 8, 2026, before extending to other high-profile live sports and entertainment events in the first half of the year. The goal is simple but commercially potent: count viewers more accurately, especially during live spectacles that pull families and friends to one screen.

The new approach leans on Nielsen’s proprietary wearable meters, wrist-worn devices that resemble smartwatches. These passively capture audio signatures from TV content, logging exposure to shows, films and live events without requiring viewers to sign in or self-report. In theory, fewer clicks, fewer lapses, better data.

Karthik Rao, Nielsen’s ceo, cast the move as part of a broader measurement push. He said the company’s task is to keep pushing accuracy as clients invest heavily in live programming that draws mass audiences. The co-viewing pilot, he added, builds on upgrades such as Big Data + Panel measurement, out-of-home expansion, live-streaming metrics and wearable-based tracking.

Co-viewing is not new territory for Nielsen, which has long tried to estimate how many people sit before a single set. What is new is the heavier integration of wearables and passive detection to reduce reliance on active inputs from panel homes.

Advertisement

For now, the pilot comes with caveats. Co-viewing estimates from the trial will not be folded into Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel ratings, which remain the industry’s trading currency. Instead, pilot findings will be shared with clients a few weeks after final Big Data + Panel ratings are delivered. Clients may disclose those findings publicly.

More impact data will follow later this year. Full integration into Nielsen’s marketing-intelligence suite is slated as a longer-term play, with a target of bringing co-viewing into currency measurement for the 2026–2027 season. This is only phase one, with further co-viewing enhancements planned beyond 2026 and additional timelines to be announced.

The push fits a wider pattern. Nielsen has in recent years expanded big-data integration, adopted first-party data for live-streaming measurement and broadened out-of-home tracking. It also positions itself as the reference point for streaming metrics through products such as The Gauge and the Nielsen Streaming Top 10.

In a market where billions of ad dollars hinge on decimal points, counting who is in the room matters. If Nielsen can pin down shared viewing, the humble sofa could become prime measurement real estate. The race to count every eyeball just found a new wrist to watch.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

on

Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.

Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.

“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.

The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.

Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.

Advertisement

The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.

Continue Reading

MAM

Meta appoints Anuvrat Rao as APAC head of commerce partnerships

Published

on

SINGAPORE: Anuvrat Rao has taken charge as APAC  head of commerce and signals partnerships at Meta, steering monetisation deals across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp from Singapore. The former Google executive, known for launching Google Assistant, PWAs, AMP and Firebase across Asia-Pacific, steps into the role after a high-growth stint as chief business officer at Locofy.ai.

At Locofy.ai, Rao helped convert a three-year free beta into a paid engine, clocking 1,000 subscribers and 15 enterprise clients within ten days of launch in September 2024. The low-code startup, backed by Accel and top tech founders, is famed for turning designs into production-ready code using proprietary large design models.

Before that, Rao founded generative AI venture 1Bstories, which was acquired by creative AI platform Laetro in mid-2024, where he briefly served as managing director for APAC. Alongside operating roles, he has been an active investor and advisor since 2020, backing startups such as BotMD, Muxy, Creator plus, Intellect, Sealed and CricFlex through a creator-economy-led thesis.

Rao spent over eight years at Google, holding senior partnership roles across search, assistant, chrome, web and YouTube in APAC, and earlier cut his teeth in strategy consulting at OC&C in London and investment finance at W. P. Carey in Europe and the US.

Continue Reading
Advertisement CNN News18
Advertisement whatsapp
Advertisement ALL 3 Media
Advertisement Year Enders

Trending

Copyright © 2026 Indian Television Dot Com PVT LTD