Applications

Retailers get creative; engage with consumers through digital media

Published

13 years ago

June 24, 2013

MUMBAI: Changing consumer trends have got retailers on their toes. The fight for attracting consumers and keeping them hooked has just got fiercer. The short attention span of consumers and return on investment (ROI) are the two challenges that retailers are currently struggling with.

What is interesting is that changing consumer purchasing trend have just made the retailers go more creative. Especially on the digital media front.

Customers even today want to feel the fabric and try the clothes they purchase says Andrew Campbell – Reliance Industries chief brand and marketing officer

“Tomorrow starts today. Are you ready for it?” asks Reliance Industries chief brand and marketing officer Andrew Campbell. The retailers are going big on their social media campaigning. “Consumers even today want to feel the fabric and try the clothes they are buying. This isn’t possible online. But, they do check out the online collection to compare prices and designs,” he informs. Though the channels, scale and technology for reaching out to customers has changed; trust, value, service and growth in retail still remains the same.

“Consumers are energetic and want more out of life. They lead packed lives and are constantly looking for new experiences,” opines Madura Fashion and Lifestyle brand head-Allen Solly Sooraj Bhat Ullal. Allen Solly embraces digital in all its forms. “We recognise that the consumer lives in the offline and online world simultaneously and seamlessly. Hence, from seeing digital as a channel/medium that is peculiar and separate – we need to move to seeing it in an integrated manner with the online world,” he adds.

The marketing strategy for both online and offline customers is same for Allen Solly says Sooraj Bhat Ullal – Madura Fashion and Lifestyle brand head

Digital media has brought consumers worldwide on the same platform. Allen Solly has more than one million fans on its Facebook page. “We are actively evaluating our presence in other social media like Pinterest, Four Square and Instagram,” informs Ullal. The youngsters which Allen Solly targets are screenagers.

“They are all on various social networking sites, making it easy for us to target them,” he says.

Converting a facebook fan into a customer is a function of engagement and relevance. “Our ‘Hot Fridays’ social media initiative, launched in October last year, was a huge success. We had been successful in engaging with the customer,” informed Ullal.

Shoppers Stop has gone way ahead in building relationships with its customers. ‘Perfect for me,‘ ‘First Citizen’, ‘Gift Box’ are the apps Shoppers Stop has launched to engage with its customers. “Our facebook page is interactive. We also keep a tab of what our consumers are doing through their facebook page. We customise our services based on the facebook activity of our fans,” says Shoppers Stop customer case associate and VP, marketing and loyalty Vinay Bhatia.

Our digital strategy has helped us gain a huge fan following on facebook and twitter says Vinay Bhatia – Shoppers Stop customer case associate and VP, marketing and loyalty

Shoppers Stop has also made around 100 YouTube videos which have been widely viewed and its channel has recorded 1.06+ million YouTube viewers. It has increased its fan base from 200,000 in 2011 to 4.6 million+ today. “We have the ‘most fashionable profile picture contest’ which also helps us engage with our customers,” he adds. “We have consumers who visit our website, facebook page and follow us on twitter. But, we are still looking at ways to convert these fans and followers into our loyal customers,” reiterates Bhatia.

Retail brands have gone big in creating a buzz on digital media. How will they get their return on investment? Only time will tell.

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Applications

Moltbook, the AI-only social network, sparks hype, doubt and fear

Published

2 weeks ago

February 3, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Moltbook, a Reddit-style social platform built exclusively for artificial intelligence agents, has emerged as the latest obsession in Silicon Valley, drawing intense attention for its explosive growth and surreal bot-driven interactions.

The platform hosts more than 100 communities where AI agents post, argue and joke about topics ranging from governance theory to esoteric “crayfish debugging” concepts. Within days of launch, Moltbook recorded tens of thousands of posts, nearly 200,000 comments and more than 1 million human visitors observing the activity.

Yet the numbers and the autonomy are under scrutiny, as per media reports. A security researcher has suggested as many as 500,000 accounts may trace back to a single address, raising doubts about Moltbook’s membership claims. Many posts could also be the result of humans instructing their AI tools to publish content, rather than bots acting independently.

The platform runs on agentic AI, powered by an open-source tool called OpenClaw, formerly known as Moltbot. Unlike chatbots such as ChatGPT or Gemini, these agents are designed to perform tasks on users’ devices, from sending messages to managing calendars, with minimal human input. Once authorised, they can interact freely on Moltbook.

Some tech figures have hailed the platform as a glimpse of a post-human internet. Head of crypto custody firm BitGo Bill Lees, called it evidence that “we’re in the singularity”.

Academics are less convinced. Petar Radanliev, an AI and cybersecurity expert at the University of Oxford, said the idea of agents acting independently was “misleading”, describing Moltbook instead as automated coordination within human-set constraints. Columbia Business School assistant professor David Holtz, dismissed the spectacle as “thousands of bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves”.

Beyond hype, security worries loom large. ESET global cybersecurity advisor Jake Moore, warned that granting AI agents access to emails, private messages and files risks prioritising efficiency over privacy. Andrew Rogoyski of the University of Surrey said high-level system access could lead to serious damage, from erased data to compromised company accounts.

Even OpenClaw’s founder Peter Steinberger, has felt the darker side of attention, with scammers hijacking his old social media handles after the platform’s rebrand.

For now, Moltbook remains a strange digital zoo: part experiment, part spectacle, where AI agents banter about philosophy, productivity and, occasionally, their fondness for their human operators.

Applications

Apple appoints Avtar Ram Singh as head of international marketing

Published

2 weeks ago

February 2, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

CALIFORNIA: Apple has handed a bigger global brief to a long-time insider. Avtar Ram Singh has taken over as head of international marketing for the App Store, Apple Arcade and the Apple Games app, deepening his remit across one of the company’s fastest-growing businesses.

“I’m happy to share that I’m starting a new position as head of international marketing, App Store, Apple Arcade and Games App at Apple,” Singh said while announcing the move.

The promotion crowns nearly seven years at Apple, where Singh has led services marketing across Southeast Asia and India and previously served as head of marketing for Southeast Asia content and services, business lead for Apple Podcasts in the region and interim marketing lead for the App Store internationally.

His new portfolio spans three pillars of Apple’s services push. The App Store, which Apple positions as a safe and trusted discovery platform, now attracts more than 850 million average weekly users globally. Since 2008, developers have earned over $550 billion on the platform.

Apple Arcade, the company’s gaming subscription service, offers unlimited access to a catalogue ranging from brain teasers to big-name franchises. The recent addition of Sid Meier’s Civilization VII Arcade Edition brings a AAA PC title to iPhone, iPad and Mac from 5 February.

Then there is the Apple Games app, unveiled at WWDC as a unified destination for games from the App Store and Arcade. It aggregates titles in one place, surfaces personalised recommendations, tracks events and achievements, and lets users compete with friends or connect controllers for a console-like experience.

Singh arrives with a hybrid background in strategy, data and creativity. His career spans digital and social media marketing, business intelligence, content, editorial and analytics across culturally diverse markets. He has worked on brands including P&G, Accor, Audi, UBS, Nikon, Samsung, Sony, Pizza Hut, HBO and Singapore Airlines-linked businesses such as Scoot.

Before Apple, Singh led strategy at Falcon Agency, focusing on performance marketing and ROI-driven digital frameworks. He earlier ran the social practice at Publicis Singapore, where he oversaw operations, business development and regional social strategy for multinational clients. His career also includes roles at Ogilvy-linked Circus Social, Rocket Internet ventures Lazada and Zalora, and research firm IDC in Bangkok, where he analysed technology markets and won early awards for collaboration and client retention.

At Apple, he has been close to several service launches and expansions, including Apple Fitness+ in Singapore, Apple Creator Studio, global podcast subscriptions and new App Store marketing tools.

The timing is notable. Apple’s services business has posted record years, and gaming is becoming a sharper battleground as platforms chase engagement and recurring revenue. Singh’s brief sits at the intersection of content, community and commerce.

In a market where attention is scarce and loyalty scarcer, Apple is betting that sharper storytelling and smarter marketing can keep users inside its ecosystem. Singh now holds the megaphone. The real test will be how loudly the world listens.

Applications

Cloud nine in the capital Bharathcloud plugs Delhi into its AI plans

Published

2 weeks ago

January 30, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: Bharathcloud is bringing its cloud closer to power. The Hyderabad-based sovereign AI cloud services provider has opened its Delhi office, marking its formal entry into North India and setting the stage for its next phase of growth.

The expansion comes as India’s digital transformation fuels rising demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, driven by wider adoption of artificial intelligence, machine learning, the Internet of Things and data-heavy applications. With the new office, Bharathcloud plans to onboard more than 100 employees in 2026, strengthening its workforce to support customers across government, enterprises, MSMEs and social sectors.

The Delhi presence is expected to sharpen the company’s engagement with organisations seeking secure, scalable and cost-efficient cloud platforms that comply with India’s data sovereignty requirements. It also positions Bharathcloud closer to policy, public sector and enterprise decision-makers in the region.

Founded in Hyderabad, Bharathcloud offers AI-ready cloud infrastructure including Kubernetes-as-a-Service, zero-trust security architecture and multi-level data protection frameworks. Its platform supports AI and ML workloads, blockchain application migration from hyperscalers and distributed data management, with an emphasis on reliability, low latency and operational continuity.

“With the Delhi expansion, we are positioning Bharathcloud to engage more closely with AI-driven enterprises and technology hubs in North India,” said Bharathcloud co-founder Rahul Takallapally. He added that the move would help nurture local cloud and AI talent while accelerating the adoption of secure and resilient AI infrastructure across sectors.

The company currently operates in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Kolkata, Lucknow and Chennai, employing over 200 people and serving more than 1,500 clients across manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, IT and media. Aligned with national initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Bharathcloud continues to focus on building indigenous AI-cloud infrastructure to support data localisation and the country’s growing appetite for next-generation digital solutions.

With its Delhi office now live, the company is signalling a clear intent: to make sovereign, AI-ready cloud infrastructure not just an alternative, but a mainstream choice for India’s north as well as its tech capitals.