ITV

Tag: Facebook India

  • “We are helping SMBs build a sustainable online model”: Facebook India’s Ajit Mohan

    “We are helping SMBs build a sustainable online model”: Facebook India’s Ajit Mohan

    KOLKATA: Facebook has always expressed its interest in small businesses globally. Moreover, a large chunk of the social media platform’s advertising revenue comes from that segment. Likewise in the Indian market, the company is putting a lot of energy to help small businesses come back faster from the pandemic crisis. In terms of ad spends, that market is coming back well as well as the overall number is moving up.

    Facebook India vice president and managing director Ajit Mohan spoke about its deep-rooted commitment to small business while participating in APOS 2020. “Around the world, businesses are starting to come back and a lot of our energy is leaning towards how we can help small businesses come back faster to where they can build a sustainable model,” said Mohan.

    “Facebook is fundamentally a marketing platform that is tuned to need of small businesses. Around the world what we have seen is that most frugal marketing spend come to Facebook because this is where small businesses can grow. Through the second half of March and April, we did see a very tight lockdown in India that had an impact on the ad market. But that started to change especially in the last few weeks of June and heading into July we see the numbers moving up,” Mohan added.

    Mohan also stated that experts tend to not incorporate and count India’s vibrant online ad market. One per cent of startups and five per cent of enterprises actually do spend money disproportionately on digital to find new sources of growth.

    Covid2019 has accelerated the shift from offline to online. It has brought new cohorts of users to the digital platform. According to him, the behaviour of coming online got hyperdrive. Facebook also saw extraordinary growth for all its platforms it sees that continuing.

    Mohan, who worked alongside Jio when he was in Hotstar, is again working as a partner of the former as Facebook has acquired a minority stake in Jio Platforms. According to him, there is an alignment of the mission of two companies. While Facebook’s energy comes from the belief in giving people the power to build community online, he sees the same passion in Jio as it is playing the role of enabler in the digital ecosystem. Moreover, the alliance of WhatsApp-Jio Mart was one of the focus areas of the Facebook-Jio deal. Mohan said if they could pioneer a certain model of shopping on WhatsApp giving a lean structure to it, Facebook could take the model globally.

    “We are just at the beginning of an exciting hockey stick. If we look at the last few years, the first phase of work was all-around access. The number of 4G users has gone from 50 million to 550 million in less than four years. It has all happened in a very short period of time and that’s the foundation. In the foundation phase, it has lit up multiple sectors. Now, the next five to 10 years will be to see the impact of all the hard work that has been done on the access front,” Mohan commented on the overall ecosystem.

    “If we can bring 60 million businesses online that creates an impact for leveraging the 550 million consumers who have already come online. Connecting the dot between businesses and consumers will open up the explosive economic opportunity not for just those businesses but for others who seek to serve them. With innovation, all kinds of opportunities open up in education, health, etc., and in ways that have barely scratched the surface. We have done the hard work and set up the foundation. Now is the moment to translate that to real innovation and economic opportunity,” he added.

  • Covid2019 boosts digital influence on consumers

    Covid2019 boosts digital influence on consumers

    NEW DELHI: Over the course of the last three months, consumers attitude and behaviour has gone through some very fundamental changes, shared Nimisha Jain, managing director and partner, Boston Consulting Group, while releasing the latest Facebook India-BCG findings. The novel SarsCov2 crisis has given a major boost to digital influence on consumers in the country. 

    The findings were revealed during a virtual event and panel discussion attended by several leaders of India Inc, and saw businesses such as Samsung India, Mondelez India and Big Bazaar, all of which have deep offline retail networks, throw light on how they’ve leveraged digital in these times.

    “If you go back in history, SARS in 2003 was a tipping point for e-commerce in China. We believe that this [the pandemic and lockdown] is an important time when we could have a similar shift in India as well,” Jain added.

    A key takeaway from the reports is that 70 per cent of urban consumers for mobile and 55-60 per cent for apparel will be digitally influenced. It’s critical that brands amp up their digital engagement and customise their proposition to win in the new normal.

    The report says that the online share for mobile phones is likely to reach 45 per cent in the coming two years; up from 38 per cent in the pre-crisis days. 

    The report has highlighted smartphones as an ‘essential’ category in consumer’s daily life, consumer spending sentiment for mobile phones continues to garner mixed responses. Around 29 per cent of the respondents to the BCG survey said they are more likely to decrease spending in the next six months; 40 per cent of which might buy a cheaper variant of a mobile phone, while 15 per cent of them might look at a cheaper brand altogether.

    The report says that three kinds of consumer trends have made the smartphone even more central to our lives—a reversal of past trends such as bringing the outside in-home through virtual experiences, acceleration of past trends leading to stronger adoption of digital and online, and the formation of new habits such as DIY. No wonder that 55 per cent of those surveyed said that they intend to increase spends on mobile phone via an online channel in the next six months.

    “We know that digital influence has significantly increased across the path-to-purchase – up to 70 per cent for some categories. We are now seeing businesses convert this increased digital influence into tangible business outcomes. A significant digital acceleration has happened on the back of social media, and with 400 million + Indians connected on the Facebook family of apps in India, we play a consequential role in the consumer journey. The opportunity for businesses now is to adopt new solutions that are now available, across the funnel – replicate in-person experiences by bringing alive virtual experiences, focus on efficiency and truly incremental outcomes by platform, and leverage friction-less ways of staying in touch with the consumer in times of physical distancing," shared Facebook India director and head global marketing solutions Sandeep Bhushan.

    90 per cent of consumers who have purchased apparel online during the lockdown has shown a willingness to continue. Within CPG, this figure is 80 per cent for food-related sub-categories, and 84 per cent for non-food-related sub-categories, these trends might follow beyond the pandemic, says the report.

    Futurebrands consulting MD and CEO Santosh Desai, one of the panellists, shared that the pandemic has made us adapt to new habits for instance online education, cooking etc. “Today we are forced to think of things in a new way and what will remain are the opportunities. Marketers should not be complacent, they should dig deep to challenge the current trends.”

    Furthermore, the report reveals that people intend to explore online channels a lot more for purchasing smartphones, consumer packaged goods, and apparel in the coming six months. For instance, 55 per cent intend to increase online spends on mobile phones in the next six months.

  • Digital influence in urban consumers rises up to 70%: Facebook India-BCG

    Digital influence in urban consumers rises up to 70%: Facebook India-BCG

    NEW DELHI: Facebook India and Boston Consulting Group have released three new reports that delve into Covid2019-induced changes in the consumer path-to-purchase across mobile phones, apparel, and consumer packaged goods (CPG) categories. The reports are the follow up to the ‘Turn The Tide’ report released last month.

    A key takeaway from the latest reports is that digital influence has increased significantly in urban consumers – up to 70 per cent for mobiles , 55 to 60 per cent for apparel, and up to 20-25 per cent for non-food CPG categories.

    There are three kinds of consumer trends that we are witnessing that have made the smartphone even more central to our lives – reversal of past trends such as bringing the outside in-home through virtual experiences, acceleration of past trends leading to stronger adoption of digital and online, and formation of new habits such as DIY.

    The findings were revealed during a virtual event and panel discussion attended by several leaders of India Inc, and saw businesses such as Samsung India, Mondelez India, and Big Bazaar, all of which have deep offline retail networks, throw light on how they’ve leveraged digital in these times.

    Said Facebook India director and head, global marketing solutions Sandeep Bhushan, “We know that digital influence has significantly increased across the path-to-purchase – up to 70 per cent some categories. We are now seeing businesses convert this increased digital influence into tangible business outcomes. A significant digital acceleration has happened on the back of social media, and with 400 million+ Indians connected on the Facebook family of apps in India, we play a consequential role in the consumer journey. The opportunity for businesses now is to adopt new solutions that are now available, across the funnel – replicate in-person experiences by bringing alive virtual experiences, focus on efficiency and truly incremental outcomes by platform, and leverage friction-less ways of staying in touch with the consumer in times of physical distancing.”

    The reports also points out that some of these trends are here to stay even beyond the pandemic. 90 per cent of consumers who have purchased apparel online during the lockdown show willingness to continue. Within CPG, this figure is 80% for food related sub-categories, and 84 per cent for non-food related sub-categories. Furthermore, the reports reveal that people intend to explore online channels a lot more for purchasing smartphones, consumer packaged goods, and apparel in the coming six months. For instance, 55 per cent intend to increase online spends for mobile phones in the next six months.

    Boston Consulting Group, managing director & partner Nimisha Jain said, “Across mobile, apparel and CPG, we are observing changes in how and what consumers buy. We expect the online sales market for mobiles to touch 45 per cent in the next 2 years. 8 in 10 consumers are avoiding going out, which will lead to casualization of wardrobes. Nearly one in two consumers plan to increase spend on heath and immunity related food products. 70 per cent urban consumers for mobile and 55-60 per cent  for apparel will be digitally influenced. It’s critical that brands amp up their digital engagement and customise their proposition to win in the new normal”

    How Leading Brands Are Building For The New Path-To-Purchase

    Samsung India senior vice president Asim Warsi said, "As India's largest consumer electronics company, we have taken the onus to create new shopper journeys to aid physical distancing by leveraging our digital technologies with our deep retail presence in India. Facebook is our partner in this journey of helping our retail channel discover and target local consumers digitally. In addition, we have enabled consumers to purchase our mobile and electronic products online, whilst getting the deliveries offline from their neighborhood Samsung retail stores. Also, we are now delivering our financing solution – Samsung Finance+ – to the consumers' doorsteps. These digitally forward initiatives have helped us make a sharp recovery post lockdown.”

    Mondelez India director-marketing (chocolates) Anil Viswanathan said, “At Mondelez India, we understand the role our products play in our consumers’ life. While essential items continue to remain a key priority amongst consumers, in home snacking has come to take precedence as part of the ritual of spending more time with family or with oneself. Amplified social media influence has also triggered a trend wherein homebound consumers are now increasingly looking at ways to indulge in or create at home moments and in doing so they are predominantly relying on trusted brands like Cadbury, Oreo, Tang etc., which represent superior quality and the assurance of safety amid these uncertain times. Understanding that time and safety are the essence of the moment, we are leveraging all existing channels, and experimenting with new ones ala Direct to Consumer to serve our consumers. The key is to continue to remain agile and adapt to the changing requirements of our consumers and to facilitate ease of service across channels.”

    Three Steps Business Can Take Across The Funnel To Build For The Increasing Digital Influence:

    Leveraging the cross-industry experience and consumer understanding of Boston Consulting Group and Facebook India, the report also lays out recommendations for mobile, CPG and apparel businesses to explore along the new path-to-purchase. Examples highlighted below.

    Pre-Purchase: 

    o   Create digital experiences and influence to replicate in-person experiences: Due to physical distancing, less number of people are likely to walk into a store, experience the product, and make a consecutive purchase. Therefore, more virtual experiences need to be built for the remote living reality.

    Brand example: Recently Samsung partnered with Facebook to train offline retailers to go digital in a big way. In the first phase, Samsung and Facebook have already trained more than 800 offline retailers, with more training sessions lined up in the coming weeks. The training is focused on enabling offline retailers build a digital presence through the Facebook family of apps, making their business known locally, and building credibility among the local population by setting-up their business pages and accounts on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. As a result, the offline retailers are likely to witness a growth in their business as they discover more local consumers online.

    Purchase:

    o   Relook at media mix model urgently to build efficiency in acquisition: As businesses, and especially those with traditional product categories, start spending more online, they would feel the urgent need to understand truly incremental outcomes by platform as well as cross-platform efficiency. This would increase the need for industry-leading digital measurement standards.

    Brand example: Cadbury 5 STAR ran Facebook and Instagram video ads in 2019, and saw*:

    o   2.6X return on ad spend from Facebook as indexed to TV

    o   1.8X return on ad spend from Instagram as indexed to TV

    o   5.8X return on ad spend from short video ads on Facebook and Instagram

    o   1.3X higher return on ad spend from ads with upfront branding

    *As per custom mix modelling (CMM) by Nielsen

    With the rise in demand for in-home snacking during lockdown, Cadbury Chocolates leveraged their website to bring consumer's favorite snacking brands right to their doorstep. Both Facebook and Instagram were instrumental in getting the message across. Cadbury Chocolates witnessed 1.2x return on investment as a result of this.

    Post-Purchase

    ·       Stay connected with your consumer in times of physical distancing: In times of physical distancing, it’s essential to stay in touch with the customer and continuously eliminate friction in the path-to-purchase. Consequently, conversational marketing digital solutions driven by WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and digital CRM tools can prove to be very effective to engage the consumer with value-driven outreach after the purchase has taken place.

    Brand example: With increased digital adoption (recharges, bill payments etc.) amongst the telecom customers, Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) launched a WhatsApp chatbot to cater to consumer's needs

    Follow Tellychakkar for the consumer facing news & entertainment

  • India leads Facebook daily active user growth

    India leads Facebook daily active user growth

    MUMBAI: India has fuelled the social media giant Facebook’s daily active user growth which increased by 9 per cent to 1.62 billion in the quarter ending September.

    “Daily active users reached 1.62 billion, up 9 per cent  compared to last year, led by growth in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines. This represents approximately 66 per cent of the 2.45 billion monthly active users in September," Facebook chief financial officer David Wehner said.

    Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg also added on an optimistic note that the social media giant will soon be able to fully launch WhatsApp Pay in India.

    “We’re working on payments in WhatsApp. We have our tests going on in India. We’re very optimistic that we are going to be able to launch to everyone in India soon," he said.

    Facebook beat analysts estimation in the quarter in sales and witnessed steady user growth reporting $6.09 billion net income and reaching 2.45 billion monthly average users.

  • Facebook plans to invest in tech startups of India

    Facebook plans to invest in tech startups of India

    MUMBAI: Social media giant Facebook is planning to invest in technology startups of India. Few months back, the first minority investment that Facebook made was in Meesho. Speaking at the opening session of the second edition of ‘Huddle Kerala 2019,’ Facebook India vice president and managing director revealed the plan.

    “We now have shown willingness to make direct investments in technology startups in India. We are willing to spend our time, and energy to tap the massive depth of engineering talent in the country,” Mohan said.

    The first investment Meesho could bring 2,00,000 first-time female entrepreneurs online which relies on the existing behaviour of communities in India and leverages on women entrepreneurs essentially pitching products to their friends and families.

    “It is an innovation that was coming out of India which can be exported to rest of the world, and that model has scaled a dramatic impact in job creation. Any analysis of economy, most of the job creation happens from small business,” Mohan added.

  • Facebook and Instagram roll out music products in India

    Facebook and Instagram roll out music products in India

    MUMBAI: Facebook announced new ways for people in India to express themselves through music on Facebook and Instagram, with music stickers on Stories and other creative tools such as Lyrics on Instagram, Lip Sync Live, and the ability to add songs to their Facebook Profiles.

    With the roll-out of music products today, people across India can add the latest tracks such as Bekhayali – Kabir Singh, Ve Maahi – Kesari, to super hits like Dil Diyan Gallan from Tiger Zinda Hai, and regional hits like Lahore by Guru Randhawa, Zingaat from Sairat as well as old classics like Bas Ek Sanam Chaahiye from Aashiqui, to their Facebook and Instagram Stories.

     “Facebook and music share something special — they both bring people together and enable personal expression. And that’s why music is important for us. We want to make it possible for the Facebook and Instagram communities to express themselves and connect around music on our platforms. With India’s strong music ecosystem, we're thrilled to open up the ability for people in the country to include music in the moments they share on our platforms. We've partnered with the Indian music community to enable these new products, and we look forward to seeing all the ways people in India use them to express themselves in fun and engaging way, ” Facebook India director and head of partnerships Manish Chopra commented on the launch.

    Earlier this year, Facebook India announced partnerships with top music labels T-Series Music, Zee Music Company and Yash Raj Films, licensing their music for use in social experiences on Facebook and Instagram.

     “We continue to see fast adoption of Stories across our family of apps. Today, with the launch of music stickers on Stories, we are excited about giving new ways for people to express and connect with their friends, ” Facebook head of video and music products Paresh Rajawat said.

    Product details:

    Music on Facebook and Instagram Stories

    Starting today, people will be able to add a song to their photos and videos on their Stories. Simply open the camera on Facebook or Instagram or select a photo or video from your gallery, touch the sticker icon and add the Music sticker. After choosing a song, you will be able to select which part of it you would like to highlight on your story, and add the artist's name and track title. Knowing that Hindi film music is integral to music in India, people will be able search for music by Actor and Actress names, in addition to search by Film Name, Singer Name as well as a Song name. People can also search for songs by language.

    Lyrics on Instagram: Additionally, if the song has lyrics available, they will automatically pop up. Tap through the icons to change the animation and text style, and move the lyrics around, rotate or resize it like you would a normal sticker.

    Lip Sync Live on Facebook: will allow you to perform and dub songs live on Facebook. Friends can check your performance in real time and follow the lyrics of the songs while you have fun together.

    To create one, just select the "Lip Sync Live" option when starting a Live on Facebook – choose a song, add a description and customize the video with filters or a background. During broadcasts, friends will be able see the name of the artist and song featured on the video and be able to directly tap to follow the singer or band on Facebook.

    Music on Facebook Profile: will allow people to add tracks to a new music section on your Facebook Profile. In addition, you can pin songs at the top of your Profile, so your friends learn more about you. Songs fixed to your Profile will visually show the artist and the track. When your friends play a song on your Profile, they will be able to hear a small clip or choose to listen to the complete track through streaming platforms. They can add the same song to their Profiles or click to visit the singer or band's Page.

  • Facebook appoints Hotstar’s Ajit Mohan as India MD & VP in major coup

    Facebook appoints Hotstar’s Ajit Mohan as India MD & VP in major coup

    MUMBAI: The social media giant Facebook finally ends its hunt to find a head for India operations. Facebook has appointed Ajit Mohan as Managing Director and Vice-President of Facebook India. He will join Facebook early next year.
    In this newly created role of Managing Director for India, a VP-level role, one of the most important responsibilities for this person will be aligning teams and driving Facebook’s overall strategy in India. This is a new structure for Facebook India of having a senior leader reporting into Menlo Park and not Asia Pacific.
    “India is one of the largest and most strategically important countries for Facebook. As we think about what it will take to achieve our mission of bringing people together and building community, we know that investment in India is critical. Ajit’s depth of experience will help us to continue to have a positive impact in India across communities, organizations, businesses and with policy makers”, Facebook Inc vice-president of business and marketing partnerships said David Fischer.
    “I am delighted to take on the mantle of shaping Facebook’s charter in India. It is a unique opportunity to shape the agenda of a company that has brought the world closer together in one of the most exciting markets in the world. I look forward to championing India in Facebook and working with stakeholders across the spectrum to help build deep and meaningful communities across the country” Ajit Mohan commented.
    He joins Facebook from Hotstar, the streaming platform launched by Star India, where he was Chief Executive Officer. He launched and built Hotstar into India’s leading premium video streaming platform. Ajit is an alumnus of McKinsey and Company’s New York office where he worked with media companies around the globe as well as served as a Fellow at the McKinsey Global Institute, where he focused on India’s rapid urbanization. He is a graduate of the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

  • FB and BloombergQuint collaborate for live biz news service

    FB and BloombergQuint collaborate for live biz news service

    MUMBAI: BloombergQuint has collaborated with Facebook for its live video streaming service ‘BQ Live’. It is a digital business news live streaming service that includes comprehensive programming on a daily basis from global and domestic markets coverage to views from the most influential newsmakers in business, economy and finance.

    BloombergQuint had launched this service last month at the Bloomberg India Economic Forum, which featured India’s finance minister Arun Jaitley and a host of other policy makers and corporate leaders.

    Speaking on the collaboration, BloombergQuint managing editor Menaka Doshi said, “Being multi-platform and digital-first has been core to our DNA since inception and this partnership epitomizes that philosophy. This will help us extend the reach and engagement of BQ Live appreciably, bringing high quality business content to decision-makers, entrepreneurs and young corporate audiences.”

    Facebook India head of news partnerships Varun Gupta said, “With over 200 million people using Facebook monthly, more and more people are logging in on Facebook to consume content that best informs and entertains them. We are happy to see Bloomberg|Quint use our platform to build immersive experiences for their viewers via such an engaging format as Facebook Live. With Facebook Live, BQ’s viewers will be not only able to consume news real-time but participate in the storytelling via interactive features such as comments, reactions, and questions.”

    Starting with pre-market cues and news, the service provides consumers with live insights into the markets throughout the day, culminating with perspectives and analysis in the evening. The live streaming service is available on www.bloombergquint.com and top social platforms, and pending regulatory approvals, will debut on leading cable and DTH platforms.

    Since going Live on facebook, BQ Live has already seen more than to 2 million video views for its top shows. The Live programming begins with Daybreak at 7 am. On weekdays, followed by power-packed markets programming through shows like Indian Open , The F&O show, Hot Money, #AskBQ, Power Lunch, Countdown and then perspective driven content through shows like Primetime and the Primetime Debate.

    BloombergQuint currently reaches more than 2 million monthly users across its on-site and partner platforms. During Budget 2017, BloombergQuint delivered over 50 million in reach, including 15 million video views and more than 25k shares on social media, ahead of several legacy players in the space.

     

     

  • Facebook India’s Umang Bedi quits, Sandeep Bhushan to be interim MD

    Facebook India’s Umang Bedi quits, Sandeep Bhushan to be interim MD

    MUMBAI: Facebook India and South Asia MD Umang Bedi has put in his papers. Facebook has confirmed the development.

    For a smoother transition, Facebook confirmed that Bedi, who had joined in July last year, will be staying on for three months. Although no replacement has been announced, Sandeep Bhushan would be the interim MD.

    A Facebook spokesperson said, “We confirm that Umang Bedi will be leaving at the end of this year. He’s built a really strong team and business during his time with us, and we wish him all the best.”

    Bedi is the recipient of the prestigious ‘40 Under Forty: India’s Hottest Business Leaders Award 2014’ given away by The Economic Times and Spencer Stuart in 2014.

    Bedi, an engineering graduate from University of Pun and an alumnus of Harvard Business School, had come to Facebook from Adobe India, where he was the managing director south Asia, replacing Kirthiga Reddy — who had served for over five years and returned to Facebook headquarters in the US.

    ALSO READ :

    Regional news’ online viewership is billion-plus every month: Vidooly

    Nick and Colors Kannada among top FB, YouTube monthly views: Culture Machine analysis

    Facebook exec ponders: How to hold the brain’s attention?

    Differentiated brand critical as online video, mobile ads may expand at 40-51 pc CAGR by ’21: KPMG-FICCI