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  • Facebook-Google building 120-Tbps submarine cable to Asia by mid ’18

    Facebook-Google building 120-Tbps submarine cable to Asia by mid ’18

    MUMBAI: Two internet majors Facebook and Google have come together with Pacific Light Data Communications to build the first direct submarine cable system between Los Angeles (U.S.) and Hong Kong in efforts to speed up connections in Asia’s most happening business centre.

    The Pacific Light Cable Network (PLCN) will have 12,800km of fibre and an estimated cable capacity of 120 Tbps, making it the highest-capacity trans-Pacific route, a record held at present by Faster. another Google-backed cable system. PLCN will then provide enough capacity for Hong Kong to have 80 million concurrent HD video conference calls with Los Angeles.

    Google Networking Infrastructure director, Brian Quigley said Google’s mission was to connect people to the information by providing fast and reliable infrastructure, India TV reported. From data centres to cables under the sea, Google was dedicated to building infrastructure that reaches more people than ever before.

    Scheduled for commercial launch in summer of 2018, PLCN will include TE SubCom’s C+L technology, a major step forward in available cable transmission capacity that effectively doubles the available bandwidth and capacity per fiber pair over a traditional C-band-only designed system. Once completed, PLCN will be the highest-capacity transpacific route.

    “PLCN will be among the lowest-latency fiber optic routes between Hong Kong and the U.S. and the first to connect directly using ultra-high-capacity transmission,” said PLDC. chairman Wei Junkang.

    “It is certainly gratifying that global technology companies like Google and Facebook have become co-investors in PLCN. It is a strong signal that PLCN will be trusted to address the capacity needs for internet and international communications services throughout the Pacific Rim. We envision this deployment as the initial step in PLDC’s construction of a global network.”

    “PLCN will showcase the ultra-high-capacity designs and industry-leading wet plant technologies that have enabled TE SubCom to become the manufacturing partner of choice for the world’s most advanced undersea networks,” said Aaron Stucki, president of TE SubCom.

    Pacific Light Data Communication is set to become a leading regional broadband communications service provider that will build and operate the first subsea cable directly connecting Hong Kong and the US.

    TE SubCom, as a vertically integrated supplier, SubCom designs, manufactures, deploys, and maintains the industry’s most reliable fiber optic cable systems. Its solutions include long-haul and regional systems, repeaterless networks, capacity upgrades, offshore oil and gas, and scientific research applications. TE Connectivity is a $12 billion global technology leader whose connectivity and sensor solutions are essential in today’s increasingly connected world.

  • Bindass launches FBB Dance Anthem

    Bindass launches FBB Dance Anthem

    MUMBAI: As an essential fashion item in the wardrobes of everyone, it is not a big surprise that jeans have inspired plenty of talk and opinions over the years. From several Indian and international brands to Patanjali’s plan to launch Indianised jeans, denima has always managed to grab much of our attention. Staying true to deliver to its viewers a fun, upbeat and engaging anthem is Disney India’s Bindass channel.

    The Bindass team has conceptualized a denim dance with clothing brand FBB to reach out to the Indian youth in a unique and engaging way. The idea behind the campaign is to promote denim fits in a fun, engaging, entertaining manner that would appeal to the youngsters of this country.

    “At the heart of it all, we tell great stories in a manner that our consumers prefer. Over the last few years, we have come to understand the lives, motivations and preferences of our audiences through our constant conversations with them. Our partners have come to recognize this as they come to us with their objective and we conceptualize and create a story that can bring in the desired impact,” said Disney India vice president – Revenues, Media Networks, Nikhil Gandhi.

    Terrence Lewis has choreographed this anthem, featuring Lewis and Shantanu Maheshwari. The latter was associated with the channel since its reality series, Bindass Naach. The catchy upbeat music catalyses the soul of the campaign to the next level and is composed by Saurabh Kalsi.

    The campaign rolled out on both the channels (Bindass and Bindass Play) and digital platforms in the evening of 5 October.

    Through its television and digital reach, the campaign is targeted at all of the Bindass audiences between 15-21 spread across HSM markets. “The composition is peppy, upbeat, foot-tapping and will definitely see an appeal among youngsters; irrespective of the markets. The idea of the campaign is to be engaging and interactive and the digital platforms give us the ability to interact with our viewers,” added Gandhi.

    It will see a playout on Bindass’ Facebook page which reaches out to around eight million fans along with a YouTube play. At the time of writing, it had got in excess of 170,000 views. It will also be taken on ground with a big culmination activity on 16 October 2016.

    Lewis will also be visiting Mall of India in Noida and encourage everyone to join in the dance anthem. This will also be livestreamed on Facebook; reaching out to youngsters across. The radio channel, Radio City will also replicate the event across 15 cities with their RJs

    A media consultant is all praise for the FBB denim dance song. “It is a good example of content marketing and native advertising,” says she. “Jeans are worn by youth, and Bindass’ tying in FBB in a very peppy song is going to work well for the brand. Bindass, FBB and fans all stand to benefit.”

  • Bindass launches FBB Dance Anthem

    Bindass launches FBB Dance Anthem

    MUMBAI: As an essential fashion item in the wardrobes of everyone, it is not a big surprise that jeans have inspired plenty of talk and opinions over the years. From several Indian and international brands to Patanjali’s plan to launch Indianised jeans, denima has always managed to grab much of our attention. Staying true to deliver to its viewers a fun, upbeat and engaging anthem is Disney India’s Bindass channel.

    The Bindass team has conceptualized a denim dance with clothing brand FBB to reach out to the Indian youth in a unique and engaging way. The idea behind the campaign is to promote denim fits in a fun, engaging, entertaining manner that would appeal to the youngsters of this country.

    “At the heart of it all, we tell great stories in a manner that our consumers prefer. Over the last few years, we have come to understand the lives, motivations and preferences of our audiences through our constant conversations with them. Our partners have come to recognize this as they come to us with their objective and we conceptualize and create a story that can bring in the desired impact,” said Disney India vice president – Revenues, Media Networks, Nikhil Gandhi.

    Terrence Lewis has choreographed this anthem, featuring Lewis and Shantanu Maheshwari. The latter was associated with the channel since its reality series, Bindass Naach. The catchy upbeat music catalyses the soul of the campaign to the next level and is composed by Saurabh Kalsi.

    The campaign rolled out on both the channels (Bindass and Bindass Play) and digital platforms in the evening of 5 October.

    Through its television and digital reach, the campaign is targeted at all of the Bindass audiences between 15-21 spread across HSM markets. “The composition is peppy, upbeat, foot-tapping and will definitely see an appeal among youngsters; irrespective of the markets. The idea of the campaign is to be engaging and interactive and the digital platforms give us the ability to interact with our viewers,” added Gandhi.

    It will see a playout on Bindass’ Facebook page which reaches out to around eight million fans along with a YouTube play. At the time of writing, it had got in excess of 170,000 views. It will also be taken on ground with a big culmination activity on 16 October 2016.

    Lewis will also be visiting Mall of India in Noida and encourage everyone to join in the dance anthem. This will also be livestreamed on Facebook; reaching out to youngsters across. The radio channel, Radio City will also replicate the event across 15 cities with their RJs

    A media consultant is all praise for the FBB denim dance song. “It is a good example of content marketing and native advertising,” says she. “Jeans are worn by youth, and Bindass’ tying in FBB in a very peppy song is going to work well for the brand. Bindass, FBB and fans all stand to benefit.”

  • Facebook-FICCI to promote social sector innovations

    Facebook-FICCI to promote social sector innovations

    NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Facebook have joined to augment the Millennium Alliance (MA) initiative.

    Facebook has joined hands with FICCI as an Outreach and Knowledge partner to support and expand the development of the social enterprise sector in India. Both share the commitment to promote replication and scale of the selected social enterprise innovations across the South Asia and Africa regions in the identified priority areas of sanitation, education, health care, clean energy and agriculture.

    Facebook and FICCI together will also engage in organizing regular workshops & webinars for shortlisted applicants to promote the effectiveness of Facebook as a tool for promoting business and social innovations apart from helping them reach out and connect to relevant resources globally.

    The Millennium Alliance is an inclusive platform to leverage Indian creativity, expertise, and resources to identify, scale and expand the outreach of innovative solutions being developed and tested in India to address development challenges that will benefit ‘base of the pyramid’ populations across India and the world.

    The Millennium Alliance (MA) was launched in July 2012 jointly by the Technology Development Board of the Department of Science and Technology; USAID and FICCI to recognize India’s role as a global innovation laboratory, by identifying, testing and scaling solutions that leverage private and public sector resources and expertise to reduce the cost and increase the reach of development improvements in India and around the world. ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, ICCo Cooperation, UKAID, WISH Foundation & World Bank subsequently came on board as Program Partners. The MA aims to create significant developmental impact at the base of the pyramid population. So far, MA has funded 62 projects, dispersing close to Rs. 55,00,00,000 in its key focus sectors.

  • Facebook-FICCI to promote social sector innovations

    Facebook-FICCI to promote social sector innovations

    NEW DELHI: The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and Facebook have joined to augment the Millennium Alliance (MA) initiative.

    Facebook has joined hands with FICCI as an Outreach and Knowledge partner to support and expand the development of the social enterprise sector in India. Both share the commitment to promote replication and scale of the selected social enterprise innovations across the South Asia and Africa regions in the identified priority areas of sanitation, education, health care, clean energy and agriculture.

    Facebook and FICCI together will also engage in organizing regular workshops & webinars for shortlisted applicants to promote the effectiveness of Facebook as a tool for promoting business and social innovations apart from helping them reach out and connect to relevant resources globally.

    The Millennium Alliance is an inclusive platform to leverage Indian creativity, expertise, and resources to identify, scale and expand the outreach of innovative solutions being developed and tested in India to address development challenges that will benefit ‘base of the pyramid’ populations across India and the world.

    The Millennium Alliance (MA) was launched in July 2012 jointly by the Technology Development Board of the Department of Science and Technology; USAID and FICCI to recognize India’s role as a global innovation laboratory, by identifying, testing and scaling solutions that leverage private and public sector resources and expertise to reduce the cost and increase the reach of development improvements in India and around the world. ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth, ICCo Cooperation, UKAID, WISH Foundation & World Bank subsequently came on board as Program Partners. The MA aims to create significant developmental impact at the base of the pyramid population. So far, MA has funded 62 projects, dispersing close to Rs. 55,00,00,000 in its key focus sectors.

  • ShopClues rolls out ‘Itne Kum Mein’ TVC

    ShopClues rolls out ‘Itne Kum Mein’ TVC

    MUMBAI: ShopClues has rolled out its new TV ad campaign to usher in the joyous festive season with the right mood. The TVC brings to the fore the delightful offerings up for grabs this year o nShopClues with its tagline “Itne Kum Mein” (at such a low price).  A series of fresh catalogue digital films that illustrate the spread of high-value products along with discounted prices are showcased so that customers can make the best of the festive season sale from 1–10 October 2016. 

    Conceptualized and created by Enormous Brands, the TVC captures how a large assortment of products at never-before prices are being made available for ShopClues customers.

    One of India’s first and largest managed marketplace, ShopClues ad film opens with two girls having a conversation about how one of them enjoyed an incredible buying experience on ShopClues. She starts to describe the prices on ShopClues as “Itne Kum Mein, Itne Kum Mein, Itne Kum Mein” and the repetition continues.  The frame zooms out to reveal this conversation actually being shown on TV. The couple watching the TVC wonders if the visual is stuck, and taps the TV a few times, a husband struggling to fix the antenna, salesman watches as all the TV sets in an offline store play the same thing, the director at the shoot gets puzzled. The dialogue ends with the girl concluding, “Itne Kum Mein, ki kya bataun.” 

    ShopClues AVP-marketing Nitin Agarwal, said, “Through the TVC, we want to communicate to people that they can revel in the feeling of fulfillment this festive season and lay their hands on anything their heart desires as everything is available ‘Itne Kum Mein’.”  

    Enormous Brands’ managing partner Ashish Khazanchi, said, “The coveted products and unbelievable prices at ShopClues have always appealed to all the value-conscious buyers in the country. And that’s the reason we have introduced the colloquial phrase ‘Itne Kum Mein’ . Its recall value is instant.”

    The campaign also uses Outdoor, Facebook and YouTube along with Radio as support media to bring to life the amazing bargains. 

    Check out the ad:

  • ShopClues rolls out ‘Itne Kum Mein’ TVC

    ShopClues rolls out ‘Itne Kum Mein’ TVC

    MUMBAI: ShopClues has rolled out its new TV ad campaign to usher in the joyous festive season with the right mood. The TVC brings to the fore the delightful offerings up for grabs this year o nShopClues with its tagline “Itne Kum Mein” (at such a low price).  A series of fresh catalogue digital films that illustrate the spread of high-value products along with discounted prices are showcased so that customers can make the best of the festive season sale from 1–10 October 2016. 

    Conceptualized and created by Enormous Brands, the TVC captures how a large assortment of products at never-before prices are being made available for ShopClues customers.

    One of India’s first and largest managed marketplace, ShopClues ad film opens with two girls having a conversation about how one of them enjoyed an incredible buying experience on ShopClues. She starts to describe the prices on ShopClues as “Itne Kum Mein, Itne Kum Mein, Itne Kum Mein” and the repetition continues.  The frame zooms out to reveal this conversation actually being shown on TV. The couple watching the TVC wonders if the visual is stuck, and taps the TV a few times, a husband struggling to fix the antenna, salesman watches as all the TV sets in an offline store play the same thing, the director at the shoot gets puzzled. The dialogue ends with the girl concluding, “Itne Kum Mein, ki kya bataun.” 

    ShopClues AVP-marketing Nitin Agarwal, said, “Through the TVC, we want to communicate to people that they can revel in the feeling of fulfillment this festive season and lay their hands on anything their heart desires as everything is available ‘Itne Kum Mein’.”  

    Enormous Brands’ managing partner Ashish Khazanchi, said, “The coveted products and unbelievable prices at ShopClues have always appealed to all the value-conscious buyers in the country. And that’s the reason we have introduced the colloquial phrase ‘Itne Kum Mein’ . Its recall value is instant.”

    The campaign also uses Outdoor, Facebook and YouTube along with Radio as support media to bring to life the amazing bargains. 

    Check out the ad:

  • Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

    Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

    MUMBAI: Is Twitter up for sale? If the mounting media reports are to be believed, it most likely is. A queue of potential buyers is reportedly is lining up at its corporate doors. Among them: salesforce.com, Alphabet (google’s parent), Microsoft and Disney.

    Analysts say that it is no surprise that Twitter is in the market for buyers. It has been under tremendous pressure to find revenue streams what with the rising power of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social media outlets.

    Says an industry observer: “They received interest offer from salesforce.com and then probably Jack Dorsey, its CEO, and the board probably decided to pursue it as a strategy to see where it could lead to, and they have been fielding enquiries. For a media company, a Twitter acquisition makes sense as there are not too many companies on the social side out there with a subscriber base of 300 million. This is a good opportunity for them to make a play.”

    Salesforce.com is reportedly working with Bank of America on a potential bid while Disney is working with a financial advisor to evaluate whether they should throw their hat in the ring, says a Bloomberg report.

    Bloomberg appears to be betting on Disney being the front-runner. Reason: both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dorsey are pretty close. Dorsey is on the Disney board along with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. And, Iger has been mentoring Dorsey for sometime now. Additionally, the former has been working on evolving Disney — as its traditional cable TV business is under pressure from cord-cutting and video-on-demand streaming services – into increasing new media plays.

    In recent times, Disney has invested in video streaming service Hulu, Shane Smith digital media company Vice and HBO Now tech partner MLB’s BAMTech. Twitter too has partnered with BAMTech for its live streaming services, says Bloomberg.

  • Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

    Buyers queuing up to buy Twitter; Disney, Microsoft included

    MUMBAI: Is Twitter up for sale? If the mounting media reports are to be believed, it most likely is. A queue of potential buyers is reportedly is lining up at its corporate doors. Among them: salesforce.com, Alphabet (google’s parent), Microsoft and Disney.

    Analysts say that it is no surprise that Twitter is in the market for buyers. It has been under tremendous pressure to find revenue streams what with the rising power of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other social media outlets.

    Says an industry observer: “They received interest offer from salesforce.com and then probably Jack Dorsey, its CEO, and the board probably decided to pursue it as a strategy to see where it could lead to, and they have been fielding enquiries. For a media company, a Twitter acquisition makes sense as there are not too many companies on the social side out there with a subscriber base of 300 million. This is a good opportunity for them to make a play.”

    Salesforce.com is reportedly working with Bank of America on a potential bid while Disney is working with a financial advisor to evaluate whether they should throw their hat in the ring, says a Bloomberg report.

    Bloomberg appears to be betting on Disney being the front-runner. Reason: both Disney CEO Bob Iger and Dorsey are pretty close. Dorsey is on the Disney board along with Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg. And, Iger has been mentoring Dorsey for sometime now. Additionally, the former has been working on evolving Disney — as its traditional cable TV business is under pressure from cord-cutting and video-on-demand streaming services – into increasing new media plays.

    In recent times, Disney has invested in video streaming service Hulu, Shane Smith digital media company Vice and HBO Now tech partner MLB’s BAMTech. Twitter too has partnered with BAMTech for its live streaming services, says Bloomberg.

  • Dentsu, Facebook: the problem with digital advertising

    Dentsu, Facebook: the problem with digital advertising

    MUMBAI: The advertising industry just got a hit in an area where it hurts: right in the solar plexus. Last week, Japanese ad agency Dentsu which accounts for a lion’s share of advertising in Japan, admitted that it had overcharged (read: “fleeced”) digital clients to the tune of Yen 230 million between November 2012 and to date. Now, if that sounds like a lot of money it is only $2.3 million or about Rs 14-15 crore. The agency management discovered more than 633 suspicious transactions with 111 advertisers being impacted. Around 14 advertisers were charged but the ads were not placed on the internet at all.

    Dentsu has been expanding globally and it acquired the Aegis Network in 2012 at a cost of $5 billion and today around 50 per cent of its advertising comes from global operations. In India, it is led by Asish Bhasin with a clutch of agencies below its umbrella. Bhasin has been charting aggressive growth for the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) and has been shopping around for growth opportunities through acquisition. His latest buy was mega PR firm Perfect Relations.

    Coming back to the fudging of bills by Dentsu, its president and CEO Tadashi Ishii has clarified that it is restricted only to Japan. Said he in a press release issued earlier this week: “In relation to a part of our digital advertising services for advertisers (including performance-based digital advertising services) provided by our company and some of our group companies in Japan, it has been found that there were multiple incidents where services were provided inappropriately. Types of irregularities involving inappropriate operations which we have detected to date include discrepancies in advertising placement periods either made consciously or by human error, failure of placement, and false reporting regarding performance results or achievements. Additionally, it has been detected that there were incidents where our invoices did not reflect actual results, resulting in unjust overcharged billing.”

    He went on to add the agency was taking the matter very seriously and corrective measures are being taken to prevent a recurrence. “As an interim measure, in order to ensure that human errors or inappropriate operations in digital advertising will be prevented and detected, in early September we transferred operations to verify the specifics of advertising placements, publications and billing to a separate section which is independent from the section previously responsible for such operations, and we have endeavored to strengthen our business system for such verifying operations.”

    “Our company is determined to clarify the causes leading to the inapropriate operations and to establish further requisite measures for resolving the situations and fundamental preventive measures, and to implement such steps faithfully and steadily in order to restore confidence in our company. Following the taking of such steps, we plan to report the progress of our efforts to our clients and business partners including advertisers, related associations and organizations and all other stakeholders. At this stage, we are aiming at doing so by the end of this year.”

    He went to sincerely apologies to Dentsu clients and shareholders “from the bottom of our hearts for causing concern and trouble. At this moment, we do not believe that our business results would be materially affected. However, if we find any new matter which would materially affect our business results in the future, we will disclose such new matter promptly, as soon as it comes to our attention.”

    In April, Dentsu had consolidated its digital business under a new offshoot called Dentsu Digital Inc in a bid to increase its hold internet advertising, which was not its strong area in the land of the rising sun.

    Dentsu in India has been pushing aggressively in digital and around 30 per cent of its revenues come from online advertising. In the urge to grow could some wrong doing have happened in India too? These are questions Bhasin and DAN will have to address. Nonetheless sources say that the India office did meet some of its Japanese clients over the past two days to allay any concerns.

    Be that as it may, this is not the only instance where the advertising industry has got its face muddied in the past week. Facebook, the word’s largest social network, too issued an apology on Friday saying that it had overstated on its video viewership metrics, that it had been giving marketers an inflated number for the average time being spent viewing online clips.

    Facebook admitted that it had been boosting its average viewing time by only counting videos as viewed if it had been seen for more than three second. It had excluded from its calculations videos not viewed or those which had a view time of less than three seconds.

    The two instances above indicate the high-pressured advertising industry’s urge to surge and its excesses. No doubt, it will dent the ad industry’s image where it hurts the most: the area of trust. As it is, consumers are tending to have a sense of disbelief about the claims advertisers are making in advertising, online and in TVCs. There’s very limited monitoring of online advertising and the claims made online, compared to the volume of advertising that’s out there on the internet. And that is a cause for worry. With users shifting to consuming a lot more news, videos online and on mobile devices, the cases of inappropriate, false claims ads will only rise.

    It’s over to the ad industry to find some solutions.