ITV

Tag: Facebook

  • Look who is Alia Bhatt’s latest fan, Aston Kutcher

    Look who is Alia Bhatt’s latest fan, Aston Kutcher

    MUMBAI:  Hollywood star Aston Kutcher is full of praise for the 2 States’ actress Alia Bhatt’s ‘Going Home’ video which carries a moving message and bats for safety of women.

     

    “Wow. Just wow,” the 2 and a half men actor, posted on his Facebook page along with the link of the short film.

     

    Alia had made headlines for featuring in the video where she is seen taking help from a group of strangers in a vehicle after her car breaks down in the middle of a deserted road late at night.

     

    The men ogle at Alia with a lustful look and are eager enough to sexually assault her. Oblivious of the men’s intentions, Alia talks to them and thanks them for dropping her home. The video has been directed by the Queen famed Vikas Bahl.

     

    Overwhelmed by his gesture, Alia and took to twitter to share a snapshot of the Kutcher’s Facebook page

     

    “Unable to form a sentence due to immense joy.. woohoo,” the 21-year-old actress tweeted.

     

    The video garnered appreciation in abundance and inspired men to make the world hospitable for women.

     

    Released on October 17, the video has garnered over 2.5 million views on YouTube. It has also ignited several discussions around the subject of women’s safety, on social and mainline media.

     

    On YouTube, the video comes with a brief post-script that reads: ‘I pledge to create a short film titled ‘Going Home’, in which we visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don’t dictate actions and decisions,” says director Vikas Bahl.’

  • Facebook’s Mark D’Arcy to address the Ad Club

    Facebook’s Mark D’Arcy to address the Ad Club

    MUMBAI: As part of its 60th anniversary The Advertising Club has arranged an evening meet with Mark D’Arcy on 28 October in Mumbai at 6:30 pm.

    Mark D’Arcy, who is the VP and chief creative officer of the Facebook Creative Shop, leads a team of creative strategists tasked with creating and building ideas that transform how the world’s largest and most innovative marketers use Facebook to drive business growth.

    After two decades of working as a writer and CCO in advertising and media, D’Arcy joined Facebook in 2011 to better explore the creative potential of the platform. He is the founder of the Facebook Creative Council which provides the social media platform with ideas on how to engage and educate the global creative community.

    Prior to joining Facebook, D’Arcy spent seven years at Time Warner in New York as CCO of its Global Media Group. He co-developed the first truly creative media arts practice within a global media company designed to better leverage the company’s extensive television, film, print and digital assets for its key marketing partners. In 2009, he was named president of the Group and senior VP of Time Warner.

    He spent 17 years of his career in New York, before shifting to London, where he is currently based.

    D’Arcy has been widely recognised for his creativity and leadership in the creative industries and regularly speaks all around the world on the subject of creativity in social media, the transformation of marketing, the communication arts and the role and purpose of brands in society.

    He has also served as a juror on numerous international awards shows including the CLIO Awards, LIA Awards, The International ANDY Awards and in 2013 served on the inaugural Innovations Lions jury at the Cannes Lions Awards.

    The event will be held at Hotel Palladium, Lower Parel, Mumbai.

     

  • Facebook declares Internet.org innovation challenge

    Facebook declares Internet.org innovation challenge

    NEW DELHI: Facebook has declared the Internet.org innovation challenge in India today. The objective of the campaign is to make internet more accessible and relevant to four sections of the population that are currently underserved in India: women, students, farmers and migrant workers.
     
    These communities face maximum structural barriers when it comes to using the internet. McKinsey & Company’s recent study affirmed that the lack of relevant local and multilingual online content and services is one of the primary barriers to internet adoption. Even if they get connected online, the material they find turns out to be insignificant. Internet.org’s initiative will give people access to apps, websites and services that are relevant to their lives and readable in their own languages.
     
    Facebook will be presenting four $ 250,000 innovation challenge award prizes: one to the leading app, website or service or idea that best meets the needs of each of the designated population categories. Two $25,000 impact award prizes will also be granted in each category.
     
    Winners will be announced at Mobile World Congress in March 2015 and interested individuals, organisations and groups can submit applications through 31 January 2015.
     
    Companies, governments and individuals need to work together to remove connectivity barriers. This will ensure everyone has access to the internet globally.

     

  • Facebook to join hands with Indian government

    Facebook to join hands with Indian government

    MUMBAI: After swooning the nation with his ideas to enhance the internet connectivity in India in the Internet.org summit, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who was in the country on a two-day visit, met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 10 October.

    Soon after the meeting, the PM tweeted, “It was wonderful meeting Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. We discussed a wide range of issues.”

    The discussion included an array of topics revolving around the innovative use of Facebook as a platform to engage with a large audience in the service of humanity; from helping in the digital India campaign to fighting terrorism using social media.

    “I spoke to him about Swachh Bharat Mission. Zuckerberg shared that Facebook would assist the Government of India in the Clean India mobile application. This will surely give an impetus to Swachh Bharat Mission. “

    “Zuckerberg is excited about Digital India initiative. I requested him to identify certain areas where Facebook can help us in that. I also requested Zuckerberg to identify how Facebook can help promote India’s rich tourist potential across the world,” Modi posted on his Facebook page.

    They also talked about the Digital India initiative. A statement on Modi’s website said, “Zuckerberg said that he is extremely excited about the Digital India initiative of the Government of India. Prime Minister Shri Modi asked him to identify some domains of Digital India where Facebook can get involved and help.”

    The Prime Minister appealed to Facebook co-founder to look at how to enhance Internet literacy along with Internet connectivity.

    Adding to the same, Zuckerberg stated that Facebook wants to work with the Government of India in the fields of healthcare, education and provide a gamut of services to the people.

    He further added that Facebook will also help in the creation of the Clean India Mobile App and that it would be launched soon. This would give a strong impetus to the Swachh Bharat Mission.

    In the meeting, PM also pointed out that lots of terrorist elements are using social media platforms to recruit members, according to an official statement.
    “This is unfortunate and we need to think of the role the social media can play to stop terror,” Modi said.

    Earlier in the day, the Facebook co-founder also met Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad as part of the Centre’s ambitious Digital India plan which seeks to expand internet access across the nation.

    “Mark’s interest in India impressed me. Facebook wants to work with the Digital India program and the Indian govt is happy to support them in their launch of internet.org,” Prasad said.

    “He has shown profound interest to involve Facebook in the Digital India program and in broadband distribution, e-Health, e-Education etc. Really there is a great scope to work together. His idea to promote entrepreneurship among Indians in the field of IT was truly remarkable,” he posted on his Facebook page.

    They also spoke about the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) project during their meeting which aims to connect 2.5 lakh village panchayats through high-speed broadband by 2017.

    Prasad said that he believes there exists a great opportunity for Facebook to harness the vast potential of Indian entrepreneurs in retailing of internet connectivity to the masses by involving local entrepreneurs. Government would extend all cooperation to Facebook in this endeavor.

    He proposed that Facebook could contribute to India’s Rs 21,000-crore NOFN project on last-mile connectivity.

    Zuckerberg also spoke of alternate technology such as drones and satellite communications playing a critical part in this last-mile linkage.

    “India could be the first country in which Facebook deploys drones to provide broadband connectivity in remote and inaccessible areas, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg proposing a pilot project to bridge this digital divide during his meeting,” the IT Minister added.

    Facebook’s Connectivity Lab is actively developing large, inexpensive, solar-powered drones that will be able to fly for years at a time, the division’s engineering director Yael Maguire announced earlier this year. These unmanned vehicles will be about the size of a Boeing 747 but weigh only as much as four car tyres while serving as large connectivity hubs.

    The drones would fly at a height of 60,000 to 90,000 feet above the ground, far above commercial jetliners and at a level where they wouldn’t be affected by the weather, effectively making them invisible.

    In order to continuously provide Wi-Fi coverage, they would be powered by the sun, Maguire had said, adding that these could be tested in the US as early as next year.

    On 9 October, while addressing media persons, Zuckerberg had said that Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity. “Internet.org  is an effort to bring basic Internet services to all”, he added. The pilot project of Facebook has already helped to connect more than 3 million people with this program.  “If we can connect people over here, we can help bring this rich Indian culture to the world.”

    Stressing on the importance of connectivity, Zuckerberg had said while India has about 243 million Internet users and have 100 million plus Facebook users, there are over a billion people in the country who do not have access to the net.

    The 30-year-old billionaire is the third high-profile head of a US-based tech firm to visit India in the last few weeks, after Satya Nadella of Microsoft and Jeff Bezos of Amazon.

     

  • Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna meets Fox Life fans to celebrate the launch of ‘Twist of Taste’

    Michelin star chef Vikas Khanna meets Fox Life fans to celebrate the launch of ‘Twist of Taste’

    NEW DELHI: Fox Life in association with soon to open SodaBottleOpenerwala, Khan Market, New Delhi, today organized a rendezvous for FOX Life fans with Vikas Khanna to celebrate the launch of the fourth season of its highly successful and most watched show Twist of Taste- Sweet Life.

    Fox Life gave this unique opportunity to its viewers through a contest on Facebook. As part of the contest #TheSweetWish, the contestants were asked to respond to the question – What dessert/sweet dish does Vikas Khanna remind you of? The channel also tied up with Food Bloggers Association of India, to involve the blogger community. Six lucky winners won the contest and meet their favourite Chef today in Delhi.

    Talking on the launch Khanna said: “It feels great to be a part of this exciting show again. In this season of Twist of Taste- Sweet Life, I have had a chance to explore and experiment with India’s classic and traditional sweets. It’s always a wonderful feeling to meet and connect with your fans and I was delighted to meet the winners of the contest on FOX Life today.”
     
    Fox International Channels VP – marketing Debarpita Banerjee said: “We are extremely delighted to have Vikas Khanna as part of the Fox Life family yet again. It is our constant endeavour to delight our viewers, who love Vikas and are a huge fan of his culinary skills. This meet & greet was a perfect way to provide our viewers, who have made this show a huge success, an opportunity to meet their favourite chef.”
     
    Through SodaBottleOpenerWala, Olive pays tribute to the dying legacy of a Bombay Irani cafe bringing with it – typical Parsi cuisine and Bombay street food. Says AD Singh, “We’ve delved deep within its unique world to bring alive the nuances – wonderful chaotic, crowded, bustling, colorful, quirky, cluttered, eccentric and the so real world of an Irani café – both for cuisine and its atmosphere. We are happy to host Viksas Khanna at the soon to open second outlet and wish him and Fox Life good luck and hope that this season is as successful as the previous ones!”
    The show will see the versatile Michelin starred chef Vikas Khanna on a sweet adventure. Vikas will travel to the cultural capitals of India – Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata, Amritsar and Mysore, visiting places, meeting people and giving his signature touch to the local Indian traditional sweets and mithais. This festive season, watch Vikas Khanna spread his magic with Indian sweets every Monday and Tuesday at 9:30 pm starting 13 October.

     

  • Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity, says Mark Zuckerberg

    Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity, says Mark Zuckerberg

    MUMBAI: Stressing on the importance of enhancing internet connectivity in India, Facebook  founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg today said, “Connectivity can’t be restricted to just the rich and powerful. Cost of internet access has to be made affordable.”

     

    The Facebook CEO is in India on a two-day visit and was speaking at the first summit for Internet.org, an organisation led by Facebook.

     

    Mark Zuckerberg has said that he would meet PM Narendra Modi on 10 October to discuss connecting Indian villages to the internet, and Facebook’s role in doing so.

     

    Pitching for free ‘basic net access’, Zuckerberg reckoned that it should be like dialing 911 in the US or 100 here in India. “There needs to be a 911 for the internet. We’ve been working with operators to offer free basic Internet for everyone, to break down the social barriers. With this model, we’ve already helped people connect 3 million people.”

     

    “Connectivity is a human right. We want to build an internet that works for all,” he added.

     

    The 30-year old also announced that Facebook will fund apps and services in local Indian languages for women, students and farmers.

     

    He pointed out that only about a third of people in the world had access to the Internet – 243 million in India and a recent survey showed that 69 percent of people in India said they didn’t know why it would be useful for them.

     

    The biggest barrier, he said, was that “lots of people who have never experienced the internet don’t know why they need it.”

     

    He also added that lack of relevant local language content is why most Indians don’t use internet and Facebook is working extensively in rural India to enhance connectivity.

     

    “Facebook is focusing on content in local languages. It is crucial to internet penetration in Asia, especially India,” said the 30-year-old billionaire. “80 per cent of content on the internet is just in 10 languages, while there are 22 official languages in India; 65 per cent of people use Facebook in a language other than English, including 10 Indian languages.”

     

    Zuckerberg stated that the next generation has the opportunity to bring the world to India and India to the world. The whole world being robbed of creativity and ideas because so many people in India are not online yet, he further said.

     

    He further revealed that Facebook has launched a new contest to develop local apps for farmers and social services in local languages with a $1 million fund dedicated for it.

     

    “We’re also going to extend a program called FB Start,” he added, “which provides $40,000 (Rs 25 lakh approximately) to developers who build and develop apps in these categories,” he added.

     

    Praising India, Zuckerberg credited it for ‘making leaps in revolutions that changed the world’. “Inventions have changed the world throughout history. ’Mangalyaan’ is a huge achievement for India,” he said.

     

    The CEO is of the opinion that lowering data costs by operators is not a sustainable solution. “Mobile operators invest a lot of money, lowering costs is not easy,” he said. “Infrastructure is the biggest barrier to internet, then technical issues. Language barriers are huge impediments to the internet,” he added.

     

    “Connected people have better access to technology, education and jobs. When people are connected, accomplishments are easy,” Zuckerberg said.

     

    Internet.org aims to make internet access affordable for people acrossthe globe. Focused on enabling the next five billion people without internet access to come online, the founding members of the project include Facebook, Ericsson, MediaTek, Nokia, Opera, Qualcomm and Samsung.

     

    The partners are collaborating on developing lower-cost, higher-quality smartphones and deploying internet access in under-served communities.

     

    Zuckerberg’s visit comes three months after Sheryl Sandberg, COO of the social networking giant, visited India which is Facebook’s second biggest market. She also met Modi, who has effectively used social networking during his election campaign and later even in governance.

     

    Zuckerberg is the third high profile CEO of a US-based corporation, after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, to visit India in last few days.

  • Lonely Planet India launches its digital campaign ‘India Unexplored’

    Lonely Planet India launches its digital campaign ‘India Unexplored’

    MUMBAI: Lonely Planet India has launched ‘India Unexplored’, an exciting new digital campaign to find the best hidden spots and experiences throughout the country. Hosted on the Lonely Planet India website (www.lonelyplanet.in) and promoted on social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Google + and Instagram, ‘India Explored’ will see participants submit their discoveries of lesser known destinations across India. This is a 45 day digital campaign that launches on 4 October 2014 and will be live until 17 November 2014.

     

    This is an application-based campaign hosted on www.lonelyplanet.in. The URL is unexplored.lonelyplanet.in

     

     ‘India Unexplored’ is a pan-India digital campaign by Lonely Planet India where participants can submit their discoveries of lesser known destinations under the following special themes:  

     

     .   SEE: This special theme is all about sharing lesser known and unexplored beaches, hill stations, mountains and interesting places to visit in our country, including natural and man-made attractions.

     

     .   DO: In this special theme, the participants will share their adventure endeavours and experiences such as paragliding, skiing, rafting or trekking etc.

     

     .   EAT: Here participants will share places which are interesting to eat at.

     

     .   SHOP: This special theme is for the participants to share their experiences and memories at shops and markets from offbeat places in India.

                     

    To participate in the ‘India Unexplored’ campaign, one must submit a discovery about a destination in the country. This destination should be listed on Google Maps. Participants can submit details about the place, images and videos about the destination. The entries will then be moderated by Lonely Planet. Each of the entries that are eligible to be published on the website will be allocated points. On the basis of the number of points earned, the 3 mega winners will be decided. There will be a panel of 3 judges including travel experts to select the winners of India Unexplored campaign. The winners will be picked on the basis of ratings given by the judges who will judge the entries basis parameters such as nature and uniqueness of the location of discovery/ entry, quality of content in the description, image aptness and quality, frame and creativity in the image caption and video relevance and quality as well as visual content.

     

    Skyscanner, a leading global travel search site has come on board as the title sponsor for Lonely Planet’s India Unexplored campaign. There are also various prize sponsors including F&D Audio, Joy Resorts and Hotels, Linger Guesthouses, Outdoor Travel Gear, Polaris India, Pugdundee Safaris, Skybags and Wrangler.

     

    There are hosts of prizes to be won, participants can win prizes as per the following:

     

    .  45 early bird prizes for those first set of discoverers submitting approved discoveries. Winners will be announced on 13 October 2014.

     

    .  18 prizes for the  mini contests on Lonely Planet India’s social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Instagram

     

    .  Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd winner of each of the special themes ( SEE, DO, EAT and SHOP).

     

    .  Prizes for the best image shared, best video shared and best trekking discovery.

     

    .  Prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd all round mega winners. Winners for special themes and  the mega winners will be announced on 1 December 2014

     

  • HP partners with Bindass for ‘Bend The Rules’ campaign

    HP partners with Bindass for ‘Bend The Rules’ campaign

    MUMBAI: Bindass, over the years has understood the pulse of India’s youth and has become their friend and companion while entertaining them with content that is both purposive and engaging.

     

    The channel in association with Hewlett Packard (HP) launched a new campaign – ‘Bend the Rules’ featuring brand ambassador, Deepika Padukone. The campaign celebrates how millennials in India ‘Bend the Rules’ by taking the unconventional road to success.

     

    Millennials strive for success at an early age using the power of technology. HP is inviting them to share their stories by uploading a video on Facebook, Twitter or YouTube using the hash-tag #BendTheRules, of how they have bent the rules to achieve success.

     

    A winning entry from India will get a chance to share his/her inspiring story with a larger audience through a short film which will be aired on Bindass and its YouTube channel.

     

    Talking about this association with HP, Disney India VP revenue, media networks Nikhil Gandhi says that the channel wanted to try a different approach in order to deepen the engagement level with the youth. The campaign connects with the ideas and philosophies of Young India. It celebrates the young generation’s ability to ‘Bend the Rules’ and achieve success by taking the road less travelled.

     

    Padukone, the brand ambassador for HP India is associated with this campaign. As someone who decided to pursue acting and leave behind a promising badminton career, she is familiar with treading the unconventional path to success.

     

    Also featuring in the campaign is the HP Pavilion x360, a value-packed convertible PC, which easily converts from notebook, to stand, to tent, to tablet mode. With optimised touch-screen performance and beats audio, the device is ideal for the productivity and entertainment needs of consumers.

     

    Backed by in depth research, Bindass has executed successful shows and campaigns which not only engage young India but also enable purposive action. “We are using this understanding to create the right approach to strengthen our partnership with HP and deliver Bindass ‘Bend The Rules’ to strengthen their engagement with the youth,” says Gandhi.

     

    What made HP associate with bindass for the campaign? According to HP India head of marketing, printing and personal systems Lloyd Mathias, HP’s focus was to reach out to the Indian youth. “#BendtheRules is in the DNA of young India and we wanted to amplify the HP brand philosophy with a partner that understands youth. Brand Bindass is positioned as the enabler of purposive action and that holds really well with brand HP. We wanted to leverage Bindass’s reach on TV and digital to speak to the Indian youth and hence the association,” he says.

     

    Mathias believes that by partnering with Bindass, it will help HP become more relevant to its audience and build a community around shared interests and passions. The bend the rules philosophy of HP will get validation and engagement through this association within its shared TG.

     

    The initiative is spread across multiple platforms including television, print, digital, out of home, webisodes and Vine videos. Additionally, an extensive social media campaign covering Twitter and Facebook is also in place which rests on both Bindass and HP’s social media platforms.

  • RB partners with NDTV & Facebook to launch “Dettol – Banega Swachh India”

    RB partners with NDTV & Facebook to launch “Dettol – Banega Swachh India”

    MUMBAI: As the global leader in consumer health and hygiene, RB (formerly called Reckitt Benckiser), today announced a 5 year ambitious program in partnership with NDTV and Facebook – “Dettol – Banega Swachh India”. With a commitment of making India healthier and cleaner by 2019, RB has made a commitment to invest a sum of INR 100 crores towards this initiative across the next 5 years. The program aims to spread awareness around the importance of hygiene and sanitations to millions across the country and has introduced Indian film actor and legend, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan as the program ambassador for this mega campaign.

    With a history of over 150 years of innovation and the DNA engraved in health and hygiene, RB has powerbrands such as Dettol and Harpic, which are considered as gold standard in hygiene and sanitation segments. Through the partnership, RB aims to combine the on-ground expertise and vast presence of NDTV network with the massive reach of Facebook through online and mobile to address one of the most critical challenges faced by our country. NGO partners such as CAF will bring on-board their implementation expertise to execute the programs and will be supported by the Sulabh International & WaterAid as knowledge partners.

    To kick off the program, a “Dettol – Banega Swachh India” bus will be flagged off in October, which will cover around 400 villages across 8 states – Haryana, Rajasthan, UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, MP & Maharashtra. The objective of the bus will be to create awareness around hygiene and sanitation through interactive videos, flyer distributions, posters, hand-washing sessions and street plays. The partners in the initiative will continue with an ongoing dialogue for the next year to explore more opportunities for making a difference towards this initiative.

    Emphasizing on the lack of hygienic conditions in India, Mr. Nitish Kapoor, Managing Director, RB India said, “As a global leader in consumer health and hygiene, our purpose is to improve the hygiene and sanitation in the daily lives of our consumers. We have been committed to the cause for a long time,
    but now it is time to step up and reach out to a much larger audience. Our commitment to the program and collaboration with like-minded partners is just the beginning of our journey towards a healthier and cleaner India by 2019.”

    Speaking at the occasion, campaign ambassador, Mr. Amitabh Bachchan, said, “There are a few causes that I feel very strongly about like Saving the Tiger, Eradicating Polio and TB. Sanitation has been on my mind for a very long time & when this opportunity presented itself, I had to be a part of this movement.  Banega Swachh India is a dream each one of us should have in our hearts and minds and make it a part of our daily lives; only then can our country prosper.”

    Vikram Chandra, Group CEO, NDTV said, “It is disturbing to realize that for all its many successes India still suffers from lack of sanitation in most parts of the country. NDTV is pleased to support such an initiative. Sanitation is a fundamental human right and we are proud to partner with Dettol, to try to do something about this problem. We hope that we can make a significant contribution to this cause.”

    “Through Dettol – Banega Swachh India, RB is showing that the right combination of people and technology can lead to effective social solutions that tackle some of the largest and most difficult challenges we face in India,” said Kirthiga Reddy, Managing Director, Facebook India. “ We are excited to join hands with RB and help this national initiative build a presence by reaching over 100 million people on Facebook across India by leveraging our strength in mobile — both smartphone and feature phone. Our collaborative efforts make this movement social, personal and relevant by inspiring people to action through powerful stories to keep India clean.”