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Tag: Facebook

  • Yash Raj Films celebrates 1 million fans on Facebook

    Yash Raj Films celebrates 1 million fans on Facebook

    MUMBAI: Marking yet another milestone in its illustrious journey, Yash Raj Films (YRF), has become the first Indian production house to have a million fans on Facebook.

    As a celebration of this achievement, the banner‘s Facebook page cover photo is a collage of the the hits it has produced featuring almost every star it has worked with in the recent past.

    The banner enjoys a strong digital presence and regularly engages the audiences with interesting and interactive content. Yash Raj Films digital team constantly strives to entertain the audiences, just like their films. Their Facebook page has the fastest growing fan base with an addition of more than 3000 likes every day.

    Yash Raj Films‘ page reflects a new theme every month. The current theme is, ‘YRF Dance Dhamaka‘ which showcases all the dance tracks from all YRF films. The production house regularly holds contests and updates their digital properties with latest and exclusive news.

    Last year, YRF churned out one of the biggest hits in of 2012 Ek tha Tiger with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in the lead. This year too, it has a couple of much looked forward to releases like Arjun Kapoor starrer Aurangzeb and Amir Khan and Abhishek Bachchan starrer Dhoom:3.

    Started in 1970 by one of the most respected and accomplished film makers from India Yash Chopra, the banner has given Indian and global cinema goers some timeless cinematic pieces like Silsila, Trishul, Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jaayegne, the Dhoom franchise and Chak De! India.

    YRF has been known to keep up with times and often produce movies much ahead of the times, a legacy that has been passed on passed its founder the Late Yash Chopra. Its success on the digital/social media forum is another example of how the production house understands its audiences and puts in the effort to be where they are.

  • NAAG teams up with Facebook for online safety campaign

    NAAG teams up with Facebook for online safety campaign

    MUMBAI: The National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) of US and online social network Facebook are launching a new consumer education programme designed to provide teens and their parents with tools and tips to manage their privacy and visibility both on Facebook and more broadly on the internet.

    The announcement was made by NAAG president and Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler during his Presidential Initiative Summit on “Privacy in the Digital Age”.

    Attorney General Gansler said, “Teenagers and adults should know there are tools to help protect their online privacy when they go on Facebook and other digital platforms. We hope this campaign will encourage consumers to closely manage their privacy and these tools and tips will help provide a safer online experience. Of course, attorneys general will continue to actively protect consumers‘ online privacy as well.”

    Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg said, “At Facebook, we work hard to make sure people understand how to control their information and stay safe online. We‘re always looking for new partners in that endeavor – that‘s why we‘re thrilled to collaborate with the National Association of Attorneys General. We‘re grateful for Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler‘s leadership on this issue, and we look forward to working with him and attorneys general around the country. Together, we hope to ensure that young people make safe, smart, and responsible choices online.”

    State-specific public service announcements (PSA) with 19 attorneys general and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg are being distributed. “What you Can Do to Control Your Information” introduces an Internet safety video answering top questions about privacy, bullying prevention and overall Internet safety. The PSA, video and a privacy tip sheet will be shared with consumers on Facebook, and on participating attorneys general Facebook pages and office websites.

    “State laws need to be updated to reflect our modern era in which the very nature of privacy and personal information is changing. Attorneys general have before us an extraordinary opportunity to reorient our enforcement and advocacy efforts toward the unique privacy challenges posed by the digital economy.” added Attorney General Gansler.

  • Brands need to keep the customers at the centre: Ray Velez

    VARCA: At Goafest 2013, Razorfish chief technology officer Ray Velez explained how a company should organise a brand around the consumer by busting silos and applying the principles of agile development across one‘s business.

    “A brand should always keep his customer at the center. One‘s organisation must be structured around the customer that will in a way help in building relationship with him. A marketer should plan his strategy based on the data from the actual customer activity and also understand that customer will give a feedback whether you like it or not,” he said, while talking about the five principles one should embrace in order to evolve their business to deliver new customer experience.

    He also said a marketer should measure the data and see how to maintain the interactivity with the costumer. “Think of your brand as a service,” he emphasised.

    He added that a customer should be serviced well so that he comes back. One needs to fulfill consumer needs which will henceforth enhance customer relationship and deliver happiness. Loyal customers buy 75 per cent more than the others, Velez mentioned.
    Velez also added about how to thrive in our age of disruption. He highlighted on how the lines have blurred with technology, media, and creativity coming together, and how this shift is revolutionising marketing and business strategy.

    “Convergence of technology, media and creativity allow you to imagine, create, and enable customer experience like never before. Media allows a two way communication through a hash tag which is a way for a customer to talk back. Creativity can come from anywhere and everywhere. And these are the provisions that technology provides,” he said.

    Vezel believes that it‘s all about telling a brand story and providing an experience in a whole new way.

    “Simple plug in buttons such as Facebook‘s “Like” and “Share,” Google‘s “+1,” and Twitter‘s “Tweet” and “Follow” dramatically lower the barrier to users sharing content from one‘s site out to their entire social graph,” he added.

    Social cloud services provide digital experiences or web properties with the ability to connect up with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft and other social services.

    These services come in the form of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that a technologist can integrate. Whether a digital experience is a mobile application or a traditional desktop site, these APIs are available.

    According to Velez, one should create a 360 degree view of the consumer with analysing his media exposure, offline consumer data and the website behavior. ‘Data is something which tells you what your customer wants. Also, employ agile methodology and rapid prototype,” Velez said.

    Velez said that one needs to embrace the diversity of culture and other diversities in order to deliver new customer experience. He picked a statement from Frans Johansson‘s book The Medici Effect saying, “When you step into an intersection of field, disciplines of culture, you can combine existing concepts into a large no. of extraordinary new ideas”.

  • Trinetra Focus to revive SIL’s digital communication

    MUMBAI: Scandic Foods India has roped in Trinetra Focus Communications as the digital agency on record for its jam and processed foods products brand SIL. The account win is the result of a multi agency pitch called by the brand.

    Trinetra Focus, the digital arm of Focus, will be consulting and managing the integrated online approach for the brand. The mandate includes managing of social media, SEO and digital advertising to create an effective impact amongst the audience for the brand. The team will adapt an integrated approach that will focus on creating consumer engagement and also generate returns on investment wit he help of the digital medium.

    The company‘s media agency on record is Aegis‘ Carat Media. The agency won the account in 2010 and the media spends by the Scandic India are in the range of Rs 80 to 100 million.

    SIL has had some prominent television ads in the past, but the brand has been dormant in its media presence for almost a year or so now. The brand divested by Marico Ltd in 2008 to Danish subsidiary of Good Food Group A/s Scandic India.

    An official from Carat informs, “The brand has been quiet for some time. There are plans to relaunch the SIL brand with its entire gamut of products, including jams, ketchup, sauces, dressings and canned foods. The company is just waiting to iron out the creases in its distribution chain.”

    Trinetra Focus vice president Harsh Wardhan Dave said, “The brand intends to revive its communication and wants to start with the online medium. The goal will be to relaunch the digital communication of SIL and create awareness that the brand encompasses more products than just jams. The focus will also be on generating sales through digital communication via activities on various virtual platforms.”

    Through its presence on social networking website Facebook, the brand was able to collect feedback on kinks in its distribution chain. Since then, SIL has been trying to make its distribution more efficient. It will now look at taking things a step further on the digital medium and endeavour to generate sales on it.

    Scandic Food India marketing manager Sanjeev Singh said, “Today, Sil is the No.2 brand in the Jams category and one of the leading players in processed food segment. There is a definite need for a planned and structured approach for engaging with our audience in the online space. With the ever increasing internet penetration, there is a need for consistent interaction at various touch points and one brand message being communicated effectively across all mediums of marketing. With Trinetra team having the right understanding of our long term objective, we are looking forward to see some great ideas and initiatives that will upscale our interaction with our audience for a sustained relationship.”

    Trinetra Focus Communications vice president Saumik Barua said, “As a major player in its segment, there is no doubt that the brand has already established its presence. With its current reach to the urban masses, it gives us the opportunity to create unique engagement points across multiple platforms with some great creative ideas. This also means connecting with certain ideologies in mind of the consumer and not just mere social engagement. Also keeping in mind the brand objective of scaling up its growth & reach to a wider base of audience, we have proposed some interesting initiatives along with customised services and we are pretty excited to start work immediately.”

  • Bobby Pawar: Post JWT

    MUMBAI: He may be out of JWT India, but he definitely is not down and out. We are referring to former JWT India managing partner and chief creative director Bobby Pawar who put in his papers after Vijay Simha Vellanki, creative director at Blue Hive, a WPP unit dedicated to managing the Ford business, was asked to resign for creating a few posters with which got the client auto company Ford all choked up after some consumers got upset with the so-called sexist depiction in the ads.

    Pawar earlier today put out a post on facebook which said: “My friends, I am touched by your concern and affection. I am the luckiest man in the world, despite what the tabloids might say. I cannot repay your spontaneous outburst of support, so as my meagre offering I give you this for your viewing pleasure, a Santa Claus made with condoms. Oops, will that get me in trouble gain?”

    Pawar has not been reachable since he jettisoned from the agency he joined around 15 months ago. He had issued a comment, saying he was resigning because “as a leader, this incident happened on my watch. I have to take moral responsibility for it.”

    But he has been active on facebook since, posting pictures of his family as they take some time out in Srinagar.

    And an avalanche of support has poured in for him.

    Said Scarecrow Communications branch head and executive creative director Anindya Banerjee, “Still trying to figure out the ‘sexist‘ portion in the ads. Looks like a mystery that‘s not going to be answered.”

    Added Pinstorm Technologies boss Mahesh Murthy, “While the JWT India scam ad for Ford was dumb, sacking the ECD Bobby Pawar for it is dumber. Smacks of testicular deficiency all around I think. Stand up for your creatives, @Colwyn Harris. Don‘t sell them out at the first sign of trouble. Now who with a brain and a backbone will work for you?”

    Said Bang Bang film founder and managing director Roopak Saluja, “At the end of the day, that‘s all that matters, Bobby. And you know the whole industry knows what this is all about. A $2Billion ad budget is a tough thing to be weighed against. Yet you walk away with an unscathed rep…Godspeed!”

    Said media veteran Bhaskar Das (currently with Zee News) : “It‘s so true, Bobby. You will rock always.”

    On 23 March, Pawar had an interaction with former McCann and Ogilvy & Mather professional Rob Ichelson which went as follows:
    Rob: “Hi BubbaHave you read Kenney‘s Book”

    Bobby: “No Rob would like to. What‘s it called?”

    Rob: “Truth in Advertising”

    Bobby: @Rob. “Is there any truth to it?”

    He could not have been more prophetic.

  • Video watching on mobile growing in India: Nokia

    Video watching on mobile growing in India: Nokia

    MUMBAI: Video watching on the mobile is growing in India. Social media reigns over the mobile landscape of the country.

    Nokia India has released the first edition of ‘Nokia Mobisight‘ for July- December 2012. This bi-annual customer preference survey is one-of-a-kind report in India on how the nation is using the mobile Internet. Nokia powers a majority of mobile data consumption in India, and Nokia Mobisight reveals that Nokia powered data consumption of 1.67 PetaBytes for July-December 2012, and 12.7 billion total page views.

    With the massive amount of data consumption on the Nokia Store and on the Nokia browser, Nokia Asha‘s goal of connecting the next billion to the Internet is coming to life with the Nokia Asha‘s pocket-friendly mobile internet experience. Nokia Mobisight has captured the behaviour of mobile internet users, and provides insights on preferences for games, apps, music and more.

    The survey portrays a paradoxical picture of a country which loves music, gaming and social networking on one hand and also seeks privacy for its online and mobile presence. Nokia Mobisight also reveals how Nokia is connecting the next billion internet users, and facilitating data usage across India as consumers access a whole host of new services like Nokia Music, Nokia Store, Nokia Life, and Nokia Maps on-the-go.

    According to the survey‘s findings, India is accessing internet after their school, college and office hours, with peak access times for Nokia Browser ranging from 7:30 PM to 10:30PM IST. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh lead in the number of active Nokia Browser users. South Indians are consuming more internet on-the-go, with all four states in the top 10 in terms of consumption.

    The report also reveals rising Facebook frenzy, with consumers accessing Facebook more than searching on Google. Interestingly, watching videos on the move has seen prominence, with YouTube, Tubidy and VuClip featuring prominently in Top 10 sites accessed on the Nokia Browser.

    Privacy: The report also highlights that while the young India is more social than ever, youngsters are equally more guarded about their privacy. During the survey period, the Nokia Store has witnessed downloading of more apps related to privacy than any other services, and phone security apps occupy four places in the Top 5 apps downloaded.

    Nokia Life, a suite of personally relevant information services provides regular localized information related to Education, Health, Agriculture and Entertainment, reveals some interesting findings. People have subscribed to Agriculture, the most out of all other life enhancing services which depicts that more and more farmers are getting glued to Nokia Life. While Indians love their Cricket, it‘s the adrenaline-pumping car racing games that they play on their mobile devices. Super hero games are also favorites among the gamer community on the Nokia Store.

    The report also reveals that the young India is crazy about over the ‘Student of the Year‘ soundtrack – major songs top the Bollywood downloads chart at the Nokia Music Store, and Justin Beiber‘s ‘Boyfriend‘ and Priyanka Chopra‘s debut single ‘In My City‘ rocking the Nokia Music Store download charts.

  • Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    BENGALURU: A study by blueocean market intelligence (BMI) has found that Indian companies have a long way to go with respect to maximizing the benefits of social media.

    blueocean market intelligence recently unveiled the results of its ‘2013 Social Effectiveness Index (SEI) 20’, a nationwide study accessing the Social Media Effectiveness of 20 of India’s Most Admired Companies (Fortune India-The Hay group survey). The study incorporated sectors that included IT, ITES, BPO, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Apparel, FMCG, Metals & Mining, Infrastructure, and Auto Components.

    BMI contends that the key challenge for Indian companies is to understand exactly how social media interacts with consumers, enables product and brand recognition, and drives customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. With social media in its nascent stages, there is an undeniable opportunity for companies to create a well-established, customer-centric image.

    BMI says that the SEI 20 ranking methodology is designed to measure business impact by integrating analytics, measurement, and monitoring. It captures conversations across the breadth of social networks and online communities, and correlates their impact with key business metrics such as revenue and brand value. It also directly measures business to consumer interactions in social media, including how Facebook and Twitter drive site visitors and purchase behaviour.

    BMI claims that it employed a comprehensive ranking methodology covering five key parameters that correlate to business metrics such as revenue and brand value. The brand’s share of volume of online conversations, customer engagement rate, depth of customer engagement, number of influencers and advocates on social channels, and net sentiment were measured by capturing conversations across the breadth of all social networks and online communities.

    The 2013 SEI 20 rankings revealed the following as top five performers –
    1. Tata Steel
    2. Tata Motors
    3. Dell India
    4. Tata Consultancy Services
    5. Bosch

  • Facebook unveils updated news feed

    Facebook unveils updated news feed

    MUMBAI: Online social network Facebook has announced changes to its news feed. The aim the company says is to reduce clutter and focus more on stories from the people that users care about.

    Users Facebook explains will see all the stories they saw in the news deed before, but with a fresh new look. Each story has been completely rebuilt and the aim is to be much more vibrant and colorful and highlight the content that friends are sharing.

    To make sure users are seeing all the stories that they want to see, Facebook has introduced several new feeds to explore in addition to the same News Feed that users have:

    All Friends – a feed that shows users everything that friends are sharing

    Photos – a feed with nothing but photos from friends and the Pages that the user likes
    Music – This is a feed with posts about the music that the user listens to
    Following – a feed with the latest news from the Pages that the user likes and the people followed.
    Facebook adds that with the new design, it now has the same look and feel on mobile, tablet and web. For example, the left-hand menu is accessible anywhere one goes on Facebook. Users also have a way to jump right to the top of News Feed whenever new stories come in.

    Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has described the revamped news feed as being richer, simpler, more beautiful. Facebook plans to roll out the redesigned feed in the coming weeks.

    on web and mobile. If users want to get it early, they can visit www.facebook.com/newsfeed and add themselves to the waiting list. These design updates will be available on the iPhone and iPad in the coming weeks and to Android soon after.

    This news comes at a time when teens are losing interest in the social network. In its annual 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission report Facebook noted, “We believe that some of our users, particularly our younger users, are aware of and actively engaging with other products and services similar to, or as a substitute for, Facebook. For example, we believe that some of our users have reduced their engagement with Facebook in favor of increased engagement with other products and services such as Instagram. In the event that our users increasingly engage with other products and services, we may experience a decline in user engagement and our business could be harmed.”

  • Aviva pads up with Sachin

    MUMBAI: Insurance provider Aviva has extended its campaign with brand ambassador cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to the social media realm.

    Aviva’s brand strategy, based on the father-child relationship, highlights the importance of a father’s role as a protector in his child’s life, whether financial, physical or emotional. With an objective to help young fathers realise the importance of financial planning for their children’s secure future, Aviva India unveiled its social media strategy based on creating and feeding engaging content in the social media channels.

    The core of the contention focuses on protection drawing analogies from cricket; the next levels will cover content on financial literacy, products and parenting for young fathers. This will be supported by a robust digital advertising campaign to promote content to our target audience – young parents in the age-group of 28-44 years.

    Through the new campaign called ‘Padding up with Sachin’ and ‘Sachin Off Guard’, Aviva aims to further strengthen its association with fatherhood and protection. These are a series of webisodes on cricket tutorials and interviews on importance of protection by Tendulkar. For the first time ever, netizens will have access to tutorials on cricketing by the Little Master himself.

    With 73 per cent of audience on social networking sites consuming video/ entertainment on the site, Aviva sees an increase of three fold in its engagement scores in its social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube leading to higher awareness on Aviva’s offerings. Aviva is shortly releasing its ‘Product Center’ and a series of engaging product related videos on Facebook to further enhance the same.

    Aviva India director marketing and bancassurance Rishi Piparaiya said, “Our vision on social media is to build a community of financially aware young parents and to achieve this, we see a significant role for both entertaining content for parents as well as infotainment around financial planning and Aviva’s products as key pillars. In the ‘Padding up with Sachin’ series, each webisode starts with Sachin reminding the viewers about the importance of protection.”

    Aviva’s Brand Ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar said, “Cricket is my passion and I am delighted to partner with Aviva to launch the ‘Padding up with Sachin‘ tutorials. These webisodes which showcase my successful moves on the pitch, will give fathers a chance to view and coach their children. The links to these videos will also be available on my Facebook page as well and I invite all to view and share the same”.

    Adding further, Rishi Piparaiya, Director Marketing and Bancassurance, Aviva India, said, “In an age where the internet is about content consumption and engagement, pure play product messaging only disrupts the consumer’s natural web behaviour. This is where we believe that we have bucked the trend by using content creation, rather than content disruption, as an approach. Testimony to this is the fact that we have crossed 1 lakh likes on our Facebook page in a short span and achieved a high engagement score on Twitter.”

  • Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television has opened auditions for Indian Idol Juniors.

    Set is inviting singers in the age group of 5 – 15 years to give youngsters a platform to showcase their talent. Parents can now register their child online and upload their performance videos through the app to be shortlisted for an audition in front of the judges.

    The performance videos can also be shared on Twitter and Facebook using the Indian Idol Junior mobile app. To keep up with the action, the app will also feature top audition videos which can be shared with friends.

    With entertainment now increasingly being consumed online, Set sees this step as an exciting platform to engage participants and audiences with.

    MSM SVP – new media, business development and digital/syndication Nitesh Kripalani said, “We want talent from all over India to participate and take a shot at being the first Indian Idol Junior. Now any parent can download the application, and submit their child’s video entry, across all Android and Apple devices. The app will help people connect to the action in Indian Idol Junior and directly participate in the competition, all one click away.”

    The Indian Idol Junior app is available for download on Google Playstore and ITunes free of cost.