Tag: InMobi

  • InMobi expands partnership with Microsoft Advertising into Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa

    InMobi expands partnership with Microsoft Advertising into Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa

    MUMBAI: The leading provider of content, marketing, and monetization technologies InMobi on Tuesday announced an expansion of its partnership with Microsoft Advertising to support enterprise and strategic advertisers in southeast Asia, middle east, and Africa. They will offer marketers an integrated solution to power their campaigns built on the search and native display capabilities of Microsoft Advertising and the mobile ad tech capability of InMobi’s advertising platforms.

    InMobi and Microsoft have been in a strategic partnership since July 2018 to help enterprises accelerate their digital transformation by providing them with insights, audience, and engagement platforms for a connected world. The partnership was expanded in 2019 as InMobi added the Microsoft Advertising products and solutions to its offerings in India.

    Speaking of this association, Microsoft Advertising APAC vice president Nick Seckold said, “Over the last two and a half years InMobi has done a wonderful job establishing Microsoft Advertising’s Indian footprint while doubling revenue over the same period. InMobi’s extensive knowledge and expertise of the digital advertising ecosystem in India combined with their trusted client relationships has delivered significant growth despite the effects of the pandemic. InMobi’s successful track record in India has led Microsoft Advertising to extend their coverage across southeast Asia where they will be tasked with building close relationships with advertisers and agencies to grow the business in the region.”

    Microsoft Advertising’s EMEA and LATAM vice president Mark Richardson said, “Microsoft Advertising are thrilled that InMobi will further expand their representation of our full suite of advertising offerings to strategic and enterprise clients in the Middle East, Turkey and Africa as part of our continuation to expand our sales and marketing efforts into this region. Microsoft Advertising offers advertising solutions that reach people across Microsoft properties including Bing, Microsoft News, Edge, and Outlook as well as on partner sites like AOL and Yahoo.”

    As part of the expansion, the Microsoft Advertising business at InMobi general manager Rohit Dosi will take up additional responsibilities for growing the Microsoft Advertising business across southeast Asia, middle east, and African markets and leading the global relationship with Microsoft.

    “The extended partnership between Microsoft Advertising and InMobi will enable marketers to deliver a unified brand experience to customers by bringing together the best of search and native display platforms across both organisations,” he said.

    “We are positioned uniquely to bring Microsoft Advertising to marketers in southeast Asia, middle east, and Africa through our deep appreciation of marketers’ needs, a keen understanding of the markets, and a customer-obsessed team,” Dosi added.

    Talking about the benefits of this partnership, Angara vice president of marketing Ankit Maheswari said “The InMobi team is pivotal to the success that Angara witnesses with Microsoft Advertising. Their proactive approach has time and again enhanced campaign efficiency, driven innovation, and delivered healthy returns for the brand. We are looking forward to replicating this success across multiple geographies and markets and going from strength to strength with InMobi as a partner.”

    On the promise of the expansion, Commerce Pundit digital marketing head Anand Mistry shared, “In the last two years, the partnership with the InMobi team has consistently enabled us to grow business and maximise ROI for our clients on the Microsoft Advertising platform. The strategic inputs and executional excellence from InMobi have not only added value to our client’s business but also deepened Commerce Pundit’s relationship with them. The comprehensive insights shared by the InMobi team on search, shopping and native display have been pivotal in exploring and scaling our business across new locations globally. We are excited to see the partnership reach new heights in the future!”

  • Glance TV launched to provide interactive experiences on smart TV

    Glance TV launched to provide interactive experiences on smart TV

    Mumbai: Consumer internet company Glance on Monday announced the launch of Glance TV – a live, interactive content platform for the home screen or ‘screen zero’ of Android smart TVs. With live streams and real-time on-screen interactions for users, Glance TV aims to transform passive television content consumption into an active social experience.

    Glance TV will offer off-beat, personalised snackable content of 5-20 minutes duration, across categories such as sports, entertainment, infotainment, e-sports, current affairs, lifestyle, food, and fitness, unlike standardised long-form TV shows. It has partnered with major content providers including Zee5, Epic On and Docubay to provide users fresh, personalised and premium content every day, said the statement. 

    Glance TV users can interact directly in real-time with their favourite stars on the television home screens. They can attend personalised fitness training sessions, watch interactive cooking shows with celebrity chefs, or enjoy sports in community watch-alongs that replicate immersive, stadium-like atmospheres. Within shows, users can interact and shape the direction of the content through live comments, reactions, and polls. Using QR codes on live TV, they can also buy tickets for movies and events, shop live, and get their social media posts featured on Glance TV streams.  

    “The launch of Glance TV is a major milestone for Glance, which has revolutionised content consumption on smartphones by bringing Live, interactive content to the mobile lock screen. Launched in 2019, Glance is now one of the world’s largest mobile lock screen platforms with over 200 million active users,” said the company in a statement. 

    Glance TV aims to be present on approximately 30 per cent of all smart TVs in India soon. The company plans to make Glance TV available globally and also intends to develop the same for other smart TV operating systems.

    “Glance has reimagined the lock screen of smartphones into a live screen for personalised, LIVE content,” said InMobi Group co-founder and Glance president and COO Piyush Shah. “With Glance TV, we want to redefine television experiences just as we did with smartphones. This is TV in a way that has never been seen before and is a true innovation that extends the Live experience that Glance delivers on lock screens to television home screens.”

    “With Glance TV, our intention is to remove the age-old connotation of TV being an idle way to pass time and change the perception of TV as the ‘idiot box.’ Glance TV gives users the experience where they can be active while watching TV and can express themselves directly on the big screen, within virtual communities of fellow users,” added Glance SVP and GM Manish Gupta.

  • Glance buys out gaming firm Gambit in NFT push

    Glance buys out gaming firm Gambit in NFT push

    Mumbai: InMobi’s consumer internet division Glance has announced the acquisition of Indian gaming firm Gambit Sports. This will accelerate Singapore-based Glance’s ambition of building the biggest platform for NFT-based live gaming experiences for gen-Z, across markets, it said.

    The acquisition brings together Glance’s scale and lock screen-centric innovation with Gambit’s expertise and understanding of the gaming ecosystem. Glance Games – Glance’s lock screen gaming platform – has over 45 million monthly active users across Asia. Close to 70 per cent are in the age group of 18 to 34, while over 40 per cent of its gamers are female, the company shared.

    Gambit has deep experience in building platforms with high engagement and monetisation. Co-founded in 2015 by Yashashvi Takallapalli, Gaurav Konar, Ranaveer Sankieneni, and Deepak Venkatramani, the company owns and operates Nostragamus (Nostra Pro) – a popular gaming platform with fantasy sports, poker, rummy, quiz, and hyper-casual games. Over 100 million games have been played on the Nostragamus platform, and it has close to 10 million registered users.   

    Glance will leverage Gambit’s expertise to launch engaging live gaming experiences including tournaments, game shows, game streaming and multi-player games on lock screen. Gambit will also enable Glance to launch multiple casual-to-midcore games that can be enjoyed by diverse sets of gamers. In the coming quarters, Glance also plans to launch NFTs in live gaming. This will potentially enable creators, streamers and developers to monetise through assets and NFT-based game creation while giving gamers unique experiences that they love.  
    “Gaming is the most exciting content category across the world today and Gen-Z spends more time on gaming than on any other activity online,” said InMobi co-founder and Glance president and COO Piyush Shah. “Giving users live, connected, interactive gaming experiences on the lock screen is key to Glance’s vision of building the world’s largest live internet platform. We also aim to launch creator-led NFTs for live gaming which will generate unique ‘play-to-earn’ and ‘play-to-own’ possibilities for the entire gaming ecosystem.”

    “We have already started seeing great traction for live gaming on Glance. For instance, over 10 million users watch live game streams on Glance every week now. With Glance and Gambit’s combined strengths and our belief that there is a game for every person, we envision doubling the number of monthly active gamers on Glance Games in the next year,” added Gambit co-founder and CEO Yashashvi Takallapalli. 

    In February 2022, Glance had signed an agreement to raise $200 million funding from Jio Platforms to accelerate its global expansion. The company also entered into a business partnership with Jio through which Glance’s lock screen platform will be integrated into JioPhone Next smartphones. This integration is expected to further boost the reach of Glance Games.

  • Users want interactive, social experiences on smartphones during IPL: Study

    Users want interactive, social experiences on smartphones during IPL: Study

    Mumbai: The mobile users now look for more interactive, social experiences on their smartphones during live IPL matches, according to the report titled ‘IPL and the Second Screen’ released by Glance on Tuesday. 70 per cent of IPL viewers use smartphones during the matches, with the majority consuming cricket-themed content parallelly on various platforms, revealed the study.

    Expert commentary, live watch-along, polls and quizzes, contests, cricket games, and fantasy cricket were amongst top choices for content consumption on phones during the matches. Content-led marketing on the second screen emerged as one of the key strategies for brands to cut through the IPL media clutter, the report stated.

    Close to 70 per cent of respondents identified themselves as ‘die-hard fans’ of IPL, and 72 per cent said that they will be watching every IPL match. Findings further revealed that while 69 per cent watch IPL on television, 61 per cent said that they also watch matches on their smartphones. The study found that content themes that are gaining popularity include live reaction videos of celebrities watching matches, behind-the-scenes snippets, unknown facts about favourite players, and expert match analyses.

    The survey further asked these respondents about the types of content they would like to interact with during the IPL matches. 56 per cent said they would like to take part in live watch parties with celebrities, and 53 per cent said they would participate in social media polls and quizzes on the match. 49 per cent opted for cricket games or fantasy cricket on various apps, while an equal percentage of them said they would bet on live matches. For brands and advertisers, this showed that interactive content formats will be one of the biggest engagement drivers to connect with audiences during the IPL.

    The Glance report outlined strategies that brands can leverage to tap into this growing trend of consuming second screen content during the IPL. These included using branded storytelling around cricket, launching customized polls and quizzes, designing watch parties with celebrities, and more, on popular platforms.

    When asked about ads that audiences would not mind engaging with, 54 per cent of respondents chose branded polls and quizzes that test their cricket knowledge, closely followed by ads that involved winning a contest. 48 per cent of users preferred influencer and celebrity-led ads, with an equal percentage voting for ads that lead to good shopping or dine-out deals.

    “IPL is a social phenomenon, both in the offline and the virtual world. People not just love watching cricket, but also love engaging with mobile content that gives them a 360-degree experience of the IPL and allows them to become a part of a community,” said InMobi Group co-founder and president and Glance COO Piyush Shah.“The evolving nature of IPL and the rise of interactive cricket content consumption on second screens, led by smartphones, allows brands to cut through the clutter of IPL, and connect with their audiences in a meaningful and impactful way.”

  • Mosaic Wellness onboards Abhinav Mohan as chief business officer

    Mosaic Wellness onboards Abhinav Mohan as chief business officer

    Mumbai: Mosaic Wellness, a health & wellness start-up running digital health clinic platforms Man Matters and Bodywise, has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Abhinav Mohan as chief business officer. 

    In this role, Mohan will head all categories and brand marketing and work closely with co-founder and CEO Revant Bhate, said the statement.

    “We are thrilled to welcome Abhinav to our core leadership team,” said Bhate. “Given his rich experience in scaling consumer first propositions with InMobi and Glance, we are looking forward to leveraging his leadership skills in navigating the next phase in our growth journey across categories and propositions.”  

    Mohan brings with him over 10 years of experience in building and scaling technology businesses. In his previous stint as VP and GM of monetisation at Glance (part of InMobi Group), he was helping brands connect with their audience and have personalized conversations with them through AI-enabled digital platforms. 

    In his previous roles at InMobi, he has also worked on consumer insights, performance marketing and innovative data solutions across both ad-tech and mar-tech. 

    “Having spent the last few years in the consumer tech world, I have witnessed the transformative power of technology on consumer businesses,” commented Abhinav Mohan. “It’s super exciting to see how Mosaic Wellness, with its technology-first approach, has been able to scale its digital health platform through consultations and I am looking forward to helping them disrupt the health and wellness industry.”

  • Ekta Kapoor and Roposo launch creator-led consumer brand EK

    Ekta Kapoor and Roposo launch creator-led consumer brand EK

    Mumbai: Entrepreneur and entertainment industry personality Ekta R Kapoor and Glance-owned Roposo on Wednesday announced the launch of home decor, home furnishing and wellness brand, EK. This is the first label to be launched by Roposo through Glance Collective, a joint venture company between Glance and Collective Artists Network.

    EK’s catalog includes home furnishings (bed linens, cushion covers, drapes, table runners), home decor (wall art, vases, serving ware), and spiritual and wellness products (dhoop burner, hamsa, evil eye jewellery) reflecting Ekta Kapoor’s unique style.  

    “EK is my way of empowering local artisans, who are striving to preserve Indian heritage and culture through their art,” said Kapoor. “The partnership with Roposo is very exciting since it will ensure that their work reaches consumers in every corner of the country through the technology, scale, and distribution backbone of platforms such as Glance and Roposo. It will also help in amplifying the deep knowledge of wellness our country possesses, making it relevant and accessible in today’s world.”

    The EK collection is inspired by India’s rich cultural heritage and wellness traditions and has signature products that incorporate both traditional and contemporary design elements. Crafted with the intent of filling the buyer’s home with positive energy, these products are made with soothing materials, fabrics, motifs, fragrances, and colors that are known to have positive emotional effects on their users, said the statement.

    Many of EK’s products are created in collaboration with local artisans across the country, as part of the mission to promote and preserve the legacy of India’s fine craftsmanship, it added.

    “Our intention is to partner with celebrities and creators in the creation of brands that reflect their unique persona, and that is what we are doing with EK. We are delighted to be associated with Ekta Kapoor and to be launching the first label in this vertical,” said InMobi Group (which owns Glance) founder and CEO Naveen Tewari. ”Through the combined user base and live commerce technology of platforms like Glance and Roposo, EK will reach millions of consumers in India.”   

    “Ekta is a defining personality in pop culture and has majorly influenced trends with her content over several years. Her authentic style, backed by the scale of Glance and Roposo Platforms makes this collaboration a truly unique and exciting proposition for consumers,” added Collective Artists Network group CEO and founder Vijay Subramaniam.

    The products are available on worldofek.com, Glance Lock Screen, and Roposo.

  • Connected consumers in India plan to spend 42% more than last year: InMobi

    Connected consumers in India plan to spend 42% more than last year: InMobi

    Mumbai: Indians are all set to welcome the festive season with a larger online shopping budget compared to last year, despite the initial few tough months this year. Almost 68 per cent of the respondents plan to shop online this festive season, with 43 per cent of Indians increasing their online shopping budgets this year, and parallelly, 39 per cent decreasing their offline shopping budgets, according to the new report launched by InMobi on Wednesday.

    The report titled ‘Decoding the 2021 Festive Shopper’ reveals that connected consumers in India plan to spend Rs 21,230 on average, 42 per cent higher than last year. Clothing and accessories, personal-use gadgets, and home appliances top the charts as the most popular shopping categories.

    InMobi surveyed over 2500 smartphone users across 80 tier 1, 2, and 3 cities and clusters in India using its consumer intelligence platform Pulse, to throw light on consumer preferences, shopping patterns, peak-shopping timelines, and device usage patterns. Additionally, one in three respondents that hail from tier 2 and 3 cities claim to be first-time online shoppers.

    “The festive season always remains about larger-than-life emotions, get-togethers, and a plethora of traditions. Amongst all this constancy, mobile has emerged as the medium for connected consumers to learn, explore, communicate, and buy,” said InMobi MD for Asia Pacific Vasuta Agarwal. “Our research shows that over 60 per cent of respondents use their mobile to research, explore, or make the final purchase. This makes it extremely critical for brands to be mobile-first in their festive strategy to win the connected festive shopper this year.”

    In India, the seasonal celebrations continue from the beginning of September to the end of the year, and the one thing that stays consistent throughout these four months is shopping. Almost 60 per cent of respondents in tier 1, 2, and 3 cities plan to make purchases in the period before Dussehra, defining the peak timeline for their festive shopping.

    The report also reveals deeper insights on the evolving shopping patterns this year among the Bargain Hunters, Category Explorers, and Brand Lovers segments.

    • 47 per cent of festive shoppers fall in the Bargain Hunters segment, as they are unsure on the categories they plan to purchase and are primarily on the hunt for attractive offers, irrespective of category.

    • 39 per cent of festive shoppers fall in the Category Explorers segment as they have decided the categories that they intend to shop in but are yet to finalize the exact brand or product. They are expected to spend 20% higher than last year.

    • 14 per cent are Brand Lovers as they have already made their decisions on the specific brands and the products that they will purchase. With focus on jewellery and home decor, brand lovers have the largest budgets of all the three segments.

    “Over the past year, we have seen a diverse set of brands leverage InMobi’s shoppable mobile experiences and online to online/ offline commerce solutions to drive relevant engagement with connected consumers,” added Agarwal. “These solutions will play an even more significant role in the upcoming festive season as brands look to strengthen their online presence and drive growth.”

  • InMobi appoints Todd Rose as SVP, global business development

    InMobi appoints Todd Rose as SVP, global business development

    Mumbai: InMobi on Wednesday announced the appointment of Todd Rose as senior vice president of global business development. He will be based out of San Francisco and report to InMobi Group co-founder and CEO, InMobi Marketing Cloud, Abhay Singhal.

    Rose joins InMobi to operationalise and accelerate a cohesive data and identity strategy, as well as expand strategic partnerships for clients to better leverage InMobi’s end-to-end advertising solutions to activate audiences, drive meaningful connections and ignite growth, said the company in a statement.

    “We’re thrilled to welcome Todd to lead our business development team, build on our growth and spearhead the next chapter of global expansion,” said Singhal. “Todd has deep domain expertise and rich relationships across the advertising ecosystem. He will play an integral role in defining and institutionalizing business development for InMobi, further advancing and expanding our strategy to address the market opportunities ahead.”  

    Previously, Rose worked for InMarket as chief business development officer. He also spearheaded agency holding company partnerships and led sales of GeoLink, InMarket’s real-time activation platform. Rose joined InMarket via the acquisition of NinthDecimal, a leading location intelligence platform, where he served in a similar capacity as part of the management team for eight years. He managed all platform and publisher partnerships and helped transition NinthDecimal from a Wi-Fi advertising network to a leader in mobile location intelligence.

    Earlier in his career, Rose led business development for YP / AT&T Interactive and had stints in management consulting with both McKinsey & Company and Marakon Associates.

    “InMobi has amassed a set of assets to provide end-to-end digital marketing capabilities for clients that can readily be tailored to the needs of specific verticals,” said Rose. “The depth of InMobi’s integrations with publishers and its role across the advertising value chain has poised the company to unlock and martial first-party data, for both publishers and advertisers, in an increasingly privacy-focused world.”  

  • COVID-19 impact: Smartphone usage spiked during the lockdown, says report

    COVID-19 impact: Smartphone usage spiked during the lockdown, says report

    KOLKATA: In the wake of the second wave of COVID-19 and lockdown across India, people relied more on their phones to beat boredom. InMobi’s Second Wave Lockdown Audience Insights Report says that, mobile phone usage went up as users searched for entertainment, gaming, music, and social networking while staying indoors.

    According to the report, 2021’s lockdown saw users relying on their smartphones specifically around weekends, compared to weekdays in 2020. Students, working professionals, and mothers were among the most engaged during the second wave lockdown. 

    However, the users’ app consumption behavior varied for each group. Students relied more on music, gaming, and OTT, compared to working professionals who consumed news, OTT, productivity, social, and shopping, while mothers invested their time on gaming, lifestyle, and education apps.

    “We have witnessed a drastic acceleration of the mobile-first consumer economy since the onset of the pandemic. With the second wave, we see that these “new normal” mobile-first consumer habits and preferences have become more mainstream,” said InMobi Asia Pacific managing director Vasuta Agarwal.

    With states reporting all-time high Covid cases, the report observed that 25-35 years old stayed indoors the highest during the lockdown, mostly due to the limited vaccination opportunities. Interestingly, people in the 35-44 age groups were seen stepping out the highest.

    As per the report, hospitals, clinics, and medical stores witnessed a spike of 597 per cent compared to 398 per cent last year. Supermarkets and essential stores saw an 89 per cent spike against 44 per cent last year, as consumers visited local stores to meet their daily needs. While a lot of consumers found cooking as a hobby last year, this year witnessed an increase in footfalls in restaurants from 7 per cent to 23 per cent.

    This was a result of relaxed lockdowns where takeaways and deliveries were allowed, helping consumers break the monotony of home-cooked meals by occasionally eating out. The footfall at each of the above places of interest during the lockdowns in 2020 & 2021 was indexed against overall footfalls observed across the above-mentioned places of interest and supermarkets, pharmacies, restaurants, and flea markets.

    Despite transport being open to the public in the second lockdown, travel and transport hubs saw an all-time low during the second wave from 9 per cent last year to 4 per cent now. While rail travel had started to pick up until June, the new cases reported in India again forced people to shelter at homes. While footfall at movie theaters was at a decline, visits to lodging reduced further by 15 per cent, mounting on the already low footfalls due to the fear of the pandemic.

    “Social distancing, work from home, and lock-down regulations have boosted consumer mobile consumption as people rely on mobile entertainment spanning games, social media, and video streaming. With the second wave hitting us, consumers have adopted to the online world already and are well versed with this,” Agarwal added.

  • InMobi launches in-game advertising for global brands and agencies

    InMobi launches in-game advertising for global brands and agencies

    NEW DELHI: With more and more Indians turning to mobile gaming to chase away the pandemic blues, the mode of self-entertainment now offers a plethora of opportunities for brands to connect with their TG. With this insight, mobile advertising platform InMobi has launched in-game advertising on InMobi Exchange. This will enable brands to reach premium mobile users, with ads that blend into the game environment, like electronic advertising boards in an in-game sports stadium, an e-sports arena or the extremely popular casual and hyper-casual gaming space.

    InMobi India VP & general manager Jayesh Ullattil said, “India is the 5th largest mobile gaming market in the world. Based on our recent consumer study, we saw that the pandemic added 40 per cent first-time gamers with 80 per cent of all mobile gamers playing once or several times every day. 74 per cent of all mobile gamers prefer to watch an ad over making in-app purchases and 60 per cent recall the ad seen during play. This innovative partnership only enables advertisers to further maximise engagement with an already watchful and engaged audience.”

    InMobi Exchange has partnerships with several platforms in the native in-game advertising space including AdInMo, Admix, Adverty, Anzu, Bidstack, Frameplay and Sayollo. This means that advertisers can access this premium inventory across the globe at a scale and diversity unmatched by any other mobile supply-side platform today, the company said in a press statement.

    “In-game advertising is uniquely effective because it allows advertisers to interact with their consumers in a highly intuitive way,” said InMobi SVP & general manager – publisher platforms and exchange Kunal Nagpal.