Tag: Isobar

  • Isobar India makes hotels friendly to differently abled

    Isobar India makes hotels friendly to differently abled

    MUMBAI: Isobar India, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, has introduced the Blind Faith Upgrade, a thoughtful and cause-oriented initiative under accessible tourism. A sustainable step towards accessible tourism, it explores the challenges faced by visually impaired travellers and allows the hotel to transform any of its rooms into a visually impaired-friendly room. The launch of the initiative was first introduced at Hotel Ramada, Ajmer. 

    The agency looks at expanding the initiative further to other corners of the tourism industry where accessibility is a major concern across the nation. A successful tourism product requires effective partnerships and cooperation across many sectors at the national, regional and international levels. The impact of accessible tourism thus goes beyond the tourist beneficiaries to the wider society, engraining accessibility into the social and economic values of society.

    Hotel Ramada, Ajmer general manager Manish Gupta mentions,“We are glad we could take up the Blind Faith Upgrade initiative; it fits right into our vision. As a hospitality brand, it’s our objective to deliver accessible tourism to all. This is an important step towards it.”

    In the light of the growing awareness for accessible tourism in India and the alarming ratio 1:250 of differently-abled-friendly hotel rooms to the total number of hotel rooms, Isobar introduced this initiative at Hotel Ramada, Ajmer with the Blind Faith Upgrade Kit. The kit includes Braille labels which can convert any phone into a Braille-enabled phone, reusable tactile paving tiles and Braille literature with audio assist. Available for purchase on theblindfaithupgrade.com, the kit is on an open-source model, inviting all players in the tourism industry to implement the same and spread more awareness for accessible tourism.

    Garnering immensely positive feedback, the video has received more than 1 million views since its launch.

    On the launch of this initiative, Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani says, “We’re all accountable towards building a community in which we wish to live – not just for ourselves, but for generations to come. We at Isobar are trying to focus on overcoming key challenges in our quest for a sustainable community. We are looking at taking this a step towards creating an informed society and urging the other key players across tourism industry to adopt the same across their properties in India. ”

    Speaking about the project, Isobar India executive vice president Gopa Kumar adds, “Accessibility is a key concern for letting the elderly and differently-abled people feel confident that they can travel without facing any problems. We hope this initiative would help spread further awareness about accessible tourism and bring further advancements across larger players within the hospitality space.”
     

  • Wrangler stretches your ad for offers

    Wrangler stretches your ad for offers

    MUMBAI: Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital agency, Isobar India has collaborated with Wrangler to help the brand launch its latest collection, ‘Stretch Plus’ in India. As part of the launch, the agency has devised and executed a digital media campaign for Wrangler that focusses on engaging followers with the product’s latest feature, ‘Extra Stretch’.

    In an age where brands are using banner ads on mobile devices to direct users towards discounts or generate other forms of marketing leads, Isobar India has created an interactive approach to engross consumers by extending the stretch feature of the product on the banner itself. Targeting users on touch devices, the agency asks customers to ‘stretch’ the product on the devise for a surprise offer. Every time they stretch the denim on the mobile banner, an offer pops up that leads them to avail discounts on the collection.

    The campaign has already garnered a total impression of 2,618,948 with an Engagement Rate of 1.8 per cent. The number of vouchers/coupons that have been generated until now are 1,147. The same number of new users have also been added to the database. For the record, the campaign has been executed in collaboration with mCanvas Advertising.

    Isobar India Vice President Suraj Nagappa says, “Our objective is to nudge the audience and make them experience the stretch feature and drive home the point, albeit in a non-preachy manner. We wanted to appeal to the viewer’s reason, and not just feeling. The brand positioning has witnessed a significant shift to adapt to the evolving consumer behaviour. The Stretch Plus campaign has rightfully delivered on the requirement of Wrangler’s new age consumers.”

    Commenting on the campaign, Wrangler Marketing Head Rohini Haldea adds, “Interactive ads are a good way for brands to get consumers’ attention and engage with them in a way that is meaningful to the brand. With the interactive ad feature, Wrangler’s Stretch Plus campaign is aimed at creating a digital experience that highlights the product benefits in an engaging manner and incentivises the consumer to try the product.”

  • Isobar brings integrated video chatbot tech for Dzire

    MUMBAI: Isobar, the digital agency from Dentsu Aegis Network, and Maruti Suzuki have rolled out India’s first Integrated Chatbot. Together, they have launched an innovative video banner with an in–built chatbot on select platforms. This interactive property will allow us to entertain users’ first level queries, thereby educating them about ‘A whole new world of Dzire’ and redirecting them to the main website and enabling a two-way communication with the relevant audience.

    Isobar, the agency that handles the digital mandate for Maruti Suzuki India, created this innovation as part of the launch campaign of brand Dzire. The all-new Maruti Suzuki Dzire, with its smooth sedan styling, rich interiors and seamless enhancements, had to be introduced to the market in exciting new formats. Being an existing segment leader, Maruti Suzuki decided to be bold and bring forward the renewed brand message and capture existing and new audiences’ interest.

    Commenting on this first of its kind innovation, Sanjeev Handa, VP Marketing said, “The video chat bot used for the All New Dzire is a very exciting innovation for us at Maruti Suzuki. It not only enables two-way communication with our audience, but allows us to immediately address their first level queries, real time and in a very engaging manner. We look forward to sustained quality engagement with consumers in future.”

    Gopa Kumar, VP Isobar India, added, “We’re thrilled to be working with Maruti Suzuki and pioneer into the next level of conversational and engaging ad. This being an industry first, provides superior user experience on video and adding this extra level of personalisation with the Chatbot makes them even more powerful. This is also an example of what can be created when a great brand and truly cutting-edge technology team up. We expect this to be the first of many such campaigns as other brands discover the opportunities of Chabot integrations with their video ads.”

  • Isobar introduces programmatic radio buying in India

    Isobar introduces programmatic radio buying in India

    MUMBAI: The face of radio and music consumption has changed with the smartphone explosion in India and so has the way advertisers look at the market. With almost all music consumers tuned into their favourite tracks through their choice of over-the-top digital music players, top media agencies too are taking note that radio as a form of mass media could catch up with the rest backed by data and analytics.

    A good example of this is the recently launched initiative from Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Isobar India, in partnership with AMNET that facilitates programmatic radio buying — a first of its kind in India as per the agency. In order to execute the first ever digital radio, Isobar and AMNET partnered with digital audio companies, Triton Digital and AdsWizz by integrating data with Appnexus.

    Online music consumption enabled by players like Guevara, Tunein, Planet Radio city, AIR Fm Gold and Music Live FM etc. have democratized the music industry in India, making it a lucrative segment for brands to capitalize on. However, until recently, media buys used to happen on these platforms on an ad hoc basis with no clear definition of the audience segment clusters.

    But with introduction of digital radio infusing intelligent targeting through programmatic solution,the new tool from Isobar will be efficient in aiding the process of acquiring new customers and delivering relevant output to existing customers via search, display, native, video and social.

    Breaking the concept down for the layman, Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani AKA Shams explained, “Currently music lovers are consuming most of their music on the Gaanas and Saavns of the world as opposed to traditional radio channels. With the new tool that we are launching we are able to marry the data that we acquire from these digital players and target consumers.This will allow advertisers to programmatically buy audience targeted digital radio units based on the consumer’s’ music listening behaviour. Basically radio commercials that are targeted at digital music consumers.”

    AMNET India business head Salil Shanker said, “At AMNET, we believe in extracting the full potential of our brand offerings by using AMNET Audience Centre to profile new customers, deliver unique messaging to brand loyalists, and connect audiences across channel beats they fall into – i.e. Search, Video, Social and Native. Many brands fail to connect with relevant audiences, who consume audio content on the go (on digital radio).We have managed to bridge this gap by introducing the first ever programmatic digital radio in India. Our recent associations with brands like Microsoft, DS Group and JK Tyres have identified the potential of digital radio like never before and adopted this new-age technology.”

    Similar to how two way communication through digitally addressable system (DAS) on television allows advertisers to run different ads targeted at different audience parallely, programmatic buying of radio units will let advertisers place user specific different communications all playing at the same time.

    “We are creating different profiles for users to be categorised in based on the different campaigns. It’s not like one profile fits all consumers. We are able to target different profiles of consumers with different ad sports at different points in their purchase journey for a particular advertiser. For example at one time 30 different 15 second-er audio spots can run on one of these on demand music players.” Not to mention, being audio, the ad spots are lighter on the advertiser’s pocket as well.

    There are several perks to using audio as a medium of communication for brands. Apart from targeted messaging that saves brands from spraying and praying, and prevents wastage of precious advertising budget, tapping into a whole new market is another advantage that the new tool offers advertisers. “Most of the users who have switched to digital to listen to music are not paid users. In turn they are okay with listeing to advertisements as long as they have access to the huge music libraries players such as Saavan and Gaana.com have to offer.”
    Currently digital agency already has three major clients onboard with the new initiative namely – -DS Group, Microsoft and JK Tyres.Claiming it to be the first of its kind in Asia Pacific, the agency also hopes to get 50 to 60 clients using the service by the end of this financial year.

    Lauding the new initiative Microsoft India CMO Jyotsna Makkar shared her views saying, “We always look for innovative ways to cut-through and are happy to be amongst the first marketers to explore the potential of this format.”

    “Again,” Jasani highlights, “audio consumes less data and therefore consumers seamlessly consume the content.”

    When pointed out that only handful of such digital audio platforms are available to advertisers in India, Jasani assured that by the end of this financial year Isobar has plans allow access to ‘ 45 such apps, both Indian and global’ to its clients.

    Jasani is also optimistic that this new aspect of digital audio ads will push the envelope of digital ad spends within the country. “It’s only a matter of time before advertisers take better notice as the majority of consumers have already shifted to digital, especially when it comes to music. And it’s only going to grow as the data price becomes cheaper and cheaper in the next few months. What holds them back is a proper mechanism that will allow them to systematically use to power of digital in their campaigns and that is exactly what programmatic radio buying will allow them,” Jasani signed off.

  • Isobar introduces programmatic radio buying in India

    Isobar introduces programmatic radio buying in India

    MUMBAI: The face of radio and music consumption has changed with the smartphone explosion in India and so has the way advertisers look at the market. With almost all music consumers tuned into their favourite tracks through their choice of over-the-top digital music players, top media agencies too are taking note that radio as a form of mass media could catch up with the rest backed by data and analytics.

    A good example of this is the recently launched initiative from Dentsu Aegis Network’s digital arm, Isobar India, in partnership with AMNET that facilitates programmatic radio buying — a first of its kind in India as per the agency. In order to execute the first ever digital radio, Isobar and AMNET partnered with digital audio companies, Triton Digital and AdsWizz by integrating data with Appnexus.

    Online music consumption enabled by players like Guevara, Tunein, Planet Radio city, AIR Fm Gold and Music Live FM etc. have democratized the music industry in India, making it a lucrative segment for brands to capitalize on. However, until recently, media buys used to happen on these platforms on an ad hoc basis with no clear definition of the audience segment clusters.

    But with introduction of digital radio infusing intelligent targeting through programmatic solution,the new tool from Isobar will be efficient in aiding the process of acquiring new customers and delivering relevant output to existing customers via search, display, native, video and social.

    Breaking the concept down for the layman, Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani AKA Shams explained, “Currently music lovers are consuming most of their music on the Gaanas and Saavns of the world as opposed to traditional radio channels. With the new tool that we are launching we are able to marry the data that we acquire from these digital players and target consumers.This will allow advertisers to programmatically buy audience targeted digital radio units based on the consumer’s’ music listening behaviour. Basically radio commercials that are targeted at digital music consumers.”

    AMNET India business head Salil Shanker said, “At AMNET, we believe in extracting the full potential of our brand offerings by using AMNET Audience Centre to profile new customers, deliver unique messaging to brand loyalists, and connect audiences across channel beats they fall into – i.e. Search, Video, Social and Native. Many brands fail to connect with relevant audiences, who consume audio content on the go (on digital radio).We have managed to bridge this gap by introducing the first ever programmatic digital radio in India. Our recent associations with brands like Microsoft, DS Group and JK Tyres have identified the potential of digital radio like never before and adopted this new-age technology.”

    Similar to how two way communication through digitally addressable system (DAS) on television allows advertisers to run different ads targeted at different audience parallely, programmatic buying of radio units will let advertisers place user specific different communications all playing at the same time.

    “We are creating different profiles for users to be categorised in based on the different campaigns. It’s not like one profile fits all consumers. We are able to target different profiles of consumers with different ad sports at different points in their purchase journey for a particular advertiser. For example at one time 30 different 15 second-er audio spots can run on one of these on demand music players.” Not to mention, being audio, the ad spots are lighter on the advertiser’s pocket as well.

    There are several perks to using audio as a medium of communication for brands. Apart from targeted messaging that saves brands from spraying and praying, and prevents wastage of precious advertising budget, tapping into a whole new market is another advantage that the new tool offers advertisers. “Most of the users who have switched to digital to listen to music are not paid users. In turn they are okay with listeing to advertisements as long as they have access to the huge music libraries players such as Saavan and Gaana.com have to offer.”
    Currently digital agency already has three major clients onboard with the new initiative namely – -DS Group, Microsoft and JK Tyres.Claiming it to be the first of its kind in Asia Pacific, the agency also hopes to get 50 to 60 clients using the service by the end of this financial year.

    Lauding the new initiative Microsoft India CMO Jyotsna Makkar shared her views saying, “We always look for innovative ways to cut-through and are happy to be amongst the first marketers to explore the potential of this format.”

    “Again,” Jasani highlights, “audio consumes less data and therefore consumers seamlessly consume the content.”

    When pointed out that only handful of such digital audio platforms are available to advertisers in India, Jasani assured that by the end of this financial year Isobar has plans allow access to ‘ 45 such apps, both Indian and global’ to its clients.

    Jasani is also optimistic that this new aspect of digital audio ads will push the envelope of digital ad spends within the country. “It’s only a matter of time before advertisers take better notice as the majority of consumers have already shifted to digital, especially when it comes to music. And it’s only going to grow as the data price becomes cheaper and cheaper in the next few months. What holds them back is a proper mechanism that will allow them to systematically use to power of digital in their campaigns and that is exactly what programmatic radio buying will allow them,” Jasani signed off.

  • How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    MUMBAI: So, the social media giant Facebook has rolled out a whole new range of emoticons for users to ‘react’ with. This has come after the long standing legacy of the ‘like’ button. The new reactions, namely ‘Haha’, ‘Wow’, ‘Love’, ‘Sad, and ‘Angry’, were highly anticipated by the advertising fraternity until  Facebook  revealed that it won’t be letting advertisers use these new reactions as a way to create targeted ads. For now, reactions would only be counted as additional ‘likes’, meaning that an “angry” reaction would be treated the same as a “wow”.

    Though initially put off by Facebook’s decision to keep the new reactions out of their reach, advertisers and digital marketers have found ways around this. What makes these new reactions such a lucrative tool for digital marketers is its immense power to look into consumer insights.

    “There is a lot of learning from it on a broader scale, but since Facebook as of now isn’t revealing the exact numbers of ‘angry’ or ‘wow’, advertisers are having a hard time in making the most of it. But, you can actually can see who has liked it or ‘loved’ it if you hover over the new emoticons. Once you physically count that list, you can put a number of it. Though tedious, but not impossible,” points out Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani Aka Shams.

    Now why would a marketer go through the trouble of physically counting these reactions? What’s in it for her or him?

    “It’s a great tool to understand, learn your consumers for a brand. You can see what tonality and emotions consumers have for content. We can figure out what kind of posts, communication and content that are working with a brand’s TG. Beyond that, the use is still limited and it will take some time before people start using it extensively,” Shams shares, adding that the new offering is all about analytics.

    PnB Metlife digital marketing, ecommerce and digitization head Abhishek Rathi too feels that the new reactions can prove to be a powerful tool for marketers like him. Especially for re-targeting of campaigns. The net adoption of these features is what marketers are closely paying attention to, Rathi says. “Right now we have to wait and watch if people are actually using it or not to make a significant difference. Currently the majority of what we can work with on Facebook are likes and shares. Comments can give you some consumer insight but isn’t a huge help. Similarly we need to wait and see exactly how we can use these features in marketing.”

    “The first thing that I predict is the number of engagements on the posts going up,” Shams observes, “ It’s not always that you like something, you might really like it, love it, or dislike it. Having more to the spectrum to react with also makes people interact with the site more. Earlier people were restricted by only the dislike button, but now the new emoticons are making engagements go up.”

    Given its potential use for brands, media planners especially on the digital front, are contemplating on how to incorporate these reactions under their bouquet of services. Shams feels that reactions have a huge scope when it comes to accentuating data and analytics further.

    “Of course the planners, who need to buy the right kind of inventory for their client will have to take the new reactions into consideration. It is still difficult to correlate who liked it or loved it and accordingly bought it, as the analytics are not in place right now,” shared another well-known media planner who wished to remain anonymous.

    But it is the creatives or the content creators who can make the most of this new feature. Content creators will be able to gauge what reactions their work is getting and where they need to tweak to get the desired result.

    “When we are talking about corporate social responsibility or a social cause, it helps to know how our viewers and consumers are reacting to the campaigns; the emotions behind their likes. It’s the next level of engagement,” says Rathi.

    Brands which are most likely to jump on this bandwagon and try out the new Facebook reactions for their campaigns are the youth oriented brands, brands with brand language that lets them experiment and try new things. Citing an example from his own client base, Shams says, “Myntra’s brand Anouk, which we handle, has a communication that many like while others may also dislike. It is very clear in what it wants to say to its audience. These reactions can be a help to the brand. Brands which are steadier in their brand communication will wait and watch first.”

    Ecommerce and digital start-up companies will be the next to take the new feature seriously for their marketing. “Then you have the likes of Coke and Pepsi who will soon follow,” Rathi adds. The sport leagues can also be big takers for this new feature, Rathi feels. “The IPLs, ISLs, kabaddi leagues and tennis leagues of the world can make a huge advantage from these as it is an association of pride and entertainment. Anything which involves a whole community will try to make the most of this tool,” he adds.

    Another advertiser who wants to stay ahead of the curve is United Beverages Limited. UBL has started to look at how these new reactions can affect its marketing strategy. Not only that, UBL, Marketing SVP Samar Singh Sheikhawat shares that UBL is also keeping the ‘angry’ reaction in mind.

    “Brands need to be more responsible and responsive now. We need to be more on the ball, because unlike earlier, the ‘angry’ button can become the new ‘dislike’. Not that it has never happened before. In the real world, there are consumers who like one product, others love the same and there are few who can even hate it. Earlier that emotion seldom got reflected to the brands, but now the game is changing,” he says.

    With so much excitement among brands in making use of Facebook reactions in marketing, one has to wonder if it’s ethical to use such data at all. “That’s true. We need to be careful how the information is used and it needs to be monitored well. As a marketer I am thrilled about the opportunities this gives us but personally I am not comfortable with my personal data, likes and dislikes being shared with companies who can make use of such data. But if it is an aggregate that you are sharing, it will not be so much of an issue. Suppose 50 per cent of ‘love’ or 20 percent of ‘angry, etc. From a privacy standpoint I don’t think it’s in the interest of customers to share individual data points.”

    Sheikhawat on the other hand has a slightly different perspective. “I don’t see how it can become unethical. The fact of the matter is when you sign up for Facebook. you share your personal data.  When you get a new app or service, you let it access your Facebook data, including your preference. When you make any of your reactions public, you are sharing it with the rest of the world. It is already happening and consumers are aware of it.

    On a positive note, many marketers also observe that NGOs and campaigns for social causes can get a huge help from the added feature. Several marketers are of the view that if the data is readily available to marketers, consumers who are aware will not adopt the feature as much and therefore its effectiveness even from an aggregate standpoint will go down.

  • How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    MUMBAI: So, the social media giant Facebook has rolled out a whole new range of emoticons for users to ‘react’ with. This has come after the long standing legacy of the ‘like’ button. The new reactions, namely ‘Haha’, ‘Wow’, ‘Love’, ‘Sad, and ‘Angry’, were highly anticipated by the advertising fraternity until  Facebook  revealed that it won’t be letting advertisers use these new reactions as a way to create targeted ads. For now, reactions would only be counted as additional ‘likes’, meaning that an “angry” reaction would be treated the same as a “wow”.

    Though initially put off by Facebook’s decision to keep the new reactions out of their reach, advertisers and digital marketers have found ways around this. What makes these new reactions such a lucrative tool for digital marketers is its immense power to look into consumer insights.

    “There is a lot of learning from it on a broader scale, but since Facebook as of now isn’t revealing the exact numbers of ‘angry’ or ‘wow’, advertisers are having a hard time in making the most of it. But, you can actually can see who has liked it or ‘loved’ it if you hover over the new emoticons. Once you physically count that list, you can put a number of it. Though tedious, but not impossible,” points out Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani Aka Shams.

    Now why would a marketer go through the trouble of physically counting these reactions? What’s in it for her or him?

    “It’s a great tool to understand, learn your consumers for a brand. You can see what tonality and emotions consumers have for content. We can figure out what kind of posts, communication and content that are working with a brand’s TG. Beyond that, the use is still limited and it will take some time before people start using it extensively,” Shams shares, adding that the new offering is all about analytics.

    PnB Metlife digital marketing, ecommerce and digitization head Abhishek Rathi too feels that the new reactions can prove to be a powerful tool for marketers like him. Especially for re-targeting of campaigns. The net adoption of these features is what marketers are closely paying attention to, Rathi says. “Right now we have to wait and watch if people are actually using it or not to make a significant difference. Currently the majority of what we can work with on Facebook are likes and shares. Comments can give you some consumer insight but isn’t a huge help. Similarly we need to wait and see exactly how we can use these features in marketing.”

    “The first thing that I predict is the number of engagements on the posts going up,” Shams observes, “ It’s not always that you like something, you might really like it, love it, or dislike it. Having more to the spectrum to react with also makes people interact with the site more. Earlier people were restricted by only the dislike button, but now the new emoticons are making engagements go up.”

    Given its potential use for brands, media planners especially on the digital front, are contemplating on how to incorporate these reactions under their bouquet of services. Shams feels that reactions have a huge scope when it comes to accentuating data and analytics further.

    “Of course the planners, who need to buy the right kind of inventory for their client will have to take the new reactions into consideration. It is still difficult to correlate who liked it or loved it and accordingly bought it, as the analytics are not in place right now,” shared another well-known media planner who wished to remain anonymous.

    But it is the creatives or the content creators who can make the most of this new feature. Content creators will be able to gauge what reactions their work is getting and where they need to tweak to get the desired result.

    “When we are talking about corporate social responsibility or a social cause, it helps to know how our viewers and consumers are reacting to the campaigns; the emotions behind their likes. It’s the next level of engagement,” says Rathi.

    Brands which are most likely to jump on this bandwagon and try out the new Facebook reactions for their campaigns are the youth oriented brands, brands with brand language that lets them experiment and try new things. Citing an example from his own client base, Shams says, “Myntra’s brand Anouk, which we handle, has a communication that many like while others may also dislike. It is very clear in what it wants to say to its audience. These reactions can be a help to the brand. Brands which are steadier in their brand communication will wait and watch first.”

    Ecommerce and digital start-up companies will be the next to take the new feature seriously for their marketing. “Then you have the likes of Coke and Pepsi who will soon follow,” Rathi adds. The sport leagues can also be big takers for this new feature, Rathi feels. “The IPLs, ISLs, kabaddi leagues and tennis leagues of the world can make a huge advantage from these as it is an association of pride and entertainment. Anything which involves a whole community will try to make the most of this tool,” he adds.

    Another advertiser who wants to stay ahead of the curve is United Beverages Limited. UBL has started to look at how these new reactions can affect its marketing strategy. Not only that, UBL, Marketing SVP Samar Singh Sheikhawat shares that UBL is also keeping the ‘angry’ reaction in mind.

    “Brands need to be more responsible and responsive now. We need to be more on the ball, because unlike earlier, the ‘angry’ button can become the new ‘dislike’. Not that it has never happened before. In the real world, there are consumers who like one product, others love the same and there are few who can even hate it. Earlier that emotion seldom got reflected to the brands, but now the game is changing,” he says.

    With so much excitement among brands in making use of Facebook reactions in marketing, one has to wonder if it’s ethical to use such data at all. “That’s true. We need to be careful how the information is used and it needs to be monitored well. As a marketer I am thrilled about the opportunities this gives us but personally I am not comfortable with my personal data, likes and dislikes being shared with companies who can make use of such data. But if it is an aggregate that you are sharing, it will not be so much of an issue. Suppose 50 per cent of ‘love’ or 20 percent of ‘angry, etc. From a privacy standpoint I don’t think it’s in the interest of customers to share individual data points.”

    Sheikhawat on the other hand has a slightly different perspective. “I don’t see how it can become unethical. The fact of the matter is when you sign up for Facebook. you share your personal data.  When you get a new app or service, you let it access your Facebook data, including your preference. When you make any of your reactions public, you are sharing it with the rest of the world. It is already happening and consumers are aware of it.

    On a positive note, many marketers also observe that NGOs and campaigns for social causes can get a huge help from the added feature. Several marketers are of the view that if the data is readily available to marketers, consumers who are aware will not adopt the feature as much and therefore its effectiveness even from an aggregate standpoint will go down.