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Tag: ManoramaOnline

  • ManoramaOnline enhances user experience with Google’s strategic partnership

    ManoramaOnline enhances user experience with Google’s strategic partnership

    Mumbai: ManoramaOnline, a digital media, has significantly advanced its platform through “ManoramaOnline 2.5,” an ambitious project aimed at revolutionizing user experience on both web and e-reader platforms. This major upgrade made possible through a strategic partnership with Google, marks a significant step forward in the platform’s commitment to delivering high-quality content to the Malayalee community. Over the past quarter-century, ManoramaOnline has become a trusted source of news and information, consistently excelling in online content delivery.

    The primary goal of “ManoramaOnline 2.5” was to create a modern, user-friendly interface that aligns with contemporary trends. The project addressed key issues such as UX/UI, content discoverability, and CMS architecture. The redesign features a sleek, intuitive interface that makes it easier for users to find relevant content quickly. Enhancements to the CMS architecture streamline the content publishing process, offering greater flexibility for editors and ensuring a more dynamic content presentation. Additionally, the project met the growing demand for enhanced e-paper services among subscribers.

    The collaboration with Google has yielded impressive results. Since the roll-out of the redesigned platform, user feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. Post-redesign, there was a 55% increase in the average engagement time per session for direct traffic, indicating a significant improvement in user engagement and satisfaction with the redesigned platform. Additionally, there was a 6% increase in engaged sessions per user for both direct and organic search traffic referrals, indicating a notable enhancement in user interaction and interest with the revamped platform. Users now enjoy a more engaging and satisfying interaction with the platform, reflected in increased engagement times and higher satisfaction rates.

    The success of this project was made possible through a strategic partnership with Google. Google’s expertise and resources provided invaluable insights and support throughout the project, helping ManoramaOnline leverage cutting-edge technologies and best practices to significantly enhance the platform’s performance and user experience.

    The ‘ManoramaOnline 2.5’ project, initiated in partnership with Google, undoubtedly accelerated our efforts to improve reader experience and engagement across all our platforms,” said ManoramaOnline, chief executive officer Mariam Mammen Mathew.

    “ManoramaOnline has been a pioneer of high standards in the news and information space. Partnering with the brand and the hugely committed team to improve their news delivery across digital channels has been an invaluable experience. Having credible news reach the language user is a core part of Google’s mission and we could not be happier with the results”, said Durga Raghunath, Head of News Partnerships, Google India.

    With the successful launch and operation of the redesigned platform, ManoramaOnline continues to evolve, leveraging the use of the latest technology to meet the dynamic needs of its users.

  • ManoramaOnline now with a trendy and contemporary look

    ManoramaOnline now with a trendy and contemporary look

    Mumbai: ManoramaOnline, the digital arm of Malayala Manorama newspaper that provides news to Malayalis all over the world, is now sporting a new look.  

    The new design, created using the latest technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI), will help ManoramaOnline offer a comprehensive reading experience.

    The ‘Latest News’ will have daily developments in detail. The ‘Big Story’ section on top of the website will carry exclusive stories and important news, while the ‘Premium’ section will carry in-depth stories.

    In the ‘Trending News’ section, artificial intelligence will select stories based on the individual preferences of readers. The photographs of all major news breaks will be displayed on the homepage banner, along with live updates, providing all the relevant information at a glance.  

    A wide variety of in-depth news is the hallmark of ManoramaOnline. The new design will have various sections in a cluster format. The ‘Cinema’ and ‘Music’ sections in the previous website will now come under the ‘Entertainment’ section, whereas the ‘Lifestyle’ cluster will have contents that earlier went under ‘Travel, ‘Food’, ‘Auto’, ‘Literature’ and ‘Homestyle’ sections.

    Each cluster has a unique design that gels with the content it provides.

    The fresh-look ManoramaOnline has added new sections such as ‘Fact Check’ and ‘Youth & Kids’ with a focus on GenNext.

    The existing ‘Hyperlocal’ and ‘Business’ sections, too, have migrated to the new layout.

    ManoramaOnline is now tapping the immense possibilities of multimedia to provide audio and video content, besides text.

    Galleries will showcase the day’s major developments in photographs, and visual stories that communicate the developments in images, cartoons, and infographics.

    The new design allows readers to select a preferred mode for ‘Read’, ‘Light’, and ‘Dark’ to make reading easy for the eyes. Improved loading speed coupled with a trendy design will provide the readers of ManoramaOnline with a novel experience. 

  • ManoramaOnline’s campaign celebrates the homecoming of every Malayali’s superhero

    ManoramaOnline’s campaign celebrates the homecoming of every Malayali’s superhero

    Mumbai: Onam celebrates the homecoming of every Malayali’s superhero, the benevolent king Mahabali. When it comes to good times, Malayalis consider the times of the legendary Mahabali to be the gold standard. Malayalis relive those times of prosperity, equality and abundance by celebrating Ona with fervour. It’s the time when family budgets have extra provisions, homes are refreshed and long pending shopping wish lists are fulfilled. Thus, Onam truly is the beginning of the great Indian shopping season.

    The South Swag

    Onam was always the biggest shopping season in Kerala. But this year, the South Indian festival is all set to be one of the biggest shopping seasons in the country as well.

    South as a region was always seen as smaller or less flamboyant, with a far less appetite than north. Bigger cities, big business houses, big celebrations are all usually attributed to North India. But that position is observed to be shifting now. It was the evolution of the startup economy that began this change, with cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Thiruvananthapuram riding the tech wave.

    Now, South India holds lead positions when it comes to new economy parameters like internet penetration, data usage etc. According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), Kerala comes a close second in terms of internet density in the country with 87 subscribers per 100 population.

    In recent months this emergence has been amplified by the awakening of another south Indian giant – the movie industry. Back-to-back hits like “Bahubali”, “KGF”, “RRR” and “Vikram” are breaking collection records and are even becoming huge grossers in Hindi speaking states. This emergence of the South is a perfect prelude to the most awaited festival in Kerala, Onam.

    An indicator of this trend could be found in the fact that Kerala’s favourite Malayalam news portal Manoramaonline bagged gold at the WAN IFRA South Asian Digital Media Awards for the best news website for the third year in a row. The Onam Campaign from Manoramaonline – ‘Kerala’s Biggest Superstar coming soon’ proudly points out this trend to the fraternity, thereby inviting it to become a part of this big festive season by ensuring that its brand is present on Manoramaonline.

  • The Quint & ManoramaOnline partner with Ideabrew to distribute podcasts

    The Quint & ManoramaOnline partner with Ideabrew to distribute podcasts

    Mumbai: Ideabrew Studios has partnered with The Quint and ManoramaOnline to create, host, and distribute podcasts. As part of this partnership, Ideabrew studios will host, distribute, and monetize over 30 existing shows, including top shows like Urdunama, Qisse Kahaniyan, and The Big Story. Together, they will also work to create rich content through new brand-led shows that appease the listener as well as benefit the brand partner.

    The Quint executive editor Shelly Walia said, “The Quint has been a leader among digital news media companies in leveraging the power of sound through its episodic and serialised podcasts. Collaborating with Ideabrew Studios opens exciting prospects for us in terms of not only reaching out to our habitual listeners and finding a new audience – but also getting to know them better.”

    She further added, “The data provided by Ideabrew is helping us better measure user numbers, understand user behaviour, and study demography in a more systematic manner. This year, there’s been an uptick in listenership across podcasting channels as the world returns to post-pandemic normalcy – and for The Quint, the tie-up provides a timely opportunity to capitalise on this revival.”

    Ideabrew and ManoramaOnline launched a strategic podcast collaboration in early 2022, resulting in significant amplification and reach for their podcasts as well as scale for the business partnership.

    ManoramaOnline CEO Mariam Mammen Mathew said, “We are happy to start our relationship with podcast creators and hosting platform IdeaBrew. In a short time, our listeners have responded well to the interesting and rich content in English and Malayalam languages on different podcast platforms. Podcasting is disrupting the traditional radio space, making it an exciting time for the news industry. We are happy about creating rich news content that’s true to our brand and a refreshing cultural and technological change across our newsrooms.”

    With 23 popular shows across genres in Malayalam and English, this is already a head start. Mariam added, “This partnership is going to give us a fillip to push out the several projects in our pipeline.”

    Ideabrew CEO Aditya Kuber said, “Whether it’s Covid-19 updates, political discord, a new space launch, or the latest celebrity shenanigans, news channels carry 24-hour news, giving you something to constantly ponder or worry over. Through our medium of audio content, Ideabrew aims to disrupt the way the audience receives and responds to daily news. Our podcasts are designed to engage in healthier outlets that allow our audiences the flexibility to choose when they want to consume their news and also provide stimulating formats in the form of in-depth analysis, interviews, or opinions from experts on the subject to make the news informative, wholesome, and entertaining.”

    He further added, “We are excited about making steady inroads into the news category by partnering with the best news providers across the country to make audio the preferred medium to receive national, regional, and local news in different languages. Our premier association with the HW News Network has been phenomenal, attracting a new and far younger audience through podcasts, giving the brand a distinctive extension to get their content out.”

    Ideabrew Studios’ current partners for whom they create and host audio shows are Sakal News, HW News, and Reason.

  • ManoramaOnline unveils its Christmas 2021 campaign

    ManoramaOnline unveils its Christmas 2021 campaign

    Mumbai: Since 2018, Kerala has been violently tossed around by a spate of disasters, from cyclones and floods to the pandemic. But each time, Kerala has bounced back with renewed vigour. Festive seasons like Onam, Christmas, or Vishu have not been celebrated offline as they used to be, thanks to the pandemic restrictions. But these celebrations, without losing a drop of their verve, have migrated to digital/social platforms.

    Possibly why marketers across the country eagerly look at Kerala as a harbinger of the next opportunity. So in Kerala, as the Covid-19 wave shows signs of receding, the people have been storing up their hopes for the upcoming season.

    If the marketing campaigns in Kerala since the lockdown had one common intent it was to communicate the optimism of the Malayali. The way we faced challenges, the way we stayed positive, the way we held on to hope and remained spirited. Together, they painted a sparkling arc of positivity.

    This Christmas season is a part of the positivity. Not the whole news itself.

    Malls, theatres, restaurants, and schools have reopened, optimism is now becoming real. In reality, after 2020 April we have never felt this new.
    And we feel this is a unique opportunity to say just that. Christmas undoubtedly will add more lights and joy to the festival of renewal that has already begun.

    The conceptualisation, strategy, and execution of this campaign are credited to The Local Network.

  • Top south Indian news publishers join hands to form SPP

    Top south Indian news publishers join hands to form SPP

    BENGALURU: Dinamalar, Eenadu, ManoramaOnline and Prajavaninews media publishers have come together to form South Premium Publishers (SPP), India’s first and biggest ‘south languages’ digital advertising package. This brings the top four dailies, renowned in their regions, to serve their digital advertisers collectively. Advertisers can advertise on the digital assets of these publications and reach out to their target audience in one go. 

    The South Premium Publishers (SPP) digital advertising package offers a reach of 37 million unique visitors, with 715 million-page views and an attractive average time spent of 3.36 to 8.09 minutes. In addition, the SPP digital advertising package delivers 3 billion ad impressions per month. 

    “South Premium Publishers offers advertisers credibility, digital brand safety and increased awareness, with more control and ease of access to premium digital inventory from all major publishers of south India. This is the only premium digital publishers’ network that delivers. We, at Manorama Online are happy to be part of this pioneering platform in Indian digital publishing," said Manorama Online CEO Mariam Mammen Mathew.

    The key differentiator of SPP’s digital advertising package is that it offers a robust value proposition. Each digital advertiser will get a customised solution, derived from a deep understanding from the four media brands. The proposals will be competitive and compelling, and enable clients to target south India with a single RO. 

    Dinamalar director business & technical L Adimoolam stated, “We are the market leader in Tamil Digital market. In 2019-20, of the total Indian ad market of 70k+ crores, 21 per cent has been contributed by digital. Given the current digital growth prospects it’s important that we give the best and the most convenient platform to the advertisers & agencies to connect with south Indian digital audiences. We have launched our consortium website, www.southpremiumpublishers.comwhich has all essential information.”

    The SPP digital advertising package caters to the audience that every brand wants to focus upon. 73 per cent of the combined users are between 18-44 age group, from young purchasers to HNI’s, whose primary source is digital news.

    The alliance offers flexible advertising packages with sales support across India with best in class media mix with CPD/CPM options. The digital advertisers can choose from roadblock ads, display banner ads and native advertising to reach their target group.  

    Eenadu director I Venkat said, “We need to recognise that the market dynamics are evolving, which demands innovation in our existing business model and collaboration is one of the solutions. This combination will help advertisers to reach out to Southern Indian premium digital audiences in a very credible, secure, and highly engaged environment.”

    With SPP offering a south India reach with one single advertising package, marketers have the perfect way to work a digital plan, that talks to the entire region.