ITV

Tag: technology

  • Big Data: Helping maximise the return on investments

    Big Data: Helping maximise the return on investments

    MUMBAI: Flip through business channels or newspapers and everyone seems to be talking about the Big Data.

     

    And in the current digital revolution phase, it has become quite imperative for brands to efficiently and effectively leverage Big Data for strategic business decisions.

     

    The rise of social and mobile computing means huge volumes of precious customer and prospect insights are available to further propel the business. However, extracting and making sense of this raw data, as well as data from traditional systems of record, requires definitive use of cases in which tangible business objectives drive experimentation with new tools, analytical techniques and operating processes for pinpointing potential returns on information — and investment.

     

    So, Big Data Analysis is helping companies gain deeper insights into customer behaviour and industry trends, thus letting them make informed strategic decisions to improve their operational and marketing ROI.   In layman’s terms, Big Data can be defined as collection of data much larger than can be stored and computed in an individual large server. Generally the data comes from different sources like Data Warehouses, Sales data, online customer behaviour logs and social media streams. Because of rapid digitisation, the data is getting captured at a faster rate and continues to grow over time. These are popularly called as 3V’s of Big Data (Variety, Velocity and Volume), explains IntelliGrape engineering VP Narinder Kumar.

     

    Global spending on Big Data hardware, software, and services will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent through 2018, reaching a total market size of $114 billion as per a recent report from AT Kearney.

     

    It’s relevance in today’s world has grown multifold because though data analytics and lot of related techniques have been in use since long time but these were generally under realm of very large organisations. “Rapid digitisation, pervasiveness of internet enabled devices and social media has led to Big Data explosion in recent times. Existing tools and techniques are either not capable to easily handle such large data-sets or find it difficult to keep pace with such fast pace of data evolution,” points out Kumar.

     

    He adds, “Alongside Big Data explosion, we are witnessing technology advances in terms of innovative products to harness power of Big Data. Hadoop ecosystem, NoSQL Databases, cloud platforms, analytical & visualisation tools have made it possible for mid and even small organisations to harness power of Big Data.”

     

    Thanks to technology spurt, today organisations can apply for Big Data techniques in multitude of ways. For instance, an e-commerce portal can build recommendation engines to up-sell and cross-sell visiting customers. A bank can propose tailor made policies to its customers based upon their financial history, their existing portfolio along with their demographic details. A mobile service provider can predict churn and reach out to the potential customer base with more innovative plans.

     

    Kumar says, “In brief, Big Data allows organisations to be become more data driven in formulating their marketing and product strategies rather than relying on guts, assumptions and expert opinions.”

     

    Having said that, there are companies that don’t know how to use Big Data to their benefit. “This is largely because the entire landscape has grown very vast in a relatively short span of time. We would say, Big Data domain is under early stages of maturity in multiple aspects. Many organisations are sitting on fences and waiting for the technologies to be more mature and best practices to evolve. As a result, we see several half-hearted attempts towards Big Data adoption. We witness a lot of PoC (Proof of Concepts) or isolated adoptions of Big Data analytics. This leads to low returns of Big Data investments for organisations,” reasons Kumar.

     

  • Capital Numbers targets Rs 50 crore turnover by CY 2019

    Capital Numbers targets Rs 50 crore turnover by CY 2019

    KOLKATA:  Capital Numbers Infotech Pvt Ltd (CNPL), a Kolkata headquartered consulting,  application development and testing services company, which is likely to end the current fiscal with revenue of around  Rs 12 crore ($2 million), is targeting a turnover of Rs 50 crore by the end of calendar year 2019.

     

    CNPL is a consulting-led, integrated, web design, web development, mobile app development and search engine marketing services for startups, SMEs, digital agencies and IT consulting. The company which is used as the production backend for digital agencies is looking to up its bench strength to 1,000 professionals from the current 200 employees.

     

    “We are expanding our services and hope to achieve the targets of achieving Rs 50 crore turnover by CY 2019,” said CNPL director Mukul Gupta. “We work with lots of start-ups, small businesses and large organisations such as Edelman, Ordina, Doosan, Harvard University and Duke University among others,” Gupta added.

     

    Among CNPL clients include Harvard University, which was looking to create an online presence for two of its internal publications: The Harvard Health Policy Review and The Harvard Science Review. “We helped create their entire online presence from ground up where information about current and past issues for these magazines can be accessed,” Gupta said.

     

    Another project that CNPL undertook was for Condé Nast, a media company that has 9.5 crore (95 million) consumers across its industry-leading print, digital and video brands like: Vogue, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, Wired etc., CNPL helped Conde Nast  make its content to be available to mobile users across 27 countries

     

    “Established by a team of professionals with over ten years of practical experience in outsourcing, our difference is its clear focus on the delivery of long term measurable business improvement,” concluded Gupta.

  • Mashable signs partnership with MEC to license its proprietary velocity technology

    Mashable signs partnership with MEC to license its proprietary velocity technology

    MUMBAI: Mashable and MEC have announced a partnership that would give MEC access to Mashable’s Velocity platform, a technology that predicts and tracks the viral life cycle of digital media content.

     

    Developed by Mashable’s in-house product team, Velocity scours the web collecting data around how people engage with content and feeds the information into an algorithm, which forecasts what content is about to go viral. The Velocity platform is at the forefront of predictive analytics and is unique in that it canvases the entire web—more than one million URLs a day.

     

     MEC is one of the first to sign a year-long deal for the proprietary Velocity technology from Mashable. With Velocity MEC will now have access to an important new tool for predictive media buying, helping to future proof its clients’ communication strategies.

     

     “We initially developed Velocity to help our editorial and marketing teams build Mashable into one of the most shared publishers on the web, and now we are giving select agencies and brands the same opportunity to see what will go viral next,” said Mashable chief technology officer Robyn Peterson. “The power of data can be used in a variety of industries and we’re excited to be teaming up with one of the leading media agencies to explore all that Velocity has to offer in the media buying space.”

     

     “MEC is on a mission to move past real time marketing to predictive marketing and partnering with Mashable to put Velocity in the hands of our teams will give us the edge we are looking for,” said MEC North America digital president Shenan Reed. “With Velocity at our fingertips we will be able to lead our clients to being more nimble and opportunistic across owned, earned and paid channels, ensuring both they and MEC remain at the forefront of driving transformational digital solutions. We believe that Mashable’s Velocity platform will be instrumental in building the next generation of marketing and media, and will help to deliver on our ambition to create the best digital offer in the business.”

     

     “We’re thrilled to bring our proprietary algorithm, which has served our editors and readers so well over the years, to the world-class portfolio of brands MEC serves on a daily basis,” said Mashable chief revenue officer Seth Rogin. “We look forward to working with MEC to help their brands meet the evolving challenges of the digital evolution and guide their earned, owned and paid media executions.”

  • BARC India likely to roll out weekly data

    BARC India likely to roll out weekly data

    MUMBAI: Industry led TV ratings measurement body BARC India has shed some more light on its operational format.

     

    The biggest question that has been answered is that of reporting frequency. In an official communication, BARC India has said that the frequency of reporting is likely to be weekly except for certain data types for which it might aggregate the data by period, time band or geography.

     

    It also says that since currently the number of households with multiple TV sets is low, it won’t be reporting this number separately but will still measure multiple TVs wherever it may be in sample households. At the same time it is aiming at releasing viewership data and adex data simultaneously.

     

    The upcoming ratings agency also claims to be future ready by having the technology that will allow it to report even time shift viewing from the first day.
     

    Addressing the concern about broadcasters switching off watermark, it says that such a step is not in the interest of the broadcaster. ‘But like any technology, such eventualities could happen due to various reasons. To arrest these instances stringent processes with escalation matrix across watermark monitoring agency, broadcaster and BARC India are in place. They will highlight even if a small bit of content is not watermarked,’ it says in the communiqué. This will dissuade media agencies from buying the channel, forcing the broadcaster to correct this.

     

    A stringent monitoring process is on the cards. BARC India is looking at appointing a senior police official for heading vigilance. But it says that the data collection format and technology that it uses makes it highly unlikely for tampering.

     

    Watermarking technology can also support capturing cable TV channels and if MSOs want their channels to be measured, they can invest in the embedding technology. However, no MSO biases would be considered for sampling as the panel would be a reflection of what people watch.

     

    For its extensive and advanced technology, it is looking at an ingenuous pricing model that will make affordable data available to the last mile.

  • “Competition is the biggest challenge in loyalty marketing”

    “Competition is the biggest challenge in loyalty marketing”

    MUMBAI: With retail chains, international labels, new airlines and hotels entering India in a big way, the brands are trying to woo consumers interestingly. One way in which brands are connecting with consumers more efficiently is by getting in to loyalty marketing. Loyalty marketing, which is considered to be personal, is now trying to use the power of technology in a big way.

     

    To understand more on this,indiantelevision.com recently met with ICLP India general manager Mark Spicer, who has been in the loyalty and incentives industry for over two decades now. Spicer spoke about marketing during tough times, the potential of loyalty marketing and much more…

     

    What according to you is the size of loyalty marketing in India?

     

    It can be noted that the current size of loyalty marketing in India is around $1.5 billion, as of the beginning of this calendar year. The numbers are expected to shoot up and one can expect double digit growth by end of the year.

     

    What are Indian brands doing right by getting into loyalty marketing?

     

    Many Indian brands have started interesting initiatives using loyalty marketing. What brands now need to focus on is to take communication to the next level. According to me, this is the right time when brands can jump into the picture to grab the attention and confidence of consumers. Today, consumers’ expectations have become dynamic. It will be extremely difficult to track their moves if you are not focused.

     

    What makes you say that it is the right time for loyalty marketing to take off in India?

     

    The changing market scenario is the major reason why I think brands should be keen in gaining the confidence of consumers. The Indian economy is showing a slowdown and this is an apt time for brands to jump in. Loyalty marketing has an immense potential in an emerging market like India.

     

    It can be observed that with an increase in inflation rate, consumer decisions are most likely to fluctuate. How can loyalty marketing help brands sustain themselves?

     

    The first step that brands should take during tough times is to clearly understand their consumers. The task that brands should put on their list is to make clear the road plan. Consumers like being valued. Also, it can be noted that brands need to make communication individual-specific. All this can happen only when brands start getting engagement in marketing. Consumers look for alternative product lines during inflation. Brands need to consider this as an opportunity and make the best use of it.

     

    Many brands use personal media such as social media and mobile in their loyalty marketing mix. Don’t you think this can intrude on a consumer’s privacy?

     

    Brands should give consumers the liberty to choose their medium of communication. Consumers are choosy about where they receive their marketing messages. Even though permission marketing exists with emergence of social media today, a lot of communication reaches a consumer at a faster rate.

     

    Consumers today have better control on communication. Brands need to map a costumer’s journey in loyalty marketing. Having said that, it is necessary that brands take note of how many times a message reaches a consumer and the medium through which it is sent.

     

    What are the challenges loyalty marketing can face in a diverse market like India?

     

    Competition is the biggest challenge in loyalty marketing. With cultural and political diversity, brands need to cater to different needs and deliver memorable experiences to consumers. It is also important for brands to keep on par with the ever evolving technology.

     

    Does talent in India have the right skill sets to take loyalty marketing to the next level?

     

    Talent in India is rich; what needs to be taken care of is to groom them to put data in the right context. Also, talent here can take learnings from other markets to sharpen their skills. The future looks very positive and bright.

     

    Marketing to millennials is a hot topic of discussion these days. How do you think loyalty marketing can deal with millennials who are believed to have a variety of choices?

     

    While dealing with millennials, it is necessary to think ahead of time.  Marketers need to be instant in the way they communicate and need to speak to them in the tone that they understand. Most importantly, data needs to be used smartly to understand their psychology. Marketers also should embed technology in their line of communication.

  • Tyrone Systems: Forging ahead with high performance computing

    Tyrone Systems: Forging ahead with high performance computing

    MUMBAI: Technology can be a boon if used wisely and a bane if misused. In today’s fast paced world one can’t do without it and serving this very purpose is the Singapore based technology solution provider Tyrone Systems.

     

    For over a decade now, Tyrone has been instrumental in helping companies across the globe run highly complex businesses efficiently, securely, and reliably. One of the leading providers of servers, storage, back-up, and high performance computing (HPC) solutions, it targets to provide technology blocks customised to achieve business goals.

     

    The company recently launched Tyrone EDRA, a cloud based HPC-on-demand solution made available to customers on demand and on a pay as you use basis with immediate effect. By moving HPC applications to the cloud, the users seek to do away with risks associated with under-provisioning, under-utilisation of HPC resources while benefiting immensely from built in virtualisation support available in cloud based HPC environments.

     

    Speaking to indiantelevision.com Tyrone Systems co-founder & director Sandeep Lodha says: “We provide storage devices and solutions for TV channels. The news channels use a lot of IT applications; and with cameras on the ground and a number of OB vans, videos have become a important asset which needs to be saved and tracked consistently, since information is stored only in digital format these days. So storage becomes a very important factor.”

     

    Tyrone has an old association with the media and entertainment sector and it has created a niche for itself in the sector in India, Srilanka and Malaysia among others. It has a number of broadcast channels and post production names under its customer base including, Gulmarg TV (Malaysia), Maharaja TV (Srilanka) and TV9 (India).

     

    “70 per cent of the media and entertainment sector have implemented the solutions from Tyrone Systems and we are in talks with a lot more to get on board,” Lodha expounds.

     

    Similarly, in terms of post production Tyrone is well equipped with digital formatting. It helps in analogue to digital and vice versa; colour enhancement is a very important factor in post production as well and the company is doing its best to cater to the needs of the stakeholders.

     

    “We believe India is poised to play a big role in global opportunity for HPC applications and related services,” Lodha exults. “With the launch of Tyrone EDRA on-demand and pay-as-you-use HPC solutions, we believe we are bringing HPC within reach of those academic and commercial users, who hitherto could not afford to invest in this high capex and opex intensive application environment.”

  • Quantel acquires Snell to create new force in media technology

    Quantel acquires Snell to create new force in media technology

     

    Quantel, the market leading innovator in news and sports production systems and high quality post, today announced that it has acquired Snell. Snell is a world leader in broadcast and media technology providing a comprehensive range of solutions for Live TV production and the creation, management and distribution of content for TV everywhere – on tablets, mobiles and web. The acquisition enables the combined business to offer customers a complete product range to create, version and deliver high quality content efficiently across multiple platforms.

     

    “This acquisition brings two great companies together to create a major new force in the global broadcast and media technology market. This will enable us to better serve Quantel and Snell customers around the globe,” said Ray Cross, Executive Chairman and CEO, Quantel. “Our product ranges are entirely complementary so the excellent Snell and Quantel brands and product ranges will continue. We’ll be able to combine the best in class talent and technologies from Quantel and Snell to bring exciting new products and solutions to market to help our customers transform their businesses. More local offices across the world will enable us to build closer relationships with our customers and to offer even better support.”

     

    “Paul Martin, Managing Director of the Snell TV Everywhere division and Robert Rowe, Managing Director of the Snell Live TV division will join the Quantel board to make sure it is business as usual for Snell customers,” continued Cross. Tim Banks, Snell Sales Director and Peter Fredericks, Snell Finance Director are also taking leading roles in the new combined organisation. “I’m really delighted that the Snell and Quantel businesses have come together to increase the scale and scope for both,” said Simon Derry, outgoing CEO at Snell. “Under Ray’s leadership the combined business will be able to write a new and exciting chapter moving forwards. I look forward to supporting Ray during the important period of transition.”

     

    “We will be creating a new world class facility at the company headquarters in Newbury to produce the complete Quantel and Snell product range and we look forward to the new ideas generated when the two R&D teams start to interact,” said Cross.

     

    The new business has the scale, talent and IP to achieve even greater success in the competitive global media technology market. With offices in 16 locations all around the globe and with combined revenues of more than $170m, Quantel and Snell is the new force in the broadcast and media technology market.

  • Airtel and Apple launch India’s first 4G on mobile

    Airtel and Apple launch India’s first 4G on mobile

    MUMBAI: Bharti Airtel, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa along with Apple recently launched India’s first 4G on mobile. Airtel customers in Bengaluru on Apple iPhone 5s or 5c will be able to experience 4G on their mobile at the current 3G prices for a ‘FLYing’ internet browsing experience while on the move. Customers have to just change their existing SIM to a 4G SIM to start enjoying 4G on mobile without any need to migrate from their existing data plan.

     
    Airtel mobile customers both prepaid and postpaid can experience 4G on mobile to experience never before capabilities like high definition video streaming with zero buffering, download 10 movies in less than 30 minutes, upload full holiday albums in less than five minutes by uploading two high quality photos per second and connect multiple devices without any experience constraint. 3G customers in Bengaluru on iPhone 5s or 5c can start enjoying 4G speeds at same price points as their existing 3G plan/pack.

    Customers on 2G/GPRS data plans/packs can also opt for any of the 3G plans/packs available and enjoy 4G speeds. In addition to these plans, for heavy data users, Airtel also announced the launch of a new 4G plan giving customers 10 GB 4G data for Rs 1000. While data browsing will be on 4G network, voice calls will be routed on 2G/3G seamlessly with the CSFB (circuit switched fall back) technology.

     
    Bharti Airtel India director – consumer business Srini Gopalan said: “Airtel has always set the technology trends in India and was the first operator to introduce 4G to the country. The Information Technology capital of India saw the advent of 4G in 2012 and today we are proud to announce the launch of the much awaited Airtel 4G services on mobile in partnership with Apple. We will together give customers in Bengaluru the power to upgrade to cutting edge 4G LTE technology at no additional cost. As a brand we are committed to enriching lives of millions by giving them the best user experience and invite our data savvy customers in the city to enjoy this world class data experience.”

     

  • Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) presents the much awaited Fusion 2014

    Indian Merchants’ Chamber (IMC) presents the much awaited Fusion 2014

    MUMBAI: The Indian Merchants’ Chamber is organizing its 3rd edition of ‘IMC FUSION,’ the Conference on Entertainment, Media & Sports on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at Grand Hyatt in Santa Cruz, Mumbai.  

     

    The IMC FUSION Conference represents convergence of today’s three most dynamic sectors – Entertainment, Media & Sports. This year, the conference is being organized under the auspices of IMC’s Entertainment Committee chaired by Mr. Manmohan Shetty.  Renowned Bollywood film, mainstream television and theatre star Kabir Bedi will be the Host of FUSION 2014.

     

    The third edition of IMC FUSION will feature renowned personalities as speakers from the three sectors deliberating on a wide array of topics covering current issues and trends, emerging technologies and new-age engagement with the consumer, content and creation, talent and involvement, influence of social media and App. world, technical aspects of Indian cinema, and other contemporary developments in ever evolving and dynamic sectors of Sports, Media and Entertainment. 

     

    Dr. J. Murali Manohar, Saundarya Rajnikant, Subhash Ghai, Rakesh Roshan, Shekhar Kapoor,  Pritish Nandy, Arnab Goswami, N. P. Singh, Annurag Batra, Komal Nahta, Suchitra Iyer, Kirthiga Reddy, Rajan Anandan, Agnello Dias, Steve Waugh, Surya Mantha, Mary Kom, Saina Nehwal, Dr. Prannoy Roy, among others will likely form panels of speakers during the day-long Conference. 

     

    The daylong conference will also feature Awards for Excellence in Entertainment, Media & Sports.

     

    The Conference will host delegates from the entertainment, Media and sports fraternity as well as young professionals and students of mass communication, journalism, film institutions and management schools. FUSION 2014 will provide a unique opportunity to the delegates to network with industry peers and share their thoughts and ideas with some of the top thought leaders of the industry. 

     

    Commenting on FUSION 2014, IMC President Mr. Shailesh Vaidya said, “With the exponential growth in the content industry across multiple platforms and with the dynamic trends governing its momentum, FUSION 2014 will contribute the best insights under one roof. With this conference IMC, being one of the leading industry bodies, will offer a unique platform for the industry to ponder over the course that it would take in the future and gear up for the challenges ahead. The conference proceedings as well as the Awards for Excellence will offer something for everyone connected with the entertainment, media & sports industry.”

     

    Mr. Manmohan Shetty, Chairman – IMC Entertainment Committee said, “This year IMC FUSION will focus on all aspects in the fastest growing sectors – entertainment, media and sports.  IMC FUSION Excellence Awards in the evening following the conference will be a star-studded event honoring winners chosen by an eminent panel of judges.”

     

    Veterans from the Sports, Media and Entertainment fraternity- Mr. Mir Ranjan Negi, Former India Hockey Player & National Coach, Mr. Sanjoy Chakrabarty, Managing Partner Zenith Optimedia, Ms. Bharathi Pradhan, Editor, The Film Street Journal are the Co-Chairperson’s of the Committee.

     

    Indian Merchants’ Chamber, as the pioneering trade body of the country since 1907, has been actively involved in promotion of the business interests of its various constituents.  In this process, our endeavour has been to reach out to different industry groups, understand their views and perspectives and present them to the policy makers and other decision makers to facilitate growth of that sector, in particular, and industry in general.

     

    Key issues identified during the FUSION 2014 Conference together with suggestions and outcomes from different sessions will be collated for taking up at appropriate levels.

     

    Registration for the limited seats and B2B exhibition space is currently open. Information about registration is available on the IMC website www.imcnet.org.

     

    For more information, contact:

     

    Malika Bhavnani

    Shraddha Teli 

    9867596309

    shraddha@fort.madisonindia.com

  • BARC assures that its TV rating system will be credible

    BARC assures that its TV rating system will be credible

    MUMBAI: Television ratings agencies seem to be the flavour of the season. On the one hand, Kantar Research, one of TAM Media’s major shareholders, has moved the Delhi HC against the Union Government’s new guidelines on cross holding restrictions. While on the other, up-and-coming ratings agency Broadcaster Audience Research Council (BARC), slated for a 1 October launch, has announced a tieup with France-based Mediametrie for technology services and licensing of a TV metering system.

     

    BARC CEO Partho Dasgupta and BARC Technology Committee member Paritosh Joshi spoke to CNBC TV18 about what to expect in the new set up.

     

    “The ratings agency is the one which will own the data and put it out – which is BARC in our case. So there will be ways of getting the information such as technology, panel etc. but it will all be owned and put out by BARC,” said Dasgupta, implying that the final agency will have to be free of cross ownership although its suppliers could have any type of ownership.

     

    Joshi revealed that  two big chunks of work had already been completed – that is assessing panel homes and technology within them. “The panel will emerge out of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS), which is out now. The people meter devices will be built on retail hardware that can be bought from Mumbai’s Lamington road and not proprietary equipment. Now, we only need a panel management agency,” said he, pointing out they had already received offers for the same.

     

    Asked about the credibility of BARC, Dasgupta said they have an adequate system in place. “We have broken the piece up into panel management people, who know homes but don’t have the visibility of data that comes through GSM lines straight to our servers. We have technology people, who have visibility to data but they don’t know the homes, just the ID. What we are trying to achieve is that the right hand does not know what the left hand is doing. From the integrity point of view, we are not taking any chance,” he clarified.

     

    However, BARC has not yet got a system to address the issues of niche channels. “The World over niche channels have not been measured like we do it here. But we may do it differently,” said Dasgupta ambiguously in the interview to CNBC TV18.

     

    As things stand, the industry has been yelping and running for cover fearing  a ratings’ blackout. But Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari says that a ratings-dark period should not be a cause for alarm. 

     

    “This isn’t the first time that ratings have been suspended. Even before, it has happened because the industry wanted it,” said the minister candidly when probed on this during an interview to CNBC TV 18.

     

    He pointed out that one of the main reasons for digitisation was to reduce dependency on advertising revenue and increase subscription revenue. “With the technology now, the STBs have the capability. A little engineering is needed and then you can reach 15 crore homes by putting a small chip that will let you know who is watching what in real time; be it satellite, IPTV, DTH or terrestrial,” he informed.

     

    Tewari was also critical  of the way TAM has been operating. “The way the arrangement was working – where you are the advertiser as well as the broadcaster and you are also taking out ratings. This conflict needed to be addressed,” he stressed.