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Tag: technology

  • upGrad’s latest digital-first campaign focuses on upskilling

    upGrad’s latest digital-first campaign focuses on upskilling

    Mumbai: Edtech firm, upGrad’s latest campaign focuses on the importance of upskilling across tech domains for working professionals. It is a digital-first, gender-specific micro-targeted campaign.

    The campaign aims to encourage more women professionals to upskill and scale up their tech careers, across the industry. upGrad’s tech offerings like blockchain, full stack development (FSD), big data, devOps, cybersecurity and cloud computing are areas that learners are showing interest.

    Aligning with the viewer’s needs, the campaign targets professionals using gender-specific ads and creatives, based on their area of interest.  

    With close to 10 different versions, the campaign aims to micro-target users who are seeking to upskill themselves, by showcasing creatives and ads that align with their gender and subject interest across technology programs.  

    The digital film for the campaign, which is conceptualised by The Womb, showcases the mayhem that ensues when there is a fire in the office, and who the team rescues. The campaign has been directed by Roopali Singhal of Chrome Pictures and is live on digital.

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    Moreover, given the increased interest by women professionals in coding and software programs, upGrad’s campaign is reinforcing the importance of women coders by representing female protagonists in the ad films. The film showcases women learners upskilling with upGrad’s tech courses to become ‘very very important’ team members who drive organisational growth and success at their jobs, upon course completion.

    Commenting on the tech campaign, upGrad head of marketing Ankit Khirwal said, “we can no longer pretend that skilling is not important, especially in the field of technology, where human-machine interactions, Web 3.0, brand building in Metaverse are happening as we speak. Following this trend, we have witnessed an increase in interest from women coders for our tech offerings across blockchain, fsd, devops, cybersecurity, and more.”

    “Therefore, to encourage them further to upskill and fast forward their careers, our digital campaign will undertake a micro-targeting approach, to showcase the right offering to the right viewer based on their interest and profile, to help them navigate their upskilling solutions,” he added.

    Till date, upGrad learners have received an average career hike of 51 percent while getting placed with top companies like Uber, Flipkart, Meesho and Razorpay, after completing tech courses with the edtech major.

     “When there’s fire in the office, who will you save? Yourself, your boss or the most important employee in the office? That’s the premise Gunjan cracked when thinking of this campaign. The chaos added to the drama, the twist added to the fun and thus, we found a creative way of highlighting the importance of tech courses in today’s world,” added the Womb creative head Suyash Khabya.

  • Vidnet 2022: Industry experts to come together to evaluate the way ahead for the OTT sector

    Vidnet 2022: Industry experts to come together to evaluate the way ahead for the OTT sector

    The over-the-top (OTT) landscape is growing significantly in India and new paid features are increasing regularly. Time spent viewing content on OTT has surged and viewers are looking out for new choices & innovative content. Despite the changes and increase in prices, the viewers are still subscribing to different OTT platforms currently. We expect the scenario to boost further as the consumers are looking forward to the growth of OTT based content and streaming services in India.

    Indiantelevision.com has come up with an insightful two-day long VIDNET Summit to understand the changes in the OTT space and evaluate its way forward. The event will take place between 20-21 April 2022 at Sahara Star Hotel, Mumbai.

    The changing OTT ecosystem will certainly grow further as there will be new partnerships, new relationships and new opportunities, which will further emerge eventually. The idea behind this year’s VIDNET is to analyse the changing OTT ecosystem and find answers to some of the critical questions such as what is the way forward for the OTT platforms? Where do the opportunities lie? What are the challenges?

    VIDNET 2022 is India’s largest OTT streaming summit, which will bring together the industry experts on one platform. It is an ideal hotspot for technology service providers, OTT and video platforms, broadcasters, short video professionals, martech professionals, content creators, producers, studios, adtech professionals, venture capitalists and everyone with a keen interest in technology.

    The VIDNET 2022 summit will have speakers from film and OTT space. The speakers will include Filmmaker and CineMan Productions Ltd. & Oho Gujarati founder Abhishek Jain; Endemol Shine India chief executive officer Abhishek Rege; SYSKA Group head of marketing Amit Sethiya; Synamedia senior solutions consultant Arun Raghuraman; Zee Studios head-content Ashima Avasthi Chaudhuri; Lyca productions CEO Ashish Singh; Mediacom India chief product officer Averill Sequeira; ALTBalaji SVP – marketing, partnerships & revenue Divya Dixit and including other industry experts.

    The event will witness some really interesting panels giving deep insights of the industry and some proven tricks to grow in OTT space from the expert panelists.

    The first panel will see a discussion on one of the most important topics currently, “The Magic 100 Million. How Do We Get There?” moderated by Indian Television Dot Com founder, CEO & editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari. The panel will include Endemol Shine India CEO Abhishek Rege; International Media Acquisition Corp chairman & CEO Shibasish Sarkar and others.

    This is not it, there will be more than 12 panels on different topics such as “Demystifying the French OTT Landscape”, “Advertising On OTT – Connecting The New Brand Order” and so on. During the event, there will be deliberations, thought sharing, engagement and discussion of various other topics that are relevant in today’s scenario.

    VIDNET is one of its kinds of initiatives that will gather experts across the industry. It will allow you to meet and interact with industry experts. The summit will also help you to learn some tips and tactics from like-minded people. The attendees will get to hear about new tools and the key problem areas from the experts. The interesting sessions will make you learn from the experts by listening to their journey, experiences and how they overcome the challenges. Moreover, this is the biggest platform to learn beyond your field of interest.

  • Yulu onboards Sandilya Konduri as Head of Product

    Yulu onboards Sandilya Konduri as Head of Product

    Mumbai: The shared electric mobility and battery-as-a-service company, Yulu appointed Sandilya Konduri as head of product. He will drive the product vision, lifecycle strategy and implementation for Yulu to deliver world-class products that can offer a superlative user experience.

    Konduri will also focus on the adoption of the latest technology, tools and product management practices to help build a thriving product culture at Yulu, as the company looks to scale its shared mobility & battery-as-a-service (BaaS) businesses. He comes with deep expertise in product management and supply chain analytics.

    Prior to joining Yulu, he was the Group Product Manager at Flipkart and had the opportunity to resolve critical platforms in the Supply Chain & Optimisation space. He has also contributed to Flipkart’s IP through 2 patents that he co-authored with his colleagues.

    He has also worked for companies like ITC Infotech as a lead consultant and Dell as their senior analyst & advisor previously.

    Welcoming him to the company, Yulu co-founder & CTO Naveen Dachuri said, “We are delighted to have Sandilya on board. Electric mobility in India is at a tipping point, and Yulu is very well-positioned to lead this phase of hyper-growth for shared mobility.”

    Sandilya will help bring in product thought-leadership, accelerate the adoption of the latest technology to stay ahead of the curve and build a culture of continuous innovation within the product team.

    He will prioritize close alignment & collaboration between the product team and engineering, business, operations, marketing, data and other teams to ensure smooth & speedy execution of the product roadmap. “I am sure he will coach and groom the wonderful talent at Yulu to create a world-class product culture and we look forward to this new phase in our product journey,” said Dachuri.

    Commenting on his new role, he said, “I am very excited to join Yulu as I see a tremendous scope in what we are working towards, which is to create sustainable mobility solutions tailor-made for India & India-like markets, powered by technology.”

    “The priority will be to balance user needs and business priorities, and keep iterating with new innovations & product features to continuously raise the bar. Another focus area will be to build a culture that is user-centric, insights-driven & analytics-based when it comes to making product decisions, prioritisation & resource allocation,“ added Konduri

    He further added, “I genuinely believe that we are at a very interesting time in history, where the coming years will put India on the global map for the kind of Products & Services we design and offer. Congestion and infrastructure shortage are problems that we are grappling with today. As we move ahead, Yulu will not only play a significant role in shaping the perception of shared electric mobility in India, but will also drive the change in the way we imagine EV mobility globally.”

  • Byju’s onboards Vedhanarayanan Ganeshkumar as VP – technology

    Byju’s onboards Vedhanarayanan Ganeshkumar as VP – technology

    Mumbai: In a bid to further strengthen its technology vertical, edtech major Byju’s announced on Monday the onboarding of Vedhanarayanan Ganeshkumar as vice president, technology. The company has been investing in the powerful synergy of technology and innovation by scaling its tech team, it said.

    “This new appointment is part of Byju’s concerted strategy to further enhance its world-class learning products, and accelerate innovative and impactful learning experiences for students globally,” said the edtech in a statement.

    In his most recent stint over 15 years, Vedhanarayanan held multiple senior engineering leadership roles at Amazon Global Technology organization supporting last-mile delivery, supply chain, and customer shipment tracking experience, among others and also played a key role in the growth of Amazon Global Development Center in India.

    In his new role, Vedhanarayanan will be responsible for accelerating critical technologies to further scale Byju’s tech and innovation prowess to define the future of learning. He will also build and lead a talented team of engineers, software development managers, product managers, program managers, and more.  

    “We are delighted to have Vedhanarayanan on board. His strong expertise in tech innovation will further strengthen Byju’s commitment to creating value in students’ lives and providing them with high-quality learning opportunities,” Byju’s president of technology Anil Goel said. “We look forward to working together and supporting him in achieving his goals.”

    With a career spanning over two decades, Vedharnarayanan brings a track record of ideating and delivering impactful technological innovations across companies like Amazon and Oracle.

    “Technology is a powerful instrument that has the potential to transform and reinvent how education is delivered. I am excited to join the highly motivated and talented tech team that forms the foundation of Byju’s,” commented Vedhanarayanan Ganeshkumar. “The company is already delivering cutting-edge technologies and is constantly innovating the educational ecosystem. I look forward to playing a key role in the development of next-generation education technology that makes quality education accessible, equitable, and contextual for every student.”

  • India is no longer a follower in digital space: Newgen’s Arvind Jha

    India is no longer a follower in digital space: Newgen’s Arvind Jha

    Mumbai: Newgen Software, which has recently completed its 30 years of enterprise journey is extensively working to make communication personalised. From helping brands across the globe to simplify data to providing efficient platforms to manage large volumes of documents, the company has many products to offer.

    In a conversation with IndianTelvision.com, Newgen SVP for software development Arvind Jha speaks about their products, top trends in the digital space, and the new products in the pipeline.

    Jha has been associated with Newgen since November 2020 and is responsible for product development at Newgen. He is recognised by the Indian tech community as an innovator and community builder. Before joining Newgen, Jha also held the position of Pariksha Labs CEO and led the product development team at Polaroid, Adobe, Monsoon Multimedia, and Movico Technologies.

    In an exclusive chat, Jha shares that India is no longer a follower in the technology space, rather the country is leading towards rapid growth, leveraging cutting-edge technology.

    Top digital trends for future

    According to Jha, India was a follower of technology two years ago but looking at the latest numbers, 30 per cent of business now comes from India. “We can say that India is definitely no longer a follower (in this regard),” he asserts.

    Jha feels that over the years India has moved from the backend to the front end. He further explains the digital trends which will lead the industry in the upcoming years.

    Noting the first digital trend, Jha says, “Earlier we had a lot of paperwork and the majority of the work was being done physically, now we have it all in digitised form on our screens. People do not want anything to be hidden, they want everything to be done in front of their eyes on their smartphones.”

    He emphasised that companies who will not adopt the technology on time will be left behind in the competition. “We have clients from across the world and we process huge amounts of data every day, but one thing which all leading companies want is a transparent CMS. They want the live data to be shared with their customers,” he adds.

    Coming to the second trend, Jha says fast processing is the need of the hour. “How fast you serve your customers will be a major factor in deciding the growth rate of any company, especially in the BFSI sector,” he highlights.

    He feels that 24*7 availability of the business will be the third most important trend. “Ever since the first lockdown happened, how we operate in our everyday lives has changed. With this transition, people want things to be available as per their own time and preferences. They do not want to be bound between ten to five business hours,” he tells.

    Technology is no more restricted to particular age group

    While comparing the Indian market to the global market, he says, the user behavior of the Indian population has drastically changed over the period of last two years.

    “Before the pandemic hit the world, technology was a thing of millennials in India, however, now it is not limited to a certain age group or gender,” Jha shares. “Be it a five-year-old kid or a 60-year old man, nobody wants to stand in long queues to get their work done in physical format. They all want it all instantly. From opening a bank account to buying their everyday household stuff, people have become so used to digital,” he adds.

    Technological development & policies

    According to the Global Innovation Index, India is witnessing a burgeoning start-up and innovation culture. Jha says that this shift has accelerated the momentum in India’s development on the global platform in the technology space.

    “India is not just becoming self-reliant but also offering its service across the globe,” he notes. Coinciding with his 30-years-long career, he shares how he has seen everything changing- from what we consume, how we conduct our lives, the entire economy of the country, and the businesses growing in India, everything is disrupted by Covid-19. “If we have to scale down the differences, the health crisis actually turned out to be an opportunity for the digital brands in India.”

    On being asked how government initiatives have helped in this change? He says that policies and regulations play a vital role.”In the last five to six years, the government has done much to encourage digital transformation in the country. Today we have a robust infrastructure that allows any business to make a shift to digital easily,” Jha explains.

    Spending patterns of Indian brands

    In the concluding section, Jha talks about how spending patterns of Indian brands have evolved during this time. “Despite the major growth and transformation in the industry, Indian brands are still very conservative when it comes to their marketing budgets,” he points out.

    Comparing the behavior of Indian brands to the global ones, he says global players start marketing 10 months prior to even launching their products, whereas, in India brands still follow a slow pace.

    However, Indian brands have shifted their focus from those regular elements of budgets. While Indian brands were known to spend more on their HR teams than infrastructure, today it is completely changed. “Now brands have started to realise the importance of having a robust digital presence and a seamless infrastructure where employees can operate the business flawlessly,” Jha remarks. 

  • News9 Plus is an out-of-the-box idea: TV9 Network CEO Barun Das

    News9 Plus is an out-of-the-box idea: TV9 Network CEO Barun Das

    Mumbai: The multi-lingual national media network TV9 Network recently launched its prime offering, News9 Plus – India’s first video magazine OTT service. News9 Plus is a unique service platform that will operate at the intersection of impeccable journalism, world-class presentation, and next-in-class technology..

    It will showcase narratives, news, and debates with in-depth analysis and production qualities. There will be unique storytelling techniques through the OTT platforms. After the foray of the network into the digital news domain, TV9 is constantly growing and expanding its horizons in different mediums. The platform is destined to be the go-to app for nuanced news-based content produced with the best in class audio-visual storytelling formats.

    News9 Plus is the first pureplay subscription-driven, and on-demand news product. In a press statement, TV9 Network CEO Barun Das said the company is committed to bringing about a qualitative change in the news genre landscape. 

    “The best is yet to come,” Das affirmed, adding that, “News9 Plus is one such out-of-box idea that promises to radically change the art of story-telling in news media.”

    TV9 Network group editor B V Rao said News9 Plus is an audacious attempt to take the news to the OTT space. “A generation brought up on watching the best of content on Netflix, etc, won’t settle for anything other than the best-produced news content. News9 Plus will cater to this Genflix – or the generation that lives on Netflix,” Rao added.

    TV9 Bharatvarsh, which has just scripted history to become India’s top Hindi news channel, celebrated its third anniversary on Wednesday.  

    According to the data shared by the network provided to them by Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India, TV9 Bharatvarsh has emerged as the leading Hindi news channel in week 10 (5-11 April) in terms of market share. According to the data, TV9 Bharatvarsh leads the Hindi-speaking market (HSM) with 16.9 per cent market share for the target audience 15+ all adults.

    “We are extremely pleased to receive a resounding thumbs up for our sterling performance. For us, any celebration is incomplete without the participation of all those who have seen us through our journey to the top. We salute the verdict of viewers with a promise that we shall always endeavor to serve them without fear or favor,” Das said in a statement.

    Talking about the number one status achieved by TV9 Bharatvarsh, TV9 Bharatvarsh news director Hemant Sharma said, “Leadership and learning are indispensable. We owe our success to our viewers. We have a responsibility to ensure we continue to earn their trust.”

    “It is a dream come true for me,” commented TV9 Bharatvarsh editor Sant Prasad Rai. “My team has given their 100% to end the legacy of 22 years and become the top Hindi news channel.”  

    TV9 Network promotes marquee leader news brands that include TV9 Kannada, TV9 Telugu, TV9 Marathi, TV9 Gujarati and TV9 Bharatvarsh. Its digital assets include TV9 Hindi, News9live, and Money9. 

  • ZFunds bolsters its leadership with two new appointments

    ZFunds bolsters its leadership with two new appointments

    Mumbai: Mutual fund distribution platform ZFunds on Monday announced two new leadership appointments as the company expands its footprints. While Yogesh Yadav joins as the chief technology officer (CTO), Tanvi Jadhav is the new head of products. 

    The appointments strategically enable the platform in the distribution of financial products in tier-2, 3 and 4 cities and rural India through its experts, ZFunds said in a statement.

    “We are pleased to welcome Yogesh and Tanvi on board. Their belief in new-age start-ups like ours despite their backgrounds with long-standing organisations is heartening,” commented ZFunds co-founder and CEO Manish Kothari. “At ZFunds, we are proud of our culture of meritocracy, customer-centricity, growth, and diversity. These attributes serve us right in our mission of making purchases of financial products and decision making Sahi (Right) and Asaan (Easy) in the 500 bottom-most districts of India.”

    Yadav has extensive experience in software engineering and joins ZFunds from ByPrice-Mexico where he worked as a CTO. Before ByPrice, he worked with the leading e-comm player in Latin America;  Linio. Beyond work, he utilises his experience in blockchain for an in-depth study of trends in cryptocurrency. He holds a B-tech from Delhi College of Engineering. “At ZFunds we have built tech products simple and easy. It allows people from lower-economic-rung to invest in Gold and Mutual Funds and thus help the Indian economy grow. I have had an offer from a global giant too but I chose to refute it,” said Yogesh Yadav, on joining ZFunds.

    Jadhav comes from a rich experience in the fintech industry, with past stints at InCred Financial Services, Paisabazaar, HealthKart and Kotak Mahindra Bank, where she played a crucial role in building digital products. She is a graduate of IIT Guwahati with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computing. “For me, the option of heading the products at ZFunds was more than merely a professional pursuit. Instead, I took it as an opportunity to participate in a financial reform of sorts for our society. I am looking forward to being part of the vibrant team and driving digital-first innovations,” stated Tanvi Jadhav.

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  • GUEST COLUMN: Spinning the Web 3.0 around communications and PR

    GUEST COLUMN: Spinning the Web 3.0 around communications and PR

    Mumbai: Web 3.0 has indeed taken the internet world by storm. With Facebook heavily investing in metaverse to break barriers and converge online and offline environments, it is set to redefine the way we communicate and interact in the virtual world. Virtual, instead of being separate from the physical world, will penetrate into every aspect of our daily lives with the amalgam of physical and digital data. Web 3.0, also known as the spatial web, will blur the boundaries between digital and physical worlds and this sure will tremendously influence brands’ communication and public relations (PR) efforts in the future.

    Starting with Web 1.0 till the advent of Web 3.0, the communication industry has evolved and adapted to changes. But what exactly would be the impact on the communication industry and how can the industry capitalise on new technologies to fine-tune its strategies? Let’s dive a little deeper and understand how communication strategies will shape up in the future and what PR companies can do to stay relevant and optimise their efforts in this era.

    A rise in NFT-compatible PR campaigns

    An NFT (non-fungible token) strategy is a must in the Web 3.0 era to help brands stay ahead of the competition. Powered by blockchain technology, PR companies can leverage NFTs to create new experiences for customers. NFTs facilitate immersive experiences. It is a unique digital asset that cannot be replicated and PR companies will need to shift their focus on launching NFT campaigns for brands to create exclusivity for customers. NFT campaigns can be a doorway for customers to access exclusive events, gain early access to content, or even discounts and special offers.

    Focus on content that appeals to multiple personas

    Web 3.0 takes hyper-personalisation to a whole new level. Going forward, PR and communication efforts by brands would be centered on creating content that appeals to multiple personas. There will be a shift towards bite-sized articles; but at the same time these will have enough depth to appeal to the preferences of multiple audiences. That means PR companies will now have to create content that is angled differently for different audiences to provide true value and establish thought leadership.

    Customer experience will gain more prominence

    While customer experiences have always been important, the advent of Web 3.0 has increased consumer expectations resulting in a greater focus on crafting memorable experiences. PR and communication experts must help brands adopt a more holistic approach towards metaverse. Audiences now expect virtual events that offer a more immersive experience and PR companies would need to conduct virtual events with the same efficiency as they would conduct real events. PR and communication strategies will evolve to become more nuanced, helping brands provide audiences with the ability to participate and even become selective with the content they want to engage.

    Transparency and privacy will become more important than before

    With concerns looming over data privacy and transparency of data usage, Web 3.0 will see brands channeling their efforts to reinforce user privacy. It also calls for a decentralised structure which means individuals have complete control over their data and can exchange value without getting any intermediaries involved. What does this mean for the PR industry? Well, brands can derive insights from user data with AI and PR companies would need to adjust their strategies to have a more targeted approach. As cookies are slowly being eliminated, PR companies can provide solutions to secure first-party consumer data for brands.

    Blockchain will facilitate precise assessment of campaign results

    Web 3.0 has led to the rise of encrypted identities which means fake traffic from bots can be easily weeded out. This is critical to measure the actual reach of content published. PR companies can capitalise on blockchain technology to measure the actual impact and calculate ROI. Since brands are relatively new to the benefits of blockchain, PR companies can help them leverage the technology to transfer information securely, protect copyrights and create a safe space which is important for companies in fiercely competitive markets. As blockchain technology will help verify the authenticity of content, PR companies will have to be extremely careful with their content creation process. At the same time, brands creating authentic content will gain better reach without the risk of getting lost amidst a clutter of fake stories.

    Web 3.0 has huge implications for the communication industry. While it has already influenced our lives in big ways, we can expect it to further obliterate the boundaries between physical and virtual worlds and open endless possibilities for consumer-brand interactions. The longer it takes for brands and PR organisations to adapt themselves to spatial web technology, the sooner they will lose relevance in this dynamic landscape. Web 3.0 isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a new reality and is here to stay. PR companies adopting these technologies can help their clients achieve the first-mover advantage. 

    (About the author – Anindita Gupta is Scenic Communication co-founder)

  • Non-metro locations emerging as hotbed for online gaming: Report

    Non-metro locations emerging as hotbed for online gaming: Report

    Mumbai: With the advent of technology, the online gaming industry has been growing aggressively for the last couple of years. Today with 433 million gamers, India is home to the world’s second-largest online gaming market by volume. To understand the changing dynamic of the e-gaming industry, ZEE5 has released its Intelligence Monitor report on online gaming consumer insights and trends. 

    The report aims to get a deeper understanding of the changes that are influencing the landscape basis of a consumer survey by ZEE5.

    The objective is to gauge the changes in consumption patterns and consumer attitudes in India based on a survey conducted with ZEE5 viewers in over 146 cities. Let’s look at the report’s findings to understand expected and asynchronous e-commerce industry trends.

    According to ZEEL chief operations officer – revenue Rajiv Bakshi, entertainment and gaming have a symbiotic relationship owing to the mind space both occupy amongst consumers. “We have lots of female leads hailing from almost every market in India. Marketers can leverage their popularity to build stronger relationships with their audience,” said Bakshi talking about how “ZEE5 can be a partner to the e-gaming brands in building trust among prospective customers. “ZEE5 has a lot of actionable insights already available to them such as their current aspirations, what they are consuming, and how they are spending their time that will be helpful to the e-gaming players in connecting with these audiences.”

    Following are the findings from the ZEE5 report:

    Online gaming cuts across demographics and cohorts.

    The report reveals that 59 per cent of survey participants are presently involved in online gaming. If we talk about the demography, 57 per cent of females prefer playing online games against 60 per cent of males. A significant reason behind this shift is the democratisation of affordable smartphones and internet penetration. Another eye-catching data point discovered in the research is the number of games users play. The survey reveals that 58 per cent of the audiences have more than three games installed on their phone at a time. Seeing the data findings, Gaussian Network CEO   says, what we currently see is just the tip of the iceberg as far as online gaming in India is concerned. With a massive user base that cuts across demographics, the ability of gaming brands to tap and monetise it will determine the future.

    Consumers’ gaming habits evolved sharply during the lockdown

    The report also reveals that lockdown has fueled the online gaming industry’s growth significantly. This brought a significant shift in the ways audiences engage in entertainment and recreation activities. Undoubtedly the pandemic followed by a series of lockdowns brought in-person socializing to a grinding halt, and people were left with limited options for entertainment. If we go by the survey, more than 50 per cent of the respondents registered an increase in their online gaming consumption, with over 53 per cent of respondents playing online games at least five times a week. Three out of every four respondents play at least one and half hours every day, stated the report.

    Games24x7 head of digital marketing Vatsal Shah also agrees that the online gaming industry has seen a massive spike in engagement since the pandemic. “In addition to traditional entertainment content, gaming emerged as a leading form of recreation led by growth across parameters of consumption and engagement,” he said.

    Online gaming has grown across genres

    Coming to the gaming genres, the report found that the audience’s preference is evenly split between casual, fantasy, and multiplayer games. While male audiences indicate a preference for fantasy sports and multiplayer games, female participants prefer casual gaming.

    TV and OTT platforms influence the consumption of online gaming

    The ZEE5 Intelligence Report also highlighted that the propensity of consumers interacting with one game increases once they see an ad. And it’s no hidden fact that advertising builds trust and brand recall value in the minds of the consumers. But how can e-gaming brands advertise when platforms like playstore don’t allow fantasy and real money games to be listed. Here comes the advantage of the OTT platforms.

    Interestingly, TV and OTT platforms have been the major influencers to boost online gaming consumption. The report stated that one out of two gamers are likely to try a new game after watching an advertisement on TV or OTT. As the gaming industry matures and gamers open up to new and innovative concepts, we can expect exciting collaborations and crossover developments in the space that could unlock substantial value, adds Bakshi.

    Non-metro locations are emerging as a hotbed for online gaming.

    One of the most critical findings of the report is the growth of online gaming in non-metro locations. According to the survey, the growth in non-metro locations outstripped metros. While 63 per cent of non-metro users played at least five times a week, 39 per cent of the respondents played for more than 60 minutes, with the corresponding number for metros at 43 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively. At the same time, non-metro audiences have a higher frequency of playing online games.

    As far as the genre is concerned, fantasy gaming is taking the lead in non-metro locations. Surprisingly, 39 per cent of the respondents preferred online fantasy sports games.

    The survey by ZEE5 is sufficient to prove how gaming has now emerged as a pan-India phenomenon. Experts believe while some challenges persist, the increased exposure and accessibility to online gaming among users augur well for the industry. However, for gaming companies, particularly those involving real money, their inability to advertise due to regulatory restrictions remains a considerable hurdle to raising awareness among the consumers.

  • GUEST COLUMN: The all-pervasive role of technology in new-age marketing

    GUEST COLUMN: The all-pervasive role of technology in new-age marketing

    Mumbai: It was October 2020 when a Cadbury campaign featuring the Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan (SRK) caught my attention. Christened as a ‘NotJustACadburyAd’, the campaign blended SRK’s image and voice using AI to create customised ads for local shops by directly naming them.

    This idea to promote local businesses when they had taken a big hit during the pandemic was widely appreciated. Also, from a creative angle, the campaign went viral. This level of hyper-personalisation could only be possible with the use of AI-led innovation and technology. This reflects two defining developments:

    1.      How new-age marketing is developing a deep understanding of the latest technology tools now playing a key role in developing meaningful customer relationships, and delivering friction-free, cross-channel experiences for consumers.

    2.       ‘Unified Analytics’ will replace ‘analytics by channel’ and customer groups will see an elevated level of strategic measurements and a much more holistic view of the customer.

    The chances are that while browsing through any marketing guide today, you will find it peppered with tech jargon. That’s how ubiquitous technology has become to the very essence and practice of marketing. As a result, brand campaigns have become more personalised and immersive than ever.

    While technology has exploded and there are hundreds of versions vying for space in the market, here are the ‘Top five most transformative technologies’ that will reshape marketing in times to come:

    1.      Increasing use of Chatbots

    This AI-led software can simulate meaningful conversations with internet users in a natural language through a combination of text and voice messages. Its popularity is increasing by the day due to its 24×7 role in solving customer queries. Bluebot, the chatbot of KLM Royal Dutch Airline, reported in excess of 1.7 million messages from 500,000 passengers.

    According to Salesforce, 69 per cent of the US consumers prefer using chatbots when engaging with brands since it often leads to a prompt response. As per estimates, ~40 per cent of big organisations are already using chatbots, and in the next few years, ~80 per cent of communication between the customers and organisations will be done through chatbots.

    2.      The rise of Voice Assistants

    Voice assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri have greatly altered the way users search for information on the web, fast gaining popularity in the voice search feature of search engines due to two important factors;

    -Average typing speed of 41.4 words per minute is far less productive than the speed at which we speak, i.e.160 words per minute

    -The Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology has gotten very advanced, making it easier for voice assistants to pick up and dissect queries accurately.

    Recent statistics reveal that one-third of 3.5 million searches on Google are voice searches. Therefore, from a marketer’s point of view, the voice search SEO strategy becomes important by updating content and becoming mindful of keyword research tools to come up with more voice search questions.

    3.      Fast growth of Virtual Reality

    The rise of Virtual Reality (VR) is mainly due to two reasons. Firstly, the hardware is relatively inexpensive. A Google Cardboard VR headset and a smartphone are enough for you to immerse yourself in another world. Also, many VR applications available on smartphones are completely free to play.

    Secondly, the unique user experience is visceral, the controls are far more intuitive, and the characters more relatable. That’s why it has been dubbed as the ‘ultimate empathy machine.’

    Taking a few examples from the retail sector, Tanishq partnered with Milestone Brandcom to install augmented reality (AR) kiosks (termed as ‘MirrAR’) for elevating the jewellery shopping experience. On the other hand, Lenskart offers 3D face modelling by measuring and mapping the user’s face from multiple angles, thereby providing a 360-degree view of the glasses. Similarly, Sephora’s AR beauty app lets users try makeup by superimposing certain lipstick shades and eyeliner looks using users’ selfie poses.

    4.      The imminent rise of Web 3.0

    Web 3.0, which is being built on blockchain technology [underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies], aims to eliminate all-controlling intermediaries and provide the key benefit of a single login across social media accounts for seamless browsing, networking, engagement, and data security.

    This blockchain-led tech has the potential to re-invent the digital marketing industry. With users having direct control over their data and privacy, companies will have the opportunity to become highly user-centric and transparent by :

    -Analysing customer buying habits across platforms

    -Gathering previously unobtainable data on how consumers interact with devices and products

    -Gaining deeper insights on where a customer is in the buying journey.

    International luxury brands such as Balenciaga and Adidas are ahead of the curve and have started experimenting with Web 3.0, but time will tell how such virtual interactions can become stickier, and translate to potential sales. Even everyday brands like Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, Gucci, and Warner Music are using non-fungible tokens [NFTs], thus introducing more and more audiences to the process of buying, owning, and selling digital collectibles. A great way for marketers to leverage NFTs is to use the technology for tickets and souvenirs.

    5.      AI-led Hyper-Personalisation

    The concept of a hyper-personalised experience is based on the use of AI in understanding and learning from human responses to communication by using data, such as recent purchases etc. This hyper-accurate segmentation of AI engines is a marketer’s delight in providing improved customer experience beyond assumptions and practices by using Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) as solutions for data architecture, integration, and reliability problems.

    Starbucks is an excellent example of hyper-personalisation. It took its already personalised menu to the next level by adopting a real-time personalization engine [primarily pulling data from their loyalty app] that produces individualized offers for their customers based on their previous behaviour and preferences.

    Most organisations utilise only ~15 per cent of the technologies and capabilities they are already paying for. Therefore, the number of technologies adopted is not as important as ‘applying’ them to solve business needs. Today, marketers are at the critical junction of integrating human experience and technology. They have forever been trying to demystify the customer’s mind. Thanks to technology, now we have endless ways of knowing!

    (The author is executive vice president – global marketing at Wadhwani Foundation. The views expressed in this column are personal and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.)