ITV

Tag: Twitter

  • Brands need to keep the customers at the centre: Ray Velez

    VARCA: At Goafest 2013, Razorfish chief technology officer Ray Velez explained how a company should organise a brand around the consumer by busting silos and applying the principles of agile development across one‘s business.

    “A brand should always keep his customer at the center. One‘s organisation must be structured around the customer that will in a way help in building relationship with him. A marketer should plan his strategy based on the data from the actual customer activity and also understand that customer will give a feedback whether you like it or not,” he said, while talking about the five principles one should embrace in order to evolve their business to deliver new customer experience.

    He also said a marketer should measure the data and see how to maintain the interactivity with the costumer. “Think of your brand as a service,” he emphasised.

    He added that a customer should be serviced well so that he comes back. One needs to fulfill consumer needs which will henceforth enhance customer relationship and deliver happiness. Loyal customers buy 75 per cent more than the others, Velez mentioned.
    Velez also added about how to thrive in our age of disruption. He highlighted on how the lines have blurred with technology, media, and creativity coming together, and how this shift is revolutionising marketing and business strategy.

    “Convergence of technology, media and creativity allow you to imagine, create, and enable customer experience like never before. Media allows a two way communication through a hash tag which is a way for a customer to talk back. Creativity can come from anywhere and everywhere. And these are the provisions that technology provides,” he said.

    Vezel believes that it‘s all about telling a brand story and providing an experience in a whole new way.

    “Simple plug in buttons such as Facebook‘s “Like” and “Share,” Google‘s “+1,” and Twitter‘s “Tweet” and “Follow” dramatically lower the barrier to users sharing content from one‘s site out to their entire social graph,” he added.

    Social cloud services provide digital experiences or web properties with the ability to connect up with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, Microsoft and other social services.

    These services come in the form of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that a technologist can integrate. Whether a digital experience is a mobile application or a traditional desktop site, these APIs are available.

    According to Velez, one should create a 360 degree view of the consumer with analysing his media exposure, offline consumer data and the website behavior. ‘Data is something which tells you what your customer wants. Also, employ agile methodology and rapid prototype,” Velez said.

    Velez said that one needs to embrace the diversity of culture and other diversities in order to deliver new customer experience. He picked a statement from Frans Johansson‘s book The Medici Effect saying, “When you step into an intersection of field, disciplines of culture, you can combine existing concepts into a large no. of extraordinary new ideas”.

  • Nicola Peltz to star in Transformers 4

    Nicola Peltz to star in Transformers 4

    MUMBAI: Actress Nicola Peltz has joined the cast of upcoming film Transformers 4.
     
    Director Michael Bay announced the young actress‘ casting on Twitter. The 18-year-old star will play the daughter of Mark Wahlberg‘s character in the film, it is reported.

    Peltz is best known for playing Katara in The Last Airbender and is currently starring on A&E‘s new series Bates Motel.
     
    Also joining the cast will be Brenton Thwaites who will play Peltz‘s biker boyfriend. The former is an Australian actor who will soon be seen starring opposite Angelina Jolie in Maleficent.

    The film, which will also star Jack Reynor, is set to be released on 27 June.

  • New study confirms co-relation between Twitter and TV ratings

    New study confirms co-relation between Twitter and TV ratings

    MUMBAI: US TV viewers are taking to Twitter to talk about TV and the digital chatter is building steam.

    According to SocialGuide, 32 million unique people in the U.S. Tweeted about TV in 2012. That’s quite the confab, but what does it all really mean for the TV industry? Should networks and advertisers be paying attention? Early research on the subject from US media research company Nielsen and SocialGuide says yes.

    By analysing Tweets about live TV, the study confirmed a relationship between Twitter and TV ratings. It also identified Twitter as one of three statistically significant variables (in addition to prior-year rating and advertising spend) to align with TV ratings.

    SocialGuide CEO Andrew Somosi said, “While prior-year rating accounts for the lion’s share of the variability in TV ratings, Twitter’s presence as a top three influencer tells us that Tweeting about live TV may affect programme engagement.

    “We expected to see a correlation between Twitter and TV ratings, but this study quantifies the strength of that relationship.”

    Much of the correlation is being driven by the rise in media consumption across multiple device screens. 80 per cent of US tablet and smartphone owners who watch TV use their device while watching at least several times a month. 40 per cent of US tablet and smartphone users visit a social network while watching TV.

    How well does Twitter align with TV program ratings? The recent Nielsen/SocialGuide study confirmed that increases in Twitter volume correlate to increases in TV ratings for varying age groups, revealing a stronger correlation for younger audiences. Specifically, the study found that for 18-34 year olds, an 8.5 per cent increase in Twitter volume corresponds to a one per cent increase in TV ratings for premiere episodes, and a 4.2 per cent increase in Twitter volume corresponds with a one per cent increase in ratings for midseason episodes. Additionally, a 14 per cent increase in Twitter volume is associated with a one per cent increase in TV program ratings for 35-49 year olds, reflecting a stronger relationship between Twitter and TV for younger audiences.

    Further, the study found that the correlation between Tweets and TV ratings strengthens for midseason episodes for both age groups. An increase in Twitter volume of 4.2 per cent and 8.4 per cent is associated with a one per cent increase in ratings for 18-34 year olds and 35-49 year olds, respectively. Moreover, by midseason Twitter was responsible for more of the variance in ratings for 18-34 year olds than advertising spend.

    Nielsen executive VP of media analytics Mike Hess said, “The TV industry is dynamic and it was important for us to analyse multiple variables to truly understand Twitter’s impact on TV ratings.

    “While our study doesn’t prove causality, the correlation we uncovered is significant and we will continue our research to deepen the industry’s understanding of this relationship.”

  • Plans for MipCube unveiled

    Plans for MipCube unveiled

    MUMBAI: Creative platform MipCube will have a line-up of events and conferences which includes speakers from Twitter, Warner Bros. and Machinima, a new Brands and Content Masterclass and the inaugural Women in Tech and Media networking breakfast.

    MipCube 2013 will feature innovators in the digital content space. An integral part of MipTV, the world‘s content market, MipCube takes place in Cannes, France from 8-11 April.

    As part of a series of case studies, Twitter UK head of broadcast partnerships Dan Biddle will explore how the future of the micro-blogging site is linked to TV, thanks to its ability to cultivate audiences. MipCube participants will also get an insight into what tomorrow‘s media business will look like in the hands of the new media moguls.

    Content producers Warner Bros. director/producer Kevin Tancharoen and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution head of digital programming and development Lance Sloane will explain how they produced ‘Mortal Kombat: Legacy‘, a split-screen blockbuster which was the most-viewed web series in 2011.

    Experts in the interactive content space will describe how to attract, build, and scale audiences, with contributions from video entertainment network Machinima president, co-founder Philip Debevoise, and 22-year-old entrepreneur Jamal Edwards who is SB.TV Global founder, CEO.

    Cisneros‘ AdsMovil company COO Jorge Rincón will also be on hand to provide a focus on the mobile Hispanic population. Meanwhile branding agency Huge chief strategy officer Gene Liebel, who developed the strategy and built the HBO Go digital platform, will discuss the importance of intuitive design and user interface in encouraging audiences to consume more content.

    In a session on reinventing distribution in the ‘anywhere‘ age, digital media company Base79 founder Ashley MacKenzie, which is YouTube‘s biggest content partner in Europe, will discuss which distribution models exist for professional content creators, and how best to leverage them.

    Underlining the networking opportunities which MipCube offers, a string of matchmaking sessions will involve broadcasters, including Canal + Head of Digital, Fabienne Fourquet; Canada‘s CBC executive director, studio and unscripted content Julie Bristow; brand representatives such as Paolo Bonsignore from Illy Café; and branded content experts such as Victor Knaap of Media Monk.

    A new feature this year is the Brands and Content Masterclass, sponsored by Ogilvy and Mather and in partnership with Hyper Island. The Masterclass will bring together more than 80 executives working in branded entertainment from brands, agencies, production companies, TV networks, digital platforms and social networks. The objectives of this Masterclass are to learn how to create engaging branded entertainment, meet potential partners in this field, and to share best practices from a selection of some of the most successful branded entertainment campaigns.

    The Masterclass will be introduced by Hyper Island CEO Johanna Frelin, and will feature contributions from ITV MD Commercial, Online and Interactive Fru Hazlitt; McLaren Group Brand Director John Allert, and Framestore executive producer Simon Whalley. Other participating brands include Renault and Swarovski, while the Newcast (Publicis), MEC and Havas agencies will also take part. In the following lunch, the 2013 Brand of the Year award will be delivered (succeeding 2012 Heineken and 2011 Amex).

    Another new feature is the Women In Tech and Media Breakfast, during which the challenges women face as they shoot for greater influence in the industry will be discussed. The talents of tomorrow will be showcased in the Content 360 Pitch Competition for transmedia producers and creative agencies, this year sponsored by Russian independent broadcaster CTC Media and telco MTS; the MipCube Lab, an international competition for startups innovating in the TV field; and the TV Hack Day, featuring 15 selected developers and designers who have 48 hours to come up with what might be the next big app. All of the winners plus Brand of the Year will be showcased in the Innovation show.

    MipCube also provides hands-on opportunities through workshops like the YouTube Creators Masterclass for Content Producers, run by Head of YouTube Next Lab EMEA at Google David Ripert or the Social TV Bootcamp, which will provide a live consulting session on strategies to build social TV projects.

    On 7 April, as a preamble to the main event, MipCube Plus will offer a one-day think-tank dedicated to unlocking fresh business opportunities for new content creation, user engagement and monetisation models.

  • Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    Indian companies not exploiting full potential of social media: BMI report

    BENGALURU: A study by blueocean market intelligence (BMI) has found that Indian companies have a long way to go with respect to maximizing the benefits of social media.

    blueocean market intelligence recently unveiled the results of its ‘2013 Social Effectiveness Index (SEI) 20’, a nationwide study accessing the Social Media Effectiveness of 20 of India’s Most Admired Companies (Fortune India-The Hay group survey). The study incorporated sectors that included IT, ITES, BPO, Oil & Gas, Automotive, Apparel, FMCG, Metals & Mining, Infrastructure, and Auto Components.

    BMI contends that the key challenge for Indian companies is to understand exactly how social media interacts with consumers, enables product and brand recognition, and drives customer acquisition, retention and loyalty. With social media in its nascent stages, there is an undeniable opportunity for companies to create a well-established, customer-centric image.

    BMI says that the SEI 20 ranking methodology is designed to measure business impact by integrating analytics, measurement, and monitoring. It captures conversations across the breadth of social networks and online communities, and correlates their impact with key business metrics such as revenue and brand value. It also directly measures business to consumer interactions in social media, including how Facebook and Twitter drive site visitors and purchase behaviour.

    BMI claims that it employed a comprehensive ranking methodology covering five key parameters that correlate to business metrics such as revenue and brand value. The brand’s share of volume of online conversations, customer engagement rate, depth of customer engagement, number of influencers and advocates on social channels, and net sentiment were measured by capturing conversations across the breadth of all social networks and online communities.

    The 2013 SEI 20 rankings revealed the following as top five performers –
    1. Tata Steel
    2. Tata Motors
    3. Dell India
    4. Tata Consultancy Services
    5. Bosch

  • Aviva pads up with Sachin

    MUMBAI: Insurance provider Aviva has extended its campaign with brand ambassador cricketer Sachin Tendulkar to the social media realm.

    Aviva’s brand strategy, based on the father-child relationship, highlights the importance of a father’s role as a protector in his child’s life, whether financial, physical or emotional. With an objective to help young fathers realise the importance of financial planning for their children’s secure future, Aviva India unveiled its social media strategy based on creating and feeding engaging content in the social media channels.

    The core of the contention focuses on protection drawing analogies from cricket; the next levels will cover content on financial literacy, products and parenting for young fathers. This will be supported by a robust digital advertising campaign to promote content to our target audience – young parents in the age-group of 28-44 years.

    Through the new campaign called ‘Padding up with Sachin’ and ‘Sachin Off Guard’, Aviva aims to further strengthen its association with fatherhood and protection. These are a series of webisodes on cricket tutorials and interviews on importance of protection by Tendulkar. For the first time ever, netizens will have access to tutorials on cricketing by the Little Master himself.

    With 73 per cent of audience on social networking sites consuming video/ entertainment on the site, Aviva sees an increase of three fold in its engagement scores in its social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Youtube leading to higher awareness on Aviva’s offerings. Aviva is shortly releasing its ‘Product Center’ and a series of engaging product related videos on Facebook to further enhance the same.

    Aviva India director marketing and bancassurance Rishi Piparaiya said, “Our vision on social media is to build a community of financially aware young parents and to achieve this, we see a significant role for both entertaining content for parents as well as infotainment around financial planning and Aviva’s products as key pillars. In the ‘Padding up with Sachin’ series, each webisode starts with Sachin reminding the viewers about the importance of protection.”

    Aviva’s Brand Ambassador, Sachin Tendulkar said, “Cricket is my passion and I am delighted to partner with Aviva to launch the ‘Padding up with Sachin‘ tutorials. These webisodes which showcase my successful moves on the pitch, will give fathers a chance to view and coach their children. The links to these videos will also be available on my Facebook page as well and I invite all to view and share the same”.

    Adding further, Rishi Piparaiya, Director Marketing and Bancassurance, Aviva India, said, “In an age where the internet is about content consumption and engagement, pure play product messaging only disrupts the consumer’s natural web behaviour. This is where we believe that we have bucked the trend by using content creation, rather than content disruption, as an approach. Testimony to this is the fact that we have crossed 1 lakh likes on our Facebook page in a short span and achieved a high engagement score on Twitter.”

  • Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    Sony’s Indian Idol Junior auditions open through app

    MUMBAI: Sony Entertainment Television has opened auditions for Indian Idol Juniors.

    Set is inviting singers in the age group of 5 – 15 years to give youngsters a platform to showcase their talent. Parents can now register their child online and upload their performance videos through the app to be shortlisted for an audition in front of the judges.

    The performance videos can also be shared on Twitter and Facebook using the Indian Idol Junior mobile app. To keep up with the action, the app will also feature top audition videos which can be shared with friends.

    With entertainment now increasingly being consumed online, Set sees this step as an exciting platform to engage participants and audiences with.

    MSM SVP – new media, business development and digital/syndication Nitesh Kripalani said, “We want talent from all over India to participate and take a shot at being the first Indian Idol Junior. Now any parent can download the application, and submit their child’s video entry, across all Android and Apple devices. The app will help people connect to the action in Indian Idol Junior and directly participate in the competition, all one click away.”

    The Indian Idol Junior app is available for download on Google Playstore and ITunes free of cost.

  • TechShastra wins Blaupunkt India’s social media duties

    MUMBAI: New-Age software and digital marketing company TechShastra has won the social media mandate for German car infotainment and sound maker and marketer Blaupunkt.

    The agency will manage social media interaction on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, blogs and other collaborative media on the digital platform.

    Balupunkt India director Pankaj Jagwani said, “We are happy to partner with TechShastra as our digital agency. Having recently announced our re-entry in India, we are looking at launching several products in the near future. With TechShastra‘s expertise and knowledge on our side, we are sure we will be able to understand the minds of our customers and communicate with them effectively.”

    TechShastra CEO Nishith Shah said, “Blaupunkt has always been known for their high levels of consumer connect. By using the digital platform we would be able to further enhance that and build brand recall and engagement.”

    Germany based Blaupunkt has a nationwide presence in aftermarket (accessories retail and OE dealership) segments. An infotainment partner to passenger car OEs including VW, Audi, Bentley, GM, Proton, Hyundai, Kia, Tata, Mahindra as well as a number of commercial vehicle providers including Fuso, Isuzu, Fendt, Lada, Claas CAT etc, Blaupunkt provides a range of high-end infotainment, multimedia and navigation solutions.

    Other clients in TechShastra‘s kitty include Unilever, Nestle and HDFC bank. The agency is the force behind campaigns such as the Nestle Morning Band, Surf Excel-Fulfill A Wish and Maggi Guess the Taste.

  • Madhuri Dixit App now launches on iPad

    Madhuri Dixit App now launches on iPad

    MUMBAI: After launching her mobile apps on the iPhone and Android platforms, actress Madhuri Dixit has now launched her app, Madhuri Dixit HD, on the iPad. The high definition app is sleek and very user friendly and allows its users to get the latest updates on the actress.

    With this app her fans from across the globe can interact with her and can even access her latest pictures, videos and exclusive content on beauty, fashion and dance at their fingertips, all in hi-def.

    With Twitter & Facebook feeds embedded in the app, the charismatic actress who is active on the social media platforms hopes to connect with her fans more often.

    Talking about the iPad app, Madhuri Dixit says, ”It is hard staying in touch with all the fans today. The newest in my app line-up adds high definition to the repertoire while maintaining the same great features of the previous apps including integrated Twitter and Facebook. It’s a very small contribution from my side to acknowledge the love and adulation I receive from my fans and I can’t thank them enough.”

  • Social media sites refuse to share information about Indian users

    Social media sites refuse to share information about Indian users

    NEW DELHI: Social media websites Google, Facebook and Twitter have declined to share information sought by the government about individual users in India or block their sites.

    It is learnt that a review committee had approved the decision to block 306 accounts on the social media site Twitter. The review committee consisted of the cabinet secretary Ajit Seth, Telecom Secretary R Chandrasekhar and the Legal Affairs Secretary B A Agarwal.

    After reviewing the 310 accounts that were blocked after the communal clashes in Kokrajhar district of Assam, the Committee found that some of these Twitter accounts had uploaded few of the altered pictures which played a part in sparking the clashes last year and it believes that these Twitter accounts have the potential to further inflame communal tension in the country.

    The review committee met with Google, Facebook and Twitter representatives and requested them to provide details of the said accounts but the companies had apparently not complied with these requests.

    Twitter mentioned that it had received requests for disclosure of user information from the Indian government during July to December 2012, but it complied with none of those requests. Google also stated in December that it had received 2,431 requests for disclosure of user data of 4106 accounts from the Indian government during July to December 2012 and it had complied with 66 per cent of the requests.