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Tag: WhatsApp

  • WhatsApp’s new campaign highlights interlocking layers of protection for user privacy

    WhatsApp’s new campaign highlights interlocking layers of protection for user privacy

    Mumbai: WhatsApp has launched the India edition of its global brand campaign to create awareness about its interlocking layers of protection that offer people more privacy and control over their conversations while messaging.

    The campaign focuses on educating users on WhatsApp’s built-in layers of privacy protection that have been added over the years, including three new privacy features: leaving groups silently; controlling who can see when you’re online; and screenshot blocking for ‘view once’ messages.

    The new features were announced earlier this month as part of a global campaign, adding to a host of existing privacy features and demonstrating how WhatsApp’s multiple layers of privacy controls come together to provide users more protection when having a truly private conversation when messaging.

    Conceptualised by BBDO India and directed by Prakash Varma, the campaign film brings alive a heartwarming exchange between a father and son in an intensely personal moment, showing how WhatsApp’s built-in layers of protection allow them the privacy and security to have a meaningful conversation when it matters the most. 

    Embed Link: https://youtu.be/EcEZCWyfFCc

    The film depicts WhatsApp’s promise and strength of “privacy” through features like end-to-end encryption, two-step verification, and hidden online presence, enabling the duo to express themselves freely despite being surrounded by crowds in a restaurant or football stadium.

    Talking about the campaign, Meta India director-marketing Avinash Pant said, “At WhatsApp, privacy is in our DNA and over the years, we have consistently added layers of protection through product-features that empower people with more control over their messages. This is our way of extending awareness and assurance to our users on how the new and existing built-in layers of protection help you message freely without compromising on your privacy.” 

    He added, “We want users to know that they always have a safe and private space on WhatsApp, no matter where they are! We feel it’s a great privilege that two billion people around the world trust WhatsApp to deliver their personal messages every day, and this campaign is an affirmation of WhatsApp’s continued commitment to protecting their private conversations.”

    Commenting on the campaign and its creative treatment, BBDO India chair and chief creative officer Josy Paul said, “WhatsApp’s mission is to connect the world privately, and this campaign captures the essence of people feeling empowered to have private conversations even during vulnerable moments because their messages remain protected and secure.” 

    Speaking on the film, he said, “The film demonstrates WhatsApp being that ‘safe space’ for people like the father and son who have a very private and emotional conversation amidst hordes of people. You don’t know the exact exchange between the characters, you can’t see their messages because they’re private, but the simple shots of crowds disappearing, doors locking, CCTVs turning away, demonstrate how WhatsApp’s privacy features continue to provide the much-needed intimacy and protection throughout their most private moments.”

    Over the coming weeks, WhatsApp aims to educate users on each privacy feature through short films, which will highlight their benefits and the steps to activate them, so that users can take advantage of WhatsApp’s built-in layers of protection. 

  • PRCAI’s Deeptie Sethi emphasises PR industry’s need to upskill

    PRCAI’s Deeptie Sethi emphasises PR industry’s need to upskill

    NEW DELHI: The PR and communications industry is doing very well thank you. That’s the view of The Public Relations Consultants Association of India (PRCAI) CEO Deeptie Sethi. The former Ford India communications boss who was brought into lead the professional organisation after stints in the US expects the spin doctoring business to grow at a healthy 12 percent year on year and she estimates it to cross Rs 2,000 crore in the not too distant future.

    “It has been growing  rapidly and is almost back to pre-pandemic levels,”  she says with a big smile.

    Sethi has brought in a new drive into the PRCAI, organising workshops, training masterclasses, keeping in mind the demands that clients are dishing out in a complex world consisting  of newspapers, whatsapp, digital media print and video outlets, TV channels, social media influencers, bloggers, fake news, podcasters, paid media, earned media, short video platforms  and what have you. 

    “There was a time when all you had to do was draw up the right communications strategy and reach out to ensure print and TV channel journos got the right brand message through the dissemination of releases,” she explains. “But today you have several options and the responsibility of a communication professional has multiplied manifold. There is a high level of penetration of mobiles, and you know, millennials, the way they are absorbing content. Today, we are overloaded with information. Upskilling and sharpening existing skillsets are the order of the day. We listen, we learn, we educate, and we practise.”

    Towards this end, the PRCAI  has conducted a three month programme called ‘Writing Pen Upskilling’ which helps professionals to learn new techniques of writing and helps them visualize a story from the journalist’s and writer’s perspective.   “We had a batch of 41 PR people. Practitioners from 10 consultancies came forward and nominated their people, ” she reveals, adding that another upskilling programme is on the anvil.

    According to her, the manner in which communications messages are being delivered has transformed with digitisation. Currently, the audience consumes messages according to their taste and requirements. And it is quick to voice its opinion and ire against brands to their followers on social media. Hence, crafting the right communications strategy targeting the right audience and tracking its impact is becoming even more challenging.  

    “Performance marketing and influencer marketing are about having the right skills but public relations and communications is all about that trust and authenticity. We have that higher responsibility to make sure we are communicating the right story,” she highlights.

    Sethi cautions that  brands cannot be built in one day. “It is a consistent effort to put the message across to the audience and build credibility in the market. Defining a clear objective is imperative to achieve the right result. The problem is that people are unable to set a clear objective and what they would like to achieve from promotion or marketing.” she explains.

    The industry is focusing on bringing in research-oriented communication expertise and specialisation, which help to identify different trends and customise effective communication strategies.

    “Today, a lot of research is happening in our communication industry, from using data accurately, to learning and improving skills,” Sethi says. “Artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation are all the rage. It is something that agencies, consultancies and  brands are looking to adopt. It is important to figure out where the gaps are and how we can work together and overcome them. Through this the industry is also solving customer’s problems – a skill that is much-needed at this hour.”

    Sethi is optimistic about the growth of the PR and communication industry in 2022. However, she is concerned about the macro challenges that the country is facing currently, with rising inflationary pressures, a weak rupee, and economic uncertainty.

    “If economic slowdown and recession come, budgets will be impacted, thereby, various other things will be affected. We can also be impacted, so we need to be cautious in our approach,” she predicts.

    Wise words from a seasoned veteran.

     

  • WhatsApp unveils latest campaign ‘Scam Se Bacho’

    WhatsApp unveils latest campaign ‘Scam Se Bacho’

    Mumbai: WhatsApp has launched a user-safety campaign titled “Scam Se Bacho,” which will come to life through a music video. The campaign aims to create awareness and educate users on making safer online payments. It is conceptualised by BBDO India and directed by Indian film director and editor Shimit Amin, known for award-winning films like “Chak De! India.”

    The “Scam Se Bacho” music video is a parody rendition of the popular evergreen song, “Dekh Ke Chalo,” and it delivers the socially relevant message of user safety in a fun and breezy tone.

    The new lyrics demonstrate real-life situations in which individuals could be susceptible to scams and reinforce the message of staying safe and exercising caution while making digital payments. It warns users about scams such as falling for bogus lottery schemes, disclosing your UPI PIN over the phone to a phoney customer service representative, or sending money to a scammer posing as a friend without first verifying their identity.

    The goal of the video is to engage the audience through nostalgia and educate them about digital payment safety in the most comforting and memorable way.

    Talking about the music video, WhatsApp India director-payments Manesh Mahatme  said, “While UPI continues to remain one of the safest, most convenient and interoperable modes of making payments, India’s growing acceptance of online payments has also seen an increase in digital payment fraud. User safety is at the core of everything we do at WhatsApp, and through this exciting and captivating music video, we want to educate and empower our users with all the information they need to safeguard themselves against any fraud while making digital payments. We hope that this initiative by WhatsApp will resonate with people and they can sing their way through safe and secure online payments.”

    Talking about the campaign, Meta India director-marketing Avinash Pant said, “India’s growing acceptance of digital payments has also led to an increase in the need to make people aware of how to keep their payments safe. Through this campaign, which is built on several real-world scenarios that people face in their everyday life, our endeavour is to educate and empower users with all the information they need to safeguard themselves against any fraud while making digital payments. This initiative reinforces Whatsapp’s commitment to the safety of our users while making payments as simple and convenient as sending a message.”

    Commenting on the creative treatment of the music video, BBDO India chair and chief creative officer Josy Paul said, “Our primary goal with this music video was to spread awareness and engage the audience sensitively on this subject. We decided to create entertainment that educates rather than advertisements. Our goal of reworking a fun, nostalgic song like “Dekh ke Chalo” was to use the power of music to convey a strong message that’ll help people relate to the moments that we collectively face in our lives. The song triggers memory structures that allow the audience to more easily receive the message. We hope it will encourage people to be more aware next time.”

    Payments on WhatsApp allow users to send and receive money from their contacts via the unified payment interface (UPI) as easily as sending a WhatsApp message. With user safety at its core, payments on WhatsApp are designed with a strong set of security and privacy principles, including entering a personal UPI PIN for each payment.

  • Aaj Tak asks netizens for ideas on Sudhir Chaudhary’s next show with #AskSudhir campaign

    Aaj Tak asks netizens for ideas on Sudhir Chaudhary’s next show with #AskSudhir campaign

    Mumbai: Aaj Tak, the Hindi news channel from India Today Group, and veteran journalist Sudhir Chaudhary experimented with a technology-driven interactive digital campaign.

    The campaign #AskSudhir garnered over three lakh plus WhatsApp messages, 1.2 lakh plus listens on Twitter spaces and 75,000 plus Tweets and trended for about six hours on the top during the day.

    The social media campaigns saw Aaj Tak viewers and lakhs of netizens engage on Twitter spaces and the Chatbot campaign, and emotionally connect with Sudhir Chaudhary on Aaj Tak.

  • Meta onboards Dilpreeta Vasudeva as head of marketing – business messaging

    Meta onboards Dilpreeta Vasudeva as head of marketing – business messaging

    Mumbai: Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp parent-company Meta has appointed Dilpreeta Vasudeva as the marketing lead for business messaging (WhatsApp, Instagram & Messenger).

    Prior to joining Meta, she worked as the founder of CMO Access. Previously, Vasudeva headed marketing at Jio Studios, before helming marketing transformation and financial services at Bharti Enterprises.

    An ISB Alumna, Vasudeva has worked alongside senior leadership teams of MNCs & Indian conglomerates garnering experience across more than seven categories & functional disciplines of marketing. She held a stint as head of digital marketing at Tata Play previously. Vasudeva has also worked with conglomerates Microsoft, Times Internet, Tech Mahindra and Radisson.

    Vasudeva took to LinkedIn to make the announcement, with the caption, “Meta Metamates Me.” She wrote: Stoked to join as the Marketing Lead for Business Messaging at Meta – WhatsApp, Instagram & Messenger.

     

     

     

  • WhatsApp India supports small businesses to go digital; unveils #SMBSaathi Utsav

    WhatsApp India supports small businesses to go digital; unveils #SMBSaathi Utsav

    Mumbai: WhatsApp India on Tuesday unveiled #SMBSaathi Utsav, a programme aimed at supporting small businesses in adopting digital tools like the WhatsApp Business App to conduct their operations. The goal of this programme, which was launched in partnership with Josh Talks, is to educate and assist small businesses in realising their full potential through WhatsApp.

    #SMBSaathi Utsav has kicked off with a pilot in Jaipur’s Johri Bazaar and Bapu Bazaar where 500+ small businesses are being trained on various aspects of running their business online. 

    India is home to approximately 63 million MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) accounting for 30 per cent of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product) and employing over 110 million people at present. During the pandemic, these businesses were severely affected witnessing a 20-50 per cent decline in their overall earnings. One of the major reasons behind this fall was the lack of market access. To help these businesses revive from this downturn, WhatsApp launched the #SMBSaathi initiative earlier this year. The #SMBSaathi Utsav is the second phase of the #SMBSaathi campaign. 

    The initiative showcased inspiring stories of business owners across India who pivoted to digital ways of doing business during the pandemic. For many of these businesses, WhatsApp was their first digital gateway and an easier & more effective alternative to building and maintaining a website. 

    Businesses across sectors such as traditional arts and handicrafts, jewellery, fashion and apparel, food and beverage outlets and several others are being trained on using the various features of the WhatsApp Business App and are being guided on how they can market their product to the right audiences.

    WhatsApp India head Abhijit Bose said, “We are excited to launch the #SMBSaathi and #SMBSaathi Utsav, programmes that are dedicated to India’s small business community. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy and technology has the potential to further boost their business. During the pandemic, we saw several small business owners thriving by using simple platforms such as WhatsApp Business App to stay connected with their customers. A small beauty salon in suburban Mumbai used WhatsApp Business App to keep her regular customers engaged through the lockdown, a dhaba owner in Gurgaon, is directly connecting with his customers using WhatsApp Business App thus driving an overall efficiency in his operations and reaching newer markets. Examples such as these are a testament to the fact that India’s small business owners have the ambition, passion and creativity to leverage simple and reliable technologies. We are committed to finding new ways of increasing awareness about simple digital tools for businesses to support and celebrate the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation in India.”

    Jaipur’s Rupam Jewellers owner Arvind Sharma said, “I always thought that taking my business online would be a difficult and tedious process. As small business owners, we have earlier focused only on the traditional ways of doing business. However, the pandemic taught us that it is important to innovate and find new ways of running our business on digital platforms as that is where the audience is today. WhatsApp plays a very important role in our everyday communication with our regular customers and now with my business digitally available on the WhatsApp Business App, it will become a lot easier to connect with newer customers and service them quickly.”

  • Digital Brand Fest 2022: How SMS and mobile marketing can accelerate brand growth

    Digital Brand Fest 2022: How SMS and mobile marketing can accelerate brand growth

    Mumbai: The digitally empowered consumers of today have more choices than ever before. As we enter into 2022 with new technologies propelling the digital transformation, several new age, as well as legacy brands, have jumped onto the digital bandwagon to up their marketing game, and retain connect with consumers.

    On day one of the Indian Digital Brand Fest 2022, IndianTelevision.com brought a host of industry experts together on one platform to discuss these trends shaping the future.  The week-long virtual summit is presented by Voot, and Interakt, Josh, and Pixis have joined as industry partners.

    The session on ‘Panel on SMS, Notifications & Whatsapp Marketing’ held virtually on Monday was moderated by Group M head of mobile and emerging tech Niraj Ruparel and the panelists included Soptle chief business & marketing officer Ritesh Ghosal, PhonePe corporate communications head  Priya Patankar, SUGAR chief business officer Suchit Sikaria, ex-WOW Skin Science VP of Marketing Madhur Acharya, Jio-Haptik’s SMB Solutions VP & business head Ahshad Jussawala, and Clever Tap SVP Marketing Jayant Kshirsagar.

    The industry executives discussed the latest trends driving the change in mobile marketing and how it has impacted the industry’s growth. SUGAR CBO Suchit Sikaria noted that the digital strategy has to revolve around mobile, and it starts right at the time of designing the asset and it has to be a mobile-first design.

    PhonePe corporate communications head Priya Patankar shared that PhonePe considers itself essentially as a utilitarian that begins with payments. “We have realised customers start with the most basic use cases for which they download an app. Once customers start trusting the app, they graduate to the more complex use cases,” she said about new consumer behaviour on the payment platform, while admitting that the pandemic has been a huge inflection point for digital payments.

    When it comes to mobile marketing, SMS and WhatsApp are very powerful media to build a connection with the customer, the marketers asserted. However, brand communication to the consumer has to be looked at through the lens of relevance, timing & value in the message, the panelists noted. According to WOW Skin Science VP of marketing Madhur Acharya, mobile marketing gives a better ROI & retention as there is more clarity on how one’s campaign is performing.

    The executives emphasised on leveraging WhatsApp for a mobile marketing strategy from the beginning. Jio-Haptik’s Ahshad Jussawala added, “For any small business or SME looking to grow their online sales and improve overall customer support, Whatsapp can be a game-changer.”

    On customer acquisition, Clever Tap SVP Marketing Jayant Kshirsagar said, “Retention is more important than acquisition and we help our customers retain their customers.”

    Also read: Digital Brand Fest 2022: Decoding digital transformation for tech-led future

    The industry executives were also unanimous in their views on the importance of hyper-personalisation in mobile marketing. Clever Tap’s Jayant Kshirsagar observed that the right kind of personalisation involves looking at customers as a ‘cohort’, and not as a ‘one size fits all’ with hyper-personalisation. Soptle’s Ritesh Ghosal agreed that personalisation on WhatsApp & SMS marketing allowed them to create a loyalty program, by crafting a value into the message. To which SUGAR’s Sikaria shared their experience of sending out personalised messages to their most loyal customers on Whatsapp, wherein the responses the brand received from its customers consisted of instant emotive acknowledgments.

    Group M’s Niraj Ruparel gave a huge thumbs up to Mondelez’s SRK campaign, citing it as one of the best instances of hyper-personalisation using AI & ML.  “Stop selling, start serving. Because if you serve your customers right they’ll refer to your brand and you’ll get new customers!,” said Clever Tap’s Kshirsagar concluding the discussion.

    Towards the end of the session, the marketers also addressed the concerns of Spamming in mobile marketing. Putting consumer fears to rest it was pointed out that WhatsApp has all the policies and measures in place to curtail Spamming activities by brands.

    For more details on the event, click here

  • WhatsApp bans 1.75 million Indian accounts in November 2021

    WhatsApp bans 1.75 million Indian accounts in November 2021

    Mumbai: Instant messaging and voice-over-IP service WhatsApp has banned more than 1.75 million accounts in India, while it received 602 grievance reports, according to its compliance report for November 2021. An Indian account is identified by a +91 phone number.

    The social media intermediary has published its sixth monthly report in accordance with the IT Rules 2021 which contains the details of the users’ complaints received and the corresponding action taken by WhatsApp, as well as the messaging service’s preventative actions to combat abuse on the platform.

    The company had previously stated that 95 per cent of the account bans are due to unauthorised use of automated or bulk messaging (spam), according to a report by PTI. In October, the messaging service banned over two million accounts and registered 500 grievance reports.

    In its latest report, the company revealed that out of 602 grievance reports, 149 users requested account support, 357 were ban appeals, 21 were other support, 48 were product support and 27 were for safety. Based on the reports received, the company took remedial action against 36 accounts that were flagged under ban appeals.

    The IT Rules 2021 which came into effect in May 2021 require digital platforms with over five million users to publish compliance reports every month, detailing complaints received and action taken.

  • Whatsapp set to roll out new multi-device feature

    Whatsapp set to roll out new multi-device feature

    Mumbai: Instant messaging app, WhatsApp is set to roll out a feature that would allow users to log into the messaging platform on their personal computers without being online through their smartphones.

    The feature is currently at the beta testing stage on selected Android and iOS devices, and has been made available in the settings menu of the app. Users will have to manually opt in for the feature.

    Presently, in order to use WhatsApp Web, which is the personal computer version of the messaging service, users have to keep their phones online. With the potential roll-out of the latest feature, users will no longer need to keep the phone near their laptop and make sure it is online before using WhatsApp Web. The linked personal computer would be able to receive and send messages for up to 14 days. This, if the user decides to not manually log out.

    The feature will be useful when users lose their smartphones but require Whatsapp to stay connected.

  • Facebook faces one of its longest global outages

    Facebook faces one of its longest global outages

    New Delhi: Social media giant Facebook along with its subsidiary platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp experienced one of its longest global outages on Monday night after the services remained non-functional at least for over five hours.

    The exact reason for the outage has not been established as yet. 

    Facebook took to Twitter to acknowledge the problem after several users complained of issues in accessing the social media site. “We are aware that some people are having trouble accessing our apps and products. We are working to get things back to normal as quickly as possible, and we apologise for any inconvenience,” a Facebook spokesperson tweeted.

     

     

    India has one of the highest numbers of users of Facebook as well as its other platforms. As per government data shared earlier this year, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 41 crore Facebook users and 21 crore Instagram users.

     

     

    Facebook chief technology officer, Mike Schroepfer said the social media company was experiencing “networking issues” and teams were working as fast as possible to debug and restore as fast as possible.

    As the Facebook-owned sites remained down, users took to alternative sites, including Twitter, Telegram, and Signal to connect with each other. While there have been similar outages in the past, the issues were resolved within a short time. However, on Monday, the sites remained down for as long as five hours.

    WhatsApp services resumed early on Monday morning, while Facebook and Instagram users continued to face issues.