It has been 3 years since the IPL began and with the 4th edition that launched a couple of days ago, we predict a bigger and better version for the Cricket Crazy Indians. And yes, it will make its way into the social media space too.

Back in 2008, Mashable wrote about the IPL Fan Club, predicting how big the Cricket Social Network would be considering the fervor for the game in India. The Indian Premiere League did become big but not just on this particular social network. IPL made its mark on established social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and even Orkut. Here is a look at some of the remarkable feats that the IPL has achieved:

• The official IPL fan page on Facebook has 678,466 active fans.
• The Mumbai Indians (one of the IPL franchise teams), with more than a million fans, has more fans than any other team. They have even more fans than the IPL fan page.
• Cumulatively IPL and Teams (Official Fan Pages) have around 2,178,115 fans on Facebook.
• The IPL account on Twitter has 47073 followers and teams have cumulatively 101,549 followers (at the time of writing).
• Celebrities like Shahrukh Khan and Shilpa Shetty and cricketing figures like Shane Warne and Harsha Bhogle also tweet to their thousands of followers about the IPL on a daily basis.
• #IPL4 is the top trending hashtag in India since day one of the IPL.
• Orkut, even though it’s phasing out in India, has around 672,629 members in official franchise communities.
• The number of views for IPL’s Youtube channel so far is 972,25,776.
• With 99,446 subscribers, the channel is the most subscribed channel in India.

And these stats are only for the ‘official’ fan pages. The unofficial ones bring the total much, much higher!

This 51 day battle spread over 74 matches between 10 teams began on April 8th and has been trending on social networks since then. Teams like the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Mumbai Indians are campaigning via social media attracting people to participate in various competitions and promotions. The main objective is to spread awareness and sell match tickets for all the 74 matches. Brands like Indiatimes, PIX Television, and Domino’s are all capitalizing on IPL fever, running related social media campaigns.

One can just imagine how big IPL social media influence will be by the end of the season!

Lectures in the form of online videos and podcasts are getting common nowadays. So as using Skype, Twitter and Facebook as a platform to discuss and share classroom materials. Universities are also receiving YouTube video “pitches” from potential students as substitutes for traditional college essays, according to Course Hero’s infographic (below).

The Web is facilitating the future of learning. In fact, countries like India and Singapore are taking initiatives to introduce tablet technology as an educational tool in rural india.

In Singapore Management University (SMU), a collaborative online wiki is used to help students learn through peer learning, interviews and web research. The wiki has been on for several years now and the content gets richer and up-to-date. We previously featured the students’ work (Indonesia wiki page) which attracted some companies’ attention.

This infographic will tell you more on how social medial is changing the education industry:

Earlier we wrote about how Anna Hazare’s ‘fast unto death’ movement created an uproar on Facebook and Twitter and how more than 400,000 people have already pledged their names on the online petition. Clearly, India’s unified voice is increasing in volume day-by-day, supporting Anna Hazare’s campaign for the Lokpal Bill.

Everything came like a storm and we understand it is difficult to keep a track of what’s happening. To make it easier, we have created a guide that sources the best new media and touch points to get you involved through the Internet.

1. Twitter: Real-time updates on the movement

Not surprising, Twitter is the best tool to get real-time information. But one really needs to break through the clutter to get the correct information. Following the right keywords and hashtags are important. For this movement keep track on keywords like:

• #lokpal
• #annahazare
• Jantar Mantar
• Mera Neta Chor Hai

More news feeds can be searched on Twitter web or using advanced Twitter search if you need any form of customization on keywords .

Interesting tools like Twitscoop are also great for catching real-time conversations creating multiple columns on once screen for different keywords. This makes it easier for consuming the data within the clutter that flows on twitter.

2. Facebook: where it all started

23 million Indians on Facebook tells us why we cannot ignore the activities on this social platform. All activities about Anna Hazare and India’s fight against corruption can be tracked via “India Against Corruption” Facebook community page. There are at least 6-7 updates per hour that provide useful information to track the movement and also participate in it by RSVP-ing in events. Buzz on Facebook also provide a good source of information: Searching “Anna Hazare” on Facebook shows double the frequency of updates per minute than on Twitter.

3. Youtube: online videos by the community and media

Youtube is our best bet when it comes learning the movement through online videos. This movement has also gotten a lot of audio visual coverage that has been viewed/shared by a lot of people. News channels are uploading LIVE videos of the events happening around the movement in the country.

Here is a video explaining the whole reason behind this movement:

Following is a list of videos that have been on the top:

• Anna Hazare’s indefinite fast against Corruption (in Hindi)
• Anna Hazare’s fast for Lokpal Bill by NDTV News Channel
• Twitter, Facebook boost for Anna Hazare by NDTV News Channel
• Baba Ramdev & Kiran Bedi supporting Anna Hazare at jantar Mantar, Delhi

4. Blogs: for opinions and quick updates

The best way to get content, pictures and videos & largely the perspective is via blogs from the community. For this movement people are talking much on ‘fasting’, ‘the lokpal bill’, ‘corruption’. It gives readers a lot on their plate to consume (It’s opinions, not just mere reporting). Note that tech blogs like Penn Olson focuses more on the tech and media perspective than on political views.

Google blogsearch along with Google News are also good channels to stay updated.

5. Flickr: A picture says more

The Web community is also constantly uploading photos of movements from different cities. Search in precision by setting the right dates and keywords. Below is an embedded slideshow for search phrase ‘Anna Hazare’ uploaded from 5th April onwards:

Social media is playing a major role in spreading of the awareness for India’s fight against corruption and we hope we have helped you narrow your search. If you have suggestions for additional online sources kindly leave them as comments below.

More posts on India’s fight against corruption:

• Social Media Play a Major Role in India’s Fight Against Corruption
• Young Indians Fight Corruption on the Internet
• Multiple Facebook Pages Appear To Fight Corruption in India
• Visualization: India Fights #Corruption, Tweets for #AnnaHazare
• Anna Hazare’s ‘Fast Unto Death’ Gains Huge Support on Twitter
• More than 270,000 Signed Online Petition To Support Anna Hazare

I have been closely tracking the whole movement on social media and below is a summary on how social media has played a part in India’s fight against corruption. Take note that all figures are recorded at the point of writing.:

Facebook

• More than 116,000 people on Facebook joined hands to support the movement. The growth of the page is organic
• The interaction rate on the Facebook page is 0.7% which is about 4 times more than the interaction rate of the top 10 Facebook Pages in India
• There have been more than 60 posts on the  page in the last 24 hours
• In all major parts of the country, people have started “Candle Light Support” rallies showing their support for Anna Hazare. Cities like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, took part as well.
• Over 1,000 photos and videos were uploaded by supporters on the fan page itself
• The movement has got close to 15,000 users uploading a badge on their display picture via PicBadges
• A Facebook event called “2500,000 Missed Calls” has already gotten support from over 9,000 people attending the event. About 600,000 people have already supported the event by leaving a missed call on a government telephone number
• Anna Hazare himself has gotten more than 25,000 fans on his fan page and 45,000 people on the event page to garner support

Twitter

• In the last 24 hours, the top 5 trending topics in India has been about this movement
• Famous celebrities and influential figures have actively tweeted their support
• 7 out of 10 trending topics in India are about the movement
• The official twitter account has gotten more than 5500 followers

A realtime search on ‘Anna Hazare’ shows that the frequency of postings is at 20-30 per minute. ‘Anna Hazare’ has been trending since a long time now.

I believe India’s anti-corruption movement will go into the history books as one of the great examples to showcase how viral a movement can be through smart use of social media. But the question remains if India can get rid of corruption through this movement. What do you think?

]]> http://www.techinasia.com/social-media-played-a-major-role-in-india-fight-against-corruption/feed/ 3 http://placehold.it/350x150 http://www.techinasia.com/young-indians-fight-corruption-on-the-internet/ http://www.techinasia.com/young-indians-fight-corruption-on-the-internet/#comments Thu, 07 Apr 2011 05:22:54 +0000 Sahil Shah http://www.techinasia.com/?p=31157 Read more »]]> Fighting corruption in India has a new medium: indiaagainstcorruption.org. Fed up with news of malpractices, some young, net-saavy individuals in Mumbai joined an online protest raising concerns about the ever-increasing cases of corruption.

We’ve all heard headlines about how social media is empowering citizens from the Middle East to China. “India Against Corruption” is another great example of how technology can facilitate activism and empower regular citizens.

The main objective of the movement was to start protests across the city regarding various issues that people are facing. For example, they supported a 15-day long event called Dandi March II, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March), one of the milestones in the history of Indian freedom struggle.

Gaining momentum on Facebook, Twitter

With an active Facebook page comprising of over 60,000 fans and a Twitter profile with more than 3300 followers, the “India Against Corruption” movement has already been already a big success. The website has 20,000 members in Mumbai alone.

Currently “India Against Corruption” is running a protest campaign where they want to bring the Jan Lokpal bill into action. They have already garnered support from over 570,000 people in India and is still going strong. An event page has been created on Facebook to take the protest to a broader audience and gain their support. It already has more than 10,500 people attending the event.

The idea behind this protest is that activist Anna Hazare, by serving an ultimatum to the PM to sit on indefinite fast from April 5, is demanding anti-corruption law and thus getting the Jan Lokpal bill in action.

Facebook is growing at a rapid rate in Asia which houses more than 147 million users. If Facebook were a country, it would be the 5th most populated “nation” in Asia, only falling behind China, India, Indonesia & Pakistan.

About 22% of the total population on Facebook are from Asia with Indonesia (2nd) and India (5th) leading the front. Asia is also the third largest “Facebook continent”, only falling behind North America and Europe. All statistics are retrieved from SocialBakers.

Despite strong growth, there are countries where Facebook have yet to conquer. These countries include China, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam as shown in the infographic created by Ogilvy. Do note that countries like Hong Kong and Singapore with small population size are considered Facebook savvy. Hong Kong and Singapore has about 3.7 million and 2.2 million Facebook users, respectively.

Cricket is more than just a sport for Indians, its our life. This was evident as our World Cup win started trending on Twitter and Facebook. Riding this Cricket World Cup buzz, Nike launched the “Bleed Blue” campaign which we previously wrote about. Now reaching the peak of the campaign, Nike launches its final ad, titled “United By Blue” on YouTube.

The ad celebrates team India’s long-waited victory as it showcases the passion of the country that stands united through cricket. “From the street to the stadium, the nation of blue regain world dominance after 28 years,” reads the description on YouTube. The same ad will be aired on TV networks starting on Wednesday.

“The celebration brought to life in “United By Blue” represents the celebration going on all over India,” said Sanjay Gangopadhyay, Marketing Director at Nike India.

“The entire country is united by blue. This incredible win has only deepened the relationship between the streets and the stadiums. The kids inspire Team India and the national team inspires the kids. It’s been a shared journey, a shared dream. And now it’s a shared victory with ‘Bleed Blue’ now becoming part of the Indian Cricket lexicon.”

Nike made the right bet going with India as the country was eventually crowned the world champion. Its “Bleed Blue” campaign will be deeply embedded within the hearts of many Indian Cricket fans. Nike’s marketing team always manages to do well in mega sports events like the Cricket World Cup. Last year, Nike’s ambush marketing hijacked the Football World Cup to ride on the football craze.

A recent report by InMobi painted a positive picture of the Indian mobile advertising industry.

The report stated that the Indian mobile ad market grew by 27% between October 2010 and January 2011, amounting to a whopping 7.3 billion monthly impressions. This positive result was followed by a 22% growth which made India the largest mobile advertising market in Asia Pacific.

Some key finding  as follows:

• With 15% growth in its impressions share, Nokia continues to be the top operating system in India with 34.5% impression share
• Android, iPhone and RIM now account 1.3% of the total market. These operating systems collectively increased +0.8 share pts since October 2010
• With 0.3% impression share, the Apple iPhone is just entering the market
• With 59% market share Nokia continues to be the top manufacturer in India, followed by Samsung with 24% impression share. These two account for 83% of total impressions served in the Indian mobile market
• SonyEricsson, LG and Micromax follow Nokia and Samsung on the top manufacturer’s list

“2011 has initiated a massive global consumer transition to high-quality smart devices. This trend will define the next phase of mobile advertising growth for InMobi with smart phone impressions becoming the majority of our inventory globally,” said James Lamberti, VP Global Research & Marketing at InMobi.

While Android, RIM and iOS largely dominate the developed markets, Nokia continues to thrive in fast developing countries like India and China.

We previously reported that Nokia’s OVI Store is China’s favorite mobile app store with 65 percent market app visits. In contrast, third place Android only has 13.7 percent. With a combined population of 2.4 billion, India and China seems to be Nokia’s best chance to stage a comeback. Can Nokia do it? Let us know via comments.

The “Bleed Blue” campaign was launched with an aim to take the passion of millions of cricket fans in India to the next level. Nike managed to do so by proving that ‘Blue’ is not just a color; it is a billion hopes, dreams and aspirations, fueling a cricket crazy nation.

With its marketing initiative, “Bleed Blue” has collected over 11 million handprints on their website where fans came together to express their loyalty for team India by simply marking their handprint in blue. Through Facebook connect, fans were able to post their unique handprint on their Facebook wall and share it with their friends. In addition, users could also showcase their creativity by submitting their own version of “Bleed Blue” theme that is hosted on the Bleed Blue online gallery.

Here is a quick look at the promotional video:

Nike has also recently announced an extension of this campaign by introcuding a 60 second television commercial featuring top cricketers from team India. The video positioned as the “Bleed Blue Pledge” showcased the amount of passion India has for cricket. Sanjay Gangopadhyay, marketing director, Nike India said, ”The ad is yet another milestone in Nike’s deep connection to cricket in India and we are confident that it will stir the emotions of Bleed Blue.”

Take a look at the 60 second TV commercial:

Gathering support from more than 11 million people on its website and 1 million people on their Facebook page is quite an achievement. Nike known for its viral marketing campaigns has once again hit the right notes, at least in my opinion. Pizza Hut and RockeTalk are also some businesses which have ridden on this year Cricket World Cup buzz.

Last Friday, the Broadband Forum India announced that India added 2.5 million new lines of broadband last year. With such robust growth, it seems likely that the total number of Internet subscribers will triple by 2015.

“There has been tremendous and consistent growth in broadband across India in recent years, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. Both fixed and wireless broadband options abound, and the Broadband Forum is doing all it can to help India’s providers engineer smarter and faster networks,” said Mr Robin Mersh, CEO BroadBand Forum.

“2010 was also a landmark year for broadband subscriptions – following the milestone half billion lines achieved in July 2010, subscriber figures continued to climb steadily and ended the year at 523,066,022 (globally) – a net addition of over 55 million lines during the year”, said the statement.

Looking at the recent statistics, the number of Internet users in Asia is close to double the number in Europe. Asia has grown by a whopping 600 percent in the last decade and is set to be the continent with the most number of Internet users. China, India and Japan are leading the front in terms of rankings as well as in growth rates. India with a penetration of only 6.9 percent (lowest amongst the top three) and a growth rate of 50% in the last one year itself, shows a bright future for its Internet industry.

In fact, by the time iPad 2 launches in India, the third generation of iPads might have already been launched in US.

If you’re looking for a nice and light device for reading purposes, you might want to consider the Amazon Kindle 3. Indiaplaza.com has launched the Amazon Kindle 3 in Indian Rupees for easy purchasing in India.

The Kindle is primarily used for reading and comes with e-ink technology, Wi-Fi and 3G support. The Kindle offers more than 115,000 e-books for selection. Users can also read newspapers, subscribe to magazines and blogs, and even play audio files such as MP3′s or audio books.

“The Kindle 3 comes at an all inclusive price, duty-paid for & with free home delivery across India and customers can choose from two models – Wi-fi and Wi-fi with 3G. While the Wi-fi model is available at Rs. 8950, the higher model with Wi-fi and 3G is priced at Rs. 11,850,” said the statement.

With increasing demand and Apple failing to give India its attention, it seems like a lot of people will find the Kindle 3 very tempting.

Mr Sriram Ravi from Indiaplaza said, “Since 1999, Indiaplaza has pioneered the concept of online shopping in India by constantly expanding selection and availability of products at low prices on the website. The availability of the Kindle in Indian Rupees is another step in this direction.” To a certain extent, it is, especially by offering free delivery across India. Purchasing the

Below is a Kindle 3 review video by TechMobileReview:

Does the Kindle 3 attract you? Or would you be willing to wait for Apple’s iPad 2? Let us know.

Connect on Facebook:

How about using social media for saving lives or at least trying to? Sounds like a great idea to me. Recently Agarwal’s Eye Hospital- rated as one of the top 5 eye hospitals in India did exactly that.

In a bid to create awareness and educate people on health related topics, Agarwal’s Eye Hospital has created presence on Facebook, Twitter & Youtube. Their plans are interesting. The hospital will disseminate information on eye care, common ailments, innovative treatments and research. Moreover, they have already allocated a dedicated team of 10 doctors on duty to answer queries from patients 24/7.

Talking about the exclusivity of the content, Dr Asvin Agarwal, director of Dr Agarwal’s Group of Eye Hospitals said, “Tweeting from the operating rooms and posting surgeries on Youtube will be done even before we release any news to the media.” He also added, “From now, every step of a complicated surgery can be read and viewed on these sites.”

Here is an example:

Initiatives have also been taken in the past by Apollo Hospitals too. For instance, it ran a “Quit Smoking” campaign as a part of their awareness program to educate the public about benefits of adopting a good lifestyle and habits. On the other hand, some commented that such activities raise questions about a patient’s privacy and present an overly rosy picture about complicated treatments.

In my opinion, social media should be used to create educate the public about various diseases and how to cure or prevent them. But patients’ privacy must not be compromised in the process. Let us know your thoughts.

Connect with us on our new FB page:

People prefer reading streams of status updates instead of  TV and newspaper. Plus, Facebook’s ‘share’ and ‘like’ features made content more viral than ever.

“Facebook is aiding in organizing news around people. More than 43% of the news sharing happens through the social media and not through TV or newspaper. The homepage of the Facebook is a personalized newspaper. It is about people that matter to you,” said Kirthiga Reddy, director of Online Operations and India Head of Facebook.

Facebook is also the top 3 website in India, with 40% of India’s Internet population in the network. Growth is robust too: Facebook has added around 5 million users in last 3 months.

Connect with us on our new FB page:

With more than 10 million daily new product listings on Taobao, the sheer number made it very difficult to track counterfeit products. The introduction of a sting operation was inevitable to eradicate fake goods.

The method is simple and effective. Everyday a list of suspected products will be purchased by Taobao itself. These goods will be screened for authenticity and merchants with counterfeit products will punished according to Taobao’s guidelines. Taobao has already purchased 608 items and 586 sellers were found guilty. Taobao disciplines merchants by assessing points against them for violations of its trading policies. The seller will be shut off from Taobao when he or she reaches 48 points within a calendar year.

“This collaboration with brand owners is a further step by Taobao to fortify and escalate its commitment to eliminate counterfeit products from the site, which will advance Taobao’s goal of being a retail destination where consumers can shop with confidence,” said Justine Chao, a Taobao spokeswoman.

In addition to the sting operation, Taobao has implemented a series of safeguards designed to keep counterfeit products off the site, as reported on Alibaba Group’s news site. The safeguards include:

Automated filtering: Product listings that do not match manufacturer SKUs (indicating they are authentic) or are priced abnormally are removed by an automated filtering system. Taobao maintains databases of SKUs and standard product prices.

Manual filtering: A dedicated team monitors the site around the clock and can remove problematic goods from circulation at any time.

Reporting by users: Every product-listing page contains a button so shoppers can easily report suspicious items.

Coordination with brand owners: Taobao received complaints from more than 6,000 brand owners in 2010 and as a result removed approximately 14 million product listings. Taobao is currently in discussion with 214 brand owners on further cooperation.

Taobao officials said that all these programs result in an average of 20,000 product listings being removed from the site each day.  I particularly like how Taobao has leveraged users as gatekeepers. In its efforts to make the site increasingly authentic, Taobao is seriously doing a great job.

The mobile payment service is powered by Obopay mobile payment platform which will be installed on upcoming Nokia phones. Existing Nokia users can also register for the service at a Nokia retail outlet.

The Union Bank Money service allows users to store money safely, send money and make payments across locations, eliminating the need for intermediaries. Users can pay bills or top-up prepaid SIM cards. They will also be able to do P2P transfers, as well as use it at accepting merchant points to pay for goods and services.

With an existing strength of over 2900 branches and around 2400 ATMs of Union Bank of India across India, the distribution of mobile payment services will be further aided by Nokia’s retail network of more than 200,000+ outlets. Additionally, Nokia’s vast network of retailers will act as business correspondents for the bank, in addition to the thousands of already appointed business correspondents by the bank. This partnership strengthens Union Bank of India’s aim to enable financial inclusion for both the rural and urban population.

Speaking on the launch, Mr. M.V. Nair, Chairman & Managing Director, Union Bank of India, said, “We strongly believe Union Bank Money will augment financial inclusion amongst the unbanked and under-banked consumer segments by bringing financial services through the mobile device. Technology is a great enabler for banking services and our partnership with Nokia will help us offer ‘Anytime Anywhere’ financial services to consumers across the country. Once rolled out across the nation, Union Bank Money will be the single largest network in India to provide mobile financial services to consumers in urban as well as penetrate rural areas to tap the unbanked populace.”

Gary Singh, General Manager, Nokia Mobile Payment Services said , “Conducive regulatory policies, mobile phone penetration and  government financial inclusion initiatives have come together to create the perfect moment for mobile financial services in India.  Union Bank Money leverages these building blocks to overcome traditional barriers of entry faced by first time users. The solution is accessible, easy to use, secure, and fully interoperable.  It makes mobile financial services a reality for all.”

Similar services have been already introduced by mobile operators in India. The Bharti Airtel tied-up with the State Bank of India launching “Airtel Money” and ICICI Bank’s tie-up with Vodafone Essar to offer financial products through a mobile platform are some examples. Analysts state that mobile banking ventures are expected to help the operators get customer loyalty while boosting their flagging margins. Nokia seems to be very active in Asia. This is probably one of Nokia’s steps toward connecting the next billion mobile users.

Yahoo! India Research & Development will be hosting a University Hack Day event for IIT Kharagpur (India) called “HACK U” as a part of its yearly activities of holding the event across various countries.

Around 250 engineering students are expected to participate in the four day event from 17th to 20th March. The event that promises learning, hacking and fun is a part of its ongoing commitment to nurture talent and innovation amongst the youth of this country.

“HACK U” is an idea conceptualized to provide students with the chance to work on product ideas and deliver prototypes within a 24 hour “Hackathon” that comprises of coding, camaraderie, demos, awards, food, music and jollity. The creative and analytical juices of students are kept on test in a bid to win cool prizes at the end.

Coming to the event, the procession starts with a series of hack-related presentations and tech talks by Yahoo! engineers to enlighten the minds of young students. The 24 hour “Hackathon” then kicks off where students start making their own digital products. They say that it’s not about the perfect code, its just your creativity, a cool idea and a working prototype. Over the course of the four days, students will be able to interact with Yahoo! web experts, receive hacking tips and hands-on exposure to cutting-edge applications and technologies. The last day of the event is tomorrow, don’t miss it, especially the demos.

The concept of “HACK U” is borrowed from an event called “ Open Hack Day” that happens across all the Yahoo! offices around the world. By initiating “HACK U”, Yahoo and IIT wish to provide students a platform to build and develop applications. These applications are built using Yahoo!’s Open APIs like YQL, YAP, etc.

Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at IIT Kharagpur, said that, “The response to Yahoo! HackU at IIT Kharagpur shows that world-class innovations will flower when young minds of the students come in contact with the rich development environment and challenges provided by Yahoo!. The student community at IIT Kharagpur welcomes the event with great enthusiasm and will engage in intense development over a period of three days in collaboration with Yahoo! experts. Students will demonstrate several interesting apps, many having the promise of commercial use in future, as a part of the event. All of us at IIT Kharagpur look forward to deeper collaboration with Yahoo! through similar events in future.”

Rajeev Rastogi, Vice President and head of Yahoo! Labs Bangalore said, “Yahoo! is the premier digital media company. We are intensely focused on creating digital content and experiences that connect people to what matters most to them. We encourage students to use this as a guiding principle while building their hacks. During HackU, students will get the chance to access some of these technologies and insights as part of Yahoo!’s commitment to nurture the spirit of innovation, both on and off campus. Our association with premier research institutes like IIT Kharagpur fosters innovation, research collaboration and talent for our internship programs. It creates an ecosystem that is a winning partnership for both students and the industry.”

By initiating such events, Yahoo!’s goal is clear. They want to spread the need to deliver meaningful and relevant digital experiences to users of the Web. Doing it in participation with the youth of the country seems to be a good start.

A report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India has revealed that India’a E-commerce market is growing at an average rate of 70 percent annually and has grown over 500 percent since 2007.

The current estimate of US$ 6.79 billion for year 2010 is way ahead of the market size in the year 2007 at $1.75 billion. The following chart depicts the growth of E-commerce in India in the last couple of years:

Apparently, more online users in India are willing to make purchases through the Internet. Overall e-commerce industry is poised to experience a high growth in the next couple of years. The 70 percent year on year growth is expected to continue and India’s e-commerce market is forecast to reach a whopping $US 10 billion by the end of 2011.The e-commerce market in India was largely dominated by the online travel industry with 80% market share while electronic retail (E-Tailing) held second spot with 6.48% market share.

E-Tailing and digital downloads are expected to grow at a faster rate, while online travel will continue to rule the major proportion of market share. Due to increased e-commerce initiatives and awareness by brands, e-Tailing has experienced decent growth. As far as digital mobile downloads are concerned, the increasing use of smart phones, availability of 3G services and cheap data plans will also boost the growth process While e-commerce rises, there is a need to place one eye on cyber crimes and scams in India.

It recently announced a platform integration with Facebook as an effort to double their user base by the end of this year. Users will be able to access a lot more features on Bharatstudent.com with their Facebook account linked to the site.

Here is a list of things users can do on bharatstudent.com after signing in via their Facebook account:

• Get recommendations for videos, photos and articles @ ‘BS Like Box’
• Check daily horoscope
• Make free online international calls
• Get access to Indian and study abroad information
• Find mock tests for various competitive examinations
• Check examination results
• Access to live cricket score boards
• Read film news and reviews of 6 regional languages
• Listen to live radio

Bharastudent.com also uses Artificial Intelligence to add relevant updates in the Bharat Student “Like Box” based on specific user interest. The integration with Facebook Social Plugins allows users to “Like” and “Comment” on a variety of content on bharatstudent.com. It also automatically updates on the users’ profile, creating a network effect as friends and friends of friends would come to know about the service too.

Mr. Venkat Meenavalli, promoter of Bharatstudent.com said “Facebook is a global giant and has become the definitive way for people across the world to connect. With over 15 million users in India, Facebook has gained a cult status in the Indian market. We are extremely proud to be associated with Facebook and believe that this integration will further enhance the user experience for our subscribers. It is an evident course of action to provide the users a larger platform of knowledge and exchange of ideas. With this integration we look forward to assist and reach out to double our user base by the year end.”

We have seen how businesses use Facebook to their advantage by building their brand presence on the social network. Bharastudent’s Facebook integration has shown new ways of using Facebook to one’s advantage. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Facebook would be agreeable to work with any brands for such integration partnerships.

A recent  search trend report by e-commerce giant, Alibaba.com, revealed that Internet searches for cricket related products went up by 130 percent in February 2011 compared to February 2010. The reason for  such a sharp increase in searches is primarily due to the Cricket World Cup Tournament that started in February 2011. 34 percent of the growth in searches was noted in January 2011, the month prior to the start of the Cricket World Cup.

Following the trend of cricket searches, the interest levels of SMEs (small and medium enterprises) producing and marketing cricket related products have also increased. Indian SMEs received 49.60% of their business from “cricket playing” countries like the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, West Indies, New Zealand and Pakistan. The surprising fact was that around 12% of the global enquiries came from non-cricket playing countries such as U.S, China and Singapore. The rise in sales in non cricket playing nations is credited to the International Cricket Council (ICC)’s active promotion of the sport.

Not only the World Cup, past cricket tournaments had also shown an increase in the online searches. Global buyer searches on Alibaba.com for cricket products from India grew by 46.1 percent in August, 2010, a month before Indian franchises participated in the T20 Champions League.

Sandeep Deshpande, Alibaba.com’s India country manager said, “Searches from global buyers for cricket products manufactured by Indian SMEs has increased significantly during major international cricket tournaments. With cricket gaining global acceptance, the potential is much larger than ever before.”

Whether it’s RockeTalk- the top mobile social network in India or YouTube- the top video sharing website in India, businesses are exploring ways and means to ride the cricket wave.

“Penn Olson’s support and coverage of our initiative is indispensable to our success. We have finally raised a total of $17,900 after closing our campaign yesterday night,” Yeo told us through an email.

A total of $17,900 was raised by students.The trip which lasted from Feb. 18 – 27, relied solely on social media — the blogs, tweets, and status updates of the students who hail from cities across the world — to capture an audience that donated generously in exchange for their content.

“Watching the experiences of these young people immersing in another culture and listening to their heartfelt opinions, moved me – and I too wanted to help,” says Kristian Ayre, one donor who logged onto the donation site daily. He donated $100.00. The amount donated was matched by charitable corporate sponsors such as Bombardier Aerospace, Hamilton Sundstrand, and Astral Media.

Professor Karl Moore, who lectures the 5 Hot Cities course at McGill said, “This innovative fundraising enterprise captures this generation’s ability to use the power of social media to spread a positive message and to make a difference.”

He went on to add, “Too often people of my generation flew business class, lectured emerging economies about the theory of markets and then flew back home. This generation is doing it better; they fly in the back of the plane with only their knapsacks, show up in the country they want to learn about, roll up their sleeves and plunge right in and they ask: How can WE help?”

For the students, this was also an opportunity to experience first-hand the economics, culture and situation in India. As planned the fund will be used for the education of impoverished girls at K.C. Mahindra Foundation’s Nanhi Kali Project.

Charles Bern, a participating MBA student said, “Meeting the girls was an eye-opening experience. Going into the classrooms of students who may not have much materially but have ample will and determination to learn was very inspiring.”

Without a doubt, this achievement would certainly be one of best examples to showcase how social media could help in promoting a social cause. Great job to all the 29 students who have done such an excellent job. We’re glad that our coverage did help a little and thank you for going this far to help rural India.

“About half the new employees would be game developers, the people who do the actual “coding” of the games,” Colleen McCreary, Zynga’s human resources chief told Reuters.

So, where do Zynga get talent from? The answer is Bollywood. Shan Kadavil, Zynga’s India manager was full of praise for the creative talents in Bollywood. In fact, Dhimant Vyas, an animator who designed the title sequence for the hit Bollywood film “Taare Zameen Par” was one of the talents picked up by Zynga.

It’s a good sign for India. More investments and expansion have confirmed that India is indeed one of the most important tech markets in Asia. While China is also a strong market (particularly Beijing), its high entry barrier and Internet censorship have made it unsuitable for expansion. Bangalore, the Silicon Valley of India, is certainly poised to be one of Asia’s “Silicon Valleys” with many international tech companies clustered in the same area. In contrast, China is filled with tech clones. But we believe innovation would soon be China’s core advantage as time passes

Since 1998, when it entered the Indian markets, Intel has brought investments worth $230 million across 70 companies. It was reported that some deals are already in work and Intel is expected to invest in at least two companies by the end of March.

Intel explained that investments in India offer good returns and also provide access to technology companies which boosts processor sales. A win-win situation for the company.

Intel’s current portfolio includes “Tejas Networks India Pvt. Ltd, a telecom infrastructure products provider; July Systems Inc., a software developer for mobile handsets; Persistent Systems Pvt. Ltd, a software products developer; and Global Talent Track Pvt. Ltd, a vocational education services company.”

In India, the frequency and volume of investments is growing each year. The technology sector is poised to be one of the most lucrative markets as discussed by the people from the industry itself. The only stumbling block, however, is funding. But that may soon change. A total of 92 investments worth $449 million was made last year compared to $356 million in 2009. That is a 23.5 percent increase from 2009. This year, we can expect to see an increase in venture funding as well, especially with Accel Partners and Intel all hungry for investments in India.

It isn’t hard to explain why more funds are flowing into India. The country has proven to the world that it can breed technology innovation. RockeTalk and Moodler are two start-ups which have recently caught our eyes. Check them out and give us a heads up if you happen to know any innovative start-ups in India.

Not much of a surprise, YouTube.com topped the video viewing market sourcing 44.5% of the total online video views. Facebook ranked second but standing far behind Google Sites with only 20% views of total views and 25% of the viewership Google Sites sourced

The following are some key insights grasped from the study:

• Google Sites contributed towards more than 23 million views i.e. 70% of the total online views
• An average user consumes 58 videos which is approximately 5 hours of video content in a month
• More than 23.5 million viewers on Google sites watched a total of 785 million videos, with viewers averaging 1.7 viewing hours during the month.
• Youtube accounts for 44.5% of all videos viewed in India in a month
• Facebook.com ranked second with 6.6 million viewers and 30.1 million videos viewed
• Network 18 has the most number of minutes spent per viewer i.e. 109 minutes per user while Rediff.com has the least amount of time spent by a user i.e. 5 minutes per user

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs.

**Video Properties include all sites under that parent company. For example, Google Sites includes YouTube.com.

The growing trend of online video viewership certainly shows the importance of audio-visual communication in India.

Joe Nguyen, comScore vice president for Southeast Asia said, “Online video viewing is quickly becoming a central activity for Internet users in India. The online video platform offers advertisers and marketers the opportunity to reach audiences in an engaging environment, providing the potential for significant brand interaction and awareness building. As broadband penetration in India continues to increase, we expect to see online video continue to grow and become an increasingly important channel for marketers to reach audiences in the burgeoning Indian online market.”

With more users getting addicted to online videos, companies might want to consider creating viral videos on YouTube to capture eyeballs. The bid to achieve customers mindshare has gotten different routes and the audio visual way is just one of the best possible ways as this survey has shown.

]]> http://www.techinasia.com/india-online-video/feed/ 2 http://placehold.it/350x150 http://www.techinasia.com/rocketalk-cricket-world-cup/ http://www.techinasia.com/rocketalk-cricket-world-cup/#comments Thu, 10 Mar 2011 14:13:49 +0000 Sahil Shah http://www.techinasia.com/?p=28376 Read more »]]> Cricket is huge in India and with the Cricket World Cup season currently ongoing, brands are quick to ride the trend. RockeTalk, India’s top mobile social network is celebrating the Cricket World Cup with contests and live feeds.

The popular mobile social network, has introduced  ‘Cricket Vidhata’ (God of Cricket) and ‘Funny Commentator’ contests which has so far generated a lot of excitement and participation amongst cricket lovers.

The ‘Cricket Vidhata’ contest requires users to answer four simple questions about an ongoing cricket match each day while the ‘Funny Commentator’ contest prompts users to share funny updates. There are a lot of exciting prizes to be won each day. To participate type RTALK from your mobile phone and send it to 56070.

“Apart from these two contests, we also offer audio score updates by RockeTalk reporters. Within RockeTalk’s cricket community, our service also provides video feeds from the stadium, video Q&A on the matches and voice and video status feeds to share celebrations or disappointments,” CEO and Founder of Rocketalk, Mr. Rajiv Kumar told Penn Olson.

The live feeds from Rocketalk  are all user-generated. Interestingly, cricket enthusiasts are also sharing real-time updates directly from the stadium through RockeTalk. It matters a lot to users who cannot catch it live in the stadium. It isn’t just India that is celebrating the Cricket World Cup with RockeTalk. RockeTalk’s service is also open to other countries including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, U.K, U.S and many more.

With a target of reaching 20 million subscribers over the next 12 to 18 months, Rocketalk seems to be heading the right direction by engaging users with trending activities. Facebook and Twitter would have to face some healthy competition in India’s mobile space as Rocketalk doesn’t seem to be showing signs of weaknesses.

Flipkart started back in 2007 with a investment of $9,000. Since then, it has grown to a turnover of $5.5 million in FY 2010 and is expected to record $16.6 million for this FY. It also plans to hit  a whopping $100 million by FY 2012, a six-fold jump from this year’s sales.

To achieve greater sales, Flipkart will diversify into other products such as music, mobile devices, consumer electronics and games.

“We aim to be a $1 billion company over the next 3-years. We are growing at a CAGR of 700 per cent in the last two-years and hope to maintain that. Given the growth rate, the figures are not at all ambitious but achievable. We expect revenue to grow multi-fold on the back of our major expansion plan,” said Sachin Bansal, Founder and CEO of Flipkart.

Volume and discounts are the main drivers towards Flipkart’s strong sales growth over the 3 years since its inception.Bansal said, “Flipkart offers around 15-20 per cent discount on every book and hence its revenues are mainly volume-driven. It sells 150,000 books a month and has over 6-million titles listed ranging across all genre of books.”

The company plans to have an investment fund of $6.5 million to roll out the grand plan. This investment will be used mainly in scaling-up its warehousing capacity, back-end technology and product portfolio. The fund is expected to be sourced from internal accruals and venture capital firms. In fact, recent reports stated that the company has received a VC funding of $10 million from New York-based investment firm Tiger Global Management.

With Flipkart’s aggressive growth plans, growing online users and an increasing acceptance of e-commerce in India, the company’s move seems to be quiet an interesting watch. However the question remains: Can Flipkart succeed in its diversification strategy? Let us know your thoughts.

For more Asian tech news, join us on Facebook and Twitter.

To find out what is driving users in India on this social network, I logged on to Social Bakers to explore the statistics in India. Below is what I have found:

With over 22 million Indians on Facebook, India is the 6th largest “Facebook nation” in the world. Facebook’s penetration rate in India is currently at 27 percent and about 1.5 million people join the network each month.

Here’s an interesting finding: Facebook is dominated by males in India. Over 70 percent of the users are male. This came to me as a surprise as we always believed that women rule social media. Apparently, in Asia, men seem to rule social media as we previously reported that there were significantly more male users than female in China too.

So, are the males destined to dominate Facebook in India? Maybe not. Digging deeper into the gender statistics, we found that the number of female Facebook users in India is growing rapidly (over 77 percent in the last three months). Our analysis is based on a comparison between a report we wrote in December and Social Bakers’s statistics.

That made us wonder what could have caused the sharp increase in Indian female users on Facebook. Numbers are dead and thus we decided to ask:

Co-Founder and online strategist at Foxy Moron,Harshil Karia, highlighted an interesting point. He reasoned that the rise of women centric brands on Facebook has attracted more female users on the social network.

“Facebook is being looked at as a ‘safe’ and more importantly a ‘must be at’ place for Indian female consumers,” said Karia. He also thinks that the increase penetration of mobile handsets is doing the trick. He said, “A mobile handset is a personal device, unlike a computer. This is important for Indian women because in certain conservative families, using the computer screen and being on ‘facebook’ may be looked down upon. The handset gives a woman the privacy to browse a social site without social stigma.”

Nitin Jain, CEO & Co-foundner of Digital upstarts, said that one of the ice cream brand that his company is working with has a 30:70 male to female fans ratio on Facebook. He added that this female trend has been observed in a lot of other brands too. In his opinion, brands which offered deals through Facebook are great incentives for females to join their pages.

All the above are reasonable explanations. One thing for sure, with this statistics, we can expect more female centric brands joining Facebook to connect with females in India. Last but not least, share with us if you know any other reasons which could explain the rise of female Facebook users in India.

People in India from various backgrounds have always had the entrepreneurship zeal in them to plunge into the technology business world. But does that mean India is a certain option for entrepreneurs to dwell into?

To answers the question, we gathered people from different industries to share their views on why is India a good place for tech entrepreneurs.

Vijay Anand // The Startup Centre

Founder and Director of many companies throughout his 13 year stint in the technology market, the Start Up Guy, Vijay Anand, feels that India and Technology goes hand in hand.

He said, “India today represents an opportunity that is hard to ignore. While developed markets are getting saturated and harder to compete in, India and China represent on what’s the unveiling of a significant new marketplace, with its own set of demands in business models and marketplace economics to make it viable.”

On technology and opportunities in the sector, he said, “Technology with its ability to scale, and at the sametime lend its magic to personalize offerings on mass, will be a boon to tap into the potential of this market, and that’s the opportunity that entrepreneurs in India today must and hopefully will leverage on.”

Ashok Lalla // Euro RSCG

Award-winning Digital and Brand Marketing leader, Ashok Lalla, with 18 years of client and agency-side business experience, thinks that India is certainly a good place for tech entrepreneurs. Currently, President – Digital- Euro RSCG, Ashok Lalla feels that “India has got a very high talent pool ranging from the globally acclaimed IIT stream of tech talent to vibrant pool of tech trained youngsters from the numerous private institutes and local colleges.”

He also added that “India is clearly a focused destination of global investors and corporations, including tech-oriented ones that help create a conducive environment for tech entrepreneurs through supporting them in their journey to realize their India ambitions.”

Ankit Bathija // Interaktive  Basement

A 19 year old visual communication expert and interactive marketing practitioner, Ankit Bathija, believes that India is the best place to invest especially in the tech sector.

He said, “I believe India is the best place for tech start-ups due to the relaxed and welcoming business laws & regulations. Easy availability of skilled manpower combined with everything available to an entrepreneur at the best deal possible.”

He added, “Being one of the fastest growing economy and the youngest country in the world, India is amongst the favorites when it comes to technology start-ups.”

Amit Nanda // CellZapp

A web evangelist and co-founder at CellZapp, Amit Nanda feels that tech entrepreneurship is the way to go if you have the right mix of solutions.

“Entrepreneurship is driven by opportunity… And where one finds high growth and a whole spate of problems to tackle, opportunities are abundant, and so too is it in India… Consumers and businesses in India are also willing to try out new products and services (a little bit of the wild west mentality).”

“From a tech entrepreneurs point of view, critical mass in Internet users and a vast mobile subscriber base are huge attractions. Major platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, iPhone, Android are getting adopted rapidly and there is tremendous opportunity to create local solutions around these eco-systems.”

“On the downside, the key challenge is limited access to seed stage capital. Entrepreneurs need to keep this in mind from day one – build a business that will monetize early or via related services that will generate revenue. In India, things can take a lot longer than expected, so planning for the long haul with limited funds and making sure the start-up team has the risk profile to absorb the stress that comes with low burn operations is needed”

Conclusion

Although financial support is dearly lacking in India’s start-up ecosystem, it is only a matter of time that more investors notice its potential. In fact, Accel Partners, an early investor in Facebook, had already taken action with the recent launch of its $400 million fund for Indian entrepreneurs. We can expect more investors to invest their money in India as time passes.

To wrap it up, I personally feel that India is one of the best markets for tech entrepreneurs because of the following reasons:

• It is a emerging market like China
• Skilled and cheap manpower
• Growing economy
• High adaptability and adoption Rate
• Supportive business laws and regulations by the government
• Entrepreneurship zeal amongst Indians

There are opportunities in this country ready to be capitalized on. Do you also feel the same? If yes, let us know why.

Moodler is believed to be the world’s first social mood tracker and delivers a new twist in microblogging. Unlike Twitter, where the constant stream of tweets makes it practically impossible to keep track or understand users’ mood, Moodler provides users with a ‘mood graph’ of everyone in the network.

“With a 350 character limit for each post, Moodler allows for greater freedom and quality of postings. Besides, we allow users to embed video links from YouTube and Vimeo in a post. Moodler is also integrated with Twitter and Facebook, which makes it easy to post updates onto all these networks,” Siddharth S Kumar, Co-founder of Moodler told Penn Olson.

With Moodler you get a snapshot of everyone’s mood in your network. So, if one of your friend’s mood indicator shows a coffee icon (and if you too feel like having coffee too), connecting becomes easy. Moodler keeps track of your mood, the mood of everyone in your network, and also provides you data on what mood the whole community is in.

Moodler has a polling feature too. This feature allows you to ask for opinion on anything. For example if you want to know how many people wish to go on a holiday, all you need to do is update your status asking people to poll. The mood graph gives an instant analysis of the response, and depending on the percentage of smiling faces to sad faces, you will realize whether it’s ‘happening’ or not. Plus, with Twitter and Facbook integration, Moodler offers people to update their mood status together on both platforms.

For businesses, Moodler offers the application called “Guestbook” (available for free), which helps brands to get an instant analysis of its followers via the Mood Graph. Brands can engage directly with users through the app as well. The application is currently adopted by brands including Toyota, Intel & Grundfos.

Moodler has so far been discovered by people from over 107 countries. It currently has registered users from countries including Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Philippines, Taiwan, UK & USA. Speaking directly to Moodler‘s Co-founder, Siddharth S Kumar, he revealed that Moodler’s mobile version is on its way.

“You will wonder how you got along without Moodler. This year, we expect Moodler to be the dominant social mood tracker and polling platform for the web and internet-enabled devices,” he added.

]]> http://www.techinasia.com/moodler/feed/ 4 http://placehold.it/350x150 http://www.techinasia.com/online-banking-southeast-asia/ http://www.techinasia.com/online-banking-southeast-asia/#comments Sat, 05 Mar 2011 09:11:55 +0000 Sahil Shah http://www.techinasia.com/?p=28041 Read more »]]> A study by comScore on the Internet Usage in Southeast Asia revealed that an increasing number of consumers switched to online banking during the year 2010. The study, which includes six markets -Malaysia, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines, stated that the online banking category grew by double-digits percentages.

Of all the six countries surveyed, Indonesia recorded the largest growth of 72% from 435,000 to 749,000 unique visitors in 2010. Malaysia, home to the largest total number of online banking users, climbed by 16 percent to 2.7 million visitors. Hong Kong’s online banking audience with a penetration of 35.5 percent to the overall online population grew by 18 percent.

The study also revealed that brands with strong local presence sourced the highest traffic for online banking. Local banks took the lead on the online banking traffic which Maybank Group led the ranking in Malaysia while Vietcombank took the lead in Vietnam. Global banks secured their position in the top 3 followed by the local banking brands. Citigroup secured 2nd position in Philippines and 3^rd position in Singapore and Indonesia. HSBC ranked 1st in Hong Kong with regards to online banking destination as opposed to the other global counterparts.

Speaking about the study, Joe Nguyen, comScore vice president for Southeast Asia said, “People throughout Southeast Asia are increasingly turning to the Internet to conduct routine daily activities, such as banking.”

“As the Internet takes a more central role in how consumers interact with their banks, it will be important to continue to enhance and develop site features and improve the overall customer experience to continue to appeal to current and prospective customers,” he added.

Online banking is rising in Asia, which also means banking transaction is becoming ubiquitous. I’m sure banks are saving a lot of resources by allowing consumers to manage their accounts online. Consumers could also access their account through their iPads and mobile phones (e.g. Standard Chartered).

Mobile and online banking adds another level of convenience for the consumers and also help banks to connect with consumers through multiple touch points. However, as convenience improves, security features have to strengthen as well. Any major loophole in mobile and online banking would greatly reduce consumers’ confidence on banking technology. Let’s hope we never ever have to experience that.

41% people on Twitter complained that their tweet streams are filled with unwanted marketing messages. As a result, most decided to unfollow brands that spam. Almost a similar number of people (39%) also said that excessive tweeting by brands put them off too.

1 out every 5 Twitter users (27%) followed to unfollow the brands just for their one-time offer deal. In other words, brands should expect a significant drop in followers after their one-time Twitter promotions are over.  Around 20% of the people stated that either the brand tweets were too promotional or they were too chit-chatty. The following chart provides you with a summary of the report findings:

Here are some of my thoughts on the findings:

What to tweet?: Content is king, but what content should be in placed? What should a brand tweet? From the findings, it seems that a brand has to: (1) Post regularly but not spam, (2) Can’t be too promotional, (3) Must offer enough deals, (4) Can’t be repetitive… If you realized, some points are even conflicting. The points conflict because there isn’t a standardized content mix that brands should follow.

There are, however, general rules: Spam and over repeating tweets are definitely killers. The rest of a brand’s communication mix has to be catered for the people who follow the brand. For example, @PennOlson tweets about Asian tech content and also occasionally interact with followers. Interestingly, we do receive complains when we interact too much. We value these feedback as they are important to help us achieve the right mix of content on Twitter.

Spamming is not even the last resort: As a brand, you will never want to flood your followers’ timeline. It just speaks poorly of the brand, especially when tweets are repetitive. Note that spam and high frequency tweeting aren’t exactly the same. Our friend (and also a passionate Twitter user) @AskAaronLee tweets at high frequency and is achieving great success on Twitter. His followers understand and share the same passion. If you were to follow his tweets, his Twitter stream contains a mixture of content and conversation tweets. He tweets a lot but adds value to his community. If you’re interested to learn more, you may want to catch his Twitter story and tips here.

To some extent, being successful on Twitter is more of an art than science. We could use analytics to track which tweets are successful, but essentially, it still boils down to the user’s personality. An impatient person would spam tweet while a connector takes time to understand and build relationships with the community. If we were to follow this logic, does it mean it takes a sociable person to manage social accounts well? I believe the answer is a yes.

Also catch: Reasons people ‘Unlike’ Brands on Facebook

Representatives of the Vietnamese government and Nokia had already signed a Memorandum of Understanding marking the beginning of a phase of preparations ahead of the targeted opening of the new plant in 2012.

With a wide range of price competitive phones (feature phones), Nokia has always shown strength in growing economies and emerging markets. The company is planning to extend its reach by meeting growing mobile phone demand through affordable feature phones. On top of that, the new plant is also tasked to deliver what Nokia describes as “a contemporary mobile experience”.

“I am extremely excited about this opportunity and about the support and commitment that Vietnam has offered to Nokia. This new manufacturing site will play a key role in our effort to connect the next billion to the web,” said Juha Putkiranta, Senior Vice President at Nokia.

The opportunity is huge: Almost 90% of the world’s population lives within range of a mobile signal, yet there are 3.2 billion people who do not own a mobile device. And of the estimated 3.7 billion people who do own a mobile device, fewer than half use it to access the Internet. Apparently, Nokia is looking to target 3.2 billion non-mobile user and also the existing 1.8 billion non-mobile Internet users.

Talking about the opportunities in the mobile Internet market, Esko Aho, Executive Vice President, Nokia said, ”Only about 30 percent of the world’s population is currently online, and we believe we can play a major role in connecting the next billion not just to their first phone but to their first internet and application experience.”

From what it looks, it is a win-win situation for both Nokia and Vietnam. Can Nokia connect the next billion people? Or would other alternatives like HTC, Motorola or even Apple’s rumored smaller and cheaper iPhone ruin Nokia’s plan? We shall witness an exciting battle between phone makers in Vietnam and South East Asia.

In a bid to connect the Indian-American community, the U.S Indian Embassy has recently launched a Facebook Page. The initiative was introduced by Meera Shankar, Head of Indian Ambassador to United States. Apart from connecting with Indians, the page is also aimed to provide services to Americans visiting India.

The Facebook page has so far received positive responses from people.

On the Facebook page, one of the users, Sudhindra Arsikere said, “Nice to have a virtual platform like this so that we Indians can keep in touch with our embassy.”

Another user, Sakthi Ganesh said, “India joining his hands with social media advantage. Cheers!”

The Facebook page has been updated at regular frequencies talking about their keynote address by Ambassador Meera Shankar and a festival called “Maximum India”.

Embassy spokesman Virander Paul said that “We are happy to announce the launch of the Facebook account of the Embassy. Please join the group and also invite other ‘friends of India’ to join”

The government of India has been actively using Facebook as a platform to connect, converse and promote. Facebook was also used to promote India’s Census 2011 where the community learns and discusses national matters with officials. The Planning Commission of India also introduced a Facebook Page to educate and communicate India’s expenditure planning for the next 5 Years. The launch of these Facebook pages isn’t coincidental. Someone within the Indian government must have noticed the effectiveness of Facebook as a channel to connect with locals.

Both Star Movies and Star World have a combined number of 340,000 fans on Facebook. That is a result of an aggressive Facebook strategy to engage and converse on a regular basis.

What did they do?

They follow a simple strategy of targeting users based on their Facebook’s consumption habits. So, if their viewers are available on Facebook during post midnight, they reach out to them accordingly. Besides updating the users on the screening schedule, Star has also invited Facebook fans to their office on a regular basis to improve its TV airing content through suggestions and recommendations.

Star has consistently invested in contests and applications to increase engagement. This has also helped to keep interaction rate high. Contests like ‘Be Like Betty’ encouraged fans to create their own magazine cover to compete a 3-month internship with Elle magazine. Last week, fans were also given the freedom to vote via Facebook for their favorite shows that they would like to watch. Both actions dramatically increased participation on their Facebook page.

There have been a number of interesting applications on Star’s Facebook properties, including ‘The Opening Night’ which gives away latest movie tickets and merchandise as well as video previews of the latest theatrical releases. Showcasing the Oscars also brought fans alive through trivia applications and contests where users stand a chance to win a trip to the 2012 Oscars in Los Angeles.

Commenting on Star’s next Facebook strategy, Star India, Senior VP, Saurabh Yagnik said, “Changes in our programming and content selection strategy seem to have paid great dividends. We will soon be launching a special Viewer Partner Program to engage our Facebook fans as our council of advisors on a month on month basis. We are hopeful that it will further yield results on our viewership as well. Our next step would be to grow this community further by devising more innovative engagement tools.”

Yagnik said both the Star channels listen, respond and interact with their fans on Facebook, increasing participation and dominating both the digital space as well as the English entertainment space in India.

An average of 12,000 and 30,000 new fans joined the Star World and Movies Facebook fan pages each month, respectively.

This is what Google’s video sharing website, YouTube, is working on. Having realized the importance, the network is banking high on Bollywood and Cricket in India.

Launched in the year 2008, YouTube has a huge potential to drive the Bollywood and Cricket related content in India.  Before I talk about each of these verticals, let me highight some stats and facts about YouTube in India:

• The video site currently has 17.3 unique visitors in India
• It ranks 5^th in India in the most visited websites list
• It records more than 684 million views per month
• 77% of the users are less than 25 years old
• With more than 700 million mobile users in India, YouTube should look at capturing India mobile users if it really wish to reach out to the masses

The above data show YouTube’s potential in India. With an interesting new strategy in India, YouTube is set to capture a large user base and increase viewership.

Bollywood

YouTube currently has around 400 titles in its library and has partnered with major Indian studios such as UTV Motion Pictures, Eros International, Yashraj Films and Rajshri for content sharing.

A latest example of how big Bollywood is on YouTube was was highlighted when “Dabangg”, a Bollywood film, attracted more than 1 million hits in less than a week when it was screened for free on YouTube last month.

Gautam Anand, Director, Content Partnerships, Asia Pacific for Google said, ”Up until last year, we had partners providing us short-form content, to promote their content. But in the last one year, the platform has evolved and we have a lot more long-form content coming in.”

Last year, a small budget film called “Striker” was released on Youtube, a day after it was released in theaters. This was available for paid viewing to larger audience outside India, thus increasing reach for the film.

“For most Bollywood producers, distribution in non-traditional markets is a problem and then the only choice left for people in those markets is piracy. At least this way we are legitimizing views and monetizing it,” Anand said in an interview.

Cricket

Cricket is a major hook amongst the Indian male audience. Last year, YouTube streamed IPL, the top Cricket league in the world. It went live in more than 250 countries and had garnered 55 million views during the league period. 4 million views out of the 55 million were from the league’s final match. Also standing as the most subscribed YouTube Channel in India, there is no doubt how popular Cricket is in India.

Currently, YouTube is concentrating on the ongoing Cricket Word Cup with highlights and short clips from the games provided by broadcaster ESPN Star.

Commenting on the future plans for YouTube, Anand said that, ”You would see us grow a lot more in the sports areas. For you to do a lot of sports, you need a robust live platform and that’s something we’ll hopefully get to soon,”

YouTube seems set to capitalize on the two big trends in India. It will be interesting to see how it would position itself in the coming future.

Via Reuters

With an Internet penetration rate of just 8%, India ranks third as a nation with the most number of Internet users in the world. The smartphone mobile segment in India is also growing with currently more than 40 million handsets being used to access the Internet.

India’s favorite Internet browser is Microsoft’s Internet Explorer with a 47.11% share. The top search engine site in India is undoubtedly Google with a whopping 96.87% market share. Note that the infographic stated 13 million Facebook users as it reflects data from August 2010. The number of Facebook users in India is now at the 22 million mark.

The number of Internet users has been growing at a 100% increase year on year. Email (94%) remains to be the primary Internet activity in India and music download comes second at 72%. Despite high Internet user growth rate, India is still way behind in terms of Internet speed.

A better infrastructure to drive Internet speed and connectivity would help connect more Indians on the web. The government is already working on it. With a larger online audience, faster connection and high growth rate in Internet adoption, India’s Internet space seems really promising.

[Via Eyedea Lab]

An audit revealed that the Australia Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research used social media for about 400 hours per week. It was also said that usage peaked at 1pm and remained steady until about 3pm. This was the situation even when the department had restricted access to social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace.

With social media flooding the offices, questions on employee’s productivity were raised. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi said “millions of dollars were being spent as public servants wasted their time facebooking and tweeting on social media sites.” He added saying, “This government needs to advise departmental staff that formulating policy is more important than playing Facebook Scrabble,” The Australian reported.

To prevent social media from hampering work efficiency, the Department of Treasury has blocked YouTube, Facebook and MySpace access but allowed Twitter for work purposes. Some departments like the Attorney-General’s Department has allowed  staff to use Facebook, but blocked  MySpace.

With all the negativity about social media in workplace, we thought new media could be helpful if a company were to set the right rules and embrace it, rather than restrict it. That depends largely on the company’s culture, though.

As a part of the Facebook campaign, the town called “Speed” will be renamed to “Speedkills” for the month of March. Confused? Here is how everything started:

The idea of this campaign was proposed by the state’s Transport Accident Commission (TAC). They approached the residents of “Speed” with a proposal that if they were to get 10,000 Facebook users to ‘like’ the “Rename Speed” fan page, the Town will be renamed to Speedkills for a month. On top of that, TAC will donate $10,000 to their local Lions Club. Well, Facebook never fails to surprise us. There are currently more than 34,000 people liking the page and giving their support to the campaign.

The people of Speed are hoping that their unique contribution to road safety will make drivers hit the brakes. In fact, a Speed’s resident named “Phil Down” changed his name to “Phil Slow Down” for a month to join the campaign.

He said, ”It’s virtually on the road to somewhere else, so we’ve taken our quirky name and run with it to bring the attention to the campaign of trying to get people to slow down on country roads and especially through small towns.”

Since ages, Twitter and Facebook have been witnessing fake accounts posting hideous information in the name of politicians and top celebrities. That’s what recently happened with the President of Indian National Congress- Sonia Gandhi. We made a check and found a cache Twitter profile of Sonia Gandhi. The person behind @SoniaGhandhi has somehow stopped the impersonation.

There have been similar instances where top political leaders like India Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have been victims of these doings. Mind you, the people behind these are quick and smart to take on the current issues and comment in the same tonality as these leaders. Sensitive topics like alleged corruptions in 2G Spectrum allocation, S-band deal, Commonwealth Games and Adarsh Society have been commented on by fakes.

1. Sonia Gandhi

President of Indian National Congress

Fake tweet on the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) issue: “After careful evaluation of outcome, Congress high council has agreed for JPC. We have nothing to hide.”

Fake tweet Indian Space Research Organization (SRO) and Adarsh scams: “JPC might include ISRO and Adarsh scams. Congress has nothing to hide because what’s hidden will never be found,” says another tweet.

Fake tweet on the infamous Kalmdi from CWG 2010: “Most countries make people poor through taxes. We make people like (Suresh) Kalmadi rich. That’s what makes us so wonderful.”

2. Manmohan Singh

Prime Minister of India

Fake Tweet: A tweet representing the Prime Minister of India as went saying: “Madam ji, left can never be right ji. Purulia can never be Rae Barreily Ji.” This was based on the comment on the JPC issue.

There is no official word from Congress stating any of the leaders being present on Twitter. Apparently these fake accounts are affecting the image of political leaders. As Twitter users, we should differentiate between the official and fakes. But of course, that is assuming if we can.

Facebook is the number one social network in the world. With presence in more than 200 countries which adds up to more than 600 million users, Facebook is head to head with Google in terms of reach and popularity. If you think Facebook is top in every country, think again. There are many countries where Facebook has yet to conquer, especially in Asia.

Without a doubt, Facebook is the leader in most countries. But still the world largest social networking site is constantly eyeing the red colored countries to connect the world. Asia houses more than 800 million users, approximately 41% of the world’s Internet population. Out of these, 500 million Internet users are from China and Japan where Facebook has weak presence in.

800 million users in Asia is a big deal. Facebook usually captures at least 50% Internet users in a country if it managed to be the top social network. If we go by the same logic, Facebook could potentially connect more than 400 million Asian users if it were the number one social network in Asia. That said, the 1 billion figure doesn’t seem too far away. So, how is Facebook doing in Asia? Here’s a snapshot:

• Currently, more than 143 million Facebook users are from Asia
• Indonesia is the second largest Facebook nation with over 34 million users
• India has more than 21 million Facebook users and has added about 3 million new users last month
• Facebook has the highest penetration in HongKong at 51.98% (penetration for total population)
• Number of Chinese Facebook users reached 700,000
• There are currently more than 2 million Japanese Facebook users. About 600,000 new users joined last month

Facebook’s penetration rate in Asia (17.10%) is low compared to North America’s (64.44%). We are seeing a lot of effort in place to push Facebook in Asia. Will Asia’s diverse culture eventually accept Facebook? Will China lift the ban? Only time will tell. I’m betting on a yes, though.

Statistics and data: Pingdom, Social Bakers and Internet World Stats.

The study, which looks at the latest trends in digital consumer behavior in Australia was presented at a comScore-hosted industry event in Sydney.

Social networking activities account for 22% of the total time spent online had increased by 5.3% from the previous year.

*Excludes visitation from public computers such as Internet cafes or access from mobile phones or PDAs

Additional insights from the report include:

• In December 2010, Microsoft Sites led as the most-visited Internet property in Australia, followed by Google Sites and Facebook.com. When looking at the top sites by total minutes spent, Facebook.com assumed the #1 spot followed by Microsoft Sites and Google Sites.
• More Australians visited Retail sites compared to last year, outpacing increases in the global average. Amazon and Apple led as the most-visited retail destinations.
• Group-buying sites continued to gain traction over the past year. Cudo, an MSN property, currently leads the space with 418,000 unique visitors in December 2010.
• 3 out of 4 online users in Australia watched online video in December 2010, with an average viewer watching more than 7 hours of video during the month.
• Nearly 12 million Australians conducted an online search query in December, with an average searcher performing 115 queries. Google Sites accounted for 80 percent of searches in December.

Whether its for leisure or business, social media is playing an increasingly prominent role in Australians’ digital lives.

Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia Pacific region said, “2010 was dynamic year for the digital media industry in Australia. Consumers are turning to the Internet with increasing frequency for a vast array of activities including entertainment, commerce, news & information and communication, as digital media becomes embedded in the daily lives of Australians. Look for 2011 to be another year of continued innovation and increased competition as brands vie for consumers’ attention in this rapidly fragmenting digital environment.”

You can download a copy of the State of the Internet in Australia here

The survey revealed that consumers in Asia were the most enthusiastic about mobile commerce. Here are some key findings of the survey:

1. In favor of Mobile Commerce:

• 69% of survey respondents in Asia indicated they prefer using mobile phones for most payments
• Chinese consumers (76%) were the most favorable towards mobile commerce followed by India (75%), Korea (56%) and Japan (47%)

2. Mobile commerce activity in the last 6 months:

• 47% of tech forward consumers in China indicated that they had used mobile commerce in the past 6 months
• Japan, at 33% was amongst the top 3 countries in Asia to be highly using mobile commerce

3. Usage of barcode or near field communications (NFC) technology in Asia

• 38% of consumers surveyed had scanned a product’s barcode while shopping to get additional information
• 36% had displayed a “digital ticket” for admission to an event or to board a flight
• 31% had purchased an item or received a coupon from a “smart poster” containing an electronic tag or barcode.
• A majority (64%) of consumers surveyed indicated they would use gift cards and coupons delivered directly to their mobile phones, led by Chinese respondents (94%) Korean respondents (91%) and Indian respondents (76%)
• Globally, 79% of the consumers surveyed indicated they would redeem those coupons when checking out of a store, compared with 77% who said they would use coupons that had to be clipped from magazines.

4. Discounts and Promotions

• 62% of consumers surveyed who typically use a credit card for non-telco-related monthly payments said they would use their mobile phone to pay their bill, if they were to receive a 20% discount
• 59% said they would welcome receiving money-off promotions based on their past purchases
• 47% said they would welcome receiving personalized mobile phone ads when they are within a few steps of the promoted product or service
• 69% indicated they would gladly accept mobile phone ads sent to their phones as part of their service contract in exchange for lower mobile phone usage fees.

5. Companies enabling the future of mobile commerce

• 59% thought that role would fall on credit card companies
• 54% said that it would be wireless operators
• Software companies (52%), large retailers (52%) and device makers (48%) were highly voted too

Andy Zimmerman, director, mobility services, Accenture said “Mobile commerce – which encompasses mobile banking, such as checking balances or paying bills over a mobile phone, plus coupons, promotions, redeemable gift cards, loyalty points, and more – is poised to drive huge changes in the way we shop and pay for goods and services.”

“We can expect a convergence of traditional and alternative currencies, and it has huge implications on the entire in-store retail experience [...] these findings are good news for mobile network operators because consumers have requirements they look to operators, technology vendors, or financial institutions to address,” he added

Mobile commerce is certainly changing the way we used to make payments. The question is: Will the shift happen soon or will it take more time than expected? Your thoughts?

*Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States

Pizza Hut, in association with Pepsi, has launched a campaign to catch up on the world cup fever. The campaign claims that it is all set to make the Cricket World Cup an unforgettable experience for Facebook fans.

Pizza Hut is promoting its Rs. 99 (US$2.20) Free Magic Times meal, which comprises of a Pan pizza, garlic bread and a Pepsi. The whole idea is to get people to participate in the promotion on all match days before a batsman crosses 99 runs. Once a batsman has crossed 99 runs in a single match, participants can print a voucher to claim a free meal in any Pizza Hut outlet in the country. A Facebook application is also introduced to allow users to participate the campaign via its Facebook page. The campaign shows great fusion between online and offline participations.

The following is an announcement via Facebook to mark the start of the campaign:

Speaking about the special world cup promotion, Anup Jain, Director Marketing at Pizza Hut India said in a statement, “Cricket is like a religion in our country and no other sport attracts millions of Indian fans like cricket does. With the rising popularity of social media platform – Facebook across the country, we believe that the cricket world cup will give us a platform to connect with the youth of the country.”

“We will invest an estimate of INR 3 cr in FREE meals for this campaign with 99 meals free every day, in every Pizza Hut, once a batsman crosses 99. We are bound to grow our fan base over the 1 million mark during this campaign and continue to set the example of a successful restaurant brand on Facebook! “

Pizza Hut currently has more than 0.79 million fans on its Facebook page and is the number one brand on Facebook in India under the retail/restaurant category. Growing at a 300 percent rate in the last 3 months, ‘Pizza Hut Celebrations’ is one of the most popular brands amongst Indian youths.

Also catch: A Creative Facebook Campaign for Medal of Honor

Due to the growing trend of Internet usage in India, online advertising seems to be the most effective way to getting online conversions. Cost effectiveness and quick reach make a far more viable option than any other marketing communication channels.

The survey was conducted to understand the usage patterns and the importance of online media to SMEs in India. There were several interesting facts that were discovered. One thing for sure, a growing number of SMEs is employing online means to reach out to their target audience.

Google India Head (Online Sales) Sridhar Seshadri told the Economic Times, “While the absolute number of SMEs with an online presence is very low compared to the actual (number of) businesses in India, we are pleasantly surprised to see increasing understanding amongst Indian SMEs to use the web for business growth.”

Below are more highlights from the survey:

• Accessing emails is top activity amongst the SMEs
• 71% SMEs use the Internet to search for vendors and suppliers
• 40% use the Internet to create online listings and to advertise
• 58% of SMEs with websites use the internet to generate business leads
• Amongst the SMEs that have an online presence, 56 per cent of them feel the Internet is a cost-effective medium
• SMEs with marketing spends between 2.5 to 7 million INR per annum tend to spend higher on the online medium and rely less on traditional media like print and television.
• 79% of SMEs believe that Internet advertising can provide a greater reach than the traditional advertising mediums like print and television
• Among all the SMEs surveyed, those involved in insurance, IT hardware, travel and tourism spend around 30-45 percent on online marketing
• Majority of the spend (43%) comes from SMEs who spend between 1.2 to 2.5 INR on advertising on an annual basis, reflecting the low cost benefit of the Internet.
• Annual online spend is high among SMEs in the media and entertainment, gems and jewellery and apparel sectors
• Display advertising and email marketing are the most popular forms of Internet advertising
• 30 per cent of SMEs use search engine advertising to market their product and services.

Despite positive survey result, Seshadri feels that Google India still has a long way to go. “In the last two years, we have seen a significant increase in the number of businesses that have started to advertise online. But with over 35 million SMEs in the country, we have a long way to go,” he said.

Sure it is. But on a positive note, that would also mean high growth for Google India.

A total of 29 students will be traveling to 5 cities in India to raise $10,000 for the Nanhi Kali foundation. The fund will be used to help impoverished girls in India. $10,000 will allow 100 girls to attend school for a year.

As part of their 10-day trip to India on 18 Feb, the students have chosen to employ social media to trigger word-of-mouth.

The students will tweet their experience while on the move. Facebook & blog will be used to post highlights of their experience.

Talking about the initiative, Melanie Walsh, one of the organizers of the campaign told Montreal Gazette, “We have a website that we’ll be using to post daily updates about our trips. We’ll be taking videos, photos, and use blogs and Twitter to keep everyone updated so they can read about the trip.”

It would be ideal if the students were able to meet their $10,000 goal. Even if it doesn’t, this trip will still be a memorable experience for many, especially on the use of social media for social cause.

“It’s an opportunity to use social media and learn about it, but also to do something very useful with it,” said Karl Moore, the associate professor who organized the trip.

Here is a summary on how the awareness and fund raising will take place in 9 steps:

To make a donation, visit payitforward.mcgill.ca

]]> http://www.techinasia.com/social-media-social-cause/feed/ 2 http://placehold.it/350x150 http://www.techinasia.com/india-mobile-market-share/ http://www.techinasia.com/india-mobile-market-share/#comments Thu, 17 Feb 2011 02:26:24 +0000 Sahil Shah http://www.techinasia.com/?p=26700 Read more »]]> Which country has the most mobile subscribers? The U.S claimed first followed by China and India. Both Asian countries are experiencing strong growth in the mobile sector.

It was reported that India added 22.62 million mobile phone subscribers in the month of December last year. The total number of mobile subscribers in India hit a whopping 752.19 million last year. 529.22 million was the total number of active subscribers i.e. 72.53% of the total number of subscribers.

The top players in the telecommunication sector in India as of Dec 31^st 2010 data are represented in the chart below:

Amongst the top contributors to the growth of mobile phone subscribers, Reliance Communication was the highest resulting in a 3.3 million increase followed by Bharti Airtel’s 3.1 million and Vodafone’s 3 million subscribers.

Broadband and mobile Internet on the rise

Besides mobile, the number of Internet subscribers in India is also on the rise. Broadband subscribers base grew 1.88 percent from 10.71 million in November to 10.92 million in December 2010. The Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) estimated there are around 2 million mobile Internet users and the figure is growing rapidly. Last year, entrepreneur and policy maker, Sam Pitroda, said that the Indian government had planned a US$3.4 billion network facelift across rural areas of India.

It is apparent that India wants to connect with the world through the Internet. With connectivity comes opportunities. What would there be?

The funding amount isn’t disclosed. Jigsee plans to use the capital to expand its operations in India, before moving to capture the neighboring markets in Asia.

CEO and co-founder of Jigsee Inc., Ray Newal said in a statement, “Video as a medium has the power to entertain, inform and connect the world. Jigsee’s mission is to make video content accessible to those who have historically faced economic and technological barriers. In the Indian Angel Network we’ve found partners whose market expertise will assist our strategy and execution in fulfilling this mission”

Jigsee co-founders, Ray Newal and Areef Reza form an experienced team. Ray, an Internet industry veteran was amongst the first employees of DoubleClick which played a pivotal role in the formation of the internet advertising industry. Prior to starting Jigsee, Ray headed content and business development at Yahoo Canada. Areef Reza, the CTO of Jigsee, leads the technology development effort. Areef gained valuable experience in this space while working with Nortel and Research in Motion.

One of the investors, Rehan yar Khan of Indian Angel Network investor said, “Jigsee’s proprietary technology and platform offers the widest distribution of uninterrupted mobile video streaming across 2.5G, 3G, LTE and Wi-Fi environments enabling content providers and advertisers to reach the widest possible audience in India.” He adds saying “This space is very exciting, as we expect, Mobile Streaming Video to match the viewership of DTH, in five years.”

Perhaps, Apple’s rumored cheaper and smaller iPhone could play a huge role Jigsee’s progress. We’ll see if Jigseecan  rise with the mobile trend.

A recent survey conducted by Microsoft proved that emails are the best route of romancing online for Asians. The survey polled over 9,000 people in six countries across Asia and revealed the following findings:

• Three in every ten Asians exchange images with their love interest via e-mail
• Four in 10 Asians have romanced electronically
• One third of Asians said “I love you” for the first time via e-mail
• 4 out of 10 people have confessed to also flirting with co-workers through email.

The survey proved the likelihood for Asians to express their love via emails. Gone are the days when people used to write snail mails to their love ones. The age of the Internet has rapidly changed the way we communicate and I’m sure most people would also resort to blogs, Facebook, e-cards and Twitter to express love. Well, the choice of medium doesn’t matter as long as your partner likes it. Throwing the question back to our readers: Do you use email as a medium to communicate love?

via CNA

Here are some lovey dovey tips on how you can make the best use of Social Media this Valentine’s Day:

1. Searching for great Valentine’s deals on a daily deals site would be the best option. They have the best last minute deals
2. Sending flowers is a passé but sending it to her workplace where the co-workers take notice and get jealous will win you brownie points. What’s better way to find her office address than her Linkedin profile?
3. Facebook and Twitter are the best places to ask for ideas on how to make your day worthwhile
4. Before booking the venue, reading reviews on Foursquare and Yelp would definitely help to make your dinner date extra special
5. What about people who are single? Social media can also help them find their dream date. Logging on to online dating sites like eHarmony to find a match is a good way to go about it

Here is a quick video that explains how you can make the best use of social media to enjoy a perfect Valentine’s Day (Kudos to @Equalman). Happy Valentine’s day!

Covering 15 countries including Singapore, China and India the qualitative survey was developed based on the observations of 32 selected bloggers in each country.

According to a qualitative research conducted by Firefly Millward Brown, people from different countries behave  differently when using social media. Here are some key findings:

• Shopping ranks top when it comes to the online-offline activity of people in Singapore. It is followed by interest in food blogs and  banks
• The “shopping association” is less prevalent in Thailand and Indonesia when compared to other countries in Asia
• Thais use social media to create a sense of community. The maximum online conversations  are around expressions of friendship and connectedness
• Singaporeans want their virtual world to be similar to their real lives. Everything that they do in person is expected to be similar in the online world as well
• Indonesians consider social media as a way to establish social status. Social media is a way of self-promotion
• Chinese are also active on various social platforms despite Facebook’s ban in China. Chinese social media users felt left out of global dialogues.
• Due to high mobile penetration in Indonesia platforms that provide brief and quick means of communicating such as Twitter are gaining popularity
• Online consumers in Singapore don’t want marketers to turn social media into “marketplace” unlike other fellow countries in the region

Nichola Rastrick, managing director of the research firm, explained that consumers did not want social platforms to turn into an avenue to hawk goods and services. Instead, they wanted marketers to engage them in dialogues. She warned that the biggest mistake marketers can make is to treat social media networks as a “marketplace”.

“Businesses should cultivate a two-way conversation with the online community and establish a proper social media team to run effective campaigns. Other rules include paying attention to small details, allowing negative comments so that consumers can make informed decisions, and building social media credentials through “humanization” of the brand,” Christoper Madison, the company’s regional director of digital strategy, suggested.

These results explain that companies and marketers have to be more hands-on in maintaining their online presence. Engaging the customers with the right message on social media is of great importance.  Every country in Asia have different behaviors and needs. It is important to understand the how users interact with these media to understand how to target consumers better.

Also catch: The Big Social Media Marketing Plan

“It has been a privilege for me to work with a company that impacts billions of people across the world with its products and services, and to be part of an industry that has shaped how the world views India [...] The best part of the seven years has been the opportunity to work with some of the brightest people and iconic leaders like Bill Gates,” Venkatesan said.

One of the reasons for Ravi Venkatesan’s exit is Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s plans for a global management shake-up, which aimed at adding senior product executives with an engineering background. This action could be looked at as a bid to catch up with rivals like Google and Apple in various product markets.

In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Venkatesan said  ”Microsoft is expected to announce my successor very shortly. It’s likely to be from outside Microsoft, somebody probably with a lot of experience and deep understanding and insights about India and the Indian market.”

Catch his interview below to learn more:

There are around 2 million mobile applications available globally under various categories like communications, games and productivity. About 6.4 billion (free, paid, and ad-supported) applications were downloaded in 2009, generating $4.5 billion of revenue in the same year, according to Bharat Book Bureau. 

How about mobile usage behavior? A study by Nokia along with Professor Trevor Pinch of Cornell University has the answer. The study analyzed more than 5,200 smartphone users in 10 countries, including India, Singapore, China, South Africa, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, and USA. We’ll place our focus on India and here are some key insights which we have gathered from the study:

• 77% of people in India have up to 30 apps on their smartphone

• Indians prefer business-focused apps like email and expense managers.

• 20% will delete similar apps from their handset if they hear about a better one.

• Men are more likely to download an application (93%) vs. women (87%)

• Most Popular Applications Downloaded
  • Music (41%)
  • Social Networking (41%)
  • Business (27%)
  • Photo/ Personalization (22%)
  • Games (22%)

• Most Popular Applications Used
  • Social Networking (40%)
  • Music (36%)
  • Business (28%)
  • Utilities (21%)
  • Games (21%)

• Women (43%) are more into social networking than men (38%)

• Majority of 18-24 year olds download and use social networking apps

• 58% of smartphone users in India believe apps truly benefit their lives, relying on them while at home (31%), travelling (24%), or at work (10%).

• 48% of Indians think it’s important to have the most recent technology and applications

• 34% feel they need to be able to download the latest music releases

• Most Smartphone users frequently rely on apps throughout the day (48%) while a further 22% log on and use them two or three times a week

• 31% of people use their apps at home while 29% use them while commuting to and from work

• 17% of Indians only download the free apps available for their phone

• Indians are the heaviest users using most or all applications on their phone.

“Apps are becoming intrinsic to the way we live,” according to Pinch. “Our relationship with them has turned from occasional use into a real dependency. It is because of this that our personal app ‘collections’ represent our unique needs, personality and interests. We can learn much about a person’s behavior via a mix of their choice of apps, personality variables, use variables and competence variables.”

Other research highlights:

• South Africans are the most connected with 45% using social networking apps – 5% more than Brazil and India.
• Singaporeans are at the top of the scoreboard when it comes to mobile gaming, with 49% using or downloading.

• More than any other nationalities, the Chinese like to keep their fingers on the pulse of news and informatio.

• About one-third (28%) of Italians prefer a travel app over a guidebook when travelling

“Apps are the way in which we bring our devices to life and empower them to be like our own personal magic wands. Just like an old music collection, our apps – and the ways in which we use them – can reveal the heart and soul of who we truly are. They tell our stories,” said George Linardos, vice president of media, Nokia.

India crossed the 700 million mobile subscriber base in November 2010 and 30% was made up of the smartphone market. APRG forecasted that the smartphone sales in India will double in the next three years. With the considerable rise in smartphones users in India, the mobile applications market proves to be a lucrative business for both developers and marketers.

via Business Standard

]]> http://www.techinasia.com/india-mobile-application/feed/ 7 http://placehold.it/350x150 http://www.techinasia.com/microsoft-office-web-apps/ http://www.techinasia.com/microsoft-office-web-apps/#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:50:53 +0000 Sahil Shah http://www.techinasia.com/?p=26511 Read more »]]> Six months since its beta launch and with more than 30 million users globally. Microsoft has finally introduced its Office Web Apps to more countries in Asia, including India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand.

Microsoft Office Apps were already launched in China, Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea last December and planned to make its cloud product available to the world by the end of March.

Users can now access Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for free by logging in with their Windows Live ID. Similar to rival Google Docs, Microsoft Office Web Apps allows users to create view, edit, and share Office documents on the cloud.

“Office Web Apps are a key piece of Microsoft’s overall cloud strategy and are designed to empower people to take their familiar productivity experience on the web,” Sanjay Manchanda, Microsoft Business Division Director told Times of India.

Office Web Apps provide consistent formatting with full images and footnotes, table borders and text effects for users. To start, users are only required to have a Windows Live ID, a supported web browser (IE, Firefox, Chrome or Safari) and of course, Internet connection.

Moreover, team members can work together using Office Web Apps, regardless of what version of Microsoft Office they use and whether they work on a PC or a Mac.

With Facebook integration, users are now able to view documents directly on Facebook using Office Web Apps. It makes it a lot simpler for people to access and share information across different devices, networks and platforms.

You can visit their Official Blog or Facebook Page for more information. For starters, the following video will help:

There are about 5 million Twitter users in India. This figure is nothing compared to Facebook’s 20 million and Orkut’s 18 million. Despite Twitter’s relatively low user count, brands in India are starting to embrace the micro-blogging platform. Why?

The reason is simple: Twitter is growing so quickly that it is poised to be the Next Big Thing in India.  We’re witnessing a lot of brands using Twitter to engage with consumers. Well, part of the credits have to be given to all the success stories we heard in the U.S. It somehow got brands in Asia to keep up with the trend.

Before we move to the list of ‘successful Indian Brands on Twitter’, here are three interesting statistics to understand Twitter India better:

• There are more than 10,000 active Indian Twitter Influencers with 500+ followers.
• Most traffic comes from metropolitan cities where Delhi and Mumbai contribute towards 16% of total traffic from India. Twitter becomes a good platform to target the city people.
• 65% of the Indian users on Twitter are graduates.

1. MTV India

Category: Media

Product: Music TV Channel

No. of Followers 191,144

Activity on the Twitter Page: This Twitter handle converses with everyone. It leverages trending hastags and discuses current topics ranging from  Bollywood to Cricket. Recent Exclusive Preview Tweetup of “Roadies-8” is an example of how MTV India is raising the “Twitter marketing” bar.

Date of Joining: 29 September 2008

Tweeting Frequency: 9.8 times per day

Within 140 characters: They talk everything that connects with the Youth

2. Hippo Chips

Category: FMCG

Product: Chips

No. of Followers 1,790

Activity on the Twitter Page: This Hippo talks like a Twitter-buddy. In its unique style, the Hippo interacts and have fun with its fans. Most impressively, the company officially announced that @HelloMeHippo improved sales by 76% within the first few months after launch.

Date of Joining: 22 February 2010

Tweeting Frequency: 7.7 times per day

Within 140 characters: Hippo Fights Hunger in the best possible way

3. Times of India

Category: Media

Product: News TV Channel

No. of Followers 41,861

Activity on the Twitter Page: TOI tweets about national as well as international news. The Twitter account has successfully used Twitter as a new channel to update readers with news. #SocialJournalism

Date of Joining: 19 April 2010

Tweeting Frequency: 43.2 times per day

Within 140 characters: TOI on Twitter.

4. Tata Docomo

Category: Service Provider

Product: Telecommunication

No. of Followers 14,103

Activity on the Twitter Page: One of the brands in India that has a verified account on Twitter. Tata Docomo is always keeping up with the trend. Unlike other telecommunication companies that only perform customer service on Twitter, Docomo does more by rolling out contests and exclusive offers.

Date of Joining: 24 April 2009

Tweeting Frequency: 21.1 times per day

Within 140 characters: As they say it: “Do the New!”

5. Indian Premiere League

Category: Sport

Product: T20 Cricket Matches

No. of Followers 32,082

Activity on the Twitter Page: The richest Cricket League that gave India world recognition is keeping the promise on Twitter as well. It live tweets the IPL matches for people who miss the action on television. As a ‘cricket crazy country’, it is easy for this account to engage with the crowd.

Date of Joining: 29 July 2008

Tweeting Frequency: 5 times per day

Within 140 characters: Cricketainment at its best!

6. NDTV- India News

Category: Media

Product: News TV Channel

No. of Followers 142,656

Activity on the Twitter Page: If you are looking for real-time news in India, NDTV is for you. It tweets current news and is probably the quickest News site among others.

Date of Joining: 1 May 2009

Tweeting Frequency: 18.1 times per day

Within 140 characters: Stay updated with current news from India on the go!

7. Club Force India F1

Category: Sports

Product: Formula 1 Team

No. of Followers 26,733

Activity on the Twitter Page: The first ever team from India participating in the Formula 1 racing tournaments is also doing great when off the track. It tweets contests, live updates, news and announcements. The Indian-ness is evident from their page itself with the Indian flag hoisted all around. #India

Date of Joining: 5 September 2008

Tweeting Frequency: 5 times per day

Within 140 characters: If you are an India who loves Formula One, you have to follow this account

8. Kingfisher Beer

Category: Beverage

Product: Beer

No. of Followers 6,812

Activity on the Twitter Page: Parties, models and beer- This is what their Twitter page consists of. The brand is clear in its communication and connects with the audience well. The Twitter page also has a nicely designed background with a list of its other social media accounts.

Date of Joining: 29 April 2008

Tweeting Frequency: 5.4 times per day

Within 140 characters: Certainly the King of Good Times!

9. blue FROG

Category: Retail

Product: Club

No. of Followers 4,517

Activity on the Twitter Page: The most happening club in town when it comes to Live Gigs and Killer Artists. You stand a chance to attend these Gigs for free by participating in their Twitter contests.

Date of Joining: 13 April 2009

Tweeting Frequency: 4.5 times per day

Within 140 characters: Live Gigs, Performing Artists & Music.

10. Vogue India

Category: Media

Product: Magazine

No. of Followers 12,057

Activity on the Twitter Page: Certainly the most followed women centric brand on Twitter India. It tweets about fashion, beauty and lifestyle which will help you stay ahead of the latest trends. From bollywood to hollywood, brands to model, labels to designers, they cover everything in the world of fashion.

Date of Joining: 28 September 2009

Tweeting Frequency: 2.4 times per day

Within 140 characters: The latest trends in Global Fashion, Beauty, Lifestyle and Art at your doorstep

This list is by no means exhaustive. Feel free to include your favorite Indian brands on Twitter in our comment section.

[Source vizisense, socialbrands, hasbang ]

Drawing inspiration from the fair amount of success of the Census 2011 Facebook Page, the Planning Commission is devising a strategy to gather responses from the audience on Facebook.

As a standard practice, the Planning Commission of India plans expenditure for a period of 5 years and the same is drafted via an Approach Paper outlining the major targets, the key challenges in meeting them, and the broad approach that must be followed to achieve the stated objectives.

To develop an inclusive and participative approach to the process, the Planning Commission has decided that the Approach Paper will be evolved through a web based consultative process. A Facebook Page called the Twelfth Plan and an online forum are the touchpoints in which all interested citizens  can participate via discussions.

Activity on the Fan Page

Fans are pretty receptive to the idea of such an initiative and the growth to 1000+ Likes in 3 days speaks for itself.  Along with ideas and suggestions there are critical posts from the audience as well. It looks like a balanced ecosystem where everyone is contributing towards the betterment of the whole system.

Abhishek Dabral says: “Develop tier 2 & 3 cities by bringing them on air and network connectivity map. People should have the right to employment near their native places.”

Isha Shukla says: “I believe education should be our top most priority.. Tell every citizen from city to village about right to education…growth of country depends on education too…”

Ranjit Singh pointed out a list of things that should be looked in:

1. Sustainable development

2. Global warming

3. Poverty eradication

4. Price rise

5. Environmental degradation…

6. Save the forests

7. Climate change

8. Energy crisis

9. Renewable energy

10. Education for all

11. Save the tiger

12.Water issues

Montek Singh Ahluwalia who introduced the facebook page & online forum on Wednesday talking about the initiatives said, “The intention is not that we are going to necessarily respond to every suggestion. But very often I hear people say that you fellows in the Planning Commission just set up steering groups with your own buddies and people you’ve known, and you’re all over sixty years old and you have people of the same age and most of them don’t have a clue what’s really going on.”

We have another new social network. Salesforce recently announced the launch of chatter.com, a free tool for any business to create a private social network. Rolled out as a private beta version 12 months ago, Chatter.com is now open for businesses to set up private social networks at zero cost.

The new Salesforce product is believed to be an assimilation of social networking sites and collaborative cloud technology, drawing inspirations from Facebook, Twitter and Google Wave. According to Salesforce’s Customer Relationship Survey, it was reported that Chatter.com would reduce email usage by 32 percent and reduce the number of meetings by 28 percent. More statistics in the graphic below:

It remains to be seen if Chatter.com could take flight. Alternatives like Facebook Group, Ning and Google Group could pose a challenge. However, over the years, Salesforce has built a strong and reliable brand name as an enterprise cloud computing solution provider. Features like large file sharing and encryption collaborations are key motivations for corporations to sign up for Chatter.com. Chatter.com claims to have served over 60,000 corporations, which includes Dell, NBC and Pandora. A testimony from Dell reads: ““Our sales team responds more quickly on Chatter.”

Below are screenshots showcasing Chatter.com’s file sharing and confidential discussion respectively:

We shall see if Salesforce could break into the social network market through Chatter.com. For now, here’s a quick list of benefits and enjoy the Chatter.com’s introduction video too:

• Socially Connected Employees
• Project Management for Teams
• Data Sharing
• Synchronized Expert Views
• Company announcements
• Internal Company Discussions
• Brainstorming Ideas for the Business

There isn’t a need to go through Bharat’s website. Everything can be done on Facebook. The number one marriage agency in India has recently launched a Facebook application that helps users search for partners based on age, language, religion & caste. Bharat Matrimony even has a Facebook application that allows friends to play match maker role via Facebook. For those who’re shy, be prepared to be bombarded by social pressure on Facebook.

According to Facebook data, there are more than one million Indian Facebook users who’re single and above 29 years of age. It presents a decent opportunity for Bharat to extend their reach through Facebook.

Besides Facebook integration, the company has also launched a “virtual wife” microsite specifically targeting single males. Titled “Biwi Ho Toh Aisi”, which means “I want a wife like this”, the site makes the process of finding a partner fun. It is simple yet engaging. Users can choose their “virtual wife” from a list of characteristics that closely resemble dynamic real-life personalities. The website offers their audience a taste of what it’s like to be married too.

“Social media is the way forward in the way we communicate and interact. For the younger generation, it goes beyond being merely a social platform to dictating their preferences and choices. Through our application on Facebook, our users can now avail of the benefits of a social medium while allowing family and friends to be an integral part of the selection process. The sheer number of choices available to our users, given Facebook’s magnitude and our exhaustive subscriber base, will ensure perfect matches for almost everybody,” said Murugavel Janakiraman, Founder and CEO of Bharat Matrimony.

The page does not only promote Census 2011. It also allows people across the country to discuss and converse with officials. I particularly like how the message was simply communicated: “You count therefore we count.”

The page has been in operation for a week and has gotten more than 500 fans so far. These are not the fans that have come via contests or free deals. They are people who care about the country and are here to make a difference (at least in my opinion). The feedback has been great so far.

“A very innovative way to reach out to youngsters… hats off to u guys,” said Shweta Rathour a fan of Census 2011.

Another fan, Swati Bhatnagar said, “I really appreciate the work done by the government. It really feels nice that whole India will be a part of Census and understand its importance. Good source to reach GenX [...] and also a very good way to reach every household through children. All of us should support such a tremendous effort taken by the officials and come forward to help and do our bit.”

Varsha Joshi, director, Census Operations, Delhi, revealed that the page is being monitored by the officials so that they can respond to queries via comments and post information to generate conversations. With almost 20 million Facebook users in India, the social networking site becomes a natural choice to engage with the population.

Joshi said, “I keep the page open when I am in office and follow the queries. I answer them and post information that may be of interest to the visitors. Other officers, too, keep track and post their comments there.”

She said that Facebook is being increasingly accessed by the youth and the upwardly mobile section of the society, and it was necessary to reach out to them. “The census page attempts to take away the indifference among people and make them understand why it is so important to be counted. That is why there are posts giving out information about the census,” Joshi added.

Together, Facebook and Orkut cater to about 90% of the users in the social media space. But it isn’t quite the case when we talk about the mobile social networking space in India.

According to mobile analytics company Informate, the most used mobile social networking application in India is RockeTalk. RockeTalk is a voice and video-based social networking application for mobile phones available across all mobile networks.

“Users can create any combination of text, voice, photo, and video messages, share with any contacts, join communities and chat with individuals and groups, and access a variety of entertainment and content. RockeTalk makes communication between individuals and groups easy and rich, and facilitates a new form of self-expression that informs, entertains and connects people through the media they create,” as explained on its website.

Orkut came in second, followed by Qeep, Facebook and Twitter. The social networking giant, Facebook stood at fourth position with less than half of RockeTalk’s reach. Here is a graphical representation depicting the reach of social networking applications in India:

Mobile social networking in India is growing rapidly. A report released by Analysys Mason stated that the number of mobile social networking users in India was expected to reach around 72 million by 2014. This forecasted figure is close to the current number of Internet users in the country. The increase in smartphone sales and introduction of 3G network will certainly help India to reach 72 million users by 2014.

To ride on the mobile wave, Rocketalk plans to raise $10 million through a second round of  funding over the next few months. Currently with 4 million active users, Rocketalk is targeting to reach 20 million subscribers over the next 12 to 18 months. However, with Facebook being the top social network in the world, Orkut being one of the top social networks in India with a 18 million user base and Twitter surging forward at a 100%  year-on-year growth rate in India,  it is hard to predict who will be capture the mobile social networking market in India.

Mr. Karthik Srinivasan- Head of Digital Strategy at Edelman said, “I haven’t used Rocketalk, so its unfair for me to comment on the social networking application. But I personally don’t think there’s any decent market for mobile social networking in India. It’s more of a function of social networking via mobiles, which doesn’t need dedicated platforms like RockeTalk when inbuilt Facebook & Twitter applications are more than adequate.”

“I don’t see the need to think of a new platform for the sake of mobiles alone; it has to go through the same growth pains of any social network – mobile or otherwise. Also, most mobile brands recognize Twitter and FB as default apps/widgets and install them as a pre-loaded piece. That helps their spread too,” he added.

Only time will tell if RockeTalk can continue to win the mobile race.

People share, connect and converse on the web, which wasn’t the case sometime back. Two-way communication is now a breeze.

The first form of conversation over the web was done in the year 1971 over an email. Since then, web media is constantly redefining to today’s era of Facebook and Twitter.

It all started from the West but the social media revolution now involves the largest continent on Earth. In fact, Asia is the fastest growing continent in terms of social network adoption rate. Indonesia is ranked the second largest Facebook nation with 33 million users. Countries like Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam are also catching up.

It isn’t all about Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The history of social networking isn’t complete without China’s Renren, Sina Weibo, Google’s Orkut and Japan‘s GREE and Mixi. Nonetheless, it’s still a graphic worth sharing.

[Via Online School]

But the question is: How many of these brands are using Facebook to its optimum level?

It isn’t just the number of ‘Likes’ that makes a Facebook business page successful. There are other factors as well and I bare them all in mind when shortlisting my favorite successful Facebook business pages in India. But first, take a look at my selection criteria list before we move on to the main course:

1)      No. of Likes

2)      Interactions on the Fan Page (based on buzzref‘s statistics)

3)      Content Strategy and Brand Communication

4)      Campaigns, FBMLs, Contests & Applications

5)      Statistics & Insights

And finally, here is the list of the successful Facebook business pages in India:

1. MTV India

Category: Media

Product: TV Channel

No. of Likes: 1,492,680

Activity on the Page: They talk about everything that is related to youth. Current topics, Bollywood, Music, Cricket, Quotes and of course their own TV Content are talking points on the page. Thought provoking content that drives the young generation of India is enough to define the success of the page.

Interaction Rate: 0.9871%

Within 140 characters: A young Music TV channel. Do I really need to say more?

2. Fastrack

Category: Apparel & Accessories

Product: Watches, Bags, & Glasses

No. of Likes: 1,047,070

Activity on the Page: With their F*****CK Sale always going on on Facebook, the wall is flooded with discounts and contests. The fans love it. Interactive campaigns with customized tabs and applications also made the page interesting.

Interaction Rate: 0.1112%

Within 140 characters: Discounts, discounts and more discounts!

3. Tata Docomo

Category: Service Provider

Product: Telecommunication

No of Likes: 1,137,946

Activity on the Page: This Facebook page knows how to engage fans on the right occasions (or I would say, riding on the trend). Here’s an example: For the last Independence Day, Tata Docomo launched an “Express Your Freedom” contest through its Facebook page. Fans were asked to express their joy of freedom on Facebook, Orkut and Twitter. The best few will be publicized widely across Tata Docomo’s social channels. The campaign helped Tata Docomo established the “freedom” association with its brand through user generated content.

Interaction Rate: 0.2079%

Within 140 characters: As they say it “DO the New!”

4. Kingfisher

Category: Beverage

Product: Beer

No of Likes: 730,745

Activity on the Page: Parties, models & beer are what you will see on this page. People say they are the “King of Good Times” and they certainly make you feel that way when you get on to the page.

Interaction Rate: 0.2010%

Within 140 characters: This page is for Beer Lovers!

5. Axe Angels

Category: FMCG

Product: Deodorant

No of Likes: 1,078,985

Activity on the Page: Sexy models recruited by Axe to lure the right target audience on the page. What better strategy than this to get all men to a destination and let them enjoy in free spirits.

Interaction Rate: 0.2104%

Within 140 characters: Very Very SEXY!

6. Pepsi India

Category: FMCG

Product: Soft Drink

No of Likes: 731,052

Activity on the Page: Being one of the top brands in the world, Pepsi India has successfully replicate its success on Facebook too. Cricket is the talking point and considering the onset of the World Cup, this page is going to be filled with conversations. Effective micro-sites, games, applications and contests have also played a part to make this Facebook business page a success.

Interaction Rate: 0.2003%

Within 140 characters: If you are a Cricket fan, you will love this page!

7. Cadbury Celebrations

Category: FMCG

Product: Chocolates

No of Likes: 577,270

Activity on the Page: Cadbury has a virtual gift application via which fans can send Cadbury products to their friends to spread chocolate happiness. The page is always active on festivals and occasions as the brand adopts the ideology of “No celebration is complete without chocolates”. Pretty smart I would say.

Interaction Rate: 0.1391%

Within 140 characters: Occasions (with chocs) are best celebrated on this page.

8. BlackBerry® India

Category: Mobile

Product: Mobile Handsets and Accessories

No of Likes: 645,496

Activity on the Page: You would imagine a lot of product updates on this page. That isn’t true. BlackBerry India made an effort to “humanized’ the brand. Most updates are aimed to interact and drive conservations with fans. BlackBerry even goes the extra mile to celebrate the BlackBerry Power fan every month on Facebook.  Lauched early this year, the BBM Photo contest is a hit amongst the fans. The contest encourages people to share their passion through BBM while participants stand a chance to win a BlackBerry Torch.

Interaction Rate: 0.1732%

Within 140 characters: The mobile phone brand that converses.

9. Pizza Hut Celebrations

Category: Retail

Product: Pizza, Pasta, Salad, Soup & Desert

No of Likes: 746,397

Activity on the Page: You will start smelling pizzas the moment you are on this page. Their communication strategy revolves around “celebrations” and they truly abide to it. The flash tabs on the page with different applications and contests make the page more interesting and engaging for fans to hang around for a little longer.

Interaction Rate: 0.1380%

Within 140 characters: Feeling hungry?

10. Tata Sky- Actve

Category: Service Provider

Product: DTH

No of Likes: 179,493

Activity on the Page: This page was launched by Tata Sky- a DTH service provider in India. “Actve” is the brand ambassador for Tata Sky, who discusses all current topics in India. An interactive Facebook tab called “LOL Gifts” allows users to send wacky gifts to their friends.

Interaction Rate: 0.3899%

Within 140 characters: Actve’s witty comments on all hot topics in India.

11. Nescafe

Category: Beverage

Product: Coffee

No of Likes: 352,098

Activity on the Page: Coffee + conversations is what they propose. The idea really syncs with social media as it’s all about conversations on social media. Celebrity endorsements and a series of episodes that end up as “Coming Soon” signs in the video make the page interesting.

Interaction Rate: 0.2574%

Within 140 characters: Your conversations start right here (with coffee too)!

12. HBO India

Category: Media

Product: TV Channel

No of Likes: 208,631

Activity on the Page: They talk Hollywood Movies on the page. With every television premiere, they have interesting ideas that surround the launches. For e.g. for the movie- “The Hangover”, fans were asked to share their hangover recipes to win some goodies. An interactive and integrated website also supports the page as well.

Interaction Rate: 0.1786%

Within 140 characters: If you are a Hollywood movie fanatic in India, you cannot ignore this page.

There are more than 80+ pages on facebook with over 100,000 ‘Likes on Facebook. However, only a few are making the best use of Facebook. Everyone is investing big to increase the number of fans, but few are interested to start conversations. That is why the above top 12 stand out from the crowd. I’m sure you will learn as much as I do by going through this list. This comprehensive list is based on many parameters but is definitely not exhaustive.

To sum it up, the question is not about the number of people you have on the page, but it’s more about how you interact with these fans through Facebook.

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A recent study by Experian Hitwise has shown some key insights about Internet traffic and usage in India. The study has reported that Google, Google India and Facebook are the most visited websites in India, accounting for 25% of the entire Internet visits in India. Google owns India’s Internet traffic but Facebook is close behind. Catch the table below:

Some take aways from the above figures:

• Google continues to lead in India
• Google Inc. has 6 websites out of the 10 under its belt; they own 29.41% of India’s internet traffic
• Google (www.google.co.in) is the most visited website in India, representing 11.13% of all Indian Internet visits
• Facebook has more visits than big players like Yahoo , Youtube and even Gmail for that matter. I won’t be surprised if Facebook were to surpass Google as the Number 1 website like it did in the U.S.
• If we only consider social networking sites, Facebook rules at number 1 and accounts for more than 33.33% of the internet visits followed by Youtube

The study has also concluded a list of most popular sub-industries across all industry categories ranked by visits share:

Some take aways from the above figures:

• Search engines are the most visited category of websites in India with 19.59% of all Indian Internet visits
• Social networks and Forums rank second and are taking over the Internet traffic pie at a very healthy rate
• Games websites are not picking up with the trend because of social gaming on the social networks itself

Clearly, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) remain as important advertising channels with millions of people searching on the web. But brands are learning to extend their digital reach further through social media. Social channels like Facebook and Twitter will continue to challenge Google dominance in India. For example, MTV India has recently launched a successful campaign via Twitter. This budget could be spent on Google ads. However, it seems that Twitter has proven to be more effective (at least for this case) as the campaign went on the trending topic list.

The first episode of the biggest cult reality series in India “MTV Hero Honda Roadies 8-Shortcut to Hell” is always a treat for its millions of viewers across the country. But a lucky and deserving few witnessed the same. A day prior to the seasons’ television premiere, a group of 50 twitterers from Mumbai got to witness the exclusive preview in MTV India’s office.

With more than 185,000 followers, MTV India has proven that its the best when it comes to capitalizing on social media. It is also the most followed brand in India.

Here is how MTV India actually went about it:

It all started with these tweets

@MTVIndia For the 50 #Roadies fans who want to watch #Roadies8 one day before it airs on MTV you guys have to prove your Roadieness! Get ready…

@MTVIndia 50 hardcore #Roadies fans will be part of an exclusive tweetup at MTV office for screening of first episode on Friday. Interested? #Roadies8

@MTVIndia #Roadies8 starts on January 22. Every Saturday and Sunday 7 pm. Raghu is to Roadies is what our super Twitter fans are to us!

Contest entries started flowing in

@MTVIndia Fill in the blanks: Raghu is to Roadies like __ is to __.Funniest answers with hashtag #Roadies8 get invited to first ep exclusive screening

RT @Sharma_Honey @MTVIndia Raghu is to Roadies like comb is to hair. :p #Roadies8

RT @SavvyDaExplorer @MTVIndia Raghu is to Roadies Like Twitter is to Internet .. #Roadies8

The Momentum Continued

@MTVIndia There are still 10 spots left for the tweet up. Any avid tweeters from Mumbai interested in coming for an EXCLUSIVE screening of #Roadies8?

@MTVIndia ONE spot left for the EXCLUSIVE #Roadies8 screening in Mumbai tom. Mumbai people – give us one liners to describe #Roadies to win the spot!

#Roadies became the No.1 Trending Topic

@MTVIndia #Roadies8 is now the Number 1 trending topic across India! Thank you guys .Keep the Raghu is to Roadies tweets coming. They’re hilarious!

@monatoteja #Roadies8 trending bigtime.. Its surprising dat among d 4 contestants d only savin grace was a gurl.. M elated! U go gurl

Twitterati reached MTV India’s Office

Winners of the #Roadies8 exclusive screening entering the MTV office now! Welcome guys

50 influncers watched the special preview of the 1st episode of Roadies 8 in the MTV office and simultaneously tweeted their feedback LIVE on ‘Twitter’!

AND the LIVE Tweeting Began:

@NiharikaLahir13 @MTVIndia Baand bajni chalu! AWESOMENESS! #Roadies8

We promised, we deliver RT @Munchin_JugHead You guys are gonna blow away your freaking mind! Its killer! Here for #Roadies8 @MTVIndia !

Girl Power! RT@NiharikaLahir13 @MTVIndia The 1st girl contestant! Wooohooo. She has left the twins spell bound! Haha! #Roadies8

The Results

The results? Aditya Swamy, MTV India’s Channel Head said it best, “Over the week, the online chatter around Roadies has been building and in just 24 hours. Roadies has become the No.1 trending topic on twitter. And now we are giving back to our twitter fans by doing an exclusive screening of the first episode 24 hrs before the on air telecast. This is part of our continuous effort to engage fans across platforms.”

Known for its out of the box ideas on using social media, MTV has always come up with many exciting activities. This is just another example of how MTV India gives value to its audience through social media.

Experian Hitwise’s latest report on the internet data and trends in India states that “Google, Google India and Facebook are the three most visited websites in India, accounting for 25% of Internet visits.” Orkut has lost its top position and currently stands at No. 10.

The following chart is my comparison on the two social networks that have ruled the social networking space at some point of time in India.

Orkut had been the leading social network in India since 2005. Despite its early movers’ advantage, Facebook ousted Orkut as the number one platform in July 2010. The above chart gives a clear picture of how Facebook is winning Orkut in every aspect. Understanding the reasons behind India’s shift from Orkut to Facebook could be cumbersome but I have created a list for your pleasure reading. Here it is:

1. Let’s Play:

The birth of social games and applications has attracted a large  number of users getting onto Facebook. According to a recent report by Vizisense, 52% of the time on Facebook is spent on applications and games. Facebook social game, Farmville is the top application in the list and is one of the driving forces behind Facebook’s success in Asia. On the other hand, Orkut never had the infrastructure to provide a “Farmville type” application which explains why users spend significantly lesser time on the site.

2. Like Us:

Indian brands have got themselves well acquainted with the marketing muscle on Facebook where a lot of money is invested. Users are also actively interacting and participating in the share of voice. This was never the case with Orkut due to its non-marketing friendly structure of the network.

3. Tag Me:

Photo tagging, sharing and viewing made photos popular among users . Orkut on the other hand had photos and albums but they were not as big a hit compared to Facebook’s features. Although tagging is a simple introduction, it greatly helps to connect users-to-users through photos. The result is a stronger community of friends within Facebook.

4. Glamour Quotient:

This is one of the major drivers resulting into the shift. The migration is a result of a shift of perception on the social status of a person with regards to the network he or she is on. I also call it the ‘Glamour Quotient Shift’.

Being on Facebook is way cooler than being on Orkut. There is nothing Orkut could really do about this. Do they?

5. Integration at its Best:

Facebook with its attempt to capture the web, went ahead to make the “Like” button universal. A list of plugins for easy embedding on other websites were also introduced to quickly spread the service across the Internet. Orkut always lacked this universal mechanism as it was only reigning in India and Brazil.

Although Orkut has tried to regain market share by introducing more features, I believe that Facebook’s growth in India is only unstoppable for now. The question remains as to whether Facebook can maintain its growth in a long run. After all the strength of a social network depends on how well it can integrate with the local community and create a network effect within the population. So far so good, Facebook.

[Data via sorguromain, experianplc, vizisense]

Whether its Android or Blackberry, Nokia’s Symbian or Apple’s iOS; the numbers of mobile developers and users are growing rapidly.

The world is witnessing a trend of mobile applications released daily. India, too, is part of this ‘mobile app trend’.

A report by IDC states that smartphone sales in India has recorded a 34.2% quarter-on-quarter growth and a 294.9% year-on-year growth. That makes India one of the hottest drivers in the smartphone market.

The opportunities here are immense. India is huge market with high adoptability rate. The number of smartphones and mobile applications that are being built in India seems endless. A recent report by Informate Mobile Intelligence also states that the number of Indian smartphone users visiting App Stores has increased by 108% in October against a year ago during the same period.

So, which are the more popular India-based apps people are buying on app stores? We have compiled a list as answers:

1. Abilita

Developer: Openxcell Technolabs

Platform: Android

About: Abilita is an Italian word which means ‘Ability’. Abilita is an app for people to share things they’re willing to do for $5. You register and create your “Bingo” which can be contacted by other users if they are interested. This is a good example of social network built within the mobile application world.

My Rating: 4

What’s Missing: Abilita is still in beta version. Improvements are still going on. We hope to see more advancements in the application going forward.

Download Now

2. Cricket t20 Fever

Developer: Indiagames

Platform: iPhone

About: Cricket fanatics in India have a reason to celebrate as they can enjoy a variety of cricketing modes including tournaments like ODIs and T20 matches. Integrated with Facebook, Cricket t20 Fever is one of the best games to play on a smartphone created by programmers in India. The combination of Cricket (most followed sport in India) and Facebook (top social network in India), makes it one of the favorite mobile games amongst users.

My Rating: 4.5

What’s Missing: Interesting formats whereby users can pick real players and play their own fantasy league could be a cherry on the cake.

Download Now

3. Office Yoga

Developer: Webdunia.com

Platform: iPhone, blackberry

About: Relaxation from stress during office hours is helpful. This app provides quick and easy ways to calm down your blood pressure during while at work. Office Yoga is designed for people who spend long hours working in front of a computer. Here you will find simple and relaxing Yoga exercises.

My Rating: 3.5

What’s Missing: Social Integration that allows a user to share his/her stress buster techniques with friends. It promotes interactivity within the Yoga community on the Office Yoga app.

Download Now: Iphone & Blackberry

4. Landmark Finder

Developer: Net Solutions

Platform: iPhone

About: This is a far more enhanced version of Google Maps as it gives you information on attractions, sightseeing places, historical events and much more. It is a guide for any traveler looking for valuable suggestions while exploring a place. Whether you’re walking or driving, Landmark Finder guides you to over 25,000 noteworthy landmarks from your current location.

My Rating: 3.5

What’s Missing: User generated content on different landmarks or places to visit is missing.

Download Now

5. Comics Creator

Developer: Nextwave Multimedia

Platform: Nokia Ovi Store

About: Creativity comes from constraint but it’s the other way around here. This application doesn’t require you to be creatively inclined. All you need is a sense of humor and comics creator will do the rest to crack your friends up. With some interesting tools, you can create funny pictures and share them around

My Rating: 3.5

What’s Missing: A marketplace where users can submit and sell their artwork, could take this application to a whole new level altogether.

Download Now

6. Drona V-Casting

Developer: Deltecs InfoTech, Mumbai

Platform: Blackberry

About: Drona V-Cast is a Blackberry enterprise level app made for professionals to learn and enhance their skill sets while on the go. This application simplifies your training needs and fits well in your busy schedule. You can share and receive highly effective video casting courses via this application.

My Rating: 3

What’s Missing: An integration with Slideshare and Scribd could benefit users. Relevant documents or slides could provide that extra knowledge which isn’t available on the app.

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The number of mobile apps built in India is increasing on a daily basis. However, nothing as successful as Angry Bird has been built in India so far. With continual learning and a group of enthusiatic developers, I believe this goal can be achieved in the near future.

Last but not least, mobile application isn’t restricted to its mobile operating system. Mobile web applications could also be a powerful tool as brands look to reach more audience though smartphones.

“Although growing rapidly, mobile app development in India is still at its infant stage. Brands don’t realize that a mobile application can help their products reach a broader audience. Mobile apps need not be limited to platforms like Android, iOS or Blackberry. Applications based on mobile java platform and those that run from the cloud can also prove to be viral in the promotion of various products from different brands,” said Debjit Saha, Founder of Digitizor.

Unfortunately, as the population of netizens in India grows, the number of cyber crimes grows too. In fact, it is growing at an alarming rate as a recent report released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NRCB) reveals the dark side of India’s Internet usage.

The following is the representation of the actual cases that were raised in India under the Information Technology Act:

The number of cyber crimes has been increasing at a whopping 100% each year; a growing concern for the e-commerce industry in India as people lose confidence in online shopping. Out of the top countries in the world, China and India stand at 1^st and 2^nd position with the greatest number of cyber crimes victims. A relevant study report, ‘Norton Cybercrime Report – The Human Impact’ released last year highlighted the impact of cybercrimes on victims:

• 46% feel annoyed/ upset.

• 58% feel anger.

• 51% feel cheated.

• 57% feel Cybercriminals will not be prosecuted at all

Cyber crime is a common problem in other parts of the world. In China, Alibaba had signed an agreement with Intertek, a London-based Internet security to improve online security. In Singapore, the government is working to improve online security through Second Factor Authentication. It is an extra authentication step done through a token or a one-time password sent to the user’s phone to authenticate a transaction. Investing on online security doesn’t come cheap. However, it is a needed expense to support the e-commerce industry as more people are buying online. Otherwise, the consequences could be far worst: China has lost $3 billion to phishing sites.

Recently I made a presentation on Social Media Marketing Trends in India 2010 – 2011 and the same inspired me to look out for how exactly is social media impacting India and what are the current trends that are evolving in the Indian social media space.

Unsurprisingly, Facebook and Orkut are the top two social networks in India. The interesting element is that most of the social networking activities happen between 6 pm and 10 pm. In other words, Indian online users aren’t using social media during work hours (which is usually an assumed fact). It is a simple but key insight that will significantly boost any social media marketing campaign’s ROI.

Here is a list of top Indian Social Networks:

Top 5 Social Network in India

Some worthwhile Statistics to look at:

• 60% of the social networking traffic come from Non Metro-Cities but the highest traffic generating city still remains to be a Metro i.e. Mumbai
• The highest number of active users are from the 15-24 age group but LinkedIn has a different age group of active users i.e. 25-34 age-group
• The male-female ratio shows consistency with the overall population break-up by gender i.e. 80:20 in favor of males
• Social media in India reaches out to 60 per cent of the online Indian audience
• Facebook and Orkut, together cater to about 90 per cent of the users in the social media space.
• Facebook is the only social network in India that has witnessed a tremendous growth, almost doubling its users in the last 6 months.
• Highest number of active social media audience in India are in the age group of 15-24 and are graduates who are looking for a Job or planning further studies
• The maximum users come from the ‘less than 2 lakhs p.a.’ income category. This is because social networks are primarily driven by the youth
• More than 45% of the users on Social Networks return during the day. Facebook tops the list with users re-visiting more than 3 times during a day
• Majority of the time spent by the Indian audience on Facebook is on Interactive Games/Applications and then on viewing Photos

Now that you have gotten a better understanding of the Indian social media landscape, I believe you’re better equip to reach your target audience. After all, conversations is the key when it comes to social media marketing (I’m assuming that your have a great product). Feel free to post your questions about the Indian market under the comments section below. I’ll answer them within my best ability.