HDFC Bank Opts for Adobe Marketing Cloud to Deliver Personalized Customer Experiences

HDFC Bank, one of India’s leading banking and financial services company and one of the country’s most valuable brands, today announced that it has selected Adobe Marketing Cloud platform to deliver personalized digital experiences to its 37 million customers. This multi-million dollar deal represents one of the biggest implementations of Adobe Campaign globally, and reinforces HDFC Bank’s commitment to taking the lead in providing a truly world-class digital experience for Indian customers.

In partnership with Adobe, HDFC Bank has developed a comprehensive email marketing solution based on Adobe Campaign that will span multiple outbound channels including email, SMS, social and mobile apps.

“The ongoing digital revolution has opened up an array of opportunities as well as challenges for companies across the world. This is especially true for the BFSI sector in India, where more and more customers are relying on the power of the internet for all their banking requirements. At HDFC Bank, we are making strategic investments in driving a company-wide digital transformation to deliver on the fast evolving needs of our customers today. The implementation of this solution provides us with a comprehensive view our customers’ engagements with our campaigns, allowing us to share relevant, personalised marketing content with them, which enhances the customers’ experience with us with a real time response. As one of India’s leading brands, it’s important to us to maintain the trust and relationship we have built with our customers by continuing to improve and innovate,” said Kartik Jain, EVP, Head Marketing and Customer Analytics at HDFC Bank.  

As part of this partnership, HDFC Bank will replace its current engine for outbound campaigns with an all new solution based on Adobe Campaign that will help the Bank create multi-wave campaigns that will deliver an improved and personalized experience for its customers. This implementation will augment HDFC Bank’s marketing efforts by helping plan, automate, orchestrate, and measure marketing communications across channels. The company will also take advantage of optimized costs, extensive reporting and Marketing Resource Management capabilities that this implementation will deliver.“We are confident that our alliance with Adobe will help us deliver a truly compelling experience for our customers and support business results”, said Kartik Jain. With this new technology, HDFC Bank will be equipped to handle tremendous volumes of 37 million customer enquiries and 400 million emails a month. 

"In today’s digital era, consumers have a low tolerance for irrelevant or meaningless marketing material. A laser sharp focus on delivering the right message at the right time for customers is key to the success of any brand. We are excited about partnering with yet another industry leader and leading brand like HDFC Bank to drive their digital transformation agenda and help them engage with their customers in a multi-screen, digital world,” said Kulmeet Bawa, Managing Director, South Asia, Adobe.

Government IT Spending in India to Reach US$7.2 Billion in 2016

The government in India is on pace to spend $7.2 billion US Dollars (USD) on IT products and services in 2016, an increase of 2.4 percent over 2015, according to Gartner, Inc. This forecast includes spending on internal services, software, IT services, data center, devices and telecom services. Government comprises state and local governments and national government.

IT services (which includes consulting, software support, business process outsourcing, IT outsourcing, implementation, and hardware support) is expected to grow 9.3 percent in 2016 to reach $1.8 billion $US – with the business process outsourcing sub-segment growing 21 percent.

Telecom services will be a $1.6 billion in US market, with the mobile network services sub-segment recording the fastest growth with 5.2 percent in 2016 to reach $909 million.

“Government spending on software will total $885 million in 2016, a 4.5 percent increase from 2015,” said Moutusi Sau, principal research analyst at Gartner. “The software market will be led by growth in applications.”

Internal services will growth 5.8 percent in 2016 to reach $1.5 billion. Internal services refer to salaries and benefits paid to the information services staff of an organization. The information services staff includes all employees that plan, develop, implement and maintain information systems.

“The e-governance initiatives to simplify digital channels and data-driven initiatives are driving investments in the government and are anticipated to grow through 2020. The ‘Digital India’ initiatives are making government processes streamlined and integrating the data repositories,” said Sau.

Further information on government sector IT spending is available in the Gartner report, Forecast: Enterprise IT Spending for the Government and Education Markets, Worldwide, 2014-2020, 2Q16 Update. The forecasts provide total enterprise IT spending, including internal spending and multiple lines of detail for spending on hardware, software, IT services, and telecommunications for vertical industries and 43 countries within seven geographies.

India’s First Free Tech Suite of Custom Solutions for SME Automation

G7CR Technologies (www.g7cr.in) has announced the launch of its Business Enablement and Automation Program (BEAP) for SMEs, the world’s first free suite of custom solutions for SME automation. The ITaaS based solution is aimed at enabling SMEs turn digital disruption into competitive advantage by offering business process automation in an innovative business model giving them the experience of customized as well as standardised low-cost end to end managed solutions scalable to their growing business needs.

Leveraging Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform, G7CR would provide software development, migration, adaption, implementation and 24X7 support for SMEs at no cost, while the client would pay only on the cost per click basis for cloud usage, at actuals. BEAP provides an ideal way for an SME to obtain a custom developed business automation application or existing standard solution depending on their specific needs from G7CR at affordable price points.

With capital investment on non-core functions such as IT, being eliminated completely, automation will enable SMEs shift focus more on their CORE business functions while becoming more productive and competitive. G7CR provides solutions across industries as well as the entire stack of industry-agnostic horizontal services to meet the needs of SMEs.

“G7CR’s delivery excellence coupled with innovative and scalable solutions for IT led innovation is working as the backbone for SMEs such as Clinikk (http://clinikk.com) with its mission of providing accessible, affordable and high quality supervised care as the healthcare buddy for physicians and patients alike,” said Suraj Baliga, Founder, Clinikk Healthcare.

 “Lack of financing coupled with fast paced digital disruption are proving to be major constraints for most SME’s today as they try to scale up and become increasingly competent,” said Christopher Richard, MD and Chief Software Architect, G7CR Technologies. “The IT-as-a-Service offering for SMEs would help accelerate their growth while freeing up vital resources such as financing for core business functions”, he added.

OPPO Replaces Apple to Top 2 in Terms of Sales Value: GKF Report

OPPO Mobiles, an evolving global technology brand, has for the very first time overtaken Apple to reserve a spot for itself in the Top 2smartphones in India by value in August 2016 as per GFK data. The brand has also clocked in a growth of 16% in comparison to the previous month.

This feat comes right after the launch of the Selfie Expert OPPO F1s in August. The Selfie Expert F1s came with a 16MP front camera and Beautify function apart from a 0.22s lightning fast fingerprint unlock and good battery endurance - a combination of powerful features desired by the young Indian consumers.

Sky Li, OPPO Global VP, MD of International Mobile Business and President of OPPO India,said, “India is a priority market for us. We have caught the trend that users, especially young generations like taking photos and selfies by phones. That’s why we have invested a lot in offering the consumers high quality camera phones with a strong focus on front camera.  Going forward we will continue investing inphotography technology, design and offering the best consumer experience.”

Besides providing high quality products, OPPO’s fast growth can also be attributed to the aggressive expansion of offline channel strategy and successful marketing campaigns targeted towards reaching out the young consumers. In the Indian market, OPPO has been expanding its offline presence by targeting 35,000 Point of Sales and 180 after sales service centres for giving its consumers a better experience.

By associating with popular platforms like Bollywood, Cricket and Entertainment, OPPO has been able to gain higher recognition in the Indian market. Taking their connection with the youth a notch higher, OPPO has planned something special this Diwali on Oct, 6^th to kick start the festivities and give consumers the perfect Diwali gift!

Samsung Smart Utsav Announces Exciting Prizes, Freebies this Festive Season in India

Samsung India has announced the launch of ‘Smart Utsav’, a unique range of exciting festival offers for consumers to celebrate the true spirit of festivities. The attractive offers will boost consumer sentiments and will last till 5th November 2016 across the country.

Samsung Smart Utsav will give consumers a host of offers across different product categories such as Televisions and Home Appliances. This year’s festive campaign focuses on maximising consumer engagement across platforms. Customers will get multiple gifts on the purchase of select models of Samsung TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines or air conditioners. The list of freebies include an LED TV and Home Theatre Systems. The exciting offers also includes additional warranty, Power Banks, Galaxy J2 smartphone, easy EMI schemes and cashback. Over and above individual product category offers, Samsung has also announced a CE Bumper Offer in which 500 winners stand a chance to win a grand prize of a Panel TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine or Microwave Oven.

Commenting on the festive offers, Rajeev Bhutani, Vice President, Samsung India Electronics said, “As consumers prepare themselves for the upcoming festive season, it’s an exciting time for us to be a part of their lives and celebrations. This time, once again Samsung wish to double the joy of festive season by giving compelling choices to our customers and a chance to win their favourite product. We received a phenomenal response last year during the festive season, and are confident that this year will further add to the joy and celebrations.”

Exciting offers for Indian Consumers

Consumers looking for the perfect viewing experience from Samsung’s range of SUHD, Curved UHD and Smart TV range will get assured gifts ranging from free home theatre system worth up to Rs 48,990, free two year warranty and easy EMI options. Also on purchase of the Joy Beat and LED range of Televisions, consumers get assured gifts ranging from free Power Bank, Free speakers, Free DVD Player, and free two year warranty on select models.

Similarly, those looking to purchase from the home appliances range of Refrigerators, Washing Machines, and Microwave Ovens will get a range of benefits including free Galaxy J2 (2016), 80 cm (32”) LED TV, easy EMIs, cash back, 10 Pc Borosil dinner set and 5 Year Warranty on Convection range of Microwave ovens.

On purchase of Air conditioners, consumers get a chance to win a free AC worth Rs 40000, free AC installation, cash back up to Rs 5000 or 2 free AC Services. In Tamil Nadu, AC installation at Rs 499 only.

CE Bumper Offer

This festive season, Samsung has also announced a CE Bumper Offer in which 500 winners stand a chance to win a Panel TV, Refrigerator, Washing Machine or Microwave Oven on purchase of Samsung products. In order to participate, on purchase of Samsung consumer durable product, customer has to send an SMS message to 56677. The results would be declared in 5 intervals during the offer period. The winners would be announced on 26th September, 6th October, 18th October, 27th October and 14th November, 2016 on Samsung website www.samsung.com/in/offer/diwali-2016.

Samsung India launched innovative products in the Consumer Electronics category this year ranging from ACs with DURAFIN technology, Refrigerators with Digital Inverter technology, ADDWash and ACTIVWash washing machines and 44 new models of televisions ranging from SUHD, Curved, Smart and Joy Beat range of Televisions.

Accenture & Google Form Alliance to Create Industry Solutions for Enterprise Clients

Accenture has announced an alliance with Google to bring to market industry-specific solutions that will help clients use cloud, mobility, and analytics to advance their digital transformation agenda and improve business performance. Accenture will apply its broad industry expertise and capabilities to help enterprise clients improve the value of Google technologies within their organizations.

“The Google alliance supports our digital and cloud strategy, and will help clients benefit from innovative and industry-specific cloud and mobile solutions built on the full stack of Google technologies,” said Paul Daugherty, chief technology officer, Accenture. “Whether our clients need to innovate faster, create new services or increase the value from their existing technology investments, cloud should be the starting point for their digital transformations. Together with Google, Accenture will help clients take advantage of game changing solutions that help solve real business needs.”

“Our alliance with Accenture is designed to help enterprises transform and take advantage of the latest technologies from Google Cloud,” said Diane Greene, senior vice president of Google Cloud. “Google’s ongoing product advances, incorporated into joint customer solutions - from mobility and analytics, to machine learning and productivity apps - combined with Accenture’s deep industry knowledge, means we can rapidly address the critical business needs of our customers.”

Google and Accenture will work together to deliver solutions to customers in a number of industries including retail, healthcare, consumer products, energy, finance, and others. The solutions will combine products from across Google Cloud including Android, apps, analytics, augmented reality, big data, IoT and machine learning. Accenture and Google will provide dedicated resources from each company with capability in cloud solutions architecture, mobility and app development to help bring these solutions to large enterprise clients.

Accenture’s technology leadership and long-term relationships with the world’s leading brands—94 of the Global Fortune 100 companies are clients – will be a key asset as the alliance looks to accelerate enterprise adoption of cloud. Accenture has integrated the Google Cloud Platform into the Accenture Cloud Platform – a multi-cloud management platform that enables organizations to centrally manage their enterprise cloud resources, public and private, and automate and accelerate the delivery of cloud solutions.

'Acadmix' - World-Class Academic e-Bookstore for Learners in India

In keeping with its commitment to offer high-quality learning material to students, Pearson, the world’s leading learning company today launched a world-class academic ebookstore - Acadmix - for Indian learners.

Having a comprehensive repository of over 10,000 national and international academic e-books, Acadmix offers world-class multi-publisher content to address the requirements of learners in the classroom. The integrated platform offers a one-stop solution to learners for all their academic needs including content from Pearson and other top publishers such as Arihant, Laxmi Publications, Nirali, IB Library among others.

The platform provides learning content across various subject areas, such as K-12, Engineering, Business and Economics, Competitive Examinations, Computer Science, Medical Sciences, Professional & Trade, Nursing & Healthcare and Sciences.

In addition to providing perfect fidelity to the printed text books, Acadmix provides ‘Learning on the Go’ by enabling access through desktops, laptops and smartphones (IOS/Android/ Windows).  Acadmix offers multiple features for the ease of learners, such as:

-        Personalised login with features like bookmarks, highlights and notes

-        Personal bookshelf display for each user, which contains all the subscribed eBooks in an easy-to-find thumbnail view

-        Ease of readability through analogous layout and design, intuitive navigation,enhanced searchability and personalised two-color highlighting among others

-        Cross-references and hotspot links to easily locate the various elements of the text

-        Online and offline reading to enable continues learning even without an internet connection

Announcing the launch of Acadmix, Vikas Singh, Business Head and Vice President, Pearson India said, “With technological advancements and globalisation, the world has become a connected classroom today.  Learners from around the world are increasingly embracing the use of digital platforms, particularly e-books to acquire learning. Being the world’s largest learning organisation, Pearson understands the evolving needs of learners and accordingly has introduced an innovative learning model that brings world-class content from renowned national and international publishers to a common integrated platform. We are confident that Acadmix will ensure continuous learning even beyond the four walls of the classroom.”

The potential of the platform is reflective in the phenomenal response received from top-league institutes during the pilot phase. Some of those are IIM Rachi, IIM Lucknow, IIM Calcutta, IIM Shilong, IIM Kozikote, Xavier School of Management, National Institute of Technology and Symbiosis Centre for Distance Learning among others.

Commenting on the usefulness of the platform, Ajith Kumar J, Professor (Production, Operation and Decision Sciences), XLRI Xavier School of Management, said, “Pearson's eBooks are really valuable resources for anyone looking to get instant access to courseware power-packed with features that facilitate teaching and learning.”

“Pearson's e-Book gives students a handy alternative of carrying a print book, as they can be downloaded in devices. As a faculty, I am able to recommend an international edition & it was made available instantly. Pearson's initiative of e-book is truly commendable.” said Arindam Mukherjee, IIM-Ranchi.

As per the "Nielsen India Book Market Report 2015: Understanding the India Book Market", the Indian book market is expected to touch Rs 739 billion by 2020. An increase in internet penetration and reach of electronic devices is expected to significantly contribute towards the growth of digital publishing market as well. This is reflective of tremendous growth opportunities in the segment.