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DesiYou and Touchdown Media form strategic partnership
MUMBAI: DesiYou has entered into a strategic partnership with Touchdown Media, a South Asian advertising firm.
DesiYou will distribute specially-produced exclusive video content online from Touchdown Media‘s 2010 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee across its global distribution network.. DesiYou and Touchdown Media will also source marketing and advertisement campaigns around this video content.
Says DesiYou CEO Ash Kumra, “Rahul and Touchdown Media are pioneers in marketing to the South Asian community. Aligning with the South Asian Spelling Bee full-fills our mission to provide the best Indian cultural content to the world.”
Organized by Touchdown Media, the 2010 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee will be conducted in nine locations across the United States starting 19 June. Regional level events will be held in LA, Bay Area, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, New York, New Jersey, DC Metro and Boston. All events will be free to watch and open to the public. The event is open to children of South Asian descent up to 14 years of age. It will give South Asian children a chance to test their spelling skills in their core peer group. Interested spellers need their parent or guardian to register them online at www.southasianspellingbee.com.
“We are excited about this tie-up as this brings a new media perspective for the event giving participants and sponsors unique exposure globally,” said Touchdown Media CEO and founder of the South Asian Spelling Bee Rahul Walia.
Under this partnership, DesiYou will be producing exclusive snippets from the various events around the South Asian Spelling for consumption by its users. Users will have an opportunity to see exclusive behind the scenes look, speller interviews, parent reactions and other anecdotal episodes shot at the nine centers.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
