Applications
Zapak allocates Rs 60 mn for marketing email service
MUMBAI: Zapak Digital Entertainment has announced that they have registered 1,15,263 users for its email service ZapakMail when it opened on 4 May 2007. This is estimated to be the largest number of registered users garnered by any website on any given day. ZapakMail has been on beta stage for the past few weeks. |
To push the launch the firm had done a basic outdoor campaign unveiling the logo for ZapakMail across 110 locations in 33 cities. Along with this, there was a teaser viral rolled out on the top online trade sites like Indiantelevision.com on Wednesday and Thursday last week. In all Zapak is spending Rs 60 million on marketing activities for its email service. |
Zapak Digital Entertainment COO Rohit Sharma said, “We plan to roll out our mass media campaign from 7 May 2007 before which we conducted a teaser seeding with our TVC and Virals which has resulted in this disproportionate response. This is by far the highest number of registrations any website has garnered on one day. This is the first time a mail service is using 6-7 different creative routes to reach out to the masses and it has paid of for us.” The firm has come up with unique marketing concepts. One is its Fast Film Festival. This is running online as well as in cinema halls. It is a series of spoofs on five films including Spiderman, Last Of the Mohicans. These only show what the title says and thus the film gets over fast. For instance the Spiderman spoof ad is called Spidermen 4. Four guys wearing Spiderman suits are shown on the screen for a few seconds. The message is that with Zapakmail one does not have to spend much time waiting for the service. It will launch a TVC on differnt channels this week called Bano Budhimaan. Its point is to show that the mail is easy to use and uncluttered. The TVC revolves around a central character called Bishnu, a body builder, who has typically always concentrated on his body building but not done much for the mind. While he is very popular amongst the people in the village they refer to him as ‘Tubelight‘. The situation is such that even the power goes off wherever he is. He is horrified of the word computer and email is just beyond his reach. However with Zapak Mail he sheds all his fears and simply logs on. Zapak Mail is so simple that Pehelwaan also becomes Budhimaan. The idea was to choose a strongly Indian Character, so a typical Pehelwaan from an Akhada has been selected to play the part of Bishnu. Also the character is such that everyone of us would have seen someone like this in our surroundings, someone who is petrified of the computer or just has a plain Mental Block against it. Another TVC will launch next week. The character here is Rocket Rada a postman who delivers mail as fast as a rocket compared to his rival. The ad says that this is what Zapak does vis-a-vis the competition. The TVC scripts have been conceptualised by Cyrus Oshidar and are being executed by Flying Saucer. Radio Spots for Zapak Mail will be rolled out on three radio stations. Ambient ads have already been rolled out in malls and multiplexes. It is using staircases, elevators and the loos in these locations with the tage line ‘Easy Uploads Here‘ and ‘Easy Downloads Here‘ |
Applications
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.
