e-commerce
Contests2win launches first sit.com
The Internet is constantly redifining the medium of entertainment. The popular gaming site contests2win.com which claims to have 700,000 registered users is bringing the concept of the serial to the Internet. The sit.com ‘Ghar Ek Mandir- Mera Baap Bhagwan’ (Home is a temple and My Dad Is God!) will be unveiled on the site from today.
The serial consisting of 48 episodes will be in the comic strip format with illustrations and text blurbs. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday a new episode will be shown. According to Amar Tidke who has written and directed the serial, each episode consists of five frames which constitute the scenes for the plot.
Elaborating further on this new development Tidke said that the show will be held entirely online. Viewing will take about four minutes and then there is a question pertaining to the end. The viewer has to select one of three possible options on that day itself and three winners will be announced on the next episode. They take home a cash prize of Rs 501. The grand prizes of Indica cars will be announced after four months. Needless to say the smooth drive goes to the people who have the most number of correct selections.
According to Tidke, the company was initially thinking of shooting with a handycam with sound. But the idea was dropped as it would have occupied a lot of space and become too cumbersome. The advantage of this serial is that even people with low end PC’s can view the show.
The company is viewing this as an experiment and depending on the results the other serials which are already in production will proceed. They are genre specific and cater to people of all tastes – be it comedy, drama or thrillers.
Tidke also said that the serial is completely different from the wishy washy soaps that are hogging the TRP’s on the tube. ‘Ghar Ek…’ straddles a variety of genres so that viewers get a feel of what it is like to view a story in front of the computer. The episodes will be stored on the site so that people who have missed earlier episodes can catch up.
Tidke pointed out that on the television once you miss an episode it is gone forever unless you have recorded it on the VCR. With ‘Ghar Ek…’ there is no time bar as all the epsodes will be stored on the site.
Though the couch potato won’t give up the tube this new initiative promises to be a shot in the arm for Internet companies struggling with the tech dowturn and a recessionary market.
The budget for the serial is naturally lower than what television companies lavishly spend. Contests2win has taken out banners and has also planted story insertions in newspapers. However it has refrained from spending on the television having learnt from the experience of dotcoms which bled their funds without commensurate revenues flowing in.
The official sponsor is Colgate. The FMCG major is charged up because it has been looking for an innovative and fresh concept that could be associated with its Fresh Energy Gel. Contests2win has had a happy relationship with the FMCG major. Earlier they had ‘Colgate Gel Bhol Talk to me’ which was a phone in contest.
e-commerce
ONDC names Vibhor Jain MD and CEO; Rohit Lohia joins as CBO, Manoj Thakur as CTO
Leadership formalised as open commerce network sharpens focus on scale and user value
The Open Network for Digital Commerce has formalised Vibhor Jain as managing director and chief executive officer, cementing a leadership transition at India’s ambitious open commerce platform as it pushes for scale and relevance.
Jain, who had been serving as acting chief executive officer since April last year following the exit of Thampy Koshy, steps into the role with effect from 7th April , according to a report by The Economic Times. He previously served as chief operating officer at the government-backed network, which enables buyers and sellers to transact across applications through an open, interoperable system.
Setting out his strategy, Jain underscored the network’s differentiated architecture. “Going forward, we are concentrating on what open, interoperable infrastructure can uniquely enable, things that no single platform has the incentive or the architecture to do,” he said.
He added that the immediate priority is to widen ONDC’s impact across user cohorts often underserved by platform-led commerce. “My priority is to deepen the value ONDC creates for the people it exists to serve: kisaans, karigars, kiranas, gig workers, first-time investors, and daily commuters across India,” he said.
Jain also flagged leadership reinforcement within the organisation, noting that ONDC has “a strong and exciting leadership team in place”, with Rohit Lohia joining as chief business officer and Manoj Thakur as chief technology officer.
With over 18 years of experience spanning entrepreneurship and consulting, Jain brings a track record in technology-led, large-scale transformation programmes and internet businesses. At ONDC, he has been closely involved in shaping strategy and operations as the network seeks to move digital commerce away from platform-centric models towards an open network approach.
Before ONDC, Jain worked with JUMO, where he helped set up the fintech firm’s India operations, and led the India launch of Mobike, handling regulatory, policy and operational aspects of its market entry. Earlier, he co-founded Atlanta Healthcare, an air quality management company, and spent more than a decade in consulting roles at Andersen and EY, advising governments on public policy and technology-driven reforms, including work on the Aadhaar programme and tax systems.
The mandate is clear but the path is complex. As ONDC attempts to rewrite the rules of digital commerce, Jain now carries the burden of turning open architecture into mass adoption, in a market still dominated by platform power.
