Brands
Xiaomi assigns creative mandate to Lowe Lintas
MUMBAI: Chinese mobile manufacturer Xiaomi India has appointed Lowe Lintas Bangalore to handle its creative mandate. The brand entered India in 2014 and in just three years, it has become the fastest brand to cross the 25 million mark in sales. Lowe Lintas has bagged the account on the back of informal evaluations Xiaomi has done of multiple agencies to identify its communications partner.
India is one of the company’s largest markets outside China and the fastest growing amongst international markets. As per International Data Corporation’s (IDC) Quarterly Smartphone Tracker for Q3-2017, Xiaomi has 23.5 per cent of the Indian smartphone market at par with Samsung as the top smartphone brand in the country. The Redmi Note 4, has propelled Xiaomi to become India’s top smartphone vendor and has contributed to more than 40 per cent of the brand’s total sales.
The online-only brand started building its offline business aggressively in 2017 through direct distribution and its own stores Mi Homes, Mi preferred partners and partnership with large retail chains. With presence in over 30 countries and regions, Xiaomi is expanding its footprint across the world to become a global brand.
Lowe Lintas CEO Raj Gupta says, “It is a proud privilege for us at Lowe Lintas to be chosen by Xiaomi, a brand that has such a huge fan following. We will strive to reinforce this love and get more consumers to fall in love with Xiaomi.”
Lowe Lintas South president Hari Krishnan adds, “Xiaomi is a part of our case study to prospective partners as a perfect example of a challenger brand. A brand that has become the leader by not just talking innovation, but by living it. We are, like millions around the world, fans of Xiaomi. And it is truly a pleasure and privilege when you get to chart the course of a brand that you really look up to.”
A Xiaomi Spokesperson mentions, “Xiaomi is the No 1 smartphone brand in India. And what has helped us reach there is the constant innovation that is at the core of the brand. In just under three years, Xiaomi has won immense love and innumerable fans in this country. We now aim to establish our vision of ‘Innovation for everyone’ firmly and bring relevance through our products to every Indian. In Lowe Lintas, with its irrefutable experience and expertise in building lasting brands, we have found a perfect partner for the task at hand.”
Brands
Zscaler, Airtel launch India AI Cyber Research Centre
New hub to boost cyber resilience and trusted AI use
NEW DELHI: As India’s digital engine roars ahead, so do the risks riding shotgun. In response, Zscaler, Inc. and Bharti Airtel have joined hands to launch the AI and Cyber Threat Research Center – India, a national initiative aimed at strengthening the country’s cyber defences and accelerating responsible AI adoption.
The centre is designed as a multi stakeholder platform that brings together industry, government and academia. Its mission is clear: protect critical sectors such as telecom, banking and energy, shield everyday digital users, and future proof India’s fast expanding online ecosystem.
India has long been a major innovation hub for Zscaler, with a substantial portion of its cyber research talent based here. With this new centre, that footprint evolves into a national collaboration engine. The idea is simple but ambitious, build in India, for India, and help power the country’s journey towards a secure and digitally self reliant future.
The timing is telling. India is building digital systems at population scale, not just enterprise scale. That scale has widened the attack surface dramatically. At the same time, cyber criminals and nation state actors are deploying AI to scan, probe and exploit vulnerabilities in minutes.
Zscaler’s research arm, ThreatLabz India, reports millions of infiltration attempts every month. These include espionage campaigns linked to regional geopolitical tensions, 1.2 million intrusion attempts from 20,000 sources targeting 58 Indian digital entities, and a rise in zero day exploit attempts across multiple industries.
In such an environment, perimeter based security models are struggling to keep pace. The new centre aims to push a shift towards secure by design systems and Zero Trust architecture.
Its strategy rests on four pillars: protect through real time intelligence, remediate by working directly with government agencies, facilitate adoption of AI driven security and Zero Trust frameworks, and build a stronger cybersecurity talent pipeline through specialised certifications.
As founding members, Zscaler and Airtel will combine global threat intelligence with local network visibility. Zscaler will deploy a dedicated India focused research team and draw insights from its Zero Trust Exchange platform, which processes over 500 billion daily transactions worldwide. Airtel, meanwhile, will contribute deep visibility into IoT and mobile traffic, helping detect suspicious activity faster and coordinate response across the ecosystem.
Bharti Airtel executive vice chairman Gopal Vittal, said the partnership extends Airtel’s commitment to safeguarding customers and the nation’s digital fabric. He added that the collaboration would address challenges unique to the Indian market and encourage secure and confident digital engagement.
Zscaler chief executive, chairman and founder Jay Chaudhry, said India’s digital ambition cannot be secured with legacy firewalls and VPNs. He noted that a modern Zero Trust architecture is essential for a hyper connected world and that the new centre would harness the scale of Zscaler’s global security cloud while empowering a new generation of Indian cyber defenders.
Additional members from critical public and private sectors are expected to join the initiative in the coming months, expanding its scope and deepening collaboration.
In a world where threats travel at machine speed, India’s answer is to think faster, collaborate wider and build smarter.
