MAM
Dream11 educates players on how to use the app
New Delhi: Last month, the fantasy platform Dream11 made headlines for bagging the IPL title sponsorship for 2020 at a whopping Rs 222 crore. It outshined Unacademy, Tata, Byju's and piped the Chinese smartphone maker VIVO, who was the title sponsor until the last year, to grab the top spot. For the last two years, Dream11 was making its presence felt by being the associate sponsor to several IPL teams.
The tournament is just a week away and the title sponsor has already begun its marketing activities. It has released videos on the social media platform to educate fans on how to play, select teams, score points, and other important details about Dream 11. The videos are created with cricketers such as Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishab Pant, and Hardik Pandey.
In one of the content pieces, the protagonists explain, how to create your Dream11 team by selecting any of the impending matches from the ongoing cricket series. The user can do so by using his/her sports knowledge and skills in selecting key players within a budget of 100 credits. Afterward, join any Dream11 free or cash contest to win cash and the ultimate bragging rights to show off your improvement in the Free/Skill contests on Dream11!
The third step asks users to follow the match and track their fantasy scorecard. The scorecard is updated every 2 minutes. Once the match is concluded, the fantasy team’s final ranking and winning amount will be visible on the leaderboard.
The videos are a part of the brand's ongoing content marketing strategy where it aims to educate the audiences about the brand, what is fantasy cricket, how it is played to the consumers. The brand is doing it with the help of simple, easy, and entertaining content around cricket. Dream11 has released relatable videos in past also on subjects such as Understanding Fantasy Cricket, How to Play, How to refer your friends, How to add cash, how to verify your account, How to join a cash contest and others.
Dream11, cofounded in 2008 by Harsh Jain and Bhavit Sheth, leads the fantasy sports category in India and is funded by the likes of Kalaari Capital, Think Investments, Multiples Equity, and China’s Tencent Holdings. The duo has had a long journey of ups and downs before making Dream11 a unicorn company. It can be safely said that Dream11 is the leading gaming company in the country. The fantasy gaming app has diversified and is offering multiple sports to the people. However, cricket by far has the highest number of takers on the app. The company has also diversified with multiple offerings such as Fancode, DreamX and Dream Sports Foundation.
The brand, in past, hired MS Dhoni as the brand ambassador and launched several campaigns with him. One of the most popular campaigns of Dream11 was 'Yeh Game Hai Mahaan'. The film was well-received by the audiences.
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.
