MAM
KFC India targets net-savvy teens with first ever interactive digital campaign
BENGALURU: For its 3.8 million Facebook fans, KFC launched what it claims as ‘the first ever User Generated Graphic Novel in India‘ – Krushers Komic. The Facebook initiative allows consumers to input pictures, names, and a couple of favorite catchphrases into a storyline. A consumer can then read and share with friends a personalised graphic novel.
KFC claims that its Facebook application has already seen 17,000 consumers creating their own “Krushers Komics” within 7 days of its launch. Each day, the best male and female entries are rewarded with a print version of their novels as memorabilia. Weekly winners with the best novels get the opportunity to win an Xbox 360.
On YouTube, KFC has created a digital interactive brand channel – Krushers Time. A user has to liberate two teenagers by dragging them to a Krusher from the bar above and then events unfold based on the flavor of the Krusher selected.
KFC India and Area Countries GM Tarun Lal said, “With the launch of a dedicated social media campaign for Krushers, we are taking forward our journey of fan engagement on digital platforms to the next level. The youth of today, our core TG spends most of their time online and our initiatives in the past like “Currycature‘, ‘KFC Wow‘ and ‘Design Your Own Bucket‘ have done very well for us. Going forward, we are hoping to achieve deeper engagement with more and more consumers, making KFC the Most Social QSR brand in the country.”
KFC says that digital and social media is a key focus for it. It has recently made it to the Social Bakers “Top 5 most Socially Devoted Brands in India” list, and has seen consumer and critical acclaim for key digital campaigns like the KFC WOW mobile app, Currycature, and the Design Your Own Bucketapplication.
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.
