MAM
MSN brings together advertising, marketing leaders at summit
MUMBAI: Tomorrow 17 March Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will deliver the keynote address at the sixth annual MSN Strategic Account Summit in the US.
At the event many of the industry’s innovative thought leaders will meet to discuss what will shape the online American advertising industry today and in the future. Based on feedback from marketers and customers, MSN developed a two-day agenda with the theme of Mastering the Medium. The aim is to help the more than 500 attendees identify opportunities to most effectively reach their audiences.
Attendees also will gain insights into MSN’s vision and strategy and will have the opportunity to hear and interact with industry-leading speakers in categories such as branding, direct-response campaigns and privacy. Examples of innovative work, best results, trends and accomplishments
that reach beyond the boundaries of today’s advertising will be highlighted at the summit to encourage the industry to continue to move forward on the road to mastery.
The speakers at the summit include reality TV guru Mark Burnett, chairman and CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp Barry Diller and Young & Rubicam chairman and CEO Ann Fudge. Ballmer says, “Microsoft’s Strategic Account Summit is one of the most important industry events of the year for advertisers, publishers and creative agencies. We are proud to host many of the top thought leaders from the advertising and media community, and join them in addressing how to interact and communicate with consumers in new and meaningful ways online.”
At the summit MSN also will unveil Microsoft’s next-generation online advertising platform, MSN adCenter. The tool is aimed at helping advertisers get higher returns by understanding and connecting to their desired audience throughout the MSN network.
Within the MSN adCenter platform, the new MSN paid-search solution will be tightly integrated with other future capabilities to give advertisers a one-stop shop from which to plan, execute and adjust their online campaigns. The new MSN paid-search solution will provide keyword buyers with in-depth audience intelligence including geographic location, gender, age group, lifestyle segment and time of day. As a result, advertisers should be able to plan more strategic advertising investments and achieve higher click-to-buy conversion rates among consumers.
MSN has stated that it remains committed to working with Yahoo! Search Marketing and will continue to collaborate with it to offer high-quality search listings to advertisers.
Brands
Beep App launches Gen-Z career platform, clocks 30,000 plus placements
Pune startup turns scrolling into career action with learn-explore-earn model
PUNE: Beep App has rolled out its newly positioned career-focused app aimed at Gen-Z users, as it looks to bridge what it calls a growing gap between exposure and employability among young Indians.
Formerly known as EventBeep, the platform is built around a simple but timely idea: turning everyday scrolling into meaningful career action. The app targets students and early professionals, offering a unified space to explore career options, learn relevant skills and access internships and job opportunities.
At a time when short-form content dominates screen time, Beep is attempting to flip the script by embedding structured, career-oriented insights within a familiar scroll-based interface. The idea is not to disrupt user behaviour, but to redirect it.
The platform spans a wide range of fields, including artificial intelligence, product management, design and data analytics. It provides users with insights into role expectations, required skills and step-by-step career pathways, supported by inputs from industry practitioners.
At the heart of the offering is a “learn, explore, earn” model that integrates discovery, skill-building and hiring into one ecosystem. The company says this closed-loop approach is already gaining traction, with over 30,000 placements facilitated so far.
“Gen-Z does not lack ambition; what they often lack is structured direction,” said Beep App founder and CEO Saurabh Mangrulkar. “The Beep App is designed to organise that exposure into actionable pathways so users can move from intent to execution with greater confidence.”
The launch comes amid a broader shift in India’s job market towards skills-first hiring, where practical experience and demonstrable capabilities are increasingly valued alongside academic qualifications.
Founded in 2021, Beep App has grown steadily within the student ecosystem, connecting over 6.5 million users with opportunities across more than 1,500 colleges and 7,800 hiring companies.
Looking ahead, the company plans to deepen its content across emerging sectors, expand its hiring network and build more personalised career pathways tailored to user behaviour.
As Gen-Z continues to navigate a complex and fast-evolving job market, platforms that can turn curiosity into clarity may well shape the next wave of career discovery.
