Applications
Affle appoints Lochan Kothari to develop biz in India
MUMBAI: International mobile media company, Affle, has appointed Lochan Kothari as the associate director for business development for India.
At Affle, Kothari will be heading the business development effort for the West and South regions in India, focusing on boosting mobile advertising and marketing solutions for existing and new business partners. He will be based in Mumbai.
With this appointment, the company is looking to achieve quantum growth in this fiscal year.
Affle regional director- business development Sankalp Mehrotra said, “With Lochan on board, we are now looking to strengthen our leadership position in the mobile advertising industry in India. Lochan’s diverse experience will help steer the team in the right direction to create valuable business opportunities with the top brands and agencies.”
On his new role Kothari added, “I am excited to have joined Affle, at this time. It is fascinating to create brand advertising solutions on the small screen that is now fast becoming the leading medium for content consumption. Affle has the right solutions and services to ride on this wave and play its part in taking the mobile advertising industry in India past the next big milestone. I look forward to utilising my knowledge and experience to strengthen our position in the market and assert the trust of our partners and customers. ”
Kothari comes in with over 14 years of experience in print, digital, TV, on ground media and PR. He joins Affle from SMS Gupshup, where he was the head of corporate sales. Prior to SMS Gupshup, he has also worked with The Times of India group, Zee Telefilms, 360 degrees and Indian Express.
Additionally, Siddarth Correya has been roped in as director for business development for Indonesia.
Mehrotra added, “Siddarth built long term relationships with business partners and successfully helped execute various campaigns in his earlier stint with Affle. We are confident that he will bring the same energy and excitement to Affle’s Indonesia business.”
Correya added, “This year is going to be an exciting one for the Indonesia market as Affle strengthens the core of its business operations by taking on new strategic plans for 2012 with the help of a bigger team. I am looking forward to drive the company’s growth to greater heights by leading the mobile evangelization in the market as I work closely with all key stakeholders in the mobile advertising ecosystem.”
Correya had previously successfully worked in Affle’s India team for over three years post which he played leadership roles in the domain of mobile advertising in companies like One97 and Nokia. His responsibilities will include forging strategic partnerships to leverage Affle’s product penetration, increasing mobile ad sales
representation business and driving the mobile marketing solutions offering for business partners and brand owners in Indonesia.
Applications
With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
