Applications
Nimbuzz collaborates with ‘The Bachelorette’
MUMBAI: Nimbuzz, a leading communication and entertainment platform, has associated with Life Ok to provide an innovative and interactive brand engagement module on mobile – the Nimbuzz Chat Buddy for The Bachelorette, a dating reality show starring Bollywood starlet Mallika Sherawat. The Bachelorette Buddy would reach out to over 25 million Nimbuzz users in India on their mobile phones giving Life Ok an opportunity to initiate a dialogue with the masses through a format native to the Nimbuzz platform. The Buddy was made available to all Nimbuzz users from 5 October.
Nimbuzz Chat Buddies appear as regular contacts on the chat roster of Nimbuzz users across India. The Bachelorette Buddy is an extension of Life Ok’s reality show that focusses on finding a match for Mallika Sherawat from among the 30 contestants. The Buddy intends to create one to one engagement through questions around Mallika’s eventful Bollywood career and her exciting personal life. The Bachelorette Chat Buddy on Nimbuzz gives users the opportunity to make live suggestions to Mallika on who she should date and who she could do without.
Speaking about the association, Nimbuzz head of monetisation and strategy Anubhav Sharma said, “Nimbuzz Chat Buddies have been extremely successful in connecting the biggest brands to their relevant audiences. We are extremely excited about our partnership for primarily two reasons. Firstly, this is the first time that a reality show of such scale has recognised the engagement value that Chat Buddies bring to the entertainment industry and secondly our foray into the lifestyle-entertainment space is being marked by some of the biggest names in the ecosystem including Mallika Sherawat and Star network.’’
Commenting on the launch of The Bachelorette’s biggest mobile campaign powered by Nimbuzz, Life OK head of marketing Pratik Seal said, “The Bachelorette is a unique concept that looks to capture the interest of a wide audience irrespective of their demographics. Keeping in mind the uniqueness of the format and the audience, we were looking at associating ourselves with a platform that could not only reach out to the masses but also offer engagement value that makes our users feel as much a part of the show as the contestants. We are confident that our partnership with Nimbuzz will be immensely successful in generating interest around the show.’’
The Bachelorette Buddy on Nimbuzz will be the core of the brands mobile strategy for The Bachelorette. The reality shows premiered on 7 October at 9:30 pm on Life Ok.
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.
