IIPM’s 36th Glorious Year of Academic Excellence
ibibo’s CEO on what makes his brand of social networking tick
"We want to increase the time that an individual user spends on ibibo, rather than focusing on getting inactive users...
Ashish Kashyap, CEO, ibibo Web Pvt. Ltd."
Be it a member of a bomb squad desperately urging his chief for guidance while trying to defuse a ticking bomb; or a scared wife trying to shake her husband awake at midnight; the ‘Don’t be a Balti’ campaign has created waves for this networking site. But, look beyond the hilarious TVCs and what you also find is a networking site, making a gregarious effort to empower its users, and not only by allowing them to peddle their talents online. When we caught up with Ashish Kashyap, CEO, ibibo Web Pvt. Ltd., he was quick to acknowledge ibibo’s USP. “User empowerment is our key success factor,” he explains confidently. The confidence is not misplaced. Within a span of just 18 months, this young turk has been able to attract and retain over 2 million subscribers to his social networking fora. Financially backed by South Africa based media conglomerate, Naspers, the moniker ibibo is essentially an abbreviation of this site’s tagline – ‘I Build, I Bond’. Ashish believes that its unique positioning makes ibibo stand out. “We gave up on the so called ‘connect with your old friends’ concept and identified a need of people to create a new social graph which is our biggest advantage,” he asserts.
The various promotional initiatives taken by company comprises of public ka vitt mantri (at the time of Budget 08’), ibibo isuperstar (in association with MTV) and the more recent ibibo iFashion photographer (in association with FTV). Explaining the site’s distinctive positioning, Siddhartha Deshbandhu, Sr. Marketing Manager, ibibo Web says, “ibibo provides a perfect podium for youth to showcase their talent in front of the country.” And unlike its rivals, ibibo is not focussing on increasing its subscriber base. Instead, avers Ashish, the plan is to focus on netting more quality users under its umbrella. “We want to increase the time that an individual user spends on ibibo, rather than focusing on getting inactive users. Currently a user spends 32 minutes a month on an average on our site and we want to increase it by five folds,” he says, adding that the core revenue model of the company is and will remain targeted advertising.
What’s more, instead of focussing on the already net-savvy youth in metros and big cities, this one is all prepared “to reach out to the masses in the tier- II cities.” For now, Kashyap is not concentrating his energies on gaining one-upmanship on competitors, as he feels that the “market has the potential to accommodate many niche networks.” Instead, the slow broadband penetration in India is his biggest hurdle.
With ibibo.com getting off to a salutary start, Ashish is now training his energies on his other two websites, onefamily.com & dwaar.com. The former enables the user to connect with extended family and family friends and the latter facilitates users to find and compare jobs, product reviews, matrimonial, et al, across categories. Besides, the company has also invested $12.3 million for a 30% strategic stake in ACL Wireless Ltd. The localisation of ibibo has really got them on a reputed platform. But, there are miles to go before complacency can set in. After all, rivals like Orkut and Hi-5 already enjoy the first mover advantage in the segment, while others like bigadda.com have Ambani’s deep pockets to bank on. Ashish’s one and only bet remains innovation of the never-before variety!
Pawan Chabra
For more articles, Click on IIPM Article.
Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
Read these article :-
ZEE BUSINESS BEST B SCHOOL SURVEY
B-schooled in India, Placed Abroad (Print Version)
IIPM in Financial times (Print Version)
IIPM makes business education truly global (Print Version)
The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM)
IIPM Campus
The Hindu : Education Plus : Honour for IIPM
IIPM ranked No.1 B-School in India, Management News - By ...
IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
Moneycontrol >> News >> Press- News >> IIPM ranked No1 B-School in ...
IIPM ranked No. 1 B-school in India- Zee Business Survey ...
IIPM ranked No1 B-School in India :: Education, Careers ...
The Hindu Business Line : IIPM placements hit a high of over 2000 jobs
Deccan Herald - IIPM ranked as top B-School in India
India eNews - IIPM Ranked No1 B-School in India
IIPM Delhi - Indian Institute of Planning and Management New Delhi ...
domain-b.com : IIPM ranked ahead of IIMs
No comments:
Post a Comment