Twitter India extends ZipDial partnership to include @SrBachchan tweets

Any mobile user in India can now follow the actor's Twitter account @SrBachchan by simply dialling, or giving a missed call to 912233010007.

Taking its global partnership with ZipDial forward, Twitter India has launched an offer for all Amitabh Bachchan fans. Any mobile user in India can now follow the actor's Twitter account @SrBachchan by simply dialling, or giving a missed call to 91-22-33010007.

Bachchan is followed by more than 13 million people across social media platforms including 6.5 million on Twitter. The collaboration, in association with Fluence, will allow everyone across the country to follow and engage with the superstar on Twitter via SMS. The service works for all mobile users in the country with any phone or any operator. Moreover, it's free, irrespective of whether they have a Twitter account or a data-enabled phone.

ZipDial is a Bengaluru-based company, which provides a missed call-based marketing platform for brands and marketers. ZipDial's technology is patent pending and available internationally.

In August 2013, ZipDial launched the partnership with Twitter India by allowing anyone in India to follow and engage with Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter (@iamsrk) by giving a missed call to 09015500555.

Rishi Jaitly, market director, Twitter India, says, "Twitter is live, conversational and public. Bachchan's use of Twitter has for years exemplified the power of our platform's ability to connect audiences directly with the people and organisations that interest them most. We are pleased to see ZipDial and Bachchan use the Twitter platform to extend reach even further."

Valerie R Wagoner, founder and CEO, ZipDial, comments, "Bachchan can now reach hundreds of millions of fans in India and internationally, who have phones but do not yet use Twitter. Bachchan's fans can now interact with their iconic hero on Twitter through the simple ZipDial interface."

Both companies will extend the partnership by including both Indian and global celebrities and letting Indians follow their tweets through missed calls.

This is yet another move from Twitter to extend its reach in the country. Recently, in another consumer facing initiative, Twitter had partnered with MSM's Sony TV to promote the launch of the latest season of Kaun Banega Crorepati. In this context, Twitter had launched a KBC contest on its platform, where one question was asked on Twitter between 8:30 pm to

10:00 pm on 7 and 8 September. The top five wittiest, smartest answers were chosen as the winners.

Besides, as a global deal, Nielsen announced an agreement with Twitter to create the "Nielsen Twitter TV Rating," an industry-standard metric that is based entirely on Twitter data for the TV industry. As a part of the deal, Twitter's TV partners across countries will have a common benchmark from which to measure the engagement of their programming.