Myspace eyes India; ropes in YRF’s Tripathi

MUMBAI: News Corp owned social networking website Myspace.com has now trained its eyes on India.

The top ranking social networking website, which has peers like Facebook.com, Orkut.com and Hi5.com, has made its first India appointment by roping in Yash Raj Films head of marketing Tarun Tripathi as director marketing and content.

Tripathi, who was with YRF since 2002, put in his papers late last year at the company and joined Rupert Murdoch owned MySpace.com. Tripathi will be reporting to Myspace.com vice president Asia Sung Lee.

On the other hand, Balaji Telefilms’ Rafiq Hamid has replaced Tripathi and will now handle the marketing activities at the Bollywood production house.

Speaking exclusively to Businessofcinema.com, Tripathi says, “My mandate at Myspace.com is two pronged. The first is to effectively get Indian consumers to come to the website. Secondly, as we are a part of News Corp, the aim is to try and use the company’s various arms to bring Indian popular culture into the mainstream global market be it music, individuals or sports.”

Tripathi’s first day at Myspace.com was 2 January, 2007. For the time being, he will be working out of the Star India (also a part of News Corp) premises.

Elaborating on his decision to leave YRF to join Myspace.com, Tripathi says, “I have been in the content business for the last six years and I have realized that there is a lot that can be done here on the internet space.”

Speaking about how Myspace.com is different from other social networking websites, Tripathi says, “The difference is in content. Myspace.com’s aim is to act as facilitators for content creators from different fields and provide them with a platform to collaborate. We will be aiming at the youth culture in India and accordingly alter our offerings to the Indian population.”