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<ul><li>The pandemic and lockdown period has brought many new learnings for all businesses, and e-commerce has undoubtedly been one of the sectors with the biggest takeaways.</li><li>As we enter a new year, we reached out to e-commerce platforms to understand what role it would play in 2022.</li></ul>The e-commerce segment has been witnessing a good growth over the last few years and has been showing no signs of slowing down in India. And why would it? Hasn’t shopping become so much easier now? We can buy anything, from groceries and perfumes to expensive jewellery, from the comfort of our homes. The pandemic further brought fundamental and long-term changes in the way people shop and make their purchase decisions. It has accelerated the industry’s growth in the country as historically offline shoppers also downloaded ecommerce apps onto their phones to shop from within the safety of their four walls. The past year and a half has brought millions of new e-commerce users, including from smaller cities and towns who now are comfortable with buying online. The industry has witnessed an uptick of 77% between 2020 and 2021 and Tier II, III cities are transacting more than ever, said a recent report by Bobble AI. This trend has pushed e-commerce platforms to embrace a wide range of regional brands and local sellers, which offer a compelling value proposition to consumers. With increasing internet penetration, e-commerce players are expecting new growth from Tier II, III and beyond, which will cumulatively contribute to $150 billion of e-commerce as per RedSeer Consulting’s report. The Indian market is expected to surpass the US to become the second-largest e-commerce market in the world by 2034, revealed another <a href="https://www.ibef.org/industry/ecommerce-presentation">report</a>. It is poised to reach US$99 billion by 2024 from US$30 billion in 2019, expanding at a 27% CAGR, with grocery and fashion becoming the key drivers of this incremental growth. As we enter a new year and e-commerce further expands its presence deeper into the country, we speak to a few e-commerce platforms to discuss what lies ahead, where would the second phase of growth come from and trends that would dominate the industry. Here’s what they had to say: <keyword id="1922572" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="manish-taneja" source="Orion">Manish Taneja</keyword>, Founder and CEO <keyword id="1688931" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="purplle-com" source="Orion">Purplle.com</keyword>: The year has witnessed major growth in the beauty ecommerce industry, ushering in the next year with great potential. In 2022, the emergence of virtual reality tools will fuel the industry. Offering virtual beauty experiences that seamlessly merge with an omni-channel approach will be the norm. Over the next year, we at Purplle will invest heavily in technology and data science advancements to further personalize customer experience. Natural, transparent beauty products, effortless shopping with shorter delivery times, data-based product development, and value-driven experiences, are some of the other trends that will emerge in 2022. Bharati Balakrishnan- Country Head and Director, Shopify India: The Indian ecommerce market will continue to evolve in 2022, with D2C brands taking centrestage, driven by growing consumer demand and local brands increasingly making ecommerce a priority. On the one hand, the new shopping habits formed over the past 18 months will become an important factor: consumers have embraced online shopping and are actively choosing small, independent brands. This means that D2C brands are here to stay, and we anticipate the emergence of a new generation of proudly Indian brands across food, fashion and lifestyle. Simultaneously, traditional brands and retailers who dominate offline are evolving to meet the demands of the new consumer - they are building to provide a consistent experience to their consumers across online and offline, and would like to use their own online stores to truly extend their brand promise to existing and new customers. It’s an exciting time to be a consumer brand in India Amit, CEO, <keyword id="9798181" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="olx-autos-india" source="Orion">OLX Autos India</keyword>: Rise of the prosumer: The many faces of personalisation With the majority of buyers now clearly preferring online shopping over the traditional format of in-store purchasing, the new trend is inclined towards the forward-thinking, influential and proactive prosumer. Personalisation of the products according to customers preference will be key in 2022. E-commerce marketers will need to integrate personalizing products through advanced technologies in order to provide tailor made and seamless customer experiences. In a cookie-less world, contextual marketing has reared its head in a big way. Targeting consumers has come of age - from category, to keyword, to semantic contextual targeting, now. Many more trends like crypto payments, and dynamic pricing will grow for pure-play retailers. But it is personalization for the prosumer that will chart the way forward. <keyword id="2227756" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="prabhkiran-singh" source="Orion">Prabhkiran Singh</keyword>, Founder CEO, Bewakoof: Live video commerce, Virtual trial rooms (or AR/VR driven fit assists), customized lifestyle products and 3D animated UX interactions are the key trends we expect to disrupt shopping experience in the coming year. Video or content commerce would be largely driven by influencer or user generated content. To drive scalability, there will be multiple SAAS companies launching solutions to simplify handshakes between brands and influencers in content acquisition, ingestion and performance driven payments space. Early movers in the space are Myntra Studio, <keyword id="8861782" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trell" source="Orion">Trell</keyword> and Bewakoof Bshots. With large VC investments going into the Web 3.0 and metaverse space, a lot of the product cataloging problems around accurate sizing or fit assessment would become more trivial. We will see brands launching virtual trial rooms, 3D product shoots and fit assistants to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping experience. 3 out of 10 customers who shop on our platform would like to customize their product design and sizing. We see this as a growing trend that multiple brands will adhere to in the coming year. 3D and animated content will become a UX trend in the consumer internet industry. Animations used to be a hindrance to many designers and developers as they may slow the loading speed of websites or apps and it is data consuming. With 5G scaling up and 4G becoming a norm across the country, designers will chose to use more animations. Kashyap Vadapalli, Chief Marketing Officer &amp; Business Head, <keyword id="864887" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="pepperfry" source="Orion">Pepperfry</keyword>: ‘MarTech’, which essentially means amalgamation of marketing with technology, is the future of commerce where brands will run marketing in a digital and connected ecosystem to offer an immersive experience to their customers. With the advancement of technology in marketing, consumers are constantly looking for an enhanced buying experience. Thereby meaning, from 2022 onwards we will witness more technology integrated experiences like development of offline Virtual Reality shopping rooms for consumers. Since VR offers an immersive 360-degree perspective, products in virtual design, especially big-ticket items like furniture can be easily a luscious offering for customers who want an interactive experience with the product before making the decision, therefore, simplifying the buyer’s journey. Going forward, I believe, Martech will play a dominant role in the strategic priorities and investments of brands, pushing marketers to embrace digital operations and integrated customer experience. <keyword id="12792513" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shubh-darpan" source="Orion">Shubh Darpan</keyword>, VP- BI &amp; Analytics, Cashify: From the trends we have seen over the past couple of years, we at Cashify believe that the demand for refurbished mobiles is here to stay. It started with the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns when having a mobile became a necessity. Refurbished devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc. were seen to be preferred by the Indian consumer. Mainly because of the economic aspect of it, the refurbished market has seen an upward motion in India. Moreover, with the shortage of chipsets, there have been fewer smartphone launches in recent times. This too has been a factor in pushing consumers towards refurbished mobiles. Refurbished smartphones offer an optimal and sustainable solution to today's tech-dependent world and we can see it going a long way. Gitanjali Saxena, Business Head - Global Luxury, Tata CLiQ Luxury <div type="image" title="Gitanjali Saxena, Business Head - Global Luxury, Tata CLiQ Luxury" msid="88446509" hostid="261"></div> Inherently, shopping is a social experience. As people continue to spend an increasing amount of time online and on social media, online shopping, which witnessed a huge boost because of the pandemic, is now also becoming social. Social shopping, which is already booming in countries like China, has been gaining momentum in India and will be a leading trend in the coming year. Engaging and immersive formats of selling, such as live commerce, will be at the forefront. In addition, AR and VR will play a crucial role in enhancing the online shopping experience, enabling more personalization, and targeting niche customers. Some of the biggest brands in the luxury fashion and beauty industries are working closely with social media platforms like Instagram and Snapchat to leverage their capabilities of live streaming, in-app shopping, and augmented reality to offer an experience that every luxury customer desires. Snapchat has harnessed the power of technology and introduced an augmented reality lens that allows for a virtual try-on of products. Convenience, personalization, and a sense of community are some of the drivers fuelling the growth of social shopping. The advancement of technology is unlocking a slew of exciting opportunities in social shopping, including user-generated content, virtual product try-ons, direct interaction with brands and peers, and instant gratification. E-commerce platforms will reimagine their strategy to integrate social shopping elements by introducing innovative and engaging formats to bolster their reach and engagement with customers. With social shopping, e-commerce platforms can revolutionize the way people shop on their platforms by presenting a new way of shopping.

Ecommerce: The trends to watch out for in 2022

<ul><li>The Indian founders had earlier called the ban on Chinese apps as the atmanirbhar moment for India’s entrepreneurs.</li><li>To handle the surge in users and traffic, the startups are now also aggressively hiring to better their offerings. </li><li>Here are all the openings in short-form video apps in India.</li></ul>On June 29, TikTok got banned in India along with 58 other Chinese apps. And since that very moment, India’s rival apps of the Chinese giant have seen their user base jump up by millions. The Indian founders even called this the atmanirbhar moment for India’s entrepreneurs."This is the digital atmanirbhar moment that most Indians have been rooting for,” said Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi Group which owns Roposo. Indian entrepreneurs believe with this, ‘Made in India’ apps will get a boost as they won’t be fighting with Chinese companies, who have the cash to spend and build a userbase. “The move can be hugely beneficial for Indian companies considering the potential Indian startups have in terms of creating our own TikTok, We Chat, Baidu. Many others are all poised to make it big with the scale our country provides and absence of Chinese competitors with deep pockets,” Sandeep Singh, founder and president, Khabri. But to handle the surge in users and traffic, the startups are now also aggressively hiring to better their offerings. Here are all the openings in short-form video apps in India Chingari Chingari has got over 16million users in just 25 days and was trending in the top apps on the Google Playstore. The team needs 10-15 people right away to help with the surge in traffic – UI/UX designers, engineers and more. <div type="twitter" handle="adityakothari" handlename="Aditya Kothari" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1181273690819817472/ylFghAkJ_normal.jpg" favoritecount="109" retweetcount="37" status="Looking for a docker/kubernetes/backend architect for @Chingari_IN . If you're looking to build a backend infra, an… https://t.co/BBQtJ4Rl8C" createdat="1594502330000" id="1282061813891227649"></div> Bolo Indya Bolo Indya – which works as an infotainment app, was another to build on success after TikTok’s ban. “There was a huge jump in user increase in first 24 hours of the ban, and we saw over 2.5 lakh installs, with 87% of these signing up and creating videos and 1.27 crore videos were created in June,” said Varun Saxena, Co-Founder, Bolo Indya. The company said that it has continued its hiring activities even during lockdown and 3 new members have joined during lockdown phase while 2 more will be joining next month. Simultaneously, the company has aggressive hiring plans in technology teams across Android, AI and ML roles with remote interactions. “We took lockdown and its consequences as an opportunity to interact with some extraordinary talents and explore the synergies to join us on our mission to enable Bharat to transform social capital to financial independence through short videos in regional languages. We did not do a single lay off, and continue to strengthen the team with the right fits who share the same passion, ambition and motivation,” said Saxena. The company currently has 15-20 vacancies. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Interested candidates can apply by writing to hr@boloindya.com Mitron TV The app which shot to fame even before TikTok was banned, is also aggressively hiring. The app’s co-founder Anish Khandelwal took to LinkedIn to share that the company is currently looking for android developers and backend developers with over two years experience. <div type="javascript" title="Custom" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Interested candidates can apply by writing to career@mitron.tv Khabri Khabri helps users create podcasts and also caters to the Hindi-speaking market in India. The company said that it already had 40,000 influencers on the platform, and with the ban on TikTok it got 5000 new influencers in two days. The company is currently <a href="https://angel.co/company/khabriapp/jobs/671317-product-manager-growth">hiring </a>a product manager among other roles. Trell Another TikTok rival app in India – Trell has now crossed 45 million downloads with 5 million daily active users, claims the company. “We are very excited to see the regular developments on the platform and the increasing interest from users and content creators. With this opportunity, the Indian Internet startups can grow faster and build a superior experience for the consumers in the long run which was being capped by the established players earlier,” said Pulkit Agarwal, Co-Founder, Trell. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/therapy-and-mental-health-is-important-for-startup-founders-to-survive-the-near-death-moments-in-business/articleshow/76931948.cms">This Indian entrepreneur started going to therapy and recommends it to startup founders to survive the ‘near death’ moments in business</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-journey-from-a-weekend-project-to-a-3-billion-company/articleshow/76901180.cms">Zomato turns 12 – from a weekend project to a $3 billion company, here’s the startup’s journey over the years</a>

From Chingari to Mitron TV – TikTok clone apps in India are now aggressively hiring to handle the user surge

<ul><li>Indian short video apps are fighting tooth-and-nail to fill the void that TikTok has left behind since it got banned in India. </li><li>The top free apps in the Google Play Store are dominated by the likes of ShareChat's Moj, <keyword id="2368386" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Roposo">Roposo</keyword> and Trell. </li><li>Business Insider reviewed all three to weigh the pros and cons of the new short video platforms.</li></ul>Ever since TikTok was banned in India, people are rushing to local alternatives to fuel their need for short videos. In the Google Play Store, Indian apps are currently battling it out for the top spot. The only catch is they’re not exactly at the same level as TikTok when it comes to functionality and user interface. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="76696132" title="List of 59 Chinese apps banned in India by Indian government" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> The likes of ShareChat's Moj, Roposo and Trell among the top five free apps on the Google Play Store. Likee Lite also makes an appearance, even though its parent app — Likee — was among the 59 apps banned in India. <div type="image" title="googleplaystore" msid="76869510" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Top five free apps in the Google Play Store right now&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Review of ShareChat’s Moj short video app ShareChat’s Moj is currently ahead of the rest and it even has a 3.9 star rating on the Google Play Store. It made its debut on June 29 and amassed 10 million downloads within a week. Due to security measures, Moj doesn’t allow users to take screenshots. However, in our review of the app, the pixels in the top right corner seem out of order for every single video. <div type="image" title="moj" msid="76869469" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The top right corner of Moj app is stretching pixels&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> It also auto-pulled the one-time-password (OTP) without getting clearance from the user for access. Using your phone number is the only way to sign up. However, you can use the app to view content without logging in at all. Unlike TikTok, Moj also doesn’t allow for editing, music tracks or adding special effects to videos. Users report being unable to sign in or post videos from time-to-time. Many comment that there’s a dire need for more features like being able to post comments, create a user profile, save videos to your own gallery — and just make it more user friendly, overall. <div type="image" title="Moj review" msid="76869525" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Reviews of Moj since its launch&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Developers do plan to introduce new features such as video editing, filters, stickers and ‘magical’ emoticons for selfies in the near future. Review of Roposo short video app Akin to Mojo, Roposo also auto-pulls the OTP without getting clearance from the user for access. On the plus side, the user interface is clean. When uploading videos, the app allows you to edit videos within the platform and even add filters and effects, much like TikTok. It also allows users to collaborate with other user’s videos. <div type="image" title="roposo" msid="76869576" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Roposo includes TikTok-like filters and effects&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Roposo has over 50 million downloads. However, the app’s reviews on the Play Store reflect some users complaining about excessive data consumption, prolonged buffering time, and bugs while searching for other users’ profiles. <div type="image" title="Roposo reviews" msid="76869591" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Roposo reviews since India banned TikTok&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> The one big hurdle with Roposo is that signing up is a must — and your phone number is the only way to do it. Review of <keyword id="9543757" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="trell-short-video-app">Trell short video app</keyword> Install the app is a breeze, but when it actually comes to opening it up for the first time — it refuses to load. Once it finally opens the interface is very user friendly and it allows you to sign up using your phone number, Facebook, Google ID or WhatsApp. As compared to the other two apps, the explore interface is much better. You can switch between tabs — like Travel, Reaction Videos, Food and others — to choose the kind of content you want to see. <div type="image" title="trell" msid="76869762" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;sup&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/sup&amp;gt;Trell interface is user friendly&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> When uploading a video you can choose from pre-recorded clips on your device or shoot something new. What’s lacking is the fact that you can’t edit or add special effects to any of your videos within the app. And, I’m not sure if you can truly call it a ‘short video’ app if users can upload videos that are up to 5 minutes long. <div type="image" title="Trell reviews" msid="76869777" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The ratio between negative and positive reviews for Trell is the lowest as compared to its peers&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> With a rating of 4.6 stars, Trell has the lowest number of negative reviews as compared to its peers. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/enterprise/news/russian-scammers-are-conning-senior-executives-into-giving-away-2-7-million-by-impersonating-real-ceos-and-lawyers/articleshow/76849870.cms">Russian scammers are conning senior executives into giving away $2.7 million by impersonating real CEOs and lawyers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tinder-bumble-and-ok-cupid-banned-by-indian-army-to-keep-soldiers-from-being-honey-trapped/articleshow/76866610.cms">What is a honey trap ⁠— the reason why the Indian Army banned Tinder, Bumble, and OK Cupid</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/checkout-the-list-of-89-apps-banned-for-indian-army-soldiers/articleshow/76865942.cms">List of 89 apps banned for Indian Army soldiers</a>

TikTok alternatives⁠— reviews of the top three short video apps on Google Play Store

Mumbai, Mar 3 () Lifestyle products focused mobile app 'Trell' on Tuesday said it has raised USD 4 million in funding led by Sequoia Capital India's Surge, Fosun RZ Capital and KTB Network.The money raised will be utilised to strengthen machine learning and artificial intelligence efforts, expanding the community to newer cities and languages, an official statement said.With this infusion, the total amount of funds raised by the company now reached USD 5.5 million.The app, launched in AUgust 2017 by IIT-Bombay and NITIE alumni, to enable users to share and discover product reviews across lifestyle interests, and has 15 million downloads and 5 million monthly active users.The company claimed in January 2020 that its community of 5,00,000 content creators published 1.2 million content pieces in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English, and Hindi."Trell solves for the discovery of lifestyle choices for the next half billion population coming online. It is the largest platform in India growing at 25 per cent month-on-month with strong engagement metrics," Fosun's executive director Krishna Vinjamuri said. AA BALBAL

Lifestyle app Trell raises $4 million from Sequoia Capital, others

New Delhi, July 1 (IANS) The ban on 59 Chinese apps has given homegrown app developers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create world-class products across chat, short videos, and photo/video sharing segments and led by ShareChat, desi apps are now scouting for fresh finds to invest intelligently into scaling their platforms and handle the upcoming rush. In a country where nearly 300 million people are on Facebook, another 400 million on WhatsApp and over 120 million on Chinese app TikTok -- not to forget the millions who are hooked to Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat -- there has not been a single social media platform to date with its roots in India that has created headlines globally. The time is ripe to rise to the occasion and show that Indian programmers can build top-notch social media apps right here, without going to the US or other countries. The regional language social media platform ShareChat is changing the way in which the next billion users will interact on the internet. With over 1 billion monthly Whatsapp shares, users spend more than 25 minutes daily on the platform. ShareChat has a user base of over 60 million monthly active users spread across the country and available in 15 languages including Hindi, Malayalam, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Odia, Kannada, Assamese, Haryanvi, Rajasthani, Bhojpuri and Urdu. The Bengaluru-based regional language social platform has become so popular that even Twitter came onboard when the four-year-old company raised $100 million in its Series D round of funding last year. "ShareChat is silently leading a social media revolution with a strong focus on regional outreach keeping its Bharat connect pristine," said Berges Y Malu, Director, Public Policy, ShareChat. "We welcome the move from the government against platforms that have had serious privacy, cyber security and national security risks. We expect the government to continue their support for the Indian startup ecosystem," Malu added in a statement. Public is a video-only social platform and has already registered 50 million users, with more than one million videos being created every month. According to Azhar Iqubal, Founder and CEO of Public, we have immense talent and resources in India and the vacuum created by this ban is a great opportunity for Indian app makers to launch products that have the potential to do well globally. "It will also make users more vigilant in checking what permissions they have given to apps as smartphones store sensitive information," said Iqubal. Public is currently available in five Indian languages: Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu, and aims to have over 100 million users by the end of the year. Roposo is another leading homegrown short-video making app with more than 65 million downloads in the country. TikTok users, including influencers with huge fan followings, have started switching to Roposo in large numbers after the ban. "We have built Roposo as a clean and ethical platform. The unique idea of channels in Roposo provides every talented Indian with an opportunity to grow rapidly," said Mayank Bhangadia, co-founder of Roposo. Indians have rushed to download social app Chingari, a desi alternative to Chinese TikTok, which is witnessing nearly 1 lakh downloads and over 2 million views per hour since the government banned 59 Chinese apps over national security concerns. Already downloaded over 3 million times, the app which was founded by Bengaluru-based programmers Biswatma Nayak and Siddharth Gautam last year, was trending at the top spot on Google Play Store. "As Chingari is setting new benchmarks, a lot of investors are showing interest in our app. We are holding crucial discussions to get a good investor(s) on board so as to scale up our free-of-cost social platform," informed Nayak. Launched in October 2017, Khabri is another fastest-growing digital audio platform providing content in the regional language. "We urge Indian corporate leaders to come forward and reclaim the country's business ecosystem and consumers through supporting/investing in Indian startups," said Sandeep Singh, co-founder and president, Khabri. "Since the word spread that Indians now have a homegrown and more entertaining alternative to TikTok, we have been recording traffic beyond expectations on our app," said Nayak. Lifestyle community commerce platform Trell has witnessed more than 1 million downloads after India banned Chinese apps. With over 30 million downloads and 9 million monthly active users on its app, Trell has witnessed a 25 times growth within one year. "We welcome all the Tiktok and Chinese apps content creators with open arms to come and engage on Trell. As the largest Indian lifestyle social app, we will continue to ensure that the privacy and data of users will be protected," said Pulkit Agarwal, Co-Founder, Trell. --IANS na/in

Homegrown social media apps turn restless for big leap

<ul><li>The Indian government banned the popular Chinese video sharing platform <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> on Monday night. </li><li><keyword id="7536657" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktok-in-india">TikTok in India</keyword> has several rivals like Chingari, Bolo Indya, Roposo, Khabri and even the very recently launched Mitron.</li><li>Indian entrepreneurs believe with this, ‘Made in India’ apps will get a boost as they won’t be fighting with Chinese companies.</li></ul>The Indian government banned the popular Chinese video-sharing platform TikTok on Monday night. While that would have hurt the many Tiktokers and influencers in India, Indian rivals of TikTok are rejoicing. As soon as the news of the ban came in, Chingari, one of TikTok’s India rivals, started getting massive hits. Sumit Ghosh, the founder of Chingari, told Business Insider that the app was getting 100,000 downloads per hour. “This step will take India one step ahead to be an atmanirbhar economy — free from the clutches of China," Ghosh said. But Chingari is not the only one. TikTok has several rivals in India like Bolo Indya, Roposo, Khabri, Trell and even the very recent Mitron (currently under scrutiny by Google Play Store). And these apps welcomed the move from the government and the subsequent traffic on their apps. The Indian founders called this the atmanirbhar moment for India’s entrepreneurs."This is the digital atmanirbhar moment that most Indians have been rooting for. Roposo is very well positioned to lead this movement. Roposo will continue to build on the trust and love that 55 million Indian users have placed in us,” said Naveen Tewari, founder and CEO of InMobi Group. The Indian government’s MyGovIndia platform had moved from TikTok to Roposo earlier this month. Meanwhile, lifestyle community-commerce platform Trell got 1 million downloads just after the ban on Chinese apps. The lifestyle vlogging platform allows users to create 5-minute videos in their native languages. Others too tried to cash in on the loss of TikTok as a platform for the hundreds of influencers on the app. “Bolo Indya users spent more than 39 minutes per day on it before the ban on Chinese apps, and now we invite all the Tiktok stars from India to be part of the fast-growing Bolo Indya community. We are pleased to have the opportunity to positively impact the lives of millions of Tiktok stars and provide them with the platform to build on their social capital and convert it to financial independence,” said Varun Saxena, Founder, Bolo Indya. This move could be a boon for India’s entrepreneurs to build their own empires like Chinese giants. Indian entrepreneurs believe with this, ‘Made in India’ apps will get a boost as they won’t be fighting with Chinese companies, who have the cash to spend and build a userbase. “The move can be hugely beneficial for Indian companies considering the potential Indian startups have in terms of creating our own TikTok, We Chat, Baidu. Many others are all poised to make it big with the scale our country provides and absence of Chinese competitors with deep pockets,” Sandeep Singh, founder and president, Khabri. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tiktok-has-been-removed-from-the-google-play-store-and-the-apple-app-store/articleshow/76702533.cms">TikTok disappears from Play Store and App Store soon after India banned 59 Chinese apps</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/hacks-to-avoid-tiktok-ban-and-pubg-may-be-banned-in-india-soon/articleshow/76705632.cms">There are ways around the TikTok ban⁠⁠— while PUBG may be banned via another list from the Indian government</a>

Tiktok has many rivals in India and the government ban is a blessing for them

<ul><li>Google ‘Short Videos’ carousel, which is currently still in its testing stages, has added TikTok and <keyword id="1724044" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instagram-videos">Instagram videos</keyword> to its library.</li><li>Short Videos is currently restricted to a limited number of search queries, like Biryani and the Green Bay Packers.</li><li>Rather than having to open individual apps to watch short videos, Google’s new feature allows users to search for videos within Google mobile app and watch them on their phone’s default browser.</li></ul> The supreme aggregator of the internet is living up to its name with plans to launch a carousel that will aggregate videos from TikTok and Instagram within Google’s mobile app — or Google Discover. Rather than having to open individual apps to watch short videos, Google <a href="https://9to5google.com/2020/08/24/google-discover-short-videos/">has been testing</a> a new feature that will let you watch videos within the search results. Instagram and <keyword id="7282489" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok-videos">TikTok videos</keyword> are the newest additions to the mix, Google spokesperson told <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/12/29/google-pilots-a-search-feature-that-aggregates-short-form-videos-from-tiktok-and-instagram/">TechCrunch</a> even though the company has declined to formally comment on the plans. Before you get too excited, the feature is only available for a limited number of search queries — like the Green Bay Packers as discovered by <a href="https://twitter.com/type_SEO/status/1343234594104111104">Brian Freisleben</a> or Biryani as <a href="https://twitter.com/SaadAlikhan1994/status/1323296338566696960">Saad AK</a> noted on Twitter. It’s also unlikely to turn into a way for users in India to undercut the government’s TikTok ban. But it could prove useful to find alternative sources of short videos without having to download individual apps and test them out. For Google, it will allow the company to capitalise on the mass popularity of these videos without having to create its own content. It will also help the technology giant retain users who are looking for entertainment by giving them options within its own app. Google’s short videos The ‘Short Videos’ carousel was first spotted within Google Discover in August, earlier this year. Usually, the feed consists of articles that match a user's interests. At times, it may also feature YouTube videos, the weather or cricket scores. Before TikTok and Instagram were added to the mix, Google was seen featuring content from Google’s Area 120 project Tangi and India’s homegrown app Trell. According to <a href="https://9to5google.com/2020/08/24/google-discover-short-videos/">9to5Google</a>, users are able to play these short videos within the default web browser — even if the user has the native app installed — with options to mute, share and navigate. The Short Videos carousel is different from another product that Google is working on, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/youtube-shorts-is-the-latest-tiktok-alternative-launched-in-beta-in-india/articleshow/78117665.cms">YouTube’s ‘Shorts’</a>. However, the carousel may serve as a way for the company to feature short videos from its new service once it’s live. Short Videos is also different from Google Stories, which rolled out in October. Stories consist of short video content that is created by Google’s online publishing partners like Forbes, Vice and others. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/india-detects-14-new-cases-of-uk-covid-19-strain-putting-the-tally-at-20/articleshow/80020163.cms">India detects 14 new cases of mutated COVID-19 strain in UK returnees, putting the tally at 20</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/three-anil-ambani-companies-accused-of-fraud-ten-times-more-than-vijay-mallya/articleshow/80002892.cms">Three Anil Ambani companies have reportedly been accused of fraud by banks⁠ — the amount at stake is nearly ten times more than what Mallya owed</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/new-strain-of-uk-covid-19-virus-is-a-lot-more-contagious-warns-indias-health-ministry/articleshow/80011618.cms">The new strain of COVID-19 is a lot more contagious, warns India's Health Ministry</a>

Google is testing a shortcut feature for TikTok and Instagram videos

<ul><li>With Reels, users can post 15 second videos along with audio, effects and new creative tools. </li><li>A third of posts on Instagram in India are videos and short-form videos are 45%, which pushed the launch for Reels.</li><li>India is the fourth country to start testing Reels after Brazil, France and Germany. </li></ul><keyword id="6354576" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="facebook">Facebook</keyword> has finally officially announced the launch of <keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword> in India – the social media giant’s alternative for TikTok. In a conference call with reporters in India today, Facebook said that Instagram Reels continues to be under testing in India and will soon be rolled out to all users. Business Insider India had earlier <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/instagram-reels-is-being-quietly-tested-in-india-just-days-after-the-tiktok-ban/articleshow/76768337.cms">reported</a> about Instagram Reels being quietly tested in India. With Reels, users can post 15 second videos along with audio, effects and new creative tools. Once they have created a video, users can choose to either share it with their followers only, but the default setting would be to share it on the public ‘Explore’ section. During the call, Ajit Mohan, VP, Facebook India said that this was a feedback received from users who have been testing Reels – that they would want their videos to reach out to an audience beyond their own followers. So, the ‘Explore’ section works much like TikTok’s ‘For You’ section, where users can scroll through the videos. <keyword id="7319188" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok-ban">TikTok ban</keyword> and its impact on the launch of Reels India is the fourth country to start testing Reels after Brazil, France and Germany. And the product which is eerily similar to TikTok, has begun testing here just days after the ban on Chinese apps in India, including TikTok. Mohan said that a third of posts on Instagram in India are videos and short-form videos are 45%, which pushed the launch for Reels. However, he said that the launch of Reels had nothing to do with the recent ban of TikTok in India. “This has been in the making for a while. We have seen interest in short form videos for a while now. Fairly intense growth of Instagram in India over the last few years including the last few months in the context of the virus. We are also cognizant of the fact that this is a country with a very vibrant diverse cultural context with a very young population who is looking for new creative tools and formats to express themselves. Facebook has been particularly focussing in India,” he said during the call. The ban on TikTok had also seen many other apps like Chingari, Roposo, Mitron, Bolo Indya, Trell see thousands of users flock to their platform. But Facebook isn’t worried about competition. “We expect the competitive intensity will remain in India. The tech space in India has been characterized by competition – this will continue especially in a thriving enterprising country like India and we welcome that. Our focus will continue to be what we have been doing at Instagram and shape the future of entertainment. This is the beginning of the foundation where we really have the opportunity to light up an entirely new generation of creators in India,” said Mohan. However, TikTok in India had also seen a lot of backlash for communally sensitive content, questioning the safety of content on the platform. “One of the investment areas for Facebook as a company is in safety and integrity. We have invested billions of dollars over the years to ensure these systems are state of the art. The advantage is that all these existing systems will be used by Reels from day one. This is an ever evolving space, tech content in videos is improving with machine learning and artificial intelligence,” said Vishal Shah, Vice President of product, Facebook. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/tiktok-app-pro-scam-what-is-it-and-how-to-protect-yourself-from-it/articleshow/76849148.cms">TikTok Pro scam – What is it and how to protect yourself from it</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/elyments-dips-to-3-5-stars-on-google-play-store-heres-what-analysts-believe-indias-new-social-network-needs-in-order-to-be-successful/articleshow/76845819.cms">Elyments dips to 3.5 stars on Google Play Store — Here's what analysts believe India's new social network needs in order to be successful</a>

It’s official – Instagram Reels sets out to capture the TikTok market in India

<ul><li>As we enter a brand new year, we want to crystal gaze into what the year holds for us.</li><li>The global pandemic has spawned strong growth in influencer marketing and creators have cemented their position boosting consumer trust in 2022.</li><li>In our first year-ender, we take a closer look at the year gone by, speak to influencer marketing experts to understand what does the future hold and how is the ecosystem shaping up.</li><li>They also shared with us a few key trends and opportunities that the industry will bring forth as we move forward in 2022.</li></ul>After brands and advertisers slashed their marketing budgets for traditional mediums in 2020, digital marketing took the center stage. Within the hemisphere of digital marketing, social media became a leading channel that drove brand discovery and purchase decisions last year. Influencer marketing also got its due recognition as brands looked for affordable and niche options to reach out to GenZ and Millennials. Marketers also realised that the influencer marketing model is well-suited in a time in which the audience is looking for some inspiration to keep going on, searching DIY videos as they turned home chefs, learning new recipes or focusing on self-care. Creators played an integral role in building a sense of community -- something people searched for when living in isolation. Bolstered by prolonged stay-at-home periods, consumers also steered away from pictures and text and started consuming more videos than ever before. According to Bain and Company, the online video user base in India has increased to more than 350 million people, growing 24% in the last three years. Today, Indian smartphone users spend about 4.8 hours on their devices daily, of which a staggering one hour on average is spent consuming videos, said the report. So, as video consumption scales and attention span reduces every day, influencer marketing offers quick turnaround time and personalisation. Another key factor that attracted brands to this medium is the bond of trust and authenticity that creators share with their fans, giving brands an opportunity to reach out to a niche audience. As a result, the influencer marketing industry has gone through a severe transformation in a short time, becoming a mainstream marketing vehicle. Brands have started looking for agencies that can provide them with interesting campaign ideas rather than just a list of influencers and expected reach. They are more involved in their marketing campaigns and have started exploring creative ideas collectively with the influencers to create engaging content. So, in 2021, we saw brands moving away from ‘one-time associations’ for single posts to actually collaborating with influencers for long-time deals. GroupM and INCA’s study conducted earlier this year also proves how significant influencer marketing is to a marketer today. It said that influencer marketing has become a top priority for marketers this year, as every other leader indicated a budget growth of more than 25% in 2021. INCA’s report further went on to predict that the Influencer Marketing industry is poised to grow at a CAGR of 25% for the next decade, reaching a size of Rs 2200 crore in 2025. As per the report, celebrities corner only 27% of the marketing dollars while a bulk of 73% are taken by digital influencers. Keeping in mind how 2020 and its aftermath in 2021 revolutionised the digital industry, we reached out to a few influencer marketing agencies to understand what does the future hold and how is the ecosystem shaping up. Here is what they said: Neel Gogia, Co-founder of IPLIX Media: The upcoming year is bringing a plethora of opportunities for existing as well as aspiring influencers and creators. The first and foremost are long-term partnerships. With each passing day, more and more brands are realizing that ROI delivered by influencer marketing is unparalleled. Therefore, they are increasingly investing in influencer marketing, and especially in long-term partnerships. Long-term partnerships help them build advocates and ultimately, increase trust amongst the audience. Apart from that, the regionalization of content will increasingly be gaining momentum in the upcoming years. In fact, global brands and platforms are already experimenting with it. Recently, LinkedIn launched its regional version after almost every major global networking app available in the country across Facebook, Twitter and Clubhouse have already introduced it to support the multiple Indian languages. In this wave of regionalization, the local languages that are gaining popularity are Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, Malayalam, etc. Dharika Merchant, COO, WORD and Alchemy Group: The influencer marketing industry in 2022 will see a huge rise in the demand for micro influencers. Micro influencers' share in the total industry increased drastically last year due to brands favouring them owing to their higher engagement rates &amp; affordability. The industry is expected to shift to a more data-driven approach which will become the primary reason for the rise in demand for micro-influencers. Brands are now willing to work on branded content with micro influencers due to favourable data and better insights. It also leads to an effortless long-term relationship between the brand and the influencer thereby ensuring an always-on marketing approach. This always-on influencer marketing approach portrays brand loyalty from an influencer point of view and adds onto credibility of the brand and better brand recall. Without a doubt, focus on micro influencers will be one of the leading trends for the industry in the coming year and we’re excited to see how this changes the face of branded content. Pranav Panpalia, founder, OpraahFx: ‘Live streaming’ is all set to emerge as one of the widely accepted and used influencer marketing tools in the coming year. Live-eCommerce as a concept was started in China last year during the pandemic and got popularized amongst other nations. Live-eCommerce is a great way to connect with the right set of target audiences and turn them into ‘customers’ of the brand the influencers are vouching for. This is one of the best ways for brands who are focusing on ‘ROI’ driven campaigns and not on awareness or brand-building. In India, with many start-ups and MSME brands now focusing on performance-driven influencer marketing campaigns, the concept of live-eCommerce will be practiced and this shall disrupt the influencer marketing industry. Brands promoting highly accessible and affordable products and services are more likely to make use of this new concept. Alongside, live streaming is known for enabling better connections between creators, brands, and consumers as it is a more authentic and real-time content piece. It also provides an opportunity for consumers to interact with their favorite creators, thereby there is a larger scope for personalisation, feedback, and results-driven conversations. Currently, the live-streaming concept is highly dominated by gamers, and this trend will soon see a shift. The live-stream feature provides an equal opportunity and benefits to influencers and content creators of all kinds if used strategically and creatively. For eg: Content creator, Viya from China live-streams about beauty, cosmetics, real estate, cars, and rockets; and is gaining immense out of such brand deals. Likewise, we too are soon to witness such a trend in India. Apaksh Gupta, CEO and Founder, One Impression: While there are going to be plenty of emerging trends that we are expecting to take over the influencer marketing economy in 2022, one particular trend that is going to stand out is the mainstreaming of the metaverse. The way the world of content and social media is evolving, we can easily assume now that the metaverse is here. While the pandemic forced brands to jump on the digital marketing train, newer technological innovation and integration of various platforms to build a virtual ecosystem is bringing the dream of Metaverse closer every day. 2022 is going to witness a lot of investments from brands into mainstreaming the metaverse. We have already seen in 2021 that bigger brands like Nike and Verizon are already initiating their strategies to get a head start in this league from their competitors. Gucci has also launched its limited collection for Roblox letting players customise their avatars in Gucci products. In 2022, we will be witnessing an increase in these numbers of brands who will be deploying technologies like AR/VR with influencers and content creators at the centre of them to promote their products and services. Rohan Tyagi, VP Strategy and Operations, India - Triller: The advent of technologies like NFTs, Crypto has opened up new engagement and revenue channels for brands. In fact, there is great affinity toward it among GenZ and millennial buyers. Through NFTs, brands can disrupt their markets with new strategies to raise awareness, develop new consumer journeys and increase customer value and loyalty. However, In the decentralized world of Web3, the power has shifted back to creators, and brands looking to leverage technologies like NFTs know that they cant simply buy into the space. Community interest today is driven by creators as a result there will be an uptick in brands partnering with influencers to leverage the opportunities afforded by NFTs. While influencer marketing is a fairly young industry with Metaverse becoming mainstream there is a huge likelihood of it taking off quickly and becoming a multibillion-dollar economy in the virtual world. In fact, this may happen much quicker than we think. Aayush Tiwari, VP - Talent Management &amp; Music Business, Monk Entertainment: One pretty evident trend is the dominance of short video content. We’ve noticed a wave of crisp crunchable 15-30 seconder bites taking the internet by storm in 2021 already, bound to multiply in the coming years. Factors that act as a catalyst are low entry barrier, easy to make, large-scale consumption. What drives the short video ecosystem is the ability of it getting recreated under the banner of ‘trends.’ Every week, there are hypothetically ten new trends which garner lakhs of videos lifting the consumption and UGC levels to higher levels. Dominant social media platforms like Instagram, YouTube launched their verticals, and new players like MOJ, TakaTak, Chingari entered the game encouraging regional tiers to showcase their talent. Even Netflix launched a short vertical that features the best scenes from their series, which people are binge-ing on the go. Vaibhav Odhekar, Managing director India &amp; Middle East, AnyMind Group: Influencer marketing has seen few major changes from the consumer approach towards the whole marketing and influencer segment and monetization of platforms. With the rising social media consumption and engagement, D2C brands across segments have moved towards influencers marketing. As per 'State of Influencer in Asia 2021' report by Antag, the most popular are Art &amp; Entertainment, Food &amp; Beverage and Fashion &amp; Beauty while Finance, health &amp; wellness are also attractive eyeballs and set to become trendsetting in 2022. One of the trends that stood out this year was Influencers creating and launching their own brands, driven by their expertise in a certain field, passion or life experience. Along with Direct-to-consumer and e-commerce, Consumer behavior shifts driven by the pandemic have accelerated trends. We've also noticed a trend of rising social commerce which will stay. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter have already made such features available in some parts of the world. The report also found out that Youtube is the most used social media platform in India. As we move towards 2022, more trends will see a spike and the ongoing trends will keep growing with the brands' demand. Sagar Pushp, Co-founder and CEO, ClanConnect: Two major trends are emerging in the influencer marketing sector and will likely dominate in 2022. Firstly, the creator economy will move towards a subscription-led model wherein true fans will be able to pay a sum of money to access exclusive influencer content. Such premium content will not be available on public platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Secondly, the use of NFTs is going to skyrocket over the next year. With NFTs, users can assume ownership of content such as images, videos, or sound clips, unlocking more revenue opportunities for creators. Pulkit Agrawal, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, Trell: Two words: Social Commerce. While the pandemic has given a massive push to India’s creator economy, the industry will thrive in 2022, with newer shopping and engagement models being adopted across the ecosystem. India’s GenZ and millennial shoppers are now harder to reach through traditional media channels and prefer social media networks to make purchase decisions. Hence, brands now want to integrate social and commerce to drive higher awareness, consideration, and sales. Further, Vertical videos are bound to take the centre stage in the coming year, which means long-form or episodic content will create opportunities for influencers to integrate brands into their content with the help of data-driven insights- brands and influencers will churn more personalized content for their followers’ The rise of social commerce in India will also give a fillip to digital-first brands while opening up newer avenues for influencers to monetize from brand collaborations, making it a full-time profession. With this, the industry is all set to create transforming shopping experiences and become more interactive, immersive, and entertaining. Live commerce is one of such innovations where an influencer demonstrates product usability in a live video setting, driving higher visibility, excitement, and loyalty for consumers. Gautam Madhavan, CEO, Mad Influence: Short Video and Live Stream will dominate in the influencer marketing industry. Consumers are becoming restless in watching long format videos - hence they want to consume on-the-go type of content. Original Content will be one of the key factors driving this. Content Quality and content authenticity is something consumers will be wanting.

Influencer Marketing: Trends to watch out for in 2022

<ul><li>If the pandemic has brought one certain change in the consumer mindsets, it is the move towards personal hygiene and wellness.</li><li>On the back of e-commerce and growing awareness about wellness, the men’s grooming category has seen unprecedented growth in the last few years.</li><li>To further build this category, <keyword id="3508584" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-man-company" source="Orion">The Man Company</keyword> has launched <keyword id="13237965" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="MinStrips" source="Orion">MinStrips</keyword>, rapid dissolving tongue vitamin strips.</li><li><keyword id="674163" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hitesh-Dhingra" source="Orion">Hitesh Dhingra</keyword>, Founder, The Man Company talks to us about the brand’s forays into the well-being category, brand strategy and growth vision for MinStrips, consumer insights and preferences that led to the innovation and larger vision.</li></ul>Around a decade ago, the male grooming industry was almost non-existent in our country. India only had razors, shaving cream and after-shave lotions for men and those who did care about their skin underneath their beards or mustaches, would quietly use the products available for women. India’s men’s grooming market, thankfully, has come a long way in the last few years, moving beyond shaving and deodorant products. This space has also attracted large FMCG brands such as Reckitt, which invested about Rs 45 crore in the Bombay Shaving Company. Meanwhile, Marico acquired Beardo and Emami increased its stake in The Man Company last year. These marketers have been redefining masculinity, self-expression and grooming through their campaigns. Hitesh Dhingra, Founder, The Man Company says that the segment has evolved and it is no more just beard or face that men care about, they are today giving equal importance to holistic grooming and wellness. With a push from e-commerce, the grooming industry has already expanded its reach beyond urban markets, witnessing an uptick from Tier II and III cities. According to Research and Markets, India's male grooming industry is poised to reach $1.2 billion by 2024 at a CAGR of about 11% and globally, as per a Statista report, the grooming market is projected to reach around USD 81.2 billion by 2024. Now, to further build this category, The Man Company is entering a new segment: nutraceuticals. It has forayed into the well-being category with the launch of MinStrips, rapid dissolving tongue vitamin strips. Dhingra speaks to Advertising and Media Insider about the company’s foray into well-being, category trends we can expect this year, key focus areas and revenue goals for the coming fiscal. Q. What was the thought and idea behind foraying into the well-being category? We started our journey as an essentially grooming brand to help men on their continuous evolution. We have strived to build trust among our customers all these years by formulating purest and finest quality products for their overall grooming under skin, hair, and body care. Considering the need of the hour and being one of the leading brands for men’s grooming products, we wanted to move the needle following a 360-degree approach to enable a better lifestyle for men. The idea is to take a holistic approach from external to internal grooming. Therefore, we forayed into the wellness category and launched our sub-brand ‘MINS’. As a brand, we have been synonymous with innovations. It is in our DNA. So, this time, we wanted to launch products that are on the go, effective, easy yet safe, something with which Gen Z could quickly resonate. After 2.5 years of thorough R&amp;D, we added MINS to our product portfolio. MinStrips are orally dissolving strips that help people tackle all the lifestyle hurdles. Needless to say, most millennials and Gen Z have a fast-paced and hectic lifecycle. This automatically raises concerns about sleep, stress and anxiety due to work pressure, better hair and skin (which is already our forte), performance and sexual wellness. We are addressing all these issues with our latest innovation, MINS. Q. MinStrips is quite an interesting product. What inspired you to launch it? The nutraceutical industry in India is witnessing a CAGR of 21% this year. There are substantial untapped market opportunities out there. We can also see an aversion amongst millennials and Gen Z from consuming capsules, powders, gummies and tablets. The reason is that there is still a taboo attached to nutraceuticals being challenging to consume or travel with as they are somewhat dependent on factors like water intake. In contrast, MinStrips are self-dissolvable oral strips. Users simply need to keep it on their tongue, and the process is done, they can have their daily dose of Vitamin with utmost convenience. Additionally, MinStrips come with sleek packaging in a travel-friendly format. The entire concept of effective and easy-to-use makes it an exciting product, especially for our young consumer base. Furthermore, as per our research, strips have 80% active ingredients compared to gummies (30%), capsules (20%) and tablets (10%). This also makes MinStrips a highly accurate, elevated absorption and quick action product compared to other formats. Q. Also, these are rapid dissolving tongue vitamin strips, what was the product insight there? You chose not to go with regular vitamin supplements, so what led to this innovation? We didn't start making MinStrips just now. We have been doing our research since the pandemic was in its initial stage. During our research, we identified some key problems like modern consumers didn't want to take daily capsules, tablets, or powder content. They also want more affordable, hassle-free and convenient Vitamin supplements. So, we decided to launch MINS, a unique Vitamin supplement format accompanied by added benefits. MinStrips are made with 100% natural ingredients. They are vegan and free from any chemicals, sugar and side effects. One of the USPs of the product is that these are non-habit forming which makes them safe and easy to consume. We have also gained lab certificates from leading laboratories like GMP Laboratories, HACCP, ISO Certification, and FDA to attest to our claim. Q. How would you spread the word? What is your marketing and distribution strategy? We have garnered a huge and loyal community in the last six years of The Man Company's journey. Today, we have 0.8M followers across Social Media and a consumer base of 2M. This community comprises progressive and like-minded gentlemen. As our initial marketing and distribution strategy, we will leverage our existing consumers to spread the word through various media and also by sampling. We will also collaborate with influencers and content creators to spread word of mouth through their individual experiences. Furthermore, in terms of distribution, apart from our robust e-commerce platform and marketplaces, we also have around 2000 offline touchpoints through Modern Trade and Exclusive Brand Outlets. MINS will be ready to avail on all of these platforms. Q. What is your marketing budget earmarked for this year? 35% of our revenue is to be invested in marketing. Q. How has the company and brands’ communication evolved over the duration of the pandemic? During the pandemic, ‘immunity’ became the buzzword and the need of the hour, which made the wellness industry boom. Therefore, we feel this is the right time to enter the market and create a dent. For The Man Company, these last years have turned out to be propitious. We engaged with our customers to practise self-love, which made ‘The Man Company’ a household name among men embarking on their grooming journey. Since salons and parlours were shut down, we introduced DIY products for face, hair, beard and foot care that were easy to follow while working from home. Q. What does your media strategy look like? Which medium gets your lion's share? By DNA, we are a digital-first company. We function in full swing on the back of Social Media marketing and content creators. Content creators lead social media, and we believe influencers can be our ambassadors. Moreover, since we are a lifestyle brand, we are very focused on UGCs. We are currently on the lookout for going regional and trying to speak in the way and language that our consumers speak across the country. We believe that we should not merely translate the communication but trans-create it. Simultaneously, we are also gearing up to foray to other novel platforms and formats shortly. Q. As you build the men's wellness industry in India, what are some of the trends that you are expecting to see? How has consumer behaviour changed after the pandemic in this category? The pandemic inadvertently forced people to become more aware of their immunity strength and hygiene factors. Given that, consumers, in our case men, started to talk about personal care, hygiene and grooming became an escalating point for the tremendous growth of the wellness industry. During the pandemic hours, since everyone was working from home and salons were closed indefinitely, home-care and DIYs became the need of the hour. To assist our customers, we also came up with easy-to-use products that do not need experts, but consumers can use them in the comfort and safety of their homes. In the post-pandemic era, we believe consumers will continue to pay special attention to their personal care and grooming regime. The trend to use chemical and cruelty-free products will continue to gain strength, and consumers will incline towards affordable and effective product lines. Q. What are some of the challenges in this category? The biggest challenge is that consuming nutraceuticals is still considered taboo. More acceptance through education and workshops is required. Most importantly, wellness products should be safe to consume, which is why we have gotten MinStrips certified by several leading laboratories. Considering consumers today are busy with their fast-moving routines, we wanted to make MinStrips-brought wellness a part of the daily schedule. It wasn't easy to come up with an unprecedented idea. Still, we wanted to bring a hassle-free and affordable Vitamin and wellness booster with an 'On the Go' convenience for our customers. And, we are glad to say that we succeeded in our endeavour. Q. The notion of toxic masculinity has forced men to ignore themselves. It judges men who take care of their health and skin. Do you think that notion is changing in India? Are men more open to this change? Be it through our products or campaigns, The Man Company believes in bringing out the 'Gentleman In You'. Since inception, we have witnessed a gradual change in the way men perceive themselves. Social media, movies, web series have spoken about this change for quite some time now. We also feel that India has been exponentially evolving in terms of mindset. Grooming has become an aspiration. It's no more just beard or face that men care about, but modern gentlemen are focusing on holistic grooming and wellness. We have garnered considerable traction from tier-II and tier-III cities, proving that men's grooming is witnessing a notable uptick. The Man Company has worked as a catalyst to bring in this change through various campaigns like #GentlemanTumhiTohho, #ScentOfAGentleman and Gentleman Kise Kehte hai. We'll continue to assist the journey of 21st-century gentlemen. Q. Which are your strongest markets? Are you looking at expanding your business further this year? We cater to all gentlemen irrespective of education, sexuality, religion, job profile, or age, but prominently, we struck chords with millennials and Gen Z clientele. Our target group is every gentleman who is real, modern, authentic, progressive and self-aware. During our growth journey, we realised that tier-II and tier-III cities have issues related to affordability and awareness related to men's grooming and personal care. So, we decided to start our e-business operations in these cities. Considering that we are launching a sub-brand (MINS) and a new product (MinStrips) in the new year, we are sure this year will end on a high note. Q. What are some of your focus areas for this year? From a brand perspective, we are focusing on thought-provoking leadership. We want to create a strong brand presence across the country and make The Man Company a household name even in the most remote locations. For the coming months, we are gearing up to collaborate with platforms like Cred, Trell, etc. to fortify our sales. We are also working on IPs, such as the Hall of Gentlemen, to celebrate gentlemen bringing selfless change to society. Apart from this, several other exciting IPs are in the pipeline that resonate with our core communication to bring out the #GentlemanInYou. We don't want to be a brand that does tokenism. Our goal is to become a catalyst in changing the mindset of men everywhere. Q. You are all set to double your sales to Rs 100 crores by the end of this fiscal. How are you planning on sustaining this growth this year? What are your revenue goals for FY23? We will be pushing content like never before and expanding our offline presence aggressively. In terms of MT and EBO presence, we'll ensure maximum outreach. We are also launching various interesting categories, starting with MINS and expanding existing categories with exciting and innovative products. In addition, recently, we have also launched our loyalty program called The Man Club for our community. The Man Company is expecting to touch Rs 225 crore revenue in the coming fiscal.

The Man Company aims to touch Rs 225 crore revenue in the coming fiscal; earmarks 35% of its revenue for marketing and advertising

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image">KHOU 11 News/Screenshot</div></div></div>A 16-year-old girl from Texas says photos of her unconscious body went viral after she <a href="http://www.khou.com/news/crime/16-year-old-girl-says-her-rape-went-viral-Im-just-angry-266360261.html">was allegedly drugged and assaulted at a party in June</a>.
The girl, who revealed her first name - Jada - in an interview on Houston's KHOU 11 News, says she was invited to a house party thrown by fellow high schoolers. The boy who hosted the gathering offered her punch, which she accepted, and after drinking it she passed out, she told the TV station. 
Jada believes she was drugged and raped but she didn't know about it until the next day. "I had no control," she told KHOU 11 News. "I didn't tell anyone to take my clothes off and do what they did to me." 
Photos of her unconscious body splayed out on the ground at the party - both fully clothed and naked - <a href="http://www.theroot.com/blogs/the_grapevine/2014/07/_16_year_old_girl_says_her_rape_went_viral_alleged_rapist_tweets_his_innocence.html" target="_blank">began circulating on social media</a>. The Root points out that those who uploaded pictures of Jada don't seem to realize that they're distributing what could be considered child pornography. 
Soon after the incident, people began imitating Jada's pose in the photos, mocking the girl and making light of the situation, by uploading their own pictures and Vines with the caption #jadapose.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jadapose?src=hash">#jadapose</a> <a href="http://t.co/CxMo64UsWj">pic.twitter.com/CxMo64UsWj</a>
- #00 Trell? (@lowkeyitsmoe) <a href="https://twitter.com/lowkeyitsmoe/statuses/486718561075724288">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Lmao <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jadapose?src=hash">#jadapose</a> <a href="https://t.co/Bs4oMk0kra">https://t.co/Bs4oMk0kra</a>
- Zmurrda (@Futuresnatural) <a href="https://twitter.com/Futuresnatural/statuses/486940598327590912">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
Hit that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/jadapose?src=hash">#jadapose</a> <a href="https://t.co/G9eLocZzFN">https://t.co/G9eLocZzFN</a>
- youngin (@FilthyDeee) <a href="https://twitter.com/FilthyDeee/statuses/486718412794896384">July 9, 2014</a></blockquote>

The Houston Press <a href="http://blogs.houstonpress.com/hairballs/2014/07/mocking_jadapose_hashtag_spreads_on_twitter.php">contacted Vine user @FilthyDeee</a>, who uploaded the above Vine. He said he posted it when he "was bored at 1a.m. and decided to wake up my (Twitter timeline)," and that he didn't know Jada personally.
Houston police <a href="http://www.khou.com/news/crime/16-year-old-girl-says-her-rape-went-viral-Im-just-angry-266360261.html" target="_blank">have opened an investigation</a> into Jada's alleged assault.
Other Twitter users are using the hashtag to speak out in support of Jada and against rape culture. Many of these users are reporting and blocking people on Twitter and Vine who are using the #jadapose hashtag to shame and mock the girl.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JadaPose?src=hash">#JadaPose</a> - and I'm posting those screenshots on my blog for the police. Deleting won't work. Soliciting that video is a crime.
- Humanitarian (@All4Humanity) <a href="https://twitter.com/All4Humanity/statuses/487223046239842305">July 10, 2014</a></blockquote>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en">
<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Jadapose?src=hash">#Jadapose</a> is just one of many reasons why we need <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YesAllWomen?src=hash">#YesAllWomen</a>. Disgusting.
- Pauline (@Passie_Kracht) <a href="https://twitter.com/Passie_Kracht/statuses/487180669639213056">July 10, 2014</a></blockquote>
Jada has spoken candidly about what has happened to her. "There's no point in hiding," she told KHOU 11 News. "Everybody has already seen my face and my body, but that's not what I am and who I am."

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