<ul><li>With the India-China border tensions escalating, the Indian government has banned 59 Chinese apps, including video sharing platform Helo.</li><li>In such a scenario, we have compiled a list of similar video sharing apps.</li><li>If you are looking for other <keyword id="9503674" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="chinese-app-alternatives">Chinese app alternatives</keyword>, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/chinese-app-alternatives-here-are-the-alternatives-to-top-chinese-apps/tiktok-/slidelist/76463292.cms">check out our list here</a>.</li></ul>Helo is a social media platform that allows users to share videos, jokes, WhatsApp status and more with their friends. It also allows users to chat with their friends in multiple regional languages. Helo is one of the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/checkout-the-name-of-the-chinese-banned-apps-in-india/articleshow/76696132.cms">59 Chinese apps banned</a> in India by the government. With TikTok already being <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tiktok-ban-now-being-enforced-as-it-stops-working-on-jio-and-airtel-4g/articleshow/76714280.cms">blocked by major telecom providers</a> like Jio and Airtel, it won’t be long before users are blocked from accessing these apps. It might be time to look for a Helo replacement if you already use the app. There are several <keyword id="9503676" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="helo-alternatives">Helo alternatives</keyword> that can be downloaded and used for free. In this list, we look at some of the top apps. Top Helo alternatives ShareChat ShareChat is an Indian multilingual social networking app that offers content in as many as 15 Indian languages. The app allows users to make and share videos, share WhatsApp status, watch funny videos and more. It also has a chatroom feature that allows users to make a room and meet new friends. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.mohalla.sharechat&amp;hl=en_IN">Download ShareChat</a> from the Play Store. Roposo Roposo is an Indian short video sharing platform developed by InMobi and has crossed over 5 million downloads on the Play Store. It is available in multiple in multiple regional languages and allows users to create and share short videos, share WhatsApp status and more. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.roposo.android&amp;hl=en_IN">Download Roposo</a> from the Play Store. Chingari Indian video sharing app Chingari has emerged as the top alternative for TikTok and has crossed over 1 million downloads on the Play Store. The app allows users to make and share videos, view news from across the world and play games. It is available in English, Hindi and regional languages like Telugu, Gujrati and Marathi. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=io.chingari.app&amp;hl=en_IN">Download Chingari</a> from the Play Store. Mitron The Mitron app rose to fame soon after its launch and crossed 5 million downloads. The app has had its fair share of controversies and was even alleged to be a clone of a Pakistani app. The app is back again and reportedly has over 1.2 crore monthly active users. <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mitron.tv&amp;hl=en_IN">Download Mitron</a> from the Play Store. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/chinese-uc-browser-app-alternatives-google-chrome-firefox-opera-edge-and-more/articleshow/76724409.cms">Top UC Browser alternatives from Google, Samsung, Opera and others</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/top-chinese-camscanner-app-alternatives-adobe-scan-microsoft-office-lens-google-drive-and-more/articleshow/76721925.cms">Top CamScanner alternatives for Android to help you scan documents on the go</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/chinese-app-tiktok-alternative-in-indian-market-like-chingari-triller-sharechat-roposo-mitron/articleshow/76725779.cms">Top TikTok alternatives to make and share your videos</a>

EXCLUSIVE: Instagram Reels is being quietly tested in India just days after the TikTok ban

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 announcement comes after the company had earlier said it will be dropping the word ‘fair’ from the product’s name. </li><li>The recent protests against racial discrimination in the US has spurred the conversation again as brands take a conscious note of ideas that sell ‘fairness’ as beauty. </li><li>However, even after the company’s decision to drop the name, people have called for a complete ban on the product instead of just changing the name. </li></ul><keyword id="6365619" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="hindustan-unilever">Hindustan Unilever</keyword> has announced that its flagship product <keyword id="82344" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="fair-and-lovely">Fair and Lovely</keyword> will now be called <keyword id="9504167" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="glow-and-lovely">Glow and Lovely</keyword>. “Over the next few months, Glow &amp; Lovely will be on the shelves, and future innovations will deliver on this new proposition. The Men's range of Fair &amp; Lovely will be called 'Glow &amp; Handsome',” said the company’s official statement. The announcement comes after the company had announced it will be dropping the word ‘fair’ from the product’s name. However, even after the company’s decision to drop the name, people have called for a complete ban on the product instead of just changing the name. The recent protests against racial discrimination in the US has spurred the conversation again as brands take a conscious note of ideas that sell ‘fairness’ as beauty. “We recognise that the use of the words ‘fair’, ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular ideal of beauty that we don’t think is right, and we want to address this. As we’re evolving the way that we communicate the skin benefits of our products that deliver radiant and even tone skin, it’s also important to change the language we use,” said Sunny Jain, President Beauty &amp; Personal Care, <keyword id="45009" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unilever">Unilever</keyword>. Fair &amp; Lovely has been in India for over 45 years now and has been one of the best-selling creams. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/it-took-black-lives-matter-protests-in-us-to-kill-fairness-creams-in-india/articleshow/76622179.cms">It took Black Lives Matter protests in US to kill fairness creams in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-app-is-in-talks-with-a-global-vc-firm-after-the-tiktok-rival-gets-lit-with-over-10-million-downloads/articleshow/76749594.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Chingari app is in talks with a global VC firm after the TikTok rival gets lit with over 10 million downloads⁠</a>

Fair and Lovely to now be repackaged with a new name – Glow and Lovely

<ul><li><keyword id="131553" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Intel-Capital">Intel Capital</keyword> gets a 0.39% stake in <keyword id="2003276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jio">Jio</keyword>. </li><li>With this, Jio has raised a total of ₹ 117,588.45 crore from the likes of Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and Saudi PIF. </li><li>The deal with the technology leader is set to help Reliance Jio push its digital reach.</li></ul>Reliance Jio has announced its 12th investment – ₹1894.5 crore ($253.5 million) from Intel Capital – the investment arm of Intel. Intel Capital gets a 0.39% stake in Jio. With this, Jio has raised a total of ₹ 117,588.45 crore so far from the likes of Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners, General Atlantic, KKR, Mubadala, ADIA, TPG and Saudi PIF since April 22, 2020 The latest deal is Reliance’s 12th investment in 11 weeks. <div type="image" title="Jio investments 12 (1)." msid="76762147" hostid="261"></div> The deal with the technology leader is set to help Reliance Jio push its digital reach. "Intel Capital invests globally in innovative companies with a focus on disruptive technology areas like cloud computing, artificial intelligence and 5G – opportunities where Jio is also innovating and investing for growth," said the company's statement. “Intel is a true industry leader, working towards creating world-changing technology and innovations. Intel Capital has an outstanding record of being a valuable partner for leading technology companies globally. We are therefore excited to work together with Intel to advance India’s capabilities in cutting-edge technologies that will empower all sectors of our economy and improve the quality of life of 1.3 billion Indians,” said Reliance Chairman <keyword id="3820" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mukesh-Ambani">Mukesh Ambani</keyword> in a statement. Intel Capital has been investing in startups for a long time. Globally, Intel Capital invests $300 million to $500 million every year. In May 2020, the company had invested $132 million in 11 global startups. In India, Intel Capital has invested in the likes of Snapdeal, Yatra, Hungama, IndiaMart among others. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-app-is-in-talks-with-a-global-vc-firm-after-the-tiktok-rival-gets-lit-with-over-10-million-downloads/articleshow/76749594.cms">EXCLUSIVE: Chingari app is in talks with a global VC firm after the TikTok rival gets lit with over 10 million downloads⁠</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/facebooks-tiktok-clone-lasso-is-shutting-down-as-zuckerberg-gears-up-to-launch-instagram-reels/articleshow/76745585.cms">Facebook’s TikTok-clone Lasso is shutting down as Zuckerberg gears up to launch Instagram Reels</a>

Reliance Jio gets ₹1894.5 crore from Intel Capital – the 12th investment in 11 weeks

<ul><li>As the government banned 59 Chinese apps around talks of data privacy and security, many influencers and brands have been left in the lurch.</li><li>Since apps like <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword> have a huge influencer community and brands also have their marketing monies invested on the platform, we spoke to experts to understand how things might pan out in the near future.</li></ul> For a while now, there have been increasing debates around <keyword id="145060" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="data-security">data security</keyword> and privacy in India. Amidst these conversations and also mounting tensions between China and India, the government of India on Monday announced the ban of around 59 Chinese apps. These apps include popular video-sharing social networking platform TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser, SHAREit, Baidu Map, Shein, Helo and Likee, amongst others. The government, in its official announcement said, “The Ministry of Information Technology, invoking it’s power under section 69A of the Information Technology Act read with the relevant provisions of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for Blocking of Access of Information by Public) Rules 2009 and in view of the emergent nature of threats has decided to block 59 apps ( see Appendix) since in view of information available they are engaged in activities which is prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order.” Hours after the announcement was made, TikTok India’s head <keyword id="47432" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Gandhi">Nikhil Gandhi</keyword> released a statement.It read, “The Government of India has issued an interim order for the blocking of 59 apps, including TikTok and we are in the process of complying with it. We have been invited to meet with concerned government stakeholders for an opportunity to respond and submit clarifications. TikTok continues to comply with all data privacy and security requirements under Indian law and have not shared any information of our users in India with any foreign government, including the Chinese Government. Further if we are requested to in the future we would not do so. We place the highest importance on user privacy and integrity. TikTok has democratized the internet by making it available in 14 Indian languages, with hundreds of millions of users, artists, story-tellers, educators and performers depending on it for their livelihood, many of whom are first time internet users.” TikTok enjoys a huge following in India and has a dedicated fan base as well as innumerable users who have become influencers on the platform. India accounts for a huge chuck of TikTok’s global installs. According to estimates by Sensor Tower, when TikTok crossed 2 billion global downloads, India was at the forefront of this growth. The country accounted for 611 million lifetime downloads or 30.3% of the total. This opened up the opportunities for both content creators and brands who started looking at the platform as an effective way of reaching out to audiences. We saw quite a few brands come up with innovative campaigns on the platform. TikTok has also been strengthening its offerings for advertisers. However, this ban will put a lot of things on hold. We wanted to understand the impact of this ban on the influencer community and reached out to a few experts. Here is what they had to say: <keyword id="2705387" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shamsuddin-Jasani">Shamsuddin Jasani</keyword>, Group MD, Isobar South Asia We don't know how long this ban is going to last for. But if it lasts for a few months it certainly is going to have a big effect on the curated video space, YouTube for sure will be the big gainer as well as Indian apps on the space. Ashutosh, CEO and Co-founder, Buzzoka The ban on Tik-Tok definitely calls for brands to rethink their influencer marketing strategies. Undeniably, the platform saw a spike in interest in the recent past however it must be noted that it formed only a part of brands' influencer marketing spend. On the contrary, mature platforms like Instagram and YouTube have always had an edge over the former. As a result, the impact of its ban will be lesser on brands and more on the content creators who were only present on Tik-Tok. I believe there's always a silver lining. Disruption will take place in the market. There is no dearth of platforms hence, brands will increasingly turn to them to reach similar audiences. Similarly, influencers will be able to make new identities on other platforms as far as they are good and confident about their content creation. Moreover, this will create new avenues in the ecosystem for emerging Indian platforms like Mitron and Chingari and will encourage them to invest more in enhancing their respective platforms and see rapid growth from here. Premkumar Iyer, National Operations Head, Gozoop This ban is a very big move for Indian M&amp;A. It will be interesting to see how the whole ban eventually plays out. Of all the apps banned, TikTok ranks highest on potential due to its hinterland dominance, which led brands to make investments on the platform, both in terms of time and money. Brands will probably press pause and see how this culminates before attempting any major course correction. However, the real game here is for the influencers who have built strong communities on the platform. We are witnessing a shift as most are moving towards Instagram as it is natively closest to what TikTok enabled for these creators. Cross promoting communities have always been the norm for influencers and since the ban was announced creators have started posting content asking their community to follow them on Instagram and YouTube so that if the ban continues fans can still watch their content. What's going to make this even more interesting is if Instagram's Reels and Facebook's Lasso short video format app launches in India as the timing could not be better.I think for most it is going to be like JayZ says “On to the Next One”. Harikrishnan Pillai, CEO and Co-founder, TheSmallBigIdea Digital platforms across the world are facing tremendous pressure from governments and advertisers to bring in more data transparency and content filtering. This move is led by public outrage and both, the government and brands are quite conscious of their imagery basis their stance. The 150+ brand boycott of Facebook or the Chinese platform bans are clear indicators of this phenomenon. The question is what does it mean to the advertisers, agencies and platforms. In a short to medium term, advertisers and agencies will look at alternate platforms to help them meet their marketing goals. Some of the banned platforms are sizeable, so it would be difficult to find an immediate apparent replacement. In this case, a combination of replacements or an increase in presence in existing platforms can be an option. Also, the ban is still a little unclear from an implementation standpoint. The downloaded apps are still running, though new downloads are at a halt. If the government calls for a complete ban, things will go south for these platforms. Even then, I don't believe brands will advertise on these apps, fearing public outrage. For influencers, from a short term POV, the business will be affected if they have had a single platform focus. From a long term perspective, Indian apps have a great opportunity to grow. ‘Revenge Download' will lead to a sudden spike of Indian apps. Whether they manage to be sticky and effective, time will tell. <keyword id="7372416" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viraj-Sheth">Viraj Sheth</keyword>, Co-founder and CEO, <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword> The TikTok ban, if it stays for perpetuity, will prove to be a big dent in the life of many young and budding influencers. TikTok has given rise to an incredible number of influencers who rose to stardom through the platform and earned their bread and butter due to the audience earned from the app. While most of the established TikTokers will see a dip in their branded content earnings because of this ban for a few months, they've been smart enough to build their audiences on platforms like Instagram &amp; YouTube. When brands divert their spends from TikTok to other platforms, this ban will not affect their earnings over a period of time. TikTok had been a huge catalyst in enabling talent from the farthest nooks and corners of India. The ban will leave a gap in the market for Indian short video platforms to come through and make their mark. I hope they make their moves right. Neel Gogia, Co founder, IPLIX Media This step will impact thousands of Tiktok influencers who are dependent on brands for their survival. Brands will be impacted as well. They have already started reaching out to us to understand how they can realign their strategies to reach similar audiences. It will be interesting to see how influencers and brands change their strategies to adapt to the other platforms. We feel in 5-6 months influencers can build their audience in these platforms (if they create relevant content). Ankit Agarwal, Founder, Do Your Thng The ban is more of a statement right now - a comma rather than a full stop. That’s evident from the clarification updated by TikTok India. If, and that’s a big if, the block becomes permanent, it has the potential to change the influencer landscape significantly. Right now, for marketers, TikTok is the space to target Gen Zers as 41% of its users fall in this age bracket. I feel it is one reason why brand custodians place it in the top 3 three platforms for influencer marketing [Instagram (94%), TikTok (52%) and YouTube (52%)]. On top of it, the app has higher engagement rates and average time spent per day than Instagram. When you take away something so effective, brands are bound to feel the pinch. To compensate, they’ll redirect their influencer marketing efforts to other platforms – trigger the said change. On the creator side, the impact will be more substantial and devastating. As Nikhil Gandhi correctly points out, TikTok gave a voice to hundreds of creators generating vernacular content in India. While most creators are savvy enough to diversify to other platforms, there will be few who stand to lose their entire body of work. But all this is contingent on a permanent block, which in my opinion will most probably not happen. Not just because TikTok has been given a chance to submit clarifications, but because executing a ban is not simple with plenty of workarounds available. Honey Singh, CEO &amp; Co-Founder, #ARM Worldwide Content creators have already started nurturing their other platforms like Instagram and Youtube. After this ban, I feel there will be a significant spike on Instagram. These content creators will also face monetary losses since brands have already started pausing their planned TikTok activities for now. At the moment, we are already in touch with many content creators and figuring out how to finish ongoing campaigns. Lastly, this ban will also allow these content creators to think about building a uniform fan following. Post anti-China sentiments have already started depleting the wallets of influencers. After the ban, all the scheduled campaigns from the brands are on pause until further clarity from the government. Creators having large followings on other channels like Instagram/Youtube may recover, but there will be a significant loss for them. The silver lining is that content creators should realize that nothing is permanent. They should start working on an omnichannel presence. Aside from nurturing an audience on a platform, a community beyond a single rented house is a must. The thumb rule for any brand is to know exactly where their audience is. Long-term solutions can include developing platforms such as forums, websites, blogs &amp; newsletters to nurture their audience beyond a single platform. Sandeep Sreekumar, Managing Director, Media Moments Over the years, apps like TikTok, Helo and the likes had caught the eye of various brands and had developed into strong marketing mediums. Now, with the recent update, there will be a shift in the platforms used by the influencers while the overall approach will remain the same. This move will also open new opportunities for many Indian apps.And it will be interesting to see how Indian apps like Chingari, Mitron and Roposo will come into the foreplay and cash in the situation. For instance, many apps experienced a massive increase in the download rates soon after the announcement. Having said that; thorough understanding, planning and research will be required before associating with these apps to deliver right message and content. But as long as quality content is being created, audiences will follow and as long as audiences are there, brands will invest regardless of the platform. Piyush Kumar, CEO &amp; Founder, Rooter We have seen a 250% increase in new users joining Rooter in the last 12 hours and we are estimating 1 million new users on our platform in the next 15 Days. This surge will be organically driven by our users and content creators. The ban on Chinese apps like TikTok opens up a huge opportunity for Indian apps to come to the forefront. There will be a huge drop in user acquisition costs as Chinese apps may no longer invest their money in our homegrown apps money. Moreover, the advertising business for the Indian apps will also increase in the absence of TikTok. TikTok might have been a source of income for thousands of content creators, but there were only 1-1.5% of users creating content on it. The rest were the consumers. With the emergence of alternate local platforms, creators will automatically shift their content dais, enticing the brands to partner with them for engaging with the audience. It will be a win-win situation for both. Divanshi Gupta, Director, The Marcom Avenue The recent geopolitical events on Indo-China borders have resulted in the Indian government banning TikTok and other 58 apps in the light of protecting the privacy and sovereignty of its residents. This action may have its repercussions on both the governments, but it is definitely going to have a significant impact on the brands and advertisers who had set aside the quarter budget for influencer marketing campaigns on TikTok social media. This short-form content media app had begun to attract a considerable number of users. And now, the advertisers will have to undeniably shift their strategy and focus on creating long-form content on platforms, like YouTube and Instagram, with already established and known faces by bidding adieu to TikTok influencers.

How TikTok’s ban in India might impact influencers and brands

<ul><li>Brands like RSVP, OPPO, Mountain Dew and RedBull have associated with PUBG in the past. </li><li>PUBG was known to offer high-reach and consumer engagement, two powerful baits for brands. </li><li>Experts answer how brands that invested in PUBG will adapt to the current situation and where they will move their marketing monnies.</li></ul>It has been two days since the government banned Tencent’s signature battle royale game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG) and app clones like PABJE, FAU-G and Pixel’s Unknown Battleground have already started sprouting up on Play Store. Due to the ban, Chinese tech giant Tencent has lost nearly $34 billion (HK$ 261.05) of its market value over the last two days. PUBG was downloaded 34.2 million times until May 2020 of which India accounted for 35.8% — 12.24 million installs, according to data provided by Sensor Tower. PUBG’s ban has not only left gamers in the lurch, it also left a void for brands that invested on in-app ads, event organisers, and influencers who were using PUBG and game streaming to earn a livelihood. The game also attracted advertisers ranging from handset makers to beverage companies. Brands that catered to the young audiences like OPPO, Mountain Dew, RedBull, etc have associated with PUBG in the past. It offered them engagement and high reach. One of the prominent brand partnerships that PUBG saw was with Ronnie Screwvala Productions’ (RSVP) action drama ‘URI: The Surgical Strike.’ Gamers were given an opportunity to launch a surgical strike on Pochinki, one of the most popular towns in the game’s map. While PUBG enthusiasts did not notice the advertisements on the app, it did have some incentive-led ads like ‘watch this ad to earn a scrap coupon’, collect 10 coins and build crates to buy in-game items. Gaming was considered a niche-category for a long time in the advertising industry. However, in 2019, of the $22.6 billion spent on mobile apps in Q2 2019, $16.95 billion was spent on mobile games and Indians were the largest market for mobile games, according to App Annie. So we reached out to a few industry experts to understand what kind of dent will the ban create in the advertising and marketing industry, how brands will reshuffle their monnies and find an alternative that offers the same amount of reach and user base. Explaining how brands will try to find alternatives that offer the same reach, Vaibhav Odhekar – Co-Founder and COO of POKKT Mobile Ads, said, “In the gaming space, all the brands were largely involved in “audience buying” and not site buying (like Candy Crush). So as long as there are players and audiences actively involved in gaming, brands will continue to be happy. POKKT has a gaming audience base of over 252mn+ users in India alone, so we believe that there is a massive reach present in terms of gaming content, advertising opportunities and the effectiveness for brands. Now brands will look at tweaking their targeting strategy to try and capture a larger set of apps, or else surgically approach the top competitors of the likes of PUBG and other banned apps to ensure cumulative audience reach.” Odhekar also pointed out that the majority of Indian gamers play casual games and that is where the maximum advertising is happening. Currently, top 10 apps on Google Play Store are Casual Games. <div type="image" title="top games" msid="77932529" hostid="261"></div> On what led to <keyword id="739806" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaming-industry">Gaming industry</keyword>’s boom, Odhekar added, “Gaming became really big in the first place due to casual gaming, which means most Indian users are playing (and engaging with ads on) games like Candy Crush, Temple Run, Subway Surfer, Ludo, Carrom. And this entire segment is untouched via Chinese app influence.” Brands that did associate with PUBG, did that for its captive audience and large user base. Abhinay Bhasin, Vice President (South Asia), Data Sciences, Dentsu Aegis Network said, “Chinese apps presented advertisers with a unique avenue to reach out to captive audiences offering a fairly large base that created a diversion of spends from platforms such as Facebook and Google onto unique ad formats that the Chinese apps offered. Estimates show that apps like TikTok had over 600 million downloads in India during its lifetime and Alibaba-owned UC Browser had a market share of over 10%. With the ban on these apps and services, brands will ultimately follow eyeballs and engaged audiences. The recent ban on TikTok for example seemed to be a boon for Instagram as they launched Reels in India. Similarly, the desi competitor to TikTok, Chingari, witnessed a record 1 crore+ download on the Google Play Store shortly after an initial ban on Chinese apps was announced. Brands in India have a multitude of sources to reach out to youth audiences such as via Gaming, OTT services, the aforementioned substitutes, etc. It’s far from the end of the world!” Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman &amp; Managing Director, JetSynthesys, and President of the Indian Digital Gaming Society said that most PUBG casual players will switch to other similar games in India so the impact should not be much and it only brought about 2% to overall gaming industry’s revenue. Navani said, “Impact on the overall gaming industry should not be over 2% if one were to include in-app and advertising revenue combined, in the immediate short-term. However, the professional PUBG esport players and other content creators around PUBG streaming will be severely impacted since they derive their livelihood from the game. At a time when the domestic mobile gaming industry is growing rapidly, PUBG’s ban provides an immense opportunity for other international and domestic gaming companies to grow their market share.” According to Manesh Swamy, VP- Creative, Logicserve Digital, PUBG’s ban will not hamper brands’ way of finding ways to reach out to consumers. However, they will now be cautious to associate with any kind of Chinese brand. “As a marketer and advertiser, I feel it won’t affect the industry at large, as we always find ways to meet our clients' marketing challenges and goals. Also, taking into consideration the current reservation against Chinese products and services, even brands would be cautious and not want to associate themselves with these platforms to carry out any marketing activities. I am sure they do not wish to hamper their consumer's loyalty,” said Swamy. With the pandemic-infused lockdown, consumers had to find ways of entertaining themselves within the four walls of their house. As a result, gaming apps saw a spike in users and brands started realising the potential of this industry. Sanjay Mehta, Joint CEO of Mirum India described the foreseeable situation in one word - ‘adapt.’ He said brands and agencies will adapt and find alternatives. Mehta said, “The most impacted sector/brand because of the ban is the brand/app PubG itself and most importantly their Pro-Players, who literally earned from it. India contributed almost 1/4th of the user and being a MOG (Multiplayer Online Game) it majorly ran on a Freemium model. Means their biggest revenue generator was In-game-purchase. Gaming has been one of the biggest contributors for AdEx in India during this COVID period. So gaming is here to stay, and brands have a plethora of games to advertise on. Like Video, casual gaming is also on a high and thankfully Brands have enough options.” Ban on 116 Chinese apps and its impact on AdEx PUBG offered brands an opportunity to place in-app advertisements, explore content marketing associations and organise group events around it. So with its ban, what kind of impact will it have on Advertising Expenditure this year? With PUBG, the government also ordered a ban on another 116 apps like Ludo World, Arena of Valor, Chess Rush. The first list came out on June 29 after the Galwan Valley skirmish, which left 20 Indian soldiers dead and an undisclosed number of casualties on the Chinese side. This included the popular short video streaming app TikTok, UC Browser, Xiaomi's Mi Community and 56 others. So how will the ban on all Chinese apps in India impact overall AdEx? Bhasin said Chinese companies contribute around 4-5% to overall Indian Advertising Revenue. He said, “The ban on Chinese apps will certainly have a significant impact on influencer associations that were picking up steam on TikTok or even through gaming influencers and contests. These spends will now have to be realigned to other alternatives. Moreover, the ban on apps is most likely to have a ripple effect onto other investments into AdEx in India by Chinese companies that contribute to roughly 4-5% of the overall Indian advertising economy.” Swamy and Mehta, on the other hand, said the impact will be minimal. “I don’t feel that the ban would affect the overall Ad Expenditure as brands would redirect their strategies to fit in the best manner possible,” said Swamy. Conclusion Brands and agencies adapted to COVID, they adapted to the TikTok ban and now, they are gearing up to adapt to PUBG’s ban, too.

Will PUBG’s ban have a ripple effect on in-game brand partnerships and AdEx?

<ul><li>India has banned 177 Chinese mobile apps since June, including key games such as PUBG Mobile, Mobile Legends, Chess Rush, Rise of Kingdoms.</li><li>The banning of Chinese <keyword id="1319826" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="gaming-apps">gaming Apps</keyword> have opened doors for Indian Gaming platforms.</li><li>We speak to a few Indian gaming companies and experts to find out how Indian Gaming apps benefitted from the ban on Chinese apps so far. </li></ul>India’s ban on another 118 Chinese apps in September, including popular games such as PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), Ludo World, Dank Tanks, Ludo All Stars, Arena of Valor, Carrom Friends, Mobile Legends, Rise of Kingdom, Chess Rush opened up room for home-grown gaming apps to rise in the ranks. While only three games were banned in June, the second batch in September put a ban on 35 games. According to Pokkt, the apps that have been banned were contributing about 5% to the total revenue in mobile gaming and about 40-50 % tournaments were happening through PUBG. After the ban on TikTok, we saw many replicas like Instagram Reels, Mitron, Chingari, Bolo Indiya, Roposo, crop up. It opened up an opportunity for Indian video apps to come to the forefront and they have seen millions of downloads in the past month. Did the ban on Chinese Games have a similar effect on the <keyword id="739806" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaming-industry">Gaming industry</keyword>? We speak to experts and home-grown apps to find out if Indian games have what it takes to fill up the void and crop up as a perfect alternative. Here is what they had to say: Rajan Navani, Vice Chairman &amp; Managing Director, JetSynthesys: The ban on Chinese apps has benefitted many of our platforms, however, the growth we can attribute to this reason alone in the last few weeks is hard to allocate. It would be under 10% on an overall basis. Larger growth has been due to people staying indoors during the lockdown. We do see the surge sustained. We have a lot of promotions and loyalty initiatives within our digital products to retain our consumers even if new opportunities or other older products come back into the market. JetSynthesys Inc is our platform for global growth and we would like to see our international base growing at least 100% in the next year. Shivanandan Pare, CEO Adda52Rummy: The banning of Chinese gaming Apps have opened doors for Indian Gaming platforms. We should see a lot of local players leveraging the opportunity and coming up with new games with local flavour. As far as Rummy is concerned, it is a highly local card game and truly Indian, family card game mostly played in India and amongst Indian Families. So that we never faced any competition from chinese players. The shift due to such events, usually are secular and are sustainable based on user experience in respective platforms. We are very confident that consumers who experience our platform will stay back. We are looking at creating an experience which is immersive and engaging. Over the next 12 months the idea is to give users an extremely differentiated online rummy playing experience. Vaibhav Odhekar, Co-Founder &amp; COO of POKKT: While it's too early to talk numbers, it is a golden opportunity for local developers to explore. Obviously you can’t build a game now, so only if someone was in an advanced stage of development or had a ready product, would seek to maximise most. However, I also feel there are options of other global games like freefire. So Indian developers need to focus on quality because competition is still global. The growth will sustain but the most important factor is quality. So the ban is helping in creating trials / giving developers an opportunity. However if the game is not good or cannot develop traction, the it's a big opportunity lost. In the casual/mass gaming segment, Chinese apps hardly occupied any space. In the esports genre, pretty significant. I might say almost 40 - 50 % tournaments were happening via PubG. Abhishek Madhavan, SVP, Growth and Marketing, MPL: We have collaborated with over 28 Indian game developers and studios and published their games on the MPL platform. These games are loved by our users and are fun to play and very well made. There is no dearth of skill and talent among the Indian game development community and we hope to play our part in showcasing their games to the world. Anirudh Pandita, Founder, Pocket Aces: Loco has witnessed a 6x growth in DAUs during the last two months. The viewership increase has been driven by a growth in the number of active streamers on the platform, including India’s top streamers, who are now actively streaming on Loco. Our monthly active streamers have increased by 122% month on month during the last three months and continues to accelerate at a breakneck pace. In fact, we've also seen over 1,000+ hours of live gaming content being streamed per day and this expected to grow in the coming months as well. We are more determined than ever to empower the gaming community and the growing ecosystem which comprises over 300 million gamers currently. The <keyword id="739604" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-gaming-industry">Indian gaming industry</keyword> has been seeing rapid growth with users from across the country taking to esports and mobile gaming in a big way. We have seen talented gamers showcase their skills through games such as Call of Duty, Free Fire and more, including PUBG. Having said that, we are confident that the recent ban on PUBG Mobile has been made by the Government after much deliberation and with good reason. We see it as a stimulus for the Indian gaming community to look within, and develop new means of showcasing their talents. We are a strong gaming community, and I am certain that we will rise to the challenges, and come out strong, with opportunities for the world to leverage. At Loco, we are more determined than ever to serve the Indian gaming community. We stand by our streamers and are working hand in hand with them to chart out a new course for gaming content. Our platform empowers users to stream games and showcase their talent in India. Being a 100% Made in India platforms, Loco will amplify its efforts towards making India a global gaming superpower.

How have Indian Gaming apps benefitted from the ban on Chinese apps so far

<ul><li>The ban on Chinese video apps has left a void in the life of <keyword id="7904555" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktok-stars">TikTok stars</keyword>, who are now looking for a new home to showcase their talent.</li><li>We reached out to <keyword id="9603566" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="celebrity-pr-managers">celebrity PR managers</keyword> and influencer marketing agencies to understand how they are helping former <keyword id="8637178" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktokers">TikTokers</keyword> in navigating the challenges of finding another platform and what is the strategy that PR managers are following to help TikTokers gain users from scratch. </li><li>Experts said they are advising TikTokers to not lose hope and just keep doing what they do best -- create crispy content on new mediums. They also said that so far, <keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword> is the most preferred medium. </li></ul>After the ban on TikTok, many replicas like Instagram Reels, Mitron, Chingari, Bolo Indiya, Roposo, have cropped up. It opened up an opportunity for Indian video apps to come to the forefront and they have seen millions of downloads in the past two weeks. However, former TikTok influencers who worked really hard to build their profiles and widen their reach on the medium -- some of them even quit their job to pursue video making as a full-time career, are still looking for a permanent home. We reached out to celebrity PR managers and influencer marketing agencies to understand how they are helping former TikTokers in navigating the challenges of finding another platform, what kind of response they are seeing from brands and what is the strategy that PR managers are following to help TikTokers gain users from scratch. Parul Parmar, Independent PR Professional said that the recent ban has come with a silver lining. It has made influencers realise the importance of staying platform agnostic and that it's the manager’s prerogative to always ensure that the creators don't place all their eggs in one basket. Parmar said, “Some of the smart ones have already started to replicate their clout on other apps such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and so on because regardless of the platform, it's the creator's talent which will always pave the way to success. A creator's identity and value is solely basis the content and stories they produce and the communities that they have built across platforms. In the case of TikTok creators (given the situation), PR will be a defining factor now to boost their visibility and credibility. Especially for the following categories: Superstars with insane numbers and following -- the likes of Riyaz, Mr. Faisu, Radhika Bangia, Jannat Zubair. The unique ones like Hydroman, Yusuf BMX and Baba Jackson.” While many apps have been launched to eat into TikTok’s void, Neel Gogia, Co-founder, IPLIX Media opines that every influencer marketing agency must be trying to take former TikTokers to Instagram Reels. “Instagram is a go-to platform if you consider in terms of fan base. With the launch of Reels, this is a perfect opportunity for all TikTok influencers to take advantage of this because they have more experience and expertise of creating short 15 second videos and they know the successful recipe for a short video, since they have already achieved that success on TikTok. Whereas for Instagram influencers, it is comparatively a new thing and they are still trying it out and seeing how it works,” said Gogia. He also stressed that timing is an important factor that can help TikTokers gain back their followers. “If TikTok influencers can quickly step into reels and follow what works on Instagram, this is the perfect opportunity for them to regain their follower base. Though it will take some time, this is a good lesson for them as well to not invest their content only on one platform and they should be using different platforms for their content based on the criteria every platform has. They will have to stay consistent, have trust on their content and give it 4-5 months. If they still create good content that is relevant for their audience on these platforms, they can quickly come back to the game," added Gogia. Talent management, PR and Influencer Marketing Agency, Peoplekind’s Founder - Praachi Kapse said every digital creator should be agile and open to change as digital is the most dynamic medium that there is. Kapse said, “The digital world is a dynamic space, one which keeps creators on their toes. It keeps that rush of ideas and creativity going. Content curators have over the years harnessed the ability to tune in to a platform’s ethos and understand and drive consumer engagement. Content is king, and change is constant; The digital world has seen the rise, fall, plateau effect and innovation of everything from blogging, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook profiles and Instagram, to even snackier content like Snapchat, Insta stories, Musically, TikTok and now Instagram Reels. It is a challenge that drives content curators to constantly keep innovating themselves. That’s both the charm and the tipping point of social media platforms” But have TikTokers stopped receiving brand deals? Experts said no. The mediums might change but the empires of influence they built on TikTok remain unaffected by the ban. However, Gautam Madhavan, Founder &amp; CEO, MAD Influence told us that investing ad monnies on TikTok was cheaper than Instagram or YouTube. It will be a task for media planners to come up with a budget-friendly solution that offers as massive reach as TikTok did. “TikTok Influencers have not really lost anything. Most of them have a follower base on their other channels i.e., Instagram and YouTube. Hence, their loyal fans are still there and brands are still willing to work with them. The only difference is the duration of content - be it branded/non branded. What TikTok had to offer in terms of reach and visibility at an affordable cost is now a task for all media planners. Instagram and YouTube are expensive when compared with TikTok. But we are committed to working a way out on Instagram and YouTube as well, because at the end of the day every brand has to promote itself irrespective of the platform,” said Madhavan. Parmar also highlighted how visibility and reach are two important factors for any influencer to woo brands. She said PR can prove to be a very effective tool in getting that back. “Visibility is of utmost importance to them than ever before at this point. Their success stories on TikTok/uniqueness of content or rather just their presence in the content ecosystem should reach the right ears in the industry via traditional as well as new age mediums to sustain their brand. These creators should now be busy creating interesting narratives of their adaptability, resilience, innovation and community building. This is enough material for their proactive PR. Most of them have stayed away from reactive PR and it's understandable. But coming back to visibility with a robust strategy to tell their story is vital going forward. It is the age of disruptions and there will be enough opportunities for everyone at hand,” said Parmar. Celebrity Managers and influencer marketing agencies are advising TikTokers to not give up and keep creating content to grow on whichever medium they are on.

Instagram Reels and upping content game: suggestions from Celebrity PR managers and Influencer Marketing Agencies for TikTokers

<ul><li>Facebook shut down its TikTok-clone Lasso worldwide to be able to concentrate on its alternative ‘<keyword id="8322765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="instagram-reels">Instagram Reels</keyword>.’ </li><li>We speak to digital experts to find out if Facebook’s Instagram Reels has what it takes to fill up the void and crop up as a perfect alternative for the talent on TikTok in India? </li></ul>With the recent border row between China and India, the Government of India ordered a ban on 59 Chinese apps that included TikTok, Likee, Bigo Live. This has left Indian content creators from Tier II and Tier III in the lurch as TikTok opened up an opportunity for these budding stars to become influencers, earn money through brand endorsements and some of them even left their old jobs to pursue TikTok full-time. This ban on video apps has left a void in the life of TikTok stars, who are now looking for a new home to showcase their talent. To take on this opportunity, Facebook is quietly testing <keyword id="9520477" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="instagram-reels-in-india">Instagram Reels in India</keyword>. Similar to TikTok, it will allow its users to create and share 15-seconds videos, with camera effects, basic editing tools and music. There is also a handy timer and option to adjust the video’s speed. It can be shared on a user's story, sent to friends directly or added to a new Reels tab on their profile (displayed below). Instagram Reels is already active in Brazil, France and Germany and Facebook is looking at expanding its presence in other countries. While there are many Indian alternatives for TikTok like Mitron, Chingari, Roposo, Bolo Indya -- Instagram’s Reels can have an upper hand as it will be added as a feature -- housed inside the app, eliminating any additional hassle. While Facebook’s Lasso, a TikTok-clone launched in November 2018, failed to take off, Reels could have a higher chance of success for its prime positioning inside the Instagram app. Most <keyword id="8637178" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="tiktokers">TikTokers</keyword> are already relying on Instagram to create content and stay in touch with their fans. With Reels, they can now explore and revert to their favourite format without downloading another app and starting from scratch. It could be strategic in attracting Instagram’s loyal user base of more than <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/578364/countries-with-most-instagram-users/">88 million in India,</a> which is among the second top market for the app according to Statista.com, much of whom are millenials and Generation Z which was TikTok’s primary target audience. We spoke to digital experts to further understand if Reels has what it takes to replace TikTok and how Facebook should learn from its erstwhile mistakes with Lasso and go about marketing Reels this time. Here is what they said: Sowmya Iyer, Founder &amp; CEO, DViO Digital: <div type="image" title="Sowmya Iyer" msid="76799000" hostid="261"></div> "Tik Tok has forever changed the behavior of social media users. The ban on the platform has created a void in the lives of content creators who would quickly jump onto any platform that gives them the space to express themselves. And this is not just true for Instagram Reels but also for a host of Indian applications, which offer a similar experience. If the ban on Tik Tok still persists, leveraging the large base of Instagram users in India, the adoption of Reels among users should be easier without much friction or resistance. Geopolitical tensions are creating some level of impact on large global players. Secondly, we as humanity are going through a change and there is a collective rise in consciousness. There has also been a shift with many brands moving towards Purpose rather than just Profits. And consumers are choosing brands that are understanding to their needs. Advertisers choosing not to advertise on Facebook is a result of these dynamics in play. Large businesses like Facebook need to pivot with where and how humanity is going and should align themselves with the collective larger cause as ultimately the content creators and consumers of these platforms are the general populace. So people will begin to boycott platforms that they don't philosophically identify with. But that's one part which is solvable if the right steps are taken. Therefore, these factors should be taken into account while launching the application in India. Not only Reels, but many such apps will also jump on board to fill the void and this would likely divide up the creator base left behind by Tik Tok. This is for the best because the monopoly of one particular platform is never good for brands or advertisers or even themselves from an innovation standpoint. But obviously the established user base of Instagram would work in its favor and serve as a jumpstart for its success. No matter the level of competition we would see in this space, it is required to keep the larger players on the right track." Vinayak Shrivastav, CEO - Toch: <div type="image" title="Toch founder" msid="76809486" hostid="261"></div> There couldn't have been a better time for Instagram reels to be introduced in India. With existing Instagram users available, positive growth can be a possibility by asking the users to test the feature before launching it in the market. The safest concept of promoting an influencer-oriented app is for the brand to announce live contests. Implementing the idea of an influencer badge or something similar would definitely get the creators curious for verified content to achieve more visibility. Running an influencer campaign could also help garner attention to Instagram Reels. We at Toch are also looking at having a B2C presence and testing the market which will allow influencers to earn money from their content, also enabling live commerce or branded content selling through the platform instantly. With the increase in the sentimental value of Indian Apps Promotion being high, an unforeseen barrier in traction might happen. With a lot of bans being implied on brands from advertising a decent amount of branded content could be witnessed. Facebook being the social media giant that it is, the initial scale could be good enough to test the market. Nakul Dutt, Strategy Director, FoxyMoron: <div type="image" title="Nakul Foxy" msid="76798987" hostid="261"></div> Launching Reels would be a no brainer move. In fact, Instagram has already started testing the ‘Reels’ feature with select customers of the platform. Driving adoption to the scale of TiKTok, on the other hand, is a whole different battle. For TikTok users Instagram was a secondary platform to enhance one’s reach and overall engagement. In the absence of TikTok, while Reels is the obvious answer (unless a new local players quickly jumps in at this point), if launched, transitioning the existing database of TikTok users and getting them acquainted and comfortable on Reels will be a mammoth task for reasons dealt with in the next question. Transitioning the database of TikTok users and getting them acquainted with Reels will be a mammoth task for the multitude of reasons mentioned: ● An Anomaly: Last year India contributed to around 44% of the 1.6 Bn downloads of TikTok worldwide. The key reason for the success of the App in India was the ‘Bottom Up’ adoption of the platform. In the last couple of years adoption of internet has increased in tier 2 &amp; 3 cities and TikTok was able to win the heart of this new user base &amp; become the no. 1 App in almost no time. This is contrary to the ‘Diffusion of Innovation’ theory where any new platform, feature or innovation is first adopted by early adopters and over a period of time snowballs to attain the attention of the masses. TikTok however, resonated with the masses first,while Instagram went through the conventional model of adoption. This created a fundamental difference in the profile of users of the platform with each cohort looking at the other from a different perspective. ● It's all in the Senses: To understand the ‘Why’ TikTok was as appealing as it was, it’s important to understand the Perceived Reason of Existence’ that each social media platform plays in a consumers' life. While Facebook is a platform of ‘Touch’ it lets you connect &amp; feel about people in your circle, Instagram is the platform for the ‘EYE’- aesthetics &amp; beauty, the showcase of the perfection you desire in your world.TikTok on the other hand is ‘Heart’ – showcase your passion, like the heart, which wants to do certain things without the filter. This gap is what needs to be bridged! ● The TikTok In-App features made Creators self-sufficient: Considering most of India does not have access to high end equipment to produce slick high quality content. TikTok became a one stop shop to shoot, edit and publish content using one’s mobile. At a cursory glance the editing features of Reels seems limited as compared to TikTok. ● Inclusivity Will Be Required: An editing feature alone might not solve the problem at hand. Comfort and inclusivity are the key terms here. TikTok was a social media app where social barriers were broken. We hadn’t seen this happen at the scale it did, with Facebook and Instagram. Inclusivity through a vernacular approach, both at an App and at a promotional campaign level will be required. ● Share vs Showcase: Instagram’s algorithm is built around the concept of share, where the content populated is likely from the people and pages you follow. On the other hand, one’s ‘For You’ page of TikTok was curated from the trending content within the ecosystem of TikTok. We will need to see how Reels can bridge this gap. ● Balance: While acquiring new users for the platform is key, retaining the existing will also become a key metric. Instagram is a visual medium and appeals to a certain segment of creators. Instagram should take all the measures to retain this appeal. While showcasing Reels as a fun light hearted platform for their users to showcase their passions. ● Enabling &amp; empowering: It would be a good strategic move, if Reels adds features which would help the transitioning customers to create content with least friction 3. How should Facebook go about promoting Reels once it is live in our country? In addition to several of my points mentioned above these will be the 2 additional points that they could consider in their promotions Facebook will need to address the elephant in the room. 75% consumers are comfortable adopting a brand which supports and believes in social causes. With more than 50 brands boycotting Facebook, it’s only a matter of time the same lens would be applied to Instagram considering the mother brand is the same. Reels is Feature for Everyone Raw, unfiltered and authentic were TikToks main strengths. This made TiKTok an inclusive platform. Considering one’s digital identity supersedes their real one, TiK Tok made all their users feel comfortable and gave them a platform to be their authentic self. It gave them a platform to showcase their talent. They didn’t need to bother with aesthetics, filters or a nice looking backdrop. Maybe Reels could consider having a backdrop filter, so people can perform against different aesthetically pleasing backgrounds. (It would be a great way for brand’s to plug in their content / product / logo too.)

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