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New Delhi, Homegrown quick-grocery delivery provider <keyword id="3275685" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Dunzo" source="Orion">Dunzo</keyword>, set to raise $35 million in funding from existing backers like Reliance Industries and Google as well as new investors, is reportedly laying off at least "150-200" more employees amid severe cash crunch. According to multiple reports, Dunzo is likely to trim its workforce further by around 30-40 per cent. The company has reportedly informed impacted employees that they would receive their full and final settlements in January. The employees were officially informed of the latest layoffs in a short meeting. The startup has already sacked nearly 400 employees so far this year in two job cut rounds. Earlier this month, Dunzo further delayed the salaries of its employees for the months of June and July, this time to November, amid an ongoing fund crunch. The startup may also vacate its office in Bengaluru to cut costs, according to its co-founder and CEO, Kabeer Biswas. Biswas reportedly told employees that their pending payouts for June and July will now be cleared in November. Dunzo earlier delayed salaries to the first week of October after being unable to raise funds. It had also promised employees to pay an interest of 12 per cent per annum on the salary component that it held back from June. The company has raised nearly $500 million to date, with approximately $300 million coming in since early 2022.

Dunzo laying off 150-200 more employees amid fresh funding news: Reports

More than 1,600 tech employees are being laid off per day on average in 2023 globally including in India, and the sacking episodes have gained speed amid <keyword id="16083439" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="global-economic-meltdown-and-recession-fears" source="Orion">global economic meltdown and recession fears</keyword>. In 2022, over 1,000 companies laid off 154,336 workers, as per the data from layoffs <keyword id="16083440" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tracking-site-layoffs-fyi-" source="Orion">tracking site Layoffs.fyi.</keyword> The <keyword id="16083430" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mass-tech-layoffs" source="Orion">mass tech layoffs</keyword> of 2022 are continuing into the new year, and Indian companies and startups are among the leaders in firing staff. Homegrown social media company ShareChat (Mohalla Tech Pvt Ltd) laid off 20 per cent of its workforce due to uncertain market conditions, affecting more than 500 employees. Backed by Twitter, Google, Snap and Tiger Global, ShareChat has about 2,300 employees. In December 2022, ShareChat laid off less than 5 per cent of its employees after it shut down its fantasy sports platform called Jeet11. Companies like Ola (which fired 200 employees) and voice automated startup Skit.ai also dominated the headlines for laying off employees this month. Homegrown quick-grocery delivery provider Dunzo has laid off 3 per cent of its workforce amid cost-cutting measures. The year 2023 has begun on a bad note for tech workers globally and 91 companies have laid off more than 24,000 tech employees in the first 15 days this month, signalling worse days ahead. Amazon announced to lay off 18,000 employees globally, including nearly 1,000 in India. Meanwhile, LinkedIn is full of job hunts, offers of support for laid off friends and colleagues, and advice for coping with career hurdles as several companies trim their workforce to navigate through an uncertain macroeconomic environment. According to market research firm Sensor Tower, the LinkedIn app was downloaded an estimated 58.4 million times in 2022 globally across Google Play Store and Apple App Stores -- up 10 per cent from 2021. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/banks/news/paytm-payments-bank-gets-final-nod-from-rbi-to-operate-bharat-bill-payment-system-services/articleshow/97032913.cms">Paytm Payments Bank gets final nod from RBI to operate Bharat Bill Payment System services </a><a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/indian-ceos-see-a-difficult-year-but-most-say-they-wont-go-for-job-or-salary-cuts-pwc-survey/articleshow/97046963.cms">Indian CEOs see a difficult year but most say they won’t go for job or salary cuts: PwC survey</a>

Over 1,600 techies being fired a day on average in January says tracking site Layoffs.fyi

<ul><li>The incident happened last Friday (May 29) after a fuel tank at the power plant — which is owned by the renowned nickel and <keyword id="9343535" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="palladium-producer-norilsk-nickel">palladium producer Norilsk Nickel</keyword> — collapsed in the industrial area of Norilsk. </li><li>On June 3, Russian President <keyword id="43440" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vladimir-Putin">Vladimir Putin</keyword> declared a state of emergency. </li><li>The officials at the Federal Agency for Fishery under the Russian government are calling it a “ecological catastrophe.”</li></ul>Over 5 million gallons of diesel fuel spilled into <keyword id="9337149" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-ambarnaya-river">the Ambarnaya River</keyword>, within <keyword id="8773424" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-arctic-circle">the Arctic Circle</keyword>. That is equivalent to 20 metric tons of oil. The incident happened last Friday (May 29) after a fuel tank at the power plant — which is owned by the renowned <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52915807">nickel and palladium producer Norilsk Nickel</a> — collapsed in the industrial area of Norilsk. The city is situated approximately 300 kilometers inside the <keyword id="536903" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arctic-Circle">Arctic Circle</keyword> — and even requires permission if foreigners plan to visit. However, the news surfaced two days later when the authorities discovered the oil leak. Come Wednesday (June 3), Russian President Vladimir Putin declared a state of emergency and criticised the company officials over untimely response. He has directed officials to investigate the matter and the power plant has been detained. The officials at the Federal Agency for Fishery under the Russian government are calling it a “ecological catastrophe.” It is now believed that the Arctic Circle will take decades to recover from this. The pillars that supported the tank started to sink and the fuel tank lost pressure and the oil and lubricants seeped out of the tank causing fire across a wide area of 350 square metres. The oil spilled over 12 kilometer, turning the river red. However, this has not happened for the first time. Four years ago, Norilsk Nickel reported an accident that also turned a river red. "...It can already be said now that it will take decades for the restoration of the ecological balance of the affected Norilo-Pyasinsky water system," Klokov, the official at the Federal Agency <a href="https://energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/oil-and-gas/arctic-river-will-take-decades-to-recover-from-fuel-spill-russian-official/76166505">reportedly said</a>. On the other hand, the company official said that it is going every possible extent to clear the <keyword id="6395931" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="oil-spill">oil spill</keyword>. It said that specialists from Moscow have been called to contain further spread of the oil into the region. But, it will take at least 10-14 days by the time these specialists pump out the oil. The experts say that it is ‘too early’ to assess the damage caused. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/space/news/the-first-lunar-eclipse-of-the-season-will-occur-on-june-5-with-two-more-to-follow-on-june-21-and-july-5/slidelist/76188674.cms">The first lunar eclipse of the season will occur on June 5 — with two more to follow on June 21 and July 5</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/zomato-swiggy-dunzo-can-start-testing-drone-deliveries-as-india-starts-doling-out-permits/articleshow/76188887.cms">Zomato, Swiggy, Dunzo can start testing drone deliveries as India starts doling out permits</a>

Over 5 million gallons of oil seeped into a river in the Arctic Circle — turning it red

<ul><li><keyword id="23248" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Online-learning">Online learning</keyword> platform <keyword id="6630114" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="unacademy">Unacademy</keyword> today announced its latest acquisition of PrepLadder, a four-year old edtech startup, for $50 million (₹3.74 billion). </li><li>With this acquisition, Unacademy plans to expand its presence in the postgraduate medical entrance exam preparation space. </li><li>This is yet another step in Unacademy's expansion in the test preparation market. </li><li>The Chandigarh-based PrepLadder, which provides a platform and learning material to medical aspirants, has over 85,000 active subscribers and employs nearly 150 people. </li></ul>Online learning platform Unacademy today announced its latest acquisition of PrepLadder, a four-year old edtech startup, for $50 million (₹3.74 billion). With this acquisition, Unacademy plans to expand its presence in the postgraduate medical entrance exam preparation space. <div type="twitter" handle="gauravmunjal" handlename="Gaurav Munjal" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/860811839621533696/_G51Tn3e_normal.jpg" favoritecount="237" retweetcount="20" status="Happy to announce that PrepLadder, India’s largest higher medical education platform, is now a part of Unacademy Gr… https://t.co/hJIr4KGV4t" createdat="1594105743000" id="1280398406838390784"></div> That includes attracting learners who are preparing for competitive examinations like <keyword id="5945750" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="NEET-PG">NEET PG</keyword>, the common entrance exam for postgraduate courses and FMGE (Medical Council of India Screening Test). This is yet another step in Unacademy's expansion in the competitive examinations space.Its last acquisition was of Kreatryx, platform for preparation of entrances like GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) and SSC (Staff Selection Commission) in March 2020. “As we strengthen our position as a market leader in the test prep market, bringing PrepLadder on board will play a strategic role for Unacademy in the medical entrance examinations category. The exponential growth in Unacademy’s subscriber base is a testament to the increasing demand for quality online education and our consistent efforts.” said Gaurav Munjal, Co-Founder, and CEO of Unacademy. The Chandigarh-based PrepLadder, which provides a platform and learning material to medical aspirants, has over 85,000 active subscribers and employs nearly 150 people. “Unacademy and PrepLadder are working towards the common goal of making quality education accessible to all. We believe that the synergies between both products will truly create a mark in the industry,” Deepanshu Goyal, Co-Founder, PrepLadder added. Unacademy is backed by global investors including Facebook, General Atlantic, Sequoia India, SAIF Partners. The edtech company caters to over 35 exam categories — and claims that over 5 lakh learners have undertaken mock tests to prepare for exams like UPSC and CAT. Indian edtech startups have seen an unprecedented boost in their numbers and investors too are betting big on the space — and Unacademy has been at the forefront of<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/heres-why-doubtnut-is-an-attractive-buy-for-byjus-and-unacademy/articleshow/76682648.cms#:~:text=or%20even%20WhatsApp.-,According%20to%20the%20startup%2C%2090%25%20of%20its%20users%20come%20from,be%20what%20got%20Byju's%20interest."> raising big money from marquee investors</a>. In February, the company secured a $110 million funding from Facebook and General Atlantic for over $500 million. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/tiktok-is-under-fire-from-hong-kong-to-us-days-after-ban-in-india/articleshow/76827586.cms">TikTok is under fire from Hong Kong to US, days after ban in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/jiomart-dunzo-swiggy-and-likes-want-to-ride-the-trust-earned-by-indias-kirana-stores-during-the-lockdown/articleshow/76826479.cms">JioMart, Dunzo, Swiggy and likes want to ride the trust earned by India’s kirana stores during the lockdown</a>

Unacademy beefs up its medical entrance programme with a $50 million acquisition of PrepLadder

<ul><li>Britannia share price surged almost 38% as investors expect strong growth from the company. </li><li>The estimated 18% to 23% growth in April-June 2020 revenue is better than the company’s previous record.</li><li>The Wadias-owned company makes 80% of its revenue from biscuits but it is also increasing its market share in a key essential product: milk.</li></ul>The revenue for India’s largest biscuits maker Britannia is expected to grow anywhere between 18% to 23% in the April-June 2020 period, the three months where most of the country was under strict lockdown to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This growth rate is impressive not just because it is better than most other companies, this is also better than Britannia’s record before the pandemic. The fact that people were hoarding easily consumable items like biscuits led to a spike in sales. Axis Capital and Sharekhan expect the profit to grow in excess of 50%. <div type="image" title="Copy of Britannia&amp;#39;s revenue growth (1)" msid="76996923" hostid="261"></div>And that is the reason why the stock has run up 38% since March 31 until now as investors expect a blockbuster earnings from the company that makes 80% of its revenue from biscuits. <div type="image" title="Britannia" msid="76996953" hostid="261"></div><table style="width: 96pt;"> </colgroup> <tbody><tr> <td class="xl65" style="height:15.0pt;width:48pt">Stocks</td> <td class="xl65" style="border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none; width: 48pt;">Change since March 31</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Brittania</td> <td class="xl66" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">39%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Nestle</td> <td class="xl67" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">9.46%</td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xl65" style="height: 15pt; border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none;">Dabur India</td> <td class="xl67" style="border-top-width: initial; border-top-style: none; border-left-width: initial; border-left-style: none;">7.42%</td> </tr></tbody></table>*as of July 15 3:30 pm It is not just that people wanted to stock up on biscuits but the company ensured it reached everyone who wanted it Britannia Industries is already known to be eating <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/how-britannia-is-beating-parle-g-in-market-share/articleshow/76744606.cms">into ParleG’s market share</a> for a long time now. According to Motilal Oswal, its large brands like Good Day, Milk Bikis and Marie Gold have employed localized strategies to meet the unique needs of different markets and fight local players. It has also partnered with <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/britannia-partners-with-dunzo-for-home-delivery-of-essentials-food-items/articleshow/75024021.cms">Swiggy, Dunzo</a> and retailers to sell directly to consumers outside the big cities. “The company has created a strategy to win in ‘Many Indias’ in order to grow the biscuits business,” said Motilal Oswal report. Not relying on biscuits alone Britannia makes nearly 80% of its revenue from biscuits. That is likely to change as the company wants to expand the ‘non-biscuits’ segment. It has plans to make it contribute up to 50% of revenue in the next five years. The company is also increasing its dairy market share. It has scaled up the milk procurement in Ranjangaon, Maharashtra up to 25,000 liters/day from 1,000 farmers. Its ‘Cream wafers’ is now ₹70 billion category and is growing at a healthy pace, the report said. Britannia also wants to add 200,000 to 300,000 outlets every year targeting rural consumers. It currently has a reach of 2.2 million outlets and about ₹200 crore to ₹300 crore to spend on increasing this reach. New product launches According to Motilal Oswal, the reason behind Britannia’s great market penetration can also be the range of products including <keyword id="9585971" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="britannia-treat-burst">Britannia Treat Burst</keyword>, Britannia Treat Stars and Britannia 50-50 Jeera, Treat-Tiramisu and Red Velvet and Little Hearts Strawberry that it launched last year. It also re-launched Good Day biscuits, the most popular brand of the company, and NutriChoice Cream Crackers, NutriChoice Thin Arrowroot with an improved product mix, visual product differentiation. New categories introduced over the past few years, now contribute 2% of sales, which is encouraging, the report said. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/rossari-biotech-the-maker-of-products-for-brands-like-vim-rin-domex-and-surf-will-get-listed-on-july-23/articleshow/76991473.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">The maker of products for brands like Vim, Rin, Domex and Surf will get listed on July 23</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/infosys-vs-tcs-vs-wipro-comparison-of-share-price-and-earnings/articleshow/76996578.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Infosys shares are on fire because it beat TCS and Wipro⁠— and gave a soothing guidance</a>

Britannia may have sold more biscuits during the covid-19 lockdown than ever before ⁠— the earnings may reflect that

<ul><li><keyword id="9025059" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="abhik-choudhury">Abhik Choudhury</keyword>, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting writes how brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. </li><li>He further shares a few reasons behind this paradigm shift. </li></ul> What do Volkswagen, Volvo, Tata, Ford and GM have in common? They all are reliable family cars with blue logos. How about KFC, McDonalds, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King? They all are global fast food chains with either or both, red and yellow in their identities. And till about a decade ago, it was all fine and dandy till digital content clutter multiplied our brand exposure to a whopping 5000+ on an average day. And that meant the compelling need for acute differentiation over everything else. Let’s look at the topical industry of the year - EdTech. The whole industry came into being post digital burst. And in their identities, whilst catering to the same audiences their approach to <keyword id="9709248" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="brand-colors">brand colors</keyword> couldn’t have been more drastically contrasting. Byju, India’s second most valuable startup at $10Bn adorns a bright purple, something which experts used to put in the segment of richness and royalty. Udemy with its coral shade usually seen in lifestyle brands has intentionally moved away from its launch color of grass green. Coursera on the other end of the spectrum is safely engulfed in the reliable blue (think sweet spot between the old and new Facebook color). And finally look at Khan Academy, a blend of sea green and ocean blue. I would argue brands colors are now both category and audience agnostic. And there are four reasons for this major paradigm shift. The Differentiation Paradox: Of course the trained mind might argue the above example is just an anomaly so let’s go back to the automobile category we opened our discussion with to see this point through. In the last decade, the new electric car segment is slowly overpowering old heavyweights. What’s interesting though is as much as these shiny, new kids stand for the same brand promise of blending sleek style, sustainability and automation, their colors try to intentionally stay as apart as possible. Leading the pack Tesla shines in its signature passion red, Faraday Future graces the color of powerplay jet black, Fisker has famously named its brand colors California sunset (orange) and Pacific ocean (blue), the Chinese born Byton decks a more luxurious grey and the adventure friendly Rivian chose orangish yellow. Superdry’s orange boasts of its fun and bold collection, Zara’s black promotes the high street range inspired by luxury fashion weeks. And why not, as the concept of brand colors needed to be synonymous with the “brand experience”. Now though, the audience is aware enough to know that just because Grab taxis are green, they don’t only move with an oil free, electric fleet. Honestly, as long as the story behind your choice of brand color is believable you can paint the canvas with whatever you wish for. Breaking the traditional need for popping colors, Unilever’s new age Talenti Gelato comes in a pure transparent identity to just focus on the product and cut the clutter in the ice cream shelf simultaneously. Ola, India’s answer to Uber uses an exclusive pear color something eponymous with sporty, not exactly a massy cab service using Wagon R &amp; Swift Dzire cars. But does it work? Quite brilliantly actually, the point of differentiation is well made and well reaped. The Niche Maze Before the digital era, market penetration used to be mostly about what the masses demanded. And honestly rightfully so, for neither there was internet to measure the size of niche interests nor a way to get them delivered online to spurt segments scattered all over. And what it has resulted in is making colors more unisex, boldly unique and universally acceptable. Lyft’s Magenta and Dunzo’s Mint Green paves way for many more to come in the coming decade. Let’s try to understand the repercussions of not having niche colors. In the Indian media ecosystem look at the known brands Zee News, NDTV, ABP News, Republic, Aaj Tak, BBC Hindi, The Wire and Firspost ALL have red in their logos. Let’s forget for a second if all these brands have similar personalities, experience or values of the color red. Let’s rather say in 2021 you want to start a media corporation catering to millennials. Don’t you think a berry blue or sunshine yellow will give you a niche identity distinctively apart from all your industry peers and make the consumer immediately associate you with the color no matter on which medium it is used? Reliance Jio certainly would have considered it while starting to slowly move towards Persian blue from its bright red similar to core competitors Airtel and Vodafone. So would have AirBnB while choosing a coral shade over their old blue similar to Booking’s identity. <div type="image" title="Color Logos Case" msid="77389917" hostid="261"></div> Content Overload: One of the most profitable industries inarguably today is the smartphone hub with over 1.5Bn average annual unit sales and still a long way in penetrating the global population. No matter where you are from, you can’t deflect from its plethora of content across platforms. Oppo and Vivo with their selfie camera positioning had planned a budget of INR 2200 crores for the Indian market to dwarf Samsung at its own game. Xiaomi, who finally did overthrow Samsung poured INR 3500 crores last year aiming at an even more aggressive advertising strategy. All pointing towards an inevitable content war subtly numbing the audiences to all headlines and creatives. And hence you see Xiaomi goes with a blazing orange, Oppo graces forest green, One Plus Christmas red, Google Pixel a more humbling grey to Apple’s black while Vivo goes for sailor blue. We aren’t talking about one off anomalies that used to happen in every category like Ferrari’s legendary lemon yellow backdrop whilst Audi, Mercedes, Toyota, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Jaguar &amp; Lexus all go with the same kind of logo in metallic elements on their cars. These smartphone examples are of all category leaders and none come close to the other’s color no matter how close their audience, personality and brand experience might be. Now one of the major brand identity tests is to create a fictional character with a rich personality to match with your corporation’s values, vision and heart. The catch is, it only works if your audience feels that metaphor coming alive too. Otherwise as you will agree, every horse breeder can sell a Unicorn. And with all due respect the 2020s audiences have evolved from all color tones (and it’s kind of fair if not lovely). Now they are more interested and invested in what you actually do both with your offering and beyond it for the overall society. They know how to filter the frills from the flowers. Typography before color: The formula is minimal typography for maximum impact. Uber tweaked its logo element to a bolder no nonsense font of its name. Indian food delivery pioneers have removed their famous spoon and now just have Zomato written in a thicker and slightly curved style. The legendary Absolut Vodka which had a designer cursive line - ‘Country of Sweden’ in the logo itself has switched to just a navy blue Absolut enjoying the solitude. Visa has removed the card element last decade and even fired the fiery yellow edge to allow blue to engulf all of its typography on this one. Dominos have hit puberty late but by making the name come out of the inclined box they now demand complete attention. IHop, Dunkin... the list honestly keeps going on but the verdict is clear. Clarity of your name in the logo, something that can be read in a nanosecond during a digital post or banner is what works today. And when pure simplicity takes absolute precedent, intricate elements, three tone color schemes and parallel mascots take a backseat. Bold is the new black and clarity is the new color. Millennials demand this world to stop seeing colors, at least without any preconceived prejudices. And if anything the creative industry should be elated with this transformation, one less box to fit into. Let the old labels make way for legacy. If only the world would start having bold brands who can make shirts for men and call it pink. Oh wait, we already do - Pink Shirtmaker, London owned by the Louis Vuitton group. By Abhik Choudhury, Chief strategist &amp; founder, Salt and Paper Consulting. He is also a visiting faculty of Market Research and Campaign Planning at <keyword id="9497386" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-indian-institute-of-mass-communication">the Indian Institute of Mass Communication</keyword>, New Delhi. You can reach him at abhik@saltandpaper.co.

The relevance of brand colors are redundant, it’s all about differentiation

<ul><li><keyword id="758541" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon-Prime">Amazon Prime</keyword>’s latest <keyword id="878518" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Social-Media-Campaign">social media campaign</keyword> ‘Missing Me’ reminded us of <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword>’s ‘WherestheF’ campaign from September 2020. </li><li>This made us wonder if <keyword id="6354632" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media">social media</keyword> has normalised stealing original ideas in the name of ‘trends.’ </li><li>We reached out to experts to understand what are the perils of working on such similar ideas in today’s world. </li></ul>In the social media world, brands often use a creative template that is conceptualised by one agency and tweak it a little to jump on the bandwagon. Brands don't just take ‘inspiration’, they use almost the same template and put their logo on it without seeking consent from the creator. We have normalised replicating one brand's idea for another by calling it a 'trend.' Nobody has a ‘unique voice’ anymore -- everything today is a copy of a copy of a copy. (For example, take Snapchat’s stories, Twitter Stories, Instagram Stories, Facebook Stories) <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> (Most of us are pretty clueless about who started this ‘India vs US’ trend first) At the end of the day, advertising is a business of ideas and without ideas, no agency would exist. After the advent of social media, however, agencies have violated their own code of conduct about idea duplication that they have been following for years now. It has become convenient for brands to adopt original ideas and formats on social media, in the name of ‘trends’, to grab their consumer’s attention. While one might argue that a brand only draws inspiration from the original idea to jump on the bandwagon, the same format can help another brand become more popular and even viral -- leaving the brainchild behind the campaign’s idea feel betrayed and boiling in rage. The creative person behind this brilliant idea, in return, can only calm his/her rage by commenting on the post, “Hey, that was my idea” and the industry moves on. Another day comes by, another post is uploaded without credit and another brand goes viral for an unoriginal idea. At the same time, brands also consciously try to put out formats that can be deemed worthy enough to be picked up and go viral. In March 2020, digital agency Schbang had written an open letter to the advertising industry titled ‘It is time to kill that #trendingformat’ after it saw thousands of content creators following their formats and the agency even agreed to have jumped on the bandwagon in the past. It read, “Every day some of us have lost our unique voices to a trend. Not entertaining consumers anymore. Just high-fiving each other on the ‘earned media. Let’s make mediocrity unhappy and hard work great again. Let’s make art that’s tailor-made for brands.” <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Schbang articulated and reflected upon what we are trying to convey with this story, almost a year ago. It is about how social media has allowed brands and agencies to leech on each other’s ideas and breed mediocrity. This week, Amazon Prime India dropped 'Me' from its logo across social media pages and soon, everyone was talking about it. A few more brands like Dunzo, Pepsi, Parle G and Tinder India picked up on this and removed 'me' from their creatives, which was possibly a collaboration between the platform and these brands. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> But wait a minute. Did you also feel a déjà vu? We have heard of this before. Sounds too similar, doesn’t it? We couldn't help but compare Amazon Prime Me (Mobile Edition) campaign with Flipkart and Samsung's '#WhereTheF' campaign from September 2020 and spot the uncanny resemblance. Allow us to refresh your memory. For a few days in September 2020, Flipkart had tweeted without using the alphabet ‘F.’ Some of the words in its tweets were like ‘rom’, ‘itness’, ‘irst’, ‘inds’, and others. A-listers and brands joined in and started looking for Flipkart’s ‘F.’ Users were curious about what’s cooking and Flipkart later announced that it was a marketing ploy for Samsung's phone launch. Samsung had taken the front page of the Flipkart store to promote its Samsung Galaxy F41 and used Flipkart's social media pages to build some buzz around its launch. <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="371" retweetcount="18" status="rom early morning jogs to late-night workouts head to our app or all your itness needs!" createdat="1600583405000" id="1307567688756027404"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="167" retweetcount="16" status="We are still inding the solve. This is the irst time we are acing this problem, but i anyone knows or inds the miss… https://t.co/h2M3w97Aak" createdat="1600587024000" id="1307582870790090753"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="Flipkart" handlename="Flipkart" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1267713887165485061/WUR4QXtd_normal.jpg" favoritecount="110" retweetcount="8" status="What seemed like un and games beore, has become serious now. Two whole days &amp; we have not been able to type the let… https://t.co/GfKY202Vkr" createdat="1600687963000" id="1308006236995149825"></div> And now, Amazon Prime got a few brands to tweet without the letters ‘ME’ to announce the launch of its mobile edition. Both of these campaigns have a similar strategy: make a typo to get noticed on the platform, edit your social media bio, support it with a hashtag and get more brands to tweet about it so that there’s a continuous momentum on social media to earn organic PR. While it wasn’t a trending format, it is a similar idea and template, executed a few months apart with little changes: brand name, colour and timing. Had it been a TVC or a giant billboard, Amazon Prime would probably have been accused of plagiarism. While on social media, it is okay to revise and pass the derivative ideas as their own. So, we reached out to experts to understand the perils of working on similar-looking ideas today and discuss if social media has normalised <keyword id="10590919" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="idea-theft">idea theft</keyword>. Here is what they said: Lloyd Mathias, Angel Investor and Business Strategist: I think this a cool twist in moment marketing, where brands pick on ongoing conversations and insert themselves with casual banter weaving their brand messaging. When brands indulge in casual repartee, it helps them come through as casual and friendly and in a sense endear themselves to their audiences. When Flipkart kicked off the #WheresTheF trend back in September the obvious reference was to the more commonly used WTF so part of GenZ speak. It also played on Flipkart’s logo that used the F! Brands like Samsung and Swiggy were quick to pick on this pitching their own lines dropping the letter F. Amazon taking this on with its own variant for Amazon Pri….with the ME missing now has other brands latching on taking the opportunity to up their social media game. This campaign - on the missing ME - that's creating immense curiosity, is driving both interest and sparking off reactions from other brands, fuelling the conversation. These catchy, smart, low coats conversation builders help boost excitement in social media platforms, helping the brand up it's salience and is a welcome trend in an increasingly digitally savvy society. Harish Bijoor, Brand Guru &amp; Founder, HarishBijoor Consults Inc: Good ideas have a restricted shelf-life. Once a brand has used it, it becomes part of used-lore, and loses its original sting. That is the risk of using ideas used once, time and again by others. Social media is really an anarchy. Ownership of ideas is seldom respected. People lift thoughts and ideas without a qualm. Chasing idea-theft is therefore a very laborious task out here. When a brand does have an original idea, the best way to protect it is to go hammer and tongs on it, and go to town with its exposure. If the exposure is large enough, the one who wants to copy it will think thrice before doing it. Abhik Santara, Director and CEO ^ a t o m: It is sheer lazy marketing - by clients and agencies. And both are to be blamed equally. If an agency goes with a new idea/innovation, clients are asking to see a reference. How is that possible? It's a new idea. Similarly, agencies are getting too comfortable to present ideas which have topicality built in. It is easier to ensure a certain amount of engagement on popular subjects. But does that create any difference or add to the core of the brand? Null! A good performance campaign should help the brand and a good brand campaign must deliver performance. It's not either or. Agencies which are equipped to understand and deliver this, will drive the future. The battle of communication between rivals is not new in marketing. It has been happening for many decades. But that was when communication was one sided, and markets were fragmented. Today, in the digital era, it is walking into fire. Consumers will pick it up, competitive brands will lash out. And probably the brand which is being copied gets more mileage out of it. Ashish Khazanchi, Managing Partner, Enormous Brands: I think the online world is all about conversations and fueling those conversations and making sure that you are the guy who's benefiting the most from those conversations. Couple of years back, if I came across a campaign that somebody else has already, we would put an end to ours. But what I see happening is, if I'm the originator of that kind of a thought, and lots of people wanting in on that one, you got a good thing going: you got a campaign you started off, more and more people joining in the conversation. The conversation that you started is actually working in your favor: the world is talking about it. They get some reflected glory, but the main glory, the guy who started off the conversation, that just exactly how the whole hashtagging of it or how you started all those conversations the way it works. Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang: Amazon’s campaign definitely feels similar right now, but how they take it forward might change everything. But yes, they've chosen a route that now begs scrutiny because of its obvious similarities to campaigns of well known competitor brands. Personally, I don't think following a trend is that big a deal. Almost every single thing we consume today is a copy of a copy. Of course outright plagiarism is wrong, but when it comes to creativity in advertising, it's not just the idea on a conceptual level that makes things happen. So yes, the idea might be similar, but how it's executed, in what context it's executed, the end objective, all of that determines the success of the idea. Even if we copy a Cannes winning idea and slap it on a random brand, it won't work if the rest of the aspects aren't fitting in. If Amazon is intentionally or unintentionally copying Flipkart - a) the consumers are smart enough to see through this and it won't appeal to people as much because the intrigue factor will be lost. b) if the consumers do end up liking it, it automatically means that they did something that stood out and made people like the idea despite it being similar to a competitor brand that is also equally well known in India. Basically, in the end, the consumers decide if the brand can get away with 'copying' or not. It would be a very different conversation for things like films, shows, music, etc. But this is advertising we're talking about. Creativity is simply an added layer in the process of marketing the product - the end goal is to generate buzz, get outreach, get sales, etc. If that happens, all is good. If that doesn't happen, even the most unique idea won't be appreciated. The Internet largely works on meme culture. This culture has now trickled down to digital advertising as well where 'formats' essentially become 'memes'. It's got its pros and cons. If your brand puts out an innovative format, and other brands end up using it as a trend, that's big validation for your own brand. Most brands wouldn't look at it as idea theft. In fact, brands today consciously try to put out formats that can be 'picked up' and go viral. But the flipside is that while some brands are pushing for innovation to be the leader of the trend, some brands are happy following trends instead of creating them. That comes down to the agency culture and the creatives working on these brands. It definitely doesn't feel like a case of idea theft right now. And where there have been cases of lazy plagiarism, like I said earlier, the consumers (and even agencies) are smart enough to call it out. P.G Aditya, National Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney: Similarities like these exist across the spectrum, everywhere. There are multiple campaigns over the years that have removed a part of their brand name/logo/core asset as a teaser to launch something (the most popular global example is the I-Hop, the pancake chain, which changed its name to I-Hob on the internet to announce its new range of Burgers). That campaign by Droga5, NYC, went on to become a huge winner at Cannes Lions a few years back. Check it out here: <div type="Youtube" id="shhowrlz318" title="IHOb, IHOP, DROGA5 New York" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/shhowrlz318/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On a side note, of course, all of us in the creative business can do a better job of celebrating our influences. Users applaud originality and inspiration with the same gusto as long as they’ve loved the work. Sure, we might not lose customers by being less original in our advertising, but we may gain a few more if we’re loud and proud about what’s inspired our thinking.

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