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<ul><li>As we get closer to the new year, we bring to you a time capsule of 2021.</li><li>We look at some of the memorable campaigns from the year and discuss the common themes.</li></ul>The initial stage of the global pandemic brought in a lot of challenges for advertising agencies and brands. Agencies were producing ads on chopped-off budgets from the safety of their homes and really scratching their brains for creative ideas inside four walls. As the lockdown was lifted and the country opened its doors to all kinds of businesses in phases, there was hope in the air. Brands slowly started picking on consumer sentiment and upped their marketing budgets. With the beginning of 2021, a new year, consumers found a new sense of optimism for a better tomorrow and brands ensured that they offered a helping hand to consumers by spreading warmth through their advertising campaigns and telling stories of togetherness and bonding with family, friends and neighbors. With the second wave in April 2021, the progress reversed and brands slowed their marketing activities again but continued proving their resilience through their social media handles. When COVID was at its peak in April and June, several health institutions ran out of beds and oxygen supplies. Our social media feeds filled up with appeals for help -- looking for plasma donors, oxygen concentrators or ICU beds. During this period, Indian corporations, multinational brands and young home-grown start-ups stepped forward to do their bit and helped the country survive this phase. Thankfully, as the number of cases went down in August and the number of vaccine doses kept rising, consumer sentiments picked up. With each festival, things got a little better. So, as the country decorated their home to celebrate the homecoming of Lord Ram on Diwali, marketers went all out. After a long-dry spell of a year and a half, brands ensured that they didn't miss out on this opportunity to reconnect with consumers. The country found its hope to keep going and many brands decided to celebrate heroes who went unnoticed during the most difficult phase of the pandemic. With their heartwarming campaigns, they urged consumers to support small businesses and those who have been badly impacted by COVID-19. The pandemic also sparked a flurry of nostalgic ads and consumers loved the trend. Brands started evoking nostalgia to connect with consumers on an emotional level and reach out to the inner child in us that lived in a happier universe. These ads were like comfort food during unprecedented times. Brands also used their marketing communications to shine the spotlight on gender inequality and encouraged women to stand up for their rights. Overall, in 2021, themes of nostalgia, togetherness, resilience, women empowerment and hope emerged and made consumers smile. In no particular order, here are a few ads that stood out this year: Cadbury’s Kuch Khaas Hai remake | Agency: Ogilvy <div type="Youtube" id="z_OtC06ndUE" title="Cadbury Dairy Milk wishes #GoodLuckGirls to all those hitting it out of the park." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/z_OtC06ndUE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Bhima Jewellery’s Pure as Love | Agency: Animal <div type="Youtube" id="NtaLr_r8R2E" title="Bhima Jewellery. Pure as love." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NtaLr_r8R2E/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Vim’s Making Dishwashing Easy | Agency: Lowe Lintas <div type="Youtube" id="cWIo7lTfdqs" title="Vim Liquid | Making dishwashing easy (Hindi)" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cWIo7lTfdqs/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Tanishq’s Marriage Conversations | Agency: Dentsu Webchutney <div type="Youtube" id="wnZduCnSMpk" title="Marriage Conversations | Tanishq" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wnZduCnSMpk/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Swiggy Instamart | Agency: Lowe Lintas <div type="Youtube" id="NL7mq7kFLt8" title="Swiggy Instamart - Groceries delivered in 15-30mins" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NL7mq7kFLt8/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Mondelez’s Not Just a Cadbury ad | Agency: Ogilvy India <div type="Youtube" id="R3FnhpelBR0" title="Cadbury Celebrations | Not Just A Cadbury Ad" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/R3FnhpelBR0/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Dove’s Stop the Beauty Test | Agency: Ogilvy India <div type="Youtube" id="jEpTa2cMl_I" title="Take the pledge to #StopTheBeautyTest | Dove" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jEpTa2cMl_I/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Tata Cliq Luxury | Agency: Havas Creative Group India <div type="Youtube" id="ZqHZKtbcjEA" title="Thoughtful Gifting Begins Here | Slow Commerce | Where Quality is Nurtured | Tata CLiQ Luxury" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZqHZKtbcjEA/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Fastrack’s You Do You | Agency: Lowe Lintas Bangalore <div type="Youtube" id="0VGpbNQufjc" title="Own Your Inches - #FastrackYouDoYou" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/0VGpbNQufjc/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Bournvita’s Get The Message | Agency: Ogilvy India <div type="Youtube" id="EkCtQT2yfig" title="Bournvita - Get The Message" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EkCtQT2yfig/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Nykaa’s Tum Hi Ho Nykaa | Agency: Sideways <div type="Youtube" id="9o57TH0ZjkU" title="Tum Hi Ho Nykaa | Brand Film" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9o57TH0ZjkU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Mohey’s KanyaMaan <div type="Youtube" id="PmCSjllj7KU" title="Tradition wahi, soch nayi - #KanyaMaan" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PmCSjllj7KU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Tinder’s Closure <div type="Youtube" id="6b-K9OzVo-c" title="Closure - A Film about Consent by Tinder | Ft. Kavya Trehan and Mrinal Dutt" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6b-K9OzVo-c/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Cult.fit’s Fitness Is Not An Option <div type="Youtube" id="xAB3CZC1BcI" title="Fitness Is Not An Option (cult.fit)" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xAB3CZC1BcI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Vicks’ Touch of Care | Publicis Singapore <div type="Youtube" id="NHflsJrXKaI" title="Vicks - Care Lives On #TouchOfCare" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NHflsJrXKaI/mqdefault.jpg"></div> CRED’s Great for the Good <div type="Youtube" id="j8KpV-4_mRg" title="Great for the good | ft. Rahul Dravid | CRED" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/j8KpV-4_mRg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The Body Shop’s #BloodyNatural <div type="Youtube" id="6XVihCBaX-g" title="Periods are #BloodyNatural | Let's end period shame | The Body Shop India" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/6XVihCBaX-g/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Prega News She Is Complete In Herself <div type="Youtube" id="X4mWIU-zcvQ" title="#SheIsCompleteInHerself - A Women’s Day Initiative by Prega News | Mona Singh (Hindi)" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/X4mWIU-zcvQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Surf Excel’s Holi 2021 <div type="Youtube" id="MocKmftqNI8" title="Surf excel Holi 2021 | Jo dilon ko paas laayein, woh #RangAchheHain" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/MocKmftqNI8/mqdefault.jpg"></div>

From CRED’s Indiranagar ka Gunda to Cadbury’s reimagined Kuch Khaas Hai, here are a few campaigns that stood out in 2021

When it comes to startups in India, you'll find many of them thriving in popular areas of <keyword id="6354321" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bengaluru">Bengaluru</keyword> where they can work. live and create a business easily. Startup garages are usually prized landmarks in any neighbourhood where the future is being built. Unless they cluster by the dozens in residential localities which then could become irksome because of impending commercialisation threats and a likely cause of fight between residents and entrepreneurs. That’s exactly what is beginning to happen in Bengaluru’s micro startup hubs of <keyword id="6405428" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="koramangala">Koramangala</keyword>, HSR Layout and <keyword id="6357350" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="indiranagar">Indiranagar</keyword>, with vexed residents voicing their displeasure against startups joining forces with swarms of restaurants and pubs in redefining their once-residential localities. India’s startup capital is home to nearly 5,000 emerging businesses and many of them function out of the three hubs which is a violation of the city's zoning rules. An example would be the 10th Main street in <keyword id="5983174" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="indiranagar-2nd-stage">Indiranagar 2nd Stage</keyword> has a road width of less than 30 ft. Perpendicular to this road is 4th Cross, which is as narrow. Both are categorised as ‘Residential Main’ in <keyword id="116823" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="bangalore-development-authority">Bangalore Development Authority</keyword>’s (BDA) Revised Master Plan-2015. But the two roads have more than 20 startups functioning out of independent houses-turned-offices. One solution may be co-working spaces, which are becoming popular among young startups in the city. The state government is also creating affordable spaces for startups but these three areas remain the startups favorite places to reside.

Bengaluru residents complain of Startup hubs disrupting their lives

(<keyword id="32299" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Vikas-Agarwal">Vikas Agarwal</keyword>, General Manager, <keyword id="2613562" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="OnePlus-India">OnePlus India</keyword> with <keyword id="7856" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Laila">Laila</keyword>, the Chief Happiness Officer) 
 
 
Living all by yourself in a city while being a <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pet+owner&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">pet owner</a> can be quite a stressful experience especially when you have to leave your furry friend behind as you leave for work. 
 
Sure, a lot of people would argue that ‘work from home’ can be a probable solution to this problem, but what they forget to consider is that most often than not, that is a temporary affair. 
 
However, if the number of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=indian+startups&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Indian companies</a> that are embracing the pet-friendly outlook so prevalent in the West is anything to go by, it’s safe to say that this separation could well be a thing of the past. 
 
Yes, letting your pet accompany you to your workplace is something that companies across the country are including in their list of ‘perks’ in order to make the work environment not only more inclusive but also stress-free. 
 
“One of the downsides of having long work hours is the fact that people are unable to give enough time to pets. And, there’s no better way to solve that problem but by allowing employees to bring their pets to office so that they’re stress-free.” said Vikas Agarwal, general manager of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=one+plus+india&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">OnePlus India</a>. 
 
 
(The Human-Dog Interaction at <keyword id="164941" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="inMobi">InMobi</keyword>) 
 
By allowing employees to bring their pets to work, an increasingly number of workplaces are quietly ensuring greater productivity from their employees and shattering the age-old perception that such an arrangement could hinder regular work-flow. What more, this move also benefits pets since they get to interact with other dogs and are with their owners the whole day. 
 
Though <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=pet-friendly+office&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">pet-friendly offices </a>are a relatively new phenomenon in the country, for One Plus, it is a part of their work-culture. “Pets have been a part of the OnePlus company ethos since we started off in <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=china&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">China</a> two and a half years ago. The in-house dog called Una also went on to become the company mascot and our very own happiness specialist. The idea was to recreate this very culture in our office in India,” added Agarwal. 
 
Staying true to their word, the OnePlus India team adopted Laila nine months ago and christened her their Chief Happiness Officer. But being a pet-friendly office also comes with its sets of responsibilities. 
 
“The OnePlus India office has no cubicles or partition. We have kept it an office so that dogs can roam around the entire space freely as opposed to having just a designated area for them.” he informed. 
 
 
(InMobi's Chief Cuddling Officer Becky) 
 
 
Similar is the story of another <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=bengaluru&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Bengaluru</a>-based <keyword id="138263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="startup">startup</keyword> that decided to go down the pet-friendly route. As of today, Becki, a white Persian cat is as much as a regular fixture at the office as is any employee replete with a designation- Chief Cuddling Officer. Becky belongs to Rebecca D’leema, a senior manager with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=inmobi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">InMobi</a>. And, she’s not alone. Accompanying her is 25 odd employees who regularly bring their pets to work. 
 
Taking their belief in a pet-friendly environment a notch higher, just last month the company hosted a Human-Dog Interaction project where they brought a professional trainer and her dog on board to help employees overcome the fear of dogs and teach them how it’s possible to co-exist. The result was an incredibly happy office which saw people touching a dog for the first time in their lives amidst echoes of ‘Aww’ resonating throughout. 
 
 
(<keyword id="847170" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chumbak">Chumbak</keyword>'s in-house dog Hugo) 
 
 
At <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=chumbak&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Chumbak</a>, on the other hand, even customers of the brand are allowed to get their pets to their <keyword id="6357350" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Indiranagar">Indiranagar</keyword> studio which boasts of a vast terrace. Employees are also seen taking a break to play with the in-house Labrador Hugo. 
 
But it’s not as rosy as it sounds. Having a pet-friendly environment also comes with numerous challenges, the chief being an agreeing landlord. According to Agarwal, a supportive infrastructure, dry cleaning the office every week and having a doctor on call are some of the prerequisites for any company that’s thinking of going pet-friendly. 
 
But, all this going the extra mile makes sense when one notices the effect a pet-friendly office has on its employees. According to Agarwal, the employees of OnePlus India are more productive, absolute stress-free and happier.

Meet the new-age pet-friendly Indian offices

<ul><li>After becoming the talk of the town by featuring Rahul Dravid as Indiranagar ka gunda and Jackie Shroff as a zumba lover and Kapil Dev as Ranveer Singh, <keyword id="1763236" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="cred" source="Orion">CRED</keyword> is now back with another campaign, this time featuring 90s loved comics characters <keyword id="1040930" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="chacha-chaudhary" source="Orion">Chacha Chaudhary</keyword> and <keyword id="774990" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="suppandi" source="Orion">Suppandi</keyword>.</li><li>The ad focuses on supporting CRED’s goal of promoting financial independence and literacy and concludes by drawing attention to the exclusive rewards CRED offers to its members to follow healthy financial practices.</li></ul>CRED has been able to create a niche for itself in the market with its innovative ad campaigns using popular faces from the 90s and constantly taking millennials on a nostalgia trip. CRED's newest campaign also promises to take you on another walk down memory lane, but this time with our most-loved cartoon characters, Chacha Chaudhary and Suppandi. CRED has brought Chacha Chaudhary and Suppandi together in the millennial age to promote financial responsibility and independence. In the film, Chacha Chaudhary and Suppandi are seen engaging in a fun banter about how times have changed as they discuss a myriad of topics like information overload, resort to social networking sites and poorly acknowledged unfortunate ecological changes like global warming, dying wildlife, drowning cities and more. <div type="Youtube" id="FqKsMcswGdo" title="Not an ad | Ft. Chacha Chaudhary &amp; Suppandi | CRED" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/FqKsMcswGdo/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Further, the ad film focuses on supporting CRED’s goal of promoting financial independence and literacy. The ad- film concludes by drawing attention to the exclusive rewards CRED offers to its members to follow healthy financial practices. This film has been created by <keyword id="12632841" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bakarmax" source="Orion">Bakarmax</keyword>, an Indian webcomic studio. <keyword id="9937067" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="trupthi-shetty" source="Orion">Trupthi Shetty</keyword>, CRED, said, “We at CRED always aim at bringing something unique to our members. CRED is reinventing nostalgia by bringing something new to old with familiar personalities to encourage financial independence and literacy. We are delighted to work with team Bakarmax who came up with this concept, where we could bring in beloved characters from the 90’s to send across the messaging to our members and consumers.” <keyword id="190104" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sumit-kumar" source="Orion">Sumit Kumar</keyword> from Bakarmax said, “It is a pleasure for the team to collaborate with CRED. The process of building a concept that would bring back nostalgia with our favorite characters with a twist, has been a great experience. Highlighting the advancements in the financial industry through a different lens was refreshing. I hope CRED members and consumers enjoy the latest animated film.”

After taking us on a nostalgia trip by featuring 90s stars like Rahul Dravid and Jackie Shroff in its ads, CRED is back at it again, this time with Chacha Chaudhary and Suppandi

<ul><li>CRED, that recently entered the unicorn club with a $2.2 billion valuation, has launched a new IPL campaign for season 14. </li><li>The ad features Rahul Dravid and actor Jim Sarbh.</li><li>Rahul Dravid, who is known to be one of the cool-est cricketers on the pitch, is seen in an avatar we thought we would never, ever see.</li></ul>CRED, the credit bill paying platform that is known for its unique ads, has launched its much-awaited IPL ad. It is reminding people to pay their bills on time in the most entertaining way possible, by making the coolest ever cricketer lose his cool. You are lying if you say you haven’t imagined at least a 100 different scenarios in your head to smash the side-mirror of a car in front of you while driving in Bangalore or Mumbai. However, we did not expect the zen Rahul Dravid to react like we do in traffic. Apart from breaking other bowlers patience, we have never seen Dravid break anything or lose his cool at all. CRED has unleashed an unseen side of Dravid in its latest ad and everyone is shook, including Virat Kohli. Commenting on the ad, RCB’s Captain wrote, “Never seen this side of Rahul bhai." <div type="twitter" handle="imVkohli" handlename="Virat Kohli" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1308286636468219904/a61d79ts_normal.jpg" favoritecount="74838" retweetcount="10319" status="Never seen this side of Rahul bhai 🤯🤣 https://t.co/4W93p0Gk7m" createdat="1617960315000" id="1380451732690411521"></div> The Bangalore-based platform’s IPL ad has already started a meme fest. <div type="twitter" handle="AksharPathak" handlename="Akshar" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1270581243294486529/xna6UsXL_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1409" retweetcount="99" status="@imVkohli *teacher steps out*entire class: https://t.co/nKJBrC1G3Q" createdat="1617961694000" id="1380457518661431296"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="FarziCricketer" handlename="Silly Point" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1380401554973368320/WMvJVMn2_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1749" retweetcount="188" status="@imVkohli Rahul sir calling someone back before double century. https://t.co/7POAeIhNFg" createdat="1617961777000" id="1380457865949839361"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="TrollHaiklu" handlename="ಟ್ರೋಲ್ ಹೈಕ್ಳು" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/875542674010324992/HbuT-rQm_normal.jpg" favoritecount="279" retweetcount="14" status="@imVkohli Everyday on silk board junction https://t.co/NwFFohT550" createdat="1617961915000" id="1380458443799023616"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="EntropyPositive" handlename="Positive entropy" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1377609119960457222/erfwCgcD_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1148" retweetcount="38" status="@imVkohli Me after seeing this side of Rahul Dravid Sir😌 https://t.co/gorm76Zick" createdat="1617960522000" id="1380452603478208513"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="swatic12" handlename="SwatKat💃" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1178333152827326466/Ifm0l-qX_normal.jpg" favoritecount="177" retweetcount="20" status="No oneBig boss contestants 5 minutes after waking up : https://t.co/1U9YhKwInc https://t.co/EWcbRf8vq3" createdat="1617964323000" id="1380468544408797185"></div> The ad starts with actor Jim Sarbh sharing the benefits of using CRED. He says, “When you pay your Credit Cards bills on CRED, you earn CRED coins. Use them to claim cashback and rewards. I know this sounds ridiculous. It is like saying Rahul Dravid has anger issues." And then Dravid, who is known for his calm and peaceful demeanor, can be seen stuck in traffic, yelling at the top of voice. He breaks the side-mirror of a car next to him with a bat, (funny how he keeps a bat handy since you never know when duty might call), and climbs out of the car’s roof to yell, “Indiranagar ka gunda hun main." Dravid's angry avatar also reminded us of Ross Geller from Friends when he loses his cool over his favourite Turkey sandwich. <div type="image" title="ross geller my sandwich" msid="81988567" hostid="261"></div> CRED’s honest YouTube description is a cherry on the top. It reads, “Hi, this is Rahul Dravid writing the description for this video. Sorry, I lost my temper there. I am meditating these days.” Last year, CRED’s ad campaign was one of the most talked about series during IPL. What helped the CRED series become so popular was the fact that for once, we saw celebrities not taking themselves seriously and it came like a breath of fresh air. It also easily broke the clutter by not featuring a cricket celebrity. And this year too, CRED has taken an unconventional approach. We can't wait to see what else the brand has in story for us. CRED has also signed a three-year deal with IPL, which began in 2020.

CRED’s much-awaited IPL 2021 campaign is here and it has already sparked a memefest on Twitter

<ul><li>With <keyword id="6354742" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Flipkart">Flipkart</keyword> Quick, the company will now deliver groceries, phones, stationery, electrical appliances, and more – within 90 minutes. </li><li>Flipkart Quick will begin operations in select locations in Bengaluru.</li><li>Flipkart’s hyperlocal foray comes at a time when the sector has seen the entry of <keyword id="8506093" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jiomart">JioMart</keyword> – Reliance’s bet on e-commerce, and already had the presence of the likes of Google-backed <keyword id="3275685" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="dunzo">Dunzo</keyword>, SoftBank-backed <keyword id="2466939" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Grofers">Grofers</keyword>, and <keyword id="964794" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="BigBasket">BigBasket</keyword>.</li></ul>Indian e-commerce giant Flipkart’s latest offering is in the <keyword id="2917849" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hyperlocal-delivery">hyperlocal delivery</keyword> space. With Flipkart Quick, the company will now deliver groceries, phones, stationery, electrical appliances, and more – within 90 minutes. Charging a minimum delivery fee of ₹29, customers can choose 2-hour slots or get their orders within 90 minutes between 6 am and midnight. Flipkart Quick will begin operations in select locations in Bengaluru – Whitefield, Panathur, HSR Layout, BTM Layout, Banashankari, KR Puram, and Indiranagar. “While we start with our dark store (no walk-in) model, wherein we enable sellers to store inventory close to the consumer; this model has the potential of encouraging local entrepreneurship and enabling new business strategies and partnerships. Today, with Flipkart Quick - our Hyperlocal capability, we have the potential to bring together the whole network of neighbourhood Kirana stores onto our platform with just a click,” said Sandeep Karwa, Vice-President, Flipkart. This adds to the string of latest releases from Flipkart – it recently bought out Walmart’s India business, forayed into social commerce with its refurbished goods platform 2GUD and also acquired a stake in Arvind Fashion for ₹260 crore. However, Flipkart’s hyperlocal foray comes at a time when the sector has seen the entry of JioMart – Reliance’s bet on e-commerce, and already had the presence of the likes of Google-backed Dunzo, SoftBank-backed Grofers, and BigBasket. Been in the making for over a year Flipkart has been making several bets to ready its hyperlocal delivery service. In December 2019, Flipkart had invested in logistics platform Shadowfax. Kalyan Krishnamurthy, chief executive officer, Flipkart had then said that the partnership with Shadowfax will help build a strong foundation for hyperlocal deliveries, by including kirana stores. In the same month, Flipkart and Walmart had invested an undisclosed amount in the fresh produce delivery startup Ninjacart. In May 2019, the e-commerce company had launched Flipkart Supermart to foray into grocery delivery. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/ecommerce/news/reliance-is-building-up-its-retail-empire-ahead-of-future-deal-reliance-brands-adds-zivame-in-its-cart/articleshow/77215871.cms">Reliance is building up it’s retail empire – ahead of Future deal, Reliance Brands adds Zivame in its cart</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/maruti-suzuki-india-first-quarter-preview-sales-and-share-price-chart/articleshow/77216142.cms">Maruti is getting bigger in a shrinking market</a>

Flipkart offers 90-minute delivery as competition from JioMart, Dunzo, BigBasket heats up

<ul><li>Controversies have always been a part of the advertising industry and the year 2021 was no different.</li><li>The year was full of ups and downs and a lot of brands landed in trouble for hurting religious sentiments through their campaigns.</li><li>We look at the year gone by and some brand controversies that erupted in India.</li></ul>2021 was bitter-sweet for the Indian advertising industry. This year gave us beautiful campaigns such as Cadbury’s remake of the famous stadium ad with the wonderful jingle Kuch Khaas hai, CRED’s Indiranagar Ka Gunda that still continues to appear in memes on the internet, Bhima’s Pure as Love ad that challenged the status quo, to mention a few. However, it was also a year full of controversies. Many brands landed themselves in trouble and numerous campaigns had to be pulled off. It is not too difficult today for a small tweet to snowball into a boycott trend, something that is every marketers’ and agency’s nightmare. At the same time, when brands have a presence on social media, they start having an opinion or a voice. If brands err on the side of caution, they are simply selling products to consumers and not engaging with them on a personal level. There will always be users who support the brand for standing up and fighting for causes they believe in but there will also be those who would oppose them at the slightest disagreement. GenZ is also becoming increasingly aware of how advertising works and is able to separate grey from black. They view brands as a form of self-expression and to connect with them, brands are also expected to go beyond just selling their products. They are known to connect with brands that they feel are socially and environmentally conscious. So, while many experts advise brands to steer clear of religious topics or make any political statements, there’s also pressure on brands and companies to take firm stands on issues that matter to these young consumers. As brands try to find the balance between making the right statement and offending a majority in the coming year, here are a few brands who found themselves in troubled waters this year: Manyavar Bridal wear brand Mohey had released a commercial that aimed to offer a fresh perspective to the Hindu wedding ritual 'Kanyadaan.' With its campaign featuring Alia Bhatt, Mohey promoted women empowerment and gave a more gender-sensitive touch to the age-old tradition of ‘Kanyandaan’ in Hindu weddings and insisted on bringing in ‘Kanyamaan’ instead. “Through the film, Mohey’s brand ambassador Alia Bhatt questions the conventional beliefs that require a daughter to conform to being ‘given away’ at her wedding. She makes a choice on her wedding day to rethink rituals, stating what Kanyadaan means in modern times, making it more equal and progressive for her present and future generations,” explained its press release. However, this campaign did not sit well with Twitter users. It flared up a controversy on social media and the hashtag #BoycottManyavar started trending on Twitter. The trolls slammed the ad for mocking Hindu traditions. <div type="Youtube" id="PmCSjllj7KU" title="Tradition wahi, soch nayi - #KanyaMaan" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PmCSjllj7KU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Cadbury beef row Mondelez India had found itself in a soup too after a few screenshots surfaced on Twitter suggesting that its Cadbury Dairy Milk may contain gelatine derived from beef. Trolls were quick to call for a boycott on all Mondelez products but some users even pointed out that the screenshot being shared is that of Cadbury Australia’s website. <div type="twitter" handle="DairyMilkIn" handlename="Cadbury Dairy Milk" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1327255370444668928/1NjkNhJE_normal.jpg" favoritecount="963" retweetcount="241" status="https://t.co/798qgPozsF" createdat="1626616484000" id="1416758336909840387"></div> The chocolate and snacks giant later clarified that its products in India are all vegetarian. It said that the screenshots circulated were of the company’s products sold overseas. FabIndia Clothing brand FabIndia was criticised for its collection named 'Jashn-e-Riwaaz.' Twitterati alleged that the campaign purposely tried to hurt religious sentiments by associating the name ‘Jashn-e-Riwaaz’ with Diwali, a Hindu festival. They even had a problem with women not wearing their badges of being married such as bindis, bangles and sindoor. Tejasvi Surya, MP and National President of the BJP Yuva Morcha had tweeted, “Deepavali is not Jash-e-Riwaaz. This deliberate attempt of abrahamisation of Hindu festivals, depicting models without traditional Hindu attires, must be called out. Brands like Fabindia must face economic costs for such deliberate misadventures.” Soon after that tweet, FabIndia deleted its post across social media and renamed its collection to ‘Jilmil-si-Diwali.’ Sabyasachi The designer brand was trolled heavily for allegedly hurting religious sentiments by promoting their ‘Royal Bengal Mangalsutra,’ which is a part of their Intimate Fine Jewellery line. The ace designer behind it, <keyword id="7202" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="sabyasachi-mukherjee" source="Orion">Sabyasachi Mukherjee</keyword>, decided to withdraw the campaign after it triggered an avalanche of online trolling for hurting religious sentiments. He retracted his campaign after Madhya Pradesh’s Home Minister Narottam Mishra issued a "24-hour ultimatum" and threatened to send the "police force." <div type="image" title="Sabya and mangalsutra ads" msid="88322071" hostid="261"></div> Dabur’s Fem In the same week, Dabur’s Fem Cream Bleach advertisement stirred a boycott trend for showing a same-sex couple celebrating the Hindu festival of Karva Chauth. <div type="Youtube" id="-yu4_BIPkXU" title="Fem Ad on Karwa Chauth | Dabur Fem Controversial Ad | Viral Video" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-yu4_BIPkXU/mqdefault.jpg"></div> CEAT CEAT Tyres was criticised for an ad featuring Aamir Khan in which the actor was seen advising people not to burst crackers on Diwali. <div type="Youtube" id="wm4kOghHQ24" title="Switch to CEAT SecuraDrive | Aamir Khan- Cricket" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wm4kOghHQ24/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Zomato Zomato landed in a controversy in October after a customer from Tamil Nadu alleged he was denied a refund for a missing item in his order as he didn't know the ‘national language’ Hindi. Soon, a massive backlash followed on Twitter with many slamming the food delivery app for imposing Hindi on its customers. This also led to hashtags "Reject_Zomato" and "ZomatoSpeakTamil" trending on top. Fortune oil When Sourav Ganguly, BCCI President and Former India Cricket Captain, suffered a mild heart attack in January, netizens happened to re-discover his old ad endorsing Fortune's Cooking Oil. It then triggered a slew of tweets and jokes with people questioning the effectiveness of the oil and also wondering how the brand will tackle this crisis. <div type="twitter" handle="arifaajakia" handlename="Arif Aajakia" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1463855466463862798/ZR5EoEHM_normal.jpg" favoritecount="161" retweetcount="13" status="Dada, get well soon. We love you. You are a tiger, you will come back roaring. @SGanguly99 https://t.co/F5rkPAlmNE" createdat="1609734280000" id="1345949241093586946"></div> On Valentine’s day this year, the brand published an honest print ad clarifying that there are many factors that can affect our heart's health. Adani Wilmar’s Fortune rice bran cooking oil was the only brand that did not bow down to trolls. <div type="twitter" handle="FortuneFoods" handlename="Fortune Foods" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1230878437541371904/69ad0EW2_normal.jpg" favoritecount="15" retweetcount="2" status="Dada made a healthy comeback, as he always does! Here's a 'heart' felt message from him on Valentine's Day. Let's h… https://t.co/Je2cGatoz8" createdat="1613277036000" id="1360808636755320837"></div>

From Manyavar’s Kanyadaan to Cadbury’s beef row, here are a few brands that found themselves in trouble in 2021

<ul><li>It is after a long time that we have consistently seen <keyword id="2727" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-dravid" source="Orion">Rahul Dravid</keyword> in the brandverse.</li><li>After his association with CRED, Dravid has signed up a few more brand deals with Piramal Realty, Practo, Orchids, to mention a few.</li><li>According to TAM sports, Dravid had about a 4% share in television advertisements during the first half of 2021. He was also the eighth most-loved sports celebrity in India this year.</li><li>So, as the Former Indian captain dons a new role in Indian cricket history and bags more brand deals, we speak to brand custodians to find out the reasons behind his comeback and decode his equity as a brand endorser.</li></ul>Rahul Dravid, team India’s newly appointed head coach, has found his space back into the brandverse after his clutter-breaking and memorable performance in <a href="https://twitter.com/imvkohli/status/1380451732690411521?s=21">CRED’s campaign</a>. The brand had unleashed Dravid’s unseen side and the audience was astonished! Apart from breaking other bowlers’ patience, we have never seen Dravid break anything or lose his calm at all. We certainly did not expect the zen Rahul Dravid to react as we do in traffic. This Indiranagar ka Gunda won millions of hearts with his acting skills and his ad went on to become the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/brands/article/creds-ad-featuring-rahul-dravid-was-the-most-viral-ad-in-ipl-2021-report/articleshow/87279382.cms">most viral ad during IPL 2021. </a> Since Dravid’s association with CRED, his popularity seems to be growing steadily. He has signed up a few more brand deals with Piramal Realty, Practo, Orchids, to mention a few. On the field, he was fondly referred to as ‘The Wall’ or ‘Mr Dependable’ for acting as the team’s silent saviour and guiding them out of troubled waters time and again. He was also known as one of the most disciplined cricketers with a sound technique and at one point, he was a bowler’s nightmare. However, he lived under Sachin Tendulkar’s shadow during his entire career and in the last decade, after he resigned from international cricket, he was replaced by MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli in the marketing world too. After experiencing a dry spell in the ad industry for years, he has finally made a comeback. According to TAM sports, Dravid had about a 4% share in television advertisements during the first half of 2021. <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/advertising/media/article/top-10-sports-celebrities-of-the-brandverse-in-2021-as-per-tam/slidelist/85649566.cms">He was the eighth most-loved sports celebrity in India. </a> Telling us the reasons behind Dravid’s rising popularity, Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and former marketer at HP, Motorola and PepsiCo, said, “Rahul has always been a thinking cricketer known for his poise, balance and maturity and his batting best described by the moniker ‘the wall’ have always been the mainstay of India’s cricket through the late nineties and 2000s. So even after his retirement from international cricket, his association with the game as the captain of IPL team Rajasthan Royals and as the head of the National Cricket Academy NCA continued. Another reason for the renewed brand interest is the fact that Dravid is now the Head Coach of the Indian cricket team, one of the key positions in Indian sport. This brings him Centerstage as he helps navigate India’s cricket team over the next few years.” Athletes and sports personalities disappear from the limelight once their sporting career comes to an end. However, Dravid has managed to stay relevant. N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA is confident that Dravid’s brand value will only rise in the coming years. He said, “Rahul Dravid has kept his brand relevant, but not over-exposed, and therefore even at 48 years, he is likely to see his brand value grow over the years.” So, what’s the secret behind this? Chandramouli says, “Sportspersons usually have a short shelf-life for endorsements, and it declines sharply after their sporting careers are over. However, the two-decade career of Rahul Dravid has had glittering successes and his dependability on the field is legendary. His calm, non-controversial demeanor is at its batting best off the field too. He is a brand’s dream as an endorser, especially for those who want to show dependability.” Shashwat Das, Founder and Director, Almond Branding said that The Wall of Indian cricket will never go out of fashion and the CRED campaign has only strengthened his position as an endorser. He said, "Just last week the batting legend has been officially appointed the head coach of the Indian cricket team. That clearly shows that he has miles to go as far as his contribution to Indian cricket is concerned. The same holds true for the brandverse! I would say his PR team has been doing a commendable job and is a big force behind not only his comeback to the brandverse but also pushing him beyond his typical gentlemen arena. Jammy’s act of breaking things as “Indranagar ka Gunda” was clearly breaking the internet. After CRED, we suddenly are ready to see much more from him. I am sure we will see many more of his brand endorsements in the coming year." With 18.9k followers on Instagram, Dravid’s social media following also adds to the potential consumer base for the associated brands, especially during the lockdown when most of the brands had little to no access to the traditional channels of advertisement. Over the years, Dravid has also managed to stay clean from any controversy -- making him a safe bet for brands. He has endorsed everything from grooming products to insurance brands, staying four feet apart from pan masala brands. In fact, he was a part of a<a href="https://youtu.be/6fOUNhW1YVY"> Tobacco control campaign</a> that helped him reiterate his principles and ethics to consumers. It is his charming personality and tactical acumen that he has always held a special place in India’s marketing world. He has emerged as the perfect option for brands who want to establish themselves as the ‘pillar of strength and trust.’ “Dravid’s allure for brand is his mature and untarnished reputation who has always played fair both on and off the field. A player who despite his awesome achievements has remained controversy-free, stayed low profile and shunned the limelight. This archetype is generally rare among sportspersons and movie stars and makes for a brand endorser that many stable brands would opt for. I think his personality makes a great fit for categories that work around tradition, and value trust and dependability - BFSI, Technology, FinTech and Education/EdTech,” said Mathias. He also said that Dravid’s equity might see a hike after his recent appointment as India’s Head Coach. Mathias added, “Dravid's brand equity should see an upsurge with the Indian cricket head coach role. Brands may see the appeal of someone who’s nationally revered, had a great playing career, morphing into an astute administrator and coach combined with a positive and untarnished reputation as a great rub off.” While we all know that brands chase numbers, some celebrities live forever. Dravid, the wall of Indian Cricket Team, is one of those stars who will shine for years to come. His brand image, relatability and followership continue to remain strong and experts expect the same trend going forward.

Decoding Rahul Dravid’s rising popularity among brands

<ul><li> As we come to the end of 2021, most of us are entering 2022 with a lot of hope and positivity. </li><li>Despite the challenges, 2021 turned out to be a good year in terms of the campaigns our creative agencies churned out. We saw many heartwarming, thought-provoking, quirky campaigns that won our hearts through the year.</li><li>In today's edition of our year-ender series, we talk to the best storytellers from the Indian advertising world and they tell us their expectations from 2022.</li></ul>2020 was one of the most difficult years we have faced in recent times which brought with it massive challenges. With people stuck at their homes, many of the traditional mediums witnessed a huge drop in spending. 2021, therefore has been a year of slow recovery. While the first half of the year was, in some ways, even more challenging, owing to the havoc the second wave of Covid-19 wreaked, things have been steadying slowly. The second half of the year has seen consumer sentiments slowly moving towards positive and it has been a good festive season. GroupM in its recently published report gave some positive news, that the industry is recovering much faster than earlier anticipated. And there have been signs of the green shoots too with different mediums recording good growth. BARC recently revealed that the November ad volumes for Television stood at 156 million seconds, 3% higher than 2020 and 31% higher than 2019. Meanwhile, Digital has been witnessing steady growth. Magna’s recently released report noted that digital ad formats grew by +20% (APAC average: +23%) to Rs 21,400 crore, while traditional media rose +12% to Rs 44,300 crore. The report also predicted a good recovery for traditional mediums like Print that were impacted due to the pandemic. For mediums like OOH and Experiential, the recovery is slower but again, the hope is 2022 will bring some cheer. With consumer sentiments turning positive and brands’ increasing willingness to spend more on advertising, things seem to be on the mend for now. However, even in a year when AdEx had been impacted, our creative agencies came up with some beautiful campaigns to make the year just a little better for us. From CRED’s Indiranagar ka Gunda to Mondelez’s reimagining of its iconic cricket stadium ad for Cadbury Dairy Milk, we have seen some heartwarming ads that made the year just a little more bearable. Meanwhile, a lot of brands also moved towards purpose-driven marketing. We also saw agencies come up with wonderful ideas to solve consumer problems. So, there was a shift from hard-selling to storytellers also becoming problem-solvers and this is a trend we hope stays. It will all be about going that extra mile, doing some good for the society. We will continue to see a lot of these trends in 2022 as well, but there is more in store. While the industry is moving towards the next year with cautious optimism, we spoke to a few experts from the advertising industry to understand what we can expect from 2022, and here is what they had to say: <keyword id="269997" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amer-jaleel" source="Orion">Amer Jaleel</keyword>, Group CCO &amp; Chairman, MullenLowe Lintas Group The Rise of Regionalism in Advertising At one level, people are becoming more like each other. But look closer and you’ll see more alike, yes but also differently alike. Regionalism undoubtedly will be one of the dominant themes in the coming years, and this does not mean the archaic translations or redubbing of Hindi work that we used to churn out as a matter of course. As people receive more culturally relevant content to where they hail from or reside, we will see them shift towards themes and propositions that appeal to them. We see a confidence among people to claim their cultural territory and ask for entertainment that is more skewed towards them. And because you are viewing, not reading anymore, you can enjoy or be entertained or educated or moved in the nuances and the fine differences of the community you belong to, rather than be part of a generic mass. What that’ll mean to the creative process and production process you can only imagine in a country such as ours. Per piece, per project budgets will keep getting squeezed but overall outlays will go through the roof and marketing costs are bound to explode. It’s interesting times for a creative partner to both strategise in depth and create a plethora of gloriously unique work for the same brand over differentiated audiences. The more the frenzier, ha ha.” <keyword id="3844858" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kainaz-karmakar" source="Orion">Kainaz Karmakar</keyword> &amp; Harshad Rajadhyaksha, CCOs, <keyword id="138018" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ogilvy" source="Orion">Ogilvy</keyword> India Seniors will learn from juniors The pace with which new media and technology are integrating themselves into advertising, we can either up-skill or pack up our egos and leave. This is the truth. The faster we internalise it, the clearer we will be about our future. If this clarity leads us to acquiring new skills, then the best teachers are the youngest people in our offices. They were almost born with a smart phone in their hands. We had to learn to live with devices and apps. They can’t imagine living without them. Technology is blood to them. Add to that the immortal enthusiasm of their youth. An hour in their company is like reading an entire issue of The Wire. We should invest in these kids. Not just money but also our time. Learning something new from them is much more fun than whatever administrative meeting we are missing to do this. The fabric of advertising as we know it is changing. It’s terrific to be a part of this change, even if it means going back to being a student. Most of us had the best time of our lives when we were students. Only this time, our teachers are younger and cooler than us. <keyword id="1106781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rahul-mathew" source="Orion">Rahul Mathew</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer, <keyword id="910338" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="DDB-Mudra-Group" source="Orion">DDB Mudra Group</keyword> Valuing, Supporting and Protecting Talent This actually isn’t a new trend, it’s going back to what this business was built on – talented people. I can’t remember who said ‘Advertising is the only business where our biggest asset leaves out of our front door every day’. But it’s the most important truth of our business. One we’ve been guilty of forgetting, often. And with work-from-home, while our talent may not be walking in and out everyday, they are getting woo-ed everyday - by in-house agencies, other creative pursuits, start-ups with more money or just by the promise of a better work-life balance. So, if we do not double down on our efforts to make our talent feel valued, supported and protected; we will not have the talent to call ourselves a creative industry. <keyword id="3616322" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="arun-raman" source="Orion">Arun Raman</keyword>, Chief Intelligence Officer, GREY Group India 2022: Happy Brave Year The last 2 years were all about ‘Safety First’. Any action perceived as risky, was quickly branded as irresponsible by all and sundry. And we were all forced to put our heads down and keep our distance from the unknown. Covid, particularly the Delta variant, made marketing prudent too. At a time when there were tectonic shifts happening in consumer behavior, in cultural markers and even in business models, prudence was the operative word. Protection of market shares and protection of bottom-lines were the extension of protection at home. After all, aren’t marketers human first, consumers next and sellers lastly! I predict 2022 to break these self-imposed protectionist mindset by my marketing counterparts. Most have adeptly adapted to the new business models and the new way of consumer behavior. We are already seeing green shoots of big ideas re-surfacing. Big Bold Heroic Brand Ideas. That always are by-products of brave adventurous marketers. I think 2022 will be the Return of Bravery in our industry and the beginning of the end of the pandemic infused risk-aversion. <keyword id="2932117" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amit-wadhwa" source="Orion">Amit Wadhwa</keyword>, CEO India, dentsu Creative Amalgamation of Creative with Data, Technology and Digital 2021 has been a year that has had possibly the most ups and downs. Right from starting the year on a bullish note to seeing the biggest challenge with the second wave both from a business and people wellness front to finally coming out of it and closing the year on a high. The one thing that 2021 taught us was that it’s good to be ambitious but ‘cautiously ambitious’ rather than ‘bullishly ambitious’. So I guess we enter 2022 with this wisdom but there is so much more that we would need to focus on. One thing that I feel extremely passionate about is that we are in the business of creativity and our core is and will always be ‘creative’. And while I say this, we are living in an extremely dynamic world where right from methods of mining insights, ideas reaching consumers to consumers experiencing brands are all changing. 2022 will be a landmark year where creative agencies will see an even bigger transformation of the amalgamation of creative with data, technology and digital as the boundaries will vanish much faster this year. And agencies that are not ready for this change or are reluctant will face the heat while the ones who are better prepared and want to embrace the changing world will prosper. With our investments in data, tech and digital, I am all excited to embrace 2022. <keyword id="1505615" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ashish-Khazanchi" source="Orion">Ashish Khazanchi</keyword>, Managing Partner, Enormous 2022: The year of getting back to normal The pandemic was a true test of character of people, teams and organisations. While there certainly was a big drop in businesses and toplines, what was at stake was organisations' humanity. People in organisations everywhere dealt with the kind of uncertainty they never were faced before. Uncertainty of livelihoods, careers and sanity amidst surmounting work pressures. The better organisations, in my opinion, made sure that their people were taken care of at least as much as their businesses. When the specter of lockdowns was a little bit behind us, we saw a simple trend both in terms of people and companies. The ones with initiative thrived even in the midst of a terrible external situation. Anyone who did not take easy ways out, like the typical bottomline managers do, by cutting costs rather than working on newer avenues of organisational growth, are going to be the true hero companies of tomorrow. They've tasted success and now when the tides are turning, they're going to be unputdownable. 2022 will see business return to near normal, I would predict the number of pitches to go through the roof from about March. The ones with the best people and processes and creative products, will win 2022 by a mile. <keyword id="1970421" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="emmanuel-upputuru" source="Orion">Emmanuel Upputuru</keyword>, Chief Creative Officer, Cheil Entering a year of new adventures While the novel Covid-19 virus visited our planet last year, we bore the brunt of it this year. But as we come to the end of 2021, we can only look forward to the coming year, with lessons, hope and confidence. I believe the biggest positive is that so many possibilities have opened up suddenly for talent, companies and brands. We have entered an era where we have to deal with not just uncertainty, but with the unknown. There is a sense that anything and everything is possible today. Some can face it with fear, others with hope and a belief. But as the virus, the human race is also adapting, mutating if I may say so. So many exciting things are happening around us. Metaverse, Blockchain, NFTs, DAOs. Big brands have already entered these spaces. It looks so exciting, like an adventure. I am reminded of the song that my daughter loves and (hates it when I sing), “Don't you know there's part of me That longs to go Into the unknown? Into the unknown Into the unknown

Trends 2022: Where advertising is headed in the year to come

The Indian traveler is more adventurous than believed before. A report by the hotel platform <keyword id="2808667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="OYO">OYO</keyword> analyzed all hotel bookings in 2016 done on its platform. 
 
It confirms that a majority of Indian travelers are increasingly driven by impulse with 61% of all the bookings made on OYO platform were made within 24 hours prior to check-in. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/exclusive-what-moms-want-from-the-budget-2017/articleshow/56872243.cms">ALSO READ: Exclusive: What moms want from the Budget 2017</a> 
 
The research further highlights that despite the last-minute bookings, travelers’ expectations in terms of service, facilities, and experience are pre-determined and non-negotiable. WiFi, Breakfast and Hygienic rooms are the three biggest priorities for guests. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/this-co-working-space-is-tailor-made-for-ai-data-science-iot-startups/articleshow/56874042.cms">ALSO READ: This co-working space is tailor-made for AI, Data science, IoT startups</a> 
 
OYO’s research identified: 
 
● Chennai, Goa, and Gurgaon as the top contributors to hotel-booking via the app. ● <keyword id="57704" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shillong">Shillong</keyword>, Coorg, Darjeeling, Vishakhapatnam, and <keyword id="6389278" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Munnar">Munnar</keyword> as most popular winter holiday destinations in 2016 ● Paharganj continues to cement its reputation as the go-to spot for backpackers in the nation's capital while <keyword id="6517501" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Arambol">Arambol</keyword> is the most affordable locality in Goa despite ranking high on popularity. 
● Impulsively planned trips emerged as the top driver for outstation trips both in business and leisure travel segment. 
 
OYO also identified the most expensive and most affordable localities for budget hotels in top travel destinations. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/take-a-tour-of-oyo-rooms-attractive-new-property-townhouse/articleshow/56781794.cms">ALSO READ: Take a tour of OYO's attractive new property: OYO Townhouse</a> 
 
City- Most Expensive Locality Average tariff (in INR)- Most Affordable Locality Average tariff(in INR) 
 
Ahmedabad -Vastrapur 2023- GIDC Vatva 607 
Bangalore<keyword id="4123464" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="-bangalore-airport">- Bangalore Airport</keyword> 2137 - Indiranagar Extension 1181 
Chennai- Vadapalani 3008 - Egmore 770 
Delhi - Pragati Maidan 3800 - Paharganj 1292 
Goa- Candolim 3172- Arambol 2238 
Gurgaon- Manesar 2711- <keyword id="6400808" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sohna-Road">Sohna Road</keyword> 979 
Hyderabad - Kondapur 2380 - Abids-Nampally 1436 
Jaipur- Amer 1608 - Sindhi Camp 1194 
<keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> - Ballygunge 2014 - <keyword id="2381550" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ruby-Hospital-Kolkata">Ruby Hospital Kolkata</keyword> 1324 
Mumbai - <keyword id="6361338" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="south-Mumbai">South Mumbai</keyword> 5276 - Thane 2231

Indian travelers take a lot of
last-minute holidays, according to OYO

<ul><li>Our life and work are now intertwined like never before. Gautam Reghunath, Executive Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney, pens down how to bring empathy and compassion on to the agency workplace and how the future of advertising could be remote work.</li><li>'How do we work together when we’re not always together?' he writes. 'The developing concept of ‘work-life integration’ is key.' </li><li>He further writes about how embracing a culture of writing is going to be key to accepting a more flexible workplace. </li><li>You may wonder that we couldn’t add flexibility to our workdays the same ways that other industries can, but Reghunath answers how we might just strike the balance right. </li></ul>This isn’t a 9-to-5 hit piece. It isn’t a fluff piece for Zoom meetings or work-from-home policies either. Across industries, an unmistakable force influences productivity growth: the changing nature of work. And any conversation about the future of advertising is incomplete without also discussing the realities of the modern workforce. Let me get the clichés out of the way first. Our life and work are now intertwined like never before. Think of all the things you’re doing during work hours that your parents couldn’t even imagine at theirs. Until a decade ago, you had to actually hunt people down and do face-to-face conversations with them to get things done. The horror! Guess it was a no-brainer to keep all employees in one location over a particular number of hours to get them to collaborate better? Right now, I'm sitting in my living room sipping my morning coffee. It’s a Tuesday and I’m thinking I’ll wait until noon for the terrible Indiranagar traffic to die down before I make the one-hour trek to our office on Richmond Road. My team understands. We’ve already had two early morning calls on our week ahead and prepping for the pitch that is coming up later this month. A decade ago, even a setup this simple was far less common. For long, we’ve considered a 9-to-5 at a desk the holy grail of work set-ups. Most offices would have scoffed at the idea of employees not being present in office and punching in on time. If we need our colleagues to be comfortable with work intruding their personal time, shouldn’t it also be okay the other way around? Like the tech industry that thrives on remote or part-remote work, advertising will soon have to incorporate new communication patterns and people management styles that our industry has yet shied away from. Companies who figure it out stand to gain a serious talent arbitrage opportunity. The landscape for creative talent has changed, too. While talent is evenly distributed, opportunities aren't. Clever, interesting people don’t just live in big cities, or for the sake of their creativity, live monotonous lifestyles. Creative people in advertising aren’t all 27, single and work in big agencies. Not all of them need to fall under a homogeneous 9-to-5 workday either. Agencies that care about diversity need to accept diverse lifestyles. Those that can find new ways to nurture and empower talent regardless of our industry’s own straitjacketed processes will find it easier to hire top talent and thrive. Agency culture isn’t by nature remote-friendly, and I’m not even talking full-time remote work like our friends in tech. For a long time, I used to belong to the old school of ‘seeing is believing’. Grappling between trust and control issues and wanting real work happening right on the agency floor. Company culture, a huge part of what makes an agency itself, was built for an in-person workplace. Making a transition towards more flexibility would require changing aspects of the company culture, something that might hurt in the short term, but is an inevitable competitive advantage in the long term. We’re a ‘people’ business, yes. However, we don’t need to be a ‘people always in each other’s faces’ business like we think we do. How then do we work together when we’re not always together? The developing concept of ‘work-life integration’ is key. Think of it as opportunity cost, well spent. Work-life integration calls for smooth overlaps rather than distinct separations between different parts of your day. A 40-year-old father might choose to have breakfast with the family and drop off the kids at school, then work from 9:30 am to 3 pm, finish a meeting by 4:30 p.m., pick up the kids, hit the gym in his apartment, make dinner, and respond to emails &amp; work texts for an hour or two before bedtime. Simple things like catching a friend for coffee or the gym in between work hours are modern realities that were unacceptable until a few years ago. Just like how browsing social media sites on company networks was prohibited. In creative agencies, our entire process is built around in-person meetings. We might not realise it, but a great deal of skill learning is based on people see, people do and learning by observation. We don’t appreciate how much of what we learn is mimicry. We watch a lot more than we listen. Sitting next to a colleague, conversations around the office cafe, seeing how bosses behave in meetings. It’s a core thesis of ‘you’re the average of the 5 people you hang out with’. Of course, people find it harder to establish meaningful connections with colleagues they aren’t frequently meeting in person. It’s natural to talk about post-work plans or share Netflix reviews when you’re meeting in the pantry, but it takes more effort to form a bond when you’re mostly connecting over WhatsApp groups. We're social creatures, we communicate real-time and self-discipline is hard. So outside of logistics, even basic communication could become challenging. Embracing a culture of writing is going to be key to accepting a more flexible workplace. Companies that have embraced remote work in the west rely heavily on writing (post-meeting notes, office memos, written feedback on ideas, etc.). Instant messaging is an inherently one-dimensional way to communicate, why not try and skill up? Don’t underestimate the power of a well-written concise email or a succinct WhatsApp text reply. (Screenshot of an internal work WhatsApp group experiment) All this needn’t be for every organisation, nor am I championing a remote-work strategy. This is about empathy and how being accommodating of the realities of its contributors’ lives will be important for any creative culture looking to thrive. The optionality of being able to define your working style sounds like a nice perk in theory, but not everyone is efficient in such set-ups. It could be wise to have an explicit understanding that flexibility is a privilege to be earned continually. We must learn to accommodate on a case-by-case basis to do what's best. Right now, you may be thinking about the rigidity of the industry that we’re in, positive that we couldn’t add flexibility to our workdays the same ways that other industries can. Modern lives have all of us playing multi-dimensional roles. Real time with kids. To take care of pets. For guitar lessons. Photography. A Zumba class at 5 p.m. Teaching, even. We spend at least 8 to 10 hours working everyday -- more than doing anything else, so then work really is life and life is work. As leaders, success is defined by moments of removing constraints for your team. Actually removing them, however, is dependent on trust between leaders and employees and its bottom line is producing results. I’m slowly finding out that all of this may simply be good for business. - By Gautam Reghunath, Executive Vice President, Dentsu Webchutney.

Work-life integration and the future of the agency floor

It was a hot afternoon in Delhi’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Connaught+Place&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Connaught Place</a>. The last flight of stairs led me to <keyword id="3148540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="FLYPMTV">Flyp@MTV</keyword>. 
 
A well-known café among the city’s party crowd, they now have a separate section for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=co-working&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">co-working</a>. 
 
I walk up to a young couple huddled in a corner. They’re a budding design and marketing firm called Enqodle. “We’ve been in the industry since the last 5 years. This is our Business Centre. The back-end team sits out of Janakpuri. We worked out of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Starbucks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Starbucks</a> for a while, but how long can you sit! Beyond 3 hours, you have to order something”, co-founder Kapil Gupta says. 
 Places like <keyword id="2593251" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="40" keywordseo="Social-Offline">Social Offline</keyword> and Flyp@MTV were regular cafes with upto 50% seats lying unused during the day. Now these cafe-cum-coworking hubs transform into full-blown bars only post 6 pm. Till then, you can work out of here for a fee of 5,000 bucks a month. 
 
For that you get quite a lot, mind. Unlimited free tea/coffee, free web hosting, some discount vouchers, IT support and 15% discount on legal services. Throw in some free mentorship and networking sessions, and even the hustler generation can’t bargain for more. Did we mention the monthly fee is redeemable on food and drinks? 
 
Yeah, that. 
 
Kapil’s co-founder Swati accepts there are some challenges. “Getting our parents to understand we’re working out of a cafe is a task. The general perception of a café is that it’s pure chaos. It only gets a bit loud post 6 pm”, she smiles. 
 Most don’t seem to mind the music. <keyword id="3260254" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="One-Internet">One Internet</keyword> co-founder <keyword id="201692" type="PERSON" weightage="40" keywordseo="Himanshu-Bindal">Himanshu Bindal</keyword> says this is maximum bang for the buck. “A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Starbucks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Starbucks</a> coffee costs Rs. 300, and you can sit for up to 4 hours. At One Internet co-working, you pay Rs. 350 a day (via monthly plan) for better internet, 24*7 access and a full-fledged office”, he argues. 
 Even in <keyword id="3506414" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="co-working-cafes">co-working cafes</keyword> like MTV Flyp, you can walk in and pay Rs. 450 for a day. Have anything from the menu and you can redeem that amount as well. 
 
Next up, a three member team peering at their Macbook screens. They’re part of the India edition of Singapore-based Techseen. “We are the first team to work out of here. It’s been about 3 months now. Most offices today are shifting out of Delhi into Gurgaon and Noida. If they can offer space for 8-10 people, we’d love to sit out of here even as we expand”, Assistant Editor Abhinav Mohapatra says. 
 
My last catch is an unlikely startup pair. Delhiite Rahul Kakkad and his Pune-based Aeronautical engineer co-founder. The duo happened to live in the same apartment complex, and decided to partner for an alcoholic beverages information portal. How convenient to work out of a bar-cum-cafe. 
 
“We come by noon, and leave by six. A typical office space makes little sense for us. We meet new people every day. Also, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Starbucks&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Starbucks</a> doesn’t have a smoking area”, Kakkad smiles. 
 
Being in a central location, the only downside is high real-estate costs. After all, it's the rentals that decide the economics. Bindal says he’s making good money. This is after paying Rs. 6 lacs as rent. “We broke even in the first 3 months. We’re investing heavily on resources now. In this business, profitability depends on how many centres you have. We’re planning to launches centres in Gurgaon and Noida soon”, he says. 
 
His company is also planning to have co-working centres in Bengaluru (Koramangala/LSR Layout/Indiranagar) and Mumbai (Andheri/Juhu) in the next two months. 
 
As evening fell, the live band started jamming. Bass shook the floor. I knew it was time to get out. The bustling co-working crowd seemed at ease though, puffing their hookahs and gorging spicy kebabs. 
 
There’s no stopping this ‘work hard, party hard’ generation. After all, why leave work for party when you can work where the party is.

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