Best printers for Home

Best Mixer Grinder

Best wired Earphones

Best 43 Inch TV in India

Best Wi Fi Routers

Best Home Theatre in India

Smart Watch under 5000

Best Laptops for Education

Best Laptop for Students

<ul class="summary-list"><li>I competed on season nine of <a href="https://www.insider.com/great-british-baking-show-contestants-on-bad-things-about-series">"The Great British Bake Off,"</a> and I lasted three weeks in the tent.</li><li>In my first week on the show, I met the 11 incredible bakers I'd be sharing the journey with.</li></ul>When I competed on <a href="https://www.insider.com/shows-to-watch-if-you-like-great-british-baking-show">"The Great British Bake Off"</a> in 2018, I had no idea what I was in for. I made it through three golden weeks on season nine of the show, and now I'm sharing <a href="https://www.insider.com/contestants-on-what-its-like-to-be-on-bake-off-secrets">what really happens</a> in Britain's most sought-after tent.Read on for my experience applying for the show and competing on week one: Biscuit Week. <h2>After weeks of interviews and evaluations, I landed a spot in the beloved tent</h2>I moved to London from the South of India just two years before I went on "<keyword id="8453508" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bake-off" source="Orion">Bake Off</keyword>," so I really wasn't well acquainted with the show or English culture in general.An ex of mine actually applied for me as a surprise because of my love for <keyword id="11894142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="food" source="Orion">food</keyword> and my interest in baking — then, just like magic, I was in that tent of dreams.The production company reads thousands of applications (filled with personal stories, baking experience, photos, etc.) and makes numerous phone calls for the first round. The <a href="https://www.insider.com/what-the-bake-off-application-is-really-like">rigorous application process</a> takes weeks of interviews and a psych test to see if you can handle the pressure — this stuff was top-notch solid.I was in the sunny Canary Islands sunbathing (suns out, buns out sort of situation) when I got my first call. <h2>I walked in with little practice, and I was completely unprepared for what was to come</h2><div type="image" title="antony's show-stopper bake from week one season 9 of great british bake off" height="1614" width="2152" msid="88036086" hostid="261"></div>Week one in the tent is really special. You move into a hotel for an extended four-day weekend and meet the other 11 talented home bakers who make the episodes special.While us bakers were getting acquainted (introducing ourselves, speaking about our baking practice, and discussing our plans for the upcoming 10 weeks), there I was having only practiced my biscuits for week one. Everything else I made the next two weeks was just dreams put on paper."On your marks, get set, bake," they said. But I wasn't set, and the baking was questionable.For reference, bakers were given the themes for all 10 weeks of challenges to create recipes for the signatures (the first challenge every week) and show-stoppers (the four- to five-hour masterpiece challenge). The <a href="https://www.insider.com/trying-technical-bakes-from-the-great-british-baking-show-2020">technical challenge</a> each week was a complete surprise.Ideas for the two known challenges had to be submitted in advance, and there I was creating these dreamy recipes like an elephant-head biryani pie and a gravity-defying zip line coming down from a mountain of bread — neither of which I actually practiced beforehand.I still remember telling my plans to one of the contestants, Ruby Bhogal, who's become like family in London. She was blown away by my dreams, and I think she thought she shouldn't give away all her <keyword id="12154089" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="secrets" source="Orion">secrets</keyword> because I might be great competition.In 2018, there were <a href="https://www.insider.com/former-contestants-on-great-british-baking-show-diversity-issues">three Indian bakers in the tent</a>, me, Ruby, and Rahul Mandal (the eventual winner), and some of our plans ended up being similar. There was biryani, butter chicken, and spice (cardamom being the favorite), almost like an Indian masala bake-off. <h2>Everything was a secret during filming, so I worked as a banker during the week and baked all weekend</h2><div type="image" title="antony crossing his fingers in front of a mixer on great british bake off season 9" height="1614" width="2152" msid="88036087" hostid="261"></div>Confidentiality was key until the season's bakers were publicly announced, and the production company made sure of this. I still remember getting cryptic messages such as "meet us at 11:15 at this station and person X will come pick you up."You weren't allowed to share any details, and phones weren't allowed for the period of filming.The filming was all done over the weekends as some of us in the tent also had full-time jobs (like me) or kids to juggle. Our social media was also closely watched by <a href="https://www.insider.com/great-british-baking-show-how-producers-make-series-more-dramatic">the production team</a>, so there was no meeting other bakers in public and making a public display/social-media post.Ruby, Briony Williams, Imelda McCarron, and I surely broke this rule and got told off several times.<h2>The tent was a dream, but there's so much happening behind the scenes that viewers don't see</h2><div type="image" title="antony season 9" height="1501" width="2002" msid="88036088" hostid="261"></div>Our year was filmed at Welford Park, a beautiful estate with beds of snowdrops and green pastures — just scenic and dreamy.The tent looks massive on television, but it really isn't that big. And guess how many people are in that tent during filming? There's at least a 100-member crew operating cameras, sound, lights, and more.Yet all you see on television is 12 bakers having a chat with <a href="https://www.insider.com/contestants-on-what-great-british-baking-show-judges-and-hosts-are-like">two judges and two hosts</a>, magic isn't it?You may notice that aside from a few wide views of the tent, all the shots are pointing outward. That's because an army of actual superstars from Love Productions is creating the warm, cozy show in the aisle.It's intense because you get thrown into an experience you have zero knowledge about — an unfamiliar kitchen set-up, camera people and producers in your face, the judges with their very judgemental eyes and comments (though I must say both Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith are a dream), and the hosts trying to pull stunts to keep you calm (Noel Fielding was a laugh and Sandi Toksvig is just a beautiful person who was helpful in calming Rahul down).My only wish was to not get kicked out that first week, and thankfully I succeeded. So that's week one downloaded for you. Follow along as I fill you in on more memories, gossip, and spicy details from the tent.But until then ...Here are 3 things I wish I knew before going on the show:1. I should've read up a bit more about classical British bakes.The technical for the first week was Paul's favorite childhood biscuits, Wagon Wheels, a crisp shortbread sandwiched with marshmallow and raspberry jam and coated with tempered chocolate.I had no idea what these were, and they sure hadn't reached India. I still remember mine being one big sloppy mess.2. It would've been helpful to be better acquainted with British television and media.After doing the show, you get a lot of opportunities to connect within the British media industry.I walked into every event totally clueless on who's who and expected people to introduce themselves, which I think a few took offense to. So goodbye to networking and getting famous.3. I really wish I took a break from my day job as a bankerI burnt out very quickly working a full day at a bank and practicing bakes all night long, only to wake up early to hit the road again.Antony was on "<keyword id="12273466" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="the-great-british-bake-off" source="Orion">The Great British Bake Off</keyword>." If you were on or worked on a reality-TV show and would be interested in being paid to write about your experience, email pdifiore [at] insider.com.

I competed on 'The Great British Baking Show' with very little practice. Here's what week one was really like.

<ul><li>It has been more than a year since we have been stuck inside our homes, which has been a mix of boon for a few and curse for many.</li><li>So for our sixth episode of Influencer Adda, we decided to get someone to inspire us.</li><li>In today’s episode, we will be talking to <keyword id="4077853" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranveer-Allahbadia">Ranveer Allahbadia</keyword>, aka BeerBiceps about his content creation journey so far, the future of social media and his goals ahead.</li><li>Ranveer recently became the first independent creator from India to be associated with Spotify through its Exclusive podcasts.</li></ul>Content Creator, podcaster, investor and Co-founder of <keyword id="9491005" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="monk-entertainment">Monk Entertainment</keyword>, Ranveer Allahbadia has more than six million YouTube subscribers across three channels and over 1.4 million Instagram followers. He started creating content back in 2015, when becoming a YouTuber wasn’t recognised as a serious ‘career option.’ Popularly known as ‘BeerBiceps,’ he was fresh out of engineering college when he thought of inspiring others with his fitness journey through YouTube. Interestingly, he is the third engineer we have spoken to, who has quit the field to pursue a career in entertainment and content creation. “I think engineering teaches you how to learn anything because we don’t understand any of our subjects. We go in with zero knowledge and you figure things out yourself. Then you can apply it to the media world or to content creation and do an alright job,” says Ranveer, chuckling. <div type="Video" msid="83405511" hostid="261" title="Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, journey so far and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=83405511"></div> To evolve with changing times, stay relevant and connect with his fans, Ranveer gradually diversified his content from fitness to career guidance, mental health, lifestyle choices and mystery around parallel universes. According to him, “Versatility is a weapon in the world of content creation.” Sharing with us a little piece of advice he received before starting out, which shaped his career to a great extent, he elaborates, “Indians like masala. That’s why Om Shanti Om would do better than Guzarish because the latter is niche and the former has everything. Indians inherently love masala. And that’s all that I have been playing towards. People tend to get bored with one kind of content piece. So, we do horror, poetry, romance, fitness, fashion, etc. You also have to tweak it for different mediums, keeping in mind that you can’t fake it. Social media is a very intelligent collection of people and they spot out bullsh*t. So, you can’t fake it (versatility).” In 2019, India had over 1,200 channels with one million <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/media/entertainment/youtube-in-india-has-over-265-mn-monthly-active-users-1200-channels-with-1-mn-subs/articleshow/72456212.cms?from=mdr">YouTube </a>subscribers. At that time, two creators on an average were crossing one-million subscribers and 2,500 creators were touching their first 1,000 subscriber milestone every day. Due to the lockdown, many Indians have turned to content for entertainment, which has led to exponential growth of content creators as well. And this number is only going up by 2025 as the number of internet users is expected to grow to more than 974 million, says data platform Statista. So, to stand out in this highly cluttered, ever-growing market of content creation, Ranveer suggests, “Offer very fast-paced content which is original, created with consistency and is ideally a value-add to a user's life. Value-add can be humour as well but it has to be fresh and new -- something that hasn’t been done before. And it is not that difficult when you religiously get down to it because every human being has a different personality and an inherent sense of humour. So, it is just about putting your most raw-self out there with consistency at a fast pace. People are using TikTok and Reels and that’s why their attention span is reducing. So, you need to play according to what the demand is right now.” Ranveer’s social media handle, BeerBiceps, is quite creative and ironic at the same time for a fitness channel, which is why it stays with you. He has been using this name even when investing in other businesses because it has become a brand name now, that precedes him. For example, he invested in an LA beauty brand Ready Set Jet under the alias BeerBiceps. “If you want to grow in any business, you have to run in the opposite direction. Fitness channels back in the day were only about hardcore discipline and fitness and I wanted this element of taking it a little easy: you can party and stay fit. So, BeerBiceps worked for me and it stuck around.” Today, many creators have simply used their real name on social media channels to avoid any confusion. However, Ranveer suggests it is important to come up with a creative handle to clearly establish your content offering for your audience. “It is important now to stand out with your name than it was earlier and I am glad I took that decision in 2015. There are so many people who are going by their names that it becomes difficult to remember them. If you go by a gimmick or a brand name, it does better. For example, you remember MissMalini rather than Malini Agarwal or The Rock more than you remember Dwayne Johnson. So in today’s modern world, having a gimmick is great because it stays in people’s heads,” adds Ranveer. Ranveer recently became the first independent creator from India to be associated with Spotify through its exclusive podcasts, which is a stepping stone for thousands of budding podcasters in the country too. Taking us to the very beginning of it all, Ranveer shares, “Content creation for me was just an aggressive learning process. I wanted to learn how to use a camera, put a video on YouTube and build brands -- in this process of self study, my learning capability increased and I kept applying it to my career. Today, we talk about modern skills like coding and communication, etc., -- videography is another important modern skill today, which is the key in my overall arsenal and probably more important than my entrepreneurship.” Ranveer’s first brand deal was with an energy drink for Rs 7000 and he shared a small part of his first income with Monk-E’s Co-founder and his manager Viraj Sheth. “Viraj earned Rs 1,400 from it and I earned about Rs 5,600 and it was a huge deal for us back then. We were getting around 500-1000 likes on Instagram and we were monetising those likes,” he recalls. Until 2-3 years ago, Ranveer was still getting pressured into changing his career by people around him. While he said that it is important to ignore those who pull you down, you should heed to constructive criticism to grow. “In your first three years, you have to listen to what the society is saying because criticism can hold lessons. I started out by doing motivational content and people said, “What else do you have to offer?” That gave me the motivation to start my own business. When we started Monk-E, they said media business is easy to run but can you do a ‘real-world thing?’ That’s my next motivation now -- that I am creating consumer-first products and selling directly to the audiences. So, you need to hear the criticism because it can often help shape your content. This is also what goes with a lot of content creators. They switch off to criticism therefore, switching off their own growth. Go through the things you do wrong, you experiment -- that’s when you grow,” says he. If he gets a chance to start all over again, Ranveer says (with a small twinkle in his eyes), “I would shave my eyebrows, my head and become a monk. I would go to the mountains and I wouldn’t do this (content creation). I am doing it now because there’s momentum with it and in this journey, I have discovered Yoga, meditation.” “And from a content perspective, I would go really strong with my Instagram Reels strategy. That’s the key to growth. We are seeing it with one of our Monk-E talents Niharika NM, who started 5 years ago but has popped as a talent now. We always knew she would have this explosion but we didn’t expect this magnitude of the explosion and that’s only due to Instagram Reels,” adds he. With vaccination drive in full swing, Ranveer is now hoping that the country would slowly get back to normal and he would get to meet a few of his dream podcast guests in person, including Virat Kohli.

Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, learning from his mistakes and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli

<ul><li>The film celebrates the ‘masaledaar’ taste of Kurkure.</li><li>It is conceptualised by <keyword id="7067090" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="wunderman-thompson" source="Orion">Wunderman Thompson</keyword>.</li></ul> Kurkure has unveiled a film featuring Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar and actress <keyword id="689826" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="samantha-ruth-prabhu" source="Orion">Samantha Ruth Prabhu</keyword>. This film is a part of the larger ‘Ab Laga Masala’ campaign that captures Kurkure as a ‘chatpata’ anytime snack that adds an element of ‘masti’ and quirkiness to the daily lives of its consumers. Being the family-entertainer throughout its two-decade-long journey, the original Indian snack brand Kurkure has been changing the landscape of salty snacks with its innovative product formats and flavour profiles across collet, puffed, and namkeens – disrupting not only the domestic but also the international markets with its ‘masaledaar’ offerings and quirky storytelling. <div type="Youtube" id="tsgOYyakBv0" title="Kurkure ka chatpata twist, koi nahi kar payega resist." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tsgOYyakBv0/mqdefault.jpg"></div> In the film, Akshay plays a thief who breaks into Samantha’s house in the middle of the night and gets distracted when he sees a packet of Kurkure kept in the kitchen cabinet. Just as he is about to open the packet, Samantha and her family catch him red-handed and snatch the pack from his hands to eat Kurkure themselves, then offering him as well. Forgetting his initial intention to rob the house and with no fear of being caught, Akshay, who is already eager to munch on the snack, readily obliges. Needless to say, Kurkure’s ‘masaledaar’ flavour sends Akshay into a ‘maha-flavourful’ bliss, until reality hits and greets him with the sound of police sirens on the way to the house. Sharing his thoughts, Akshay Kumar said, “Be it for my movies or my ads, I’ve always strived to create extraordinary moments for my fans, and Kurkure has been perfect at bringing out the quirky yet extraordinary side of me. It’s always fun to play an entertaining character that can transform dull moments into memorable ones with a 'masaledaar’ kick.” Speaking about the new film, Neha Prasad, Associate Director – Brand Marketing Kurkure, PepsiCo India, said, “Kurkure has a special place in the heart of Indian consumers with its iconic flavour and ‘tedha’ persona. The brand has the ability to portray unconventional yet relatable modern Indian family scenarios through its quirky, over-the-top storytelling that transforms any boring moment with family and friends into an entertaining one. Through this film, we want to intensify the brand love and celebrate the iconic flavour of India’s favourite ‘masaledaar’ snack. We are confident that our latest blockbuster combination of Akshay’s exuberant energy and Kurkure’s ‘masti’ will be an eccentric and compelling experience for the fans.” Expressing her thoughts on the campaign, Ritu Nakra, Senior Vice President, Wunderman Thompson, “Daily life can be such a routine and boring when there is no ‘masaledar’ twist... but with Kurkure Masala Munch, the ‘masala’ hit in each collet unleashes full-on drama in every situation. Watch how the spicey tangy and ‘chatpata’ flavours ka hit make Akshay a mast chor in the new ad campaign for the brand.”

Kurkure's new campaign with Akshay Kumar adds a quirky twist to a heist

<ul><li>Big Boss has launched in its digital avatar on Voot.</li><li>Bigg Boss OTT roped in 8 leading brands as sponsors for the exclusive digital season. After <keyword id="6358977" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="swiggy">Swiggy</keyword> and <keyword id="6416838" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="coindcx">CoinDCX</keyword> joined in as the ‘co-powered by’ sponsors, Viacom18’s Voot roped in Vimal Elaichi, <keyword id="9555198" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="MX-TakaTak">MX Takatak</keyword>, <keyword id="2875740" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Netmeds">Netmeds</keyword>, <keyword id="150626" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="HM">H&amp;M</keyword>, <keyword id="270570" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Durex">Durex</keyword> and Lotus Herbal as sponsors.</li></ul>With screens turned from television to digital, Bigg Boss, in its digital avatar, unleashed a super storm of over-the-top celebration and entertainment with its opening episode. With its launch on Voot with 13 contestants, Bigg Boss OTT roped in 8 leading brands as sponsors for the exclusive digital season. The season premiere episode witnessed viewers tuning in from across India registering the highest numbers of subscriber tune-in for a Bigg Boss opening till date. After Swiggy and CoinDCX joined in as the ‘co-powered by’ sponsors, Viacom18’s Voot roped in Vimal Elaichi, MX Takatak, Netmeds, H&amp;M, Durex and Lotus Herbal as sponsors. Joining as Presenting Sponsor, Vimal Elaichi is recognized as a brand to champion pioneering ideas with a strong youth appeal. Vimal Elaichi will leverage Bigg Boss’ fandom to connect and interact with viewers through highly engaging IPs like Video Vichaar and Extraa Masala giving the brand widespread exposure throughout the reality series. While Video Vichaar will enable viewers to share thoughts and opinions around daily developments within the house, Extraa Masala is a successful content around content IP that traditionally attracts hordes of Asli Fans who can’t keep away from the Bigg Boss phenomena. MX Takatak is a recognized brand in the short video format domain and in capacity as Social Media Partner, MX Takatak will deepen synergies with the show and its audience. MX Takatak will foster and drive growth for the Bigg Boss OTT x Voot community on its platform. As Style Partner, internationally loved fashion brand, H&amp;M will spruce up with style quotient on the show. A host of distinctive partners will seamlessly integrate with the daily storyline thus becoming an essential aspect of the overall storytelling. Additionally, Netmeds joins as Pharmacy Partner, Durex as <keyword id="11846994" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="special-partner">Special Partner</keyword> and Lotus Herbal as Beauty Partner will drive engagement through tasks and activities that both contestants and viewers will actively be involved in. Elaborating on the sponsorships, Gourav Rakshit, Chief Operating Officer, <keyword id="2947361" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18-Digital-Ventures">Viacom18 Digital Ventures</keyword>, said, “Bigg Boss has grown to become a celebrated proposition for brands to connect and engage with viewers. Given the multi-touchpoint offering, the interest the show generates is unlike any other. The diverse brands that have come onboard as sponsors, some of whom have joined the Bigg Boss family for the first time in this exciting edition, is testimony to popularity of Bigg Boss and the wide appeal of the Voot platform. We are excited to be working closely with them to create an ‘Over The Top experience’ for their audiences as well.” Speaking on associating with India’s largest reality phenomena, spokesperson at Vimal Elaichi said, “We are delighted to come on board as the presenting partner of Bigg Boss OTT- a new, pioneering idea for an OTT platform in India. Vimal has always associated with shows and IPs that have a large mass audience connect; testimony to that are our brand ambassadors Ajay Devgn and Shahrukh Khan! An innovative property like Bigg Boss OTT which is watched and loved by millions, fits in seamlessly with the same vision. We are very confident that this partnership will enjoy tremendous success.” On its premiere association with Voot for Bigg Boss OTT, Janhavi Parikh, Business Head - MX TakaTak said, “With this exciting partnership, we bring reality television to short video as well! Bigg Boss OTT shows the real side of celebrities to its viewers while MX TakaTak offers a great platform and encourages users, creators, digital enthusiasts to showcase their real talent across different genres. The natural content synergies that both platforms drive make it a win-win for us and we believe this will make for a great content fit for our users.” With the entertainment phenomenon’s tremendous popularity and reach, the sponsorships aim to provide brands with an opportunity to engage and collaborate through various touchpoints throughout the digital season. With prominence through ad spots, task integrations, special zones and other interactive and innovative branding opportunities, Bigg Boss OTT is all set to further give impetus to the brands to enhance their visibility and influence consumers.

Voot onboards 8 sponsors for Bigg Boss OTT as it opens its digital-first exclusive season

Recently, Society Tea launched a new campaign ‘Masala Nahi Toh Mazaa Nahi’. Conceptualized by Ogilvy, the campaign revolves around every Indian’s love for cinema and chai. Riding on the strategy of this campaign, Shemaroo Entertainment tactically took over a Society Tea outdoor in Mumbai with a campaign of its own. The Shemaroo Outdoor goes on to agree with Society Tea outdoor to say, ‘Toh masala chai ke saath ek masala movie ho jaye?’. While this campaign between Society and Shemaroo was more like a friendly reply, there have many numerous instances where brands have taken on each other. <keyword id="25952" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mercedes-Benz">Mercedes-Benz</keyword> CEO Dieter Zetsche retired from his post recently, after leading the car manufacturer for 12 years. And while the world spoke about Zetsche’s stepping down, an ad spot by BMW, paying tribute to Zetsche went viral. BMW released a video, bidding farewell to Zetsche, which people might argue is a very nice gesture. The ‘heartwarming’ ad sports a Zetsche look-alike who is seen saying goodbye to colleagues at Mercedes-Benz, returning his ID and then seen leaving for home. The ad ends by saying, ‘Thank you, Dieter Zetsche, for so many years of inspiring competition.’ However, BMW brilliantly adds itself to the spot when they show the character zooming off in a BMW car with the words ‘Free at last’ on the screen, in the last frame seconds of the ad. The ad ticked all the right boxes, it felt like a genuinely heartfelt tribute, while also being smart advertising. However, while people initially lauded BMW for being humble and raising a toast to the CEO of a rival brand, many others later pointed out that the last shot, where Zetsche is seen driving out in a flashy BMW car makes the ad cheeky and not really as heartfelt as most people were making it out to be. <div type="Youtube" id="9rx7-ec0p0A" title="Retirement is about exploring your wide open future." thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9rx7-ec0p0A/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 <keyword id="1440186" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="competitive-marketing">Competitive marketing</keyword> isn’t really a new phenomenon. For years, rival brands have engaged in guerilla advertising, calling each other out and pulling each other down, in an attempt at achieving one-upmanship. For consumers, it is entertainment, where competing brands end up engaging in pun wars, which can be very witty at most times. Closer home, we came across a few examples of competitive marketing when smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi took a dig at rival brand OnePlus. OnePlus has been putting in some big bucks to promote its latest offering OnePlus 7. It recently roped in Hollywood actor Robert Downey Junior as its face and has been marketing its new phone aggressively. Looking at this as an opportunity, Xiaomi came up with an OOH campaign and placed it right beside OnePlus hoardings with the punchline, ‘Starkly Superior To The Lastest One’, clearly taking a dig at OnePlus. The images were tweeted by Xiaomi India Head, Manu Kumar Jain, and the Twitterverse was quick to notice this, which were shared across platforms widely. <div type="twitter" handle="manukumarjain" handlename="Manu Kumar Jain" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1097747771208040448/8ds587oq_normal.jpg" favoritecount="6767" retweetcount="792" status="&quot;Starkly superior to the latest one!&quot; +1 if you liked these punny ads! 🤓😁 #RedmiK20 and #RedmiK20Pro coming soon!… https://t.co/EVejqmkGRW" createdat="1559458989000" id="1135079389446647811"></div>
 About a month back, Oven Story came up with a series of videos where they promoted their pizza offerings while also poking fun at some of its well-established rivals like Pizza Hut and Domino’s. <div type="Youtube" id="01lS-9YAtqs" title="Oven Story Pizza, ye to #NextLevelCheese hai! III 40sec" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/01lS-9YAtqs/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 European lager beer brand Beck’s Ice too launched a digital film that took a direct dig at competitor Kingfisher, the ad implied that its competitor’s beer was not as smooth as Beck’s Ice. <keyword id="33542" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Burger-King">Burger King</keyword> recently also took its competitive advertising to a different level when it launched an Augmented Reality campaign where it asked people to ‘burn’ its competitor’s ads, and get a Whopper in exchange. <div type="twitter" handle="Ogilvy" handlename="Ogilvy" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134818095279878146/uHppwvz7_normal.png" favoritecount="4482" retweetcount="4543" status="Title: Burn That Ad Client: Burger King Agency: @DAVID_SaoPaulo_ For their latest campaign, Burger King entices cu… https://t.co/HZSysvXWMs" createdat="1553090752000" id="1108369063951126528"></div>
 In the past too, we have seen some big brands engaging in competitive marketing. Who can forget the Cola wars in India in the 90’s? Or the campaign where Times of India came out with a video, pulling the Hindu down while launching in Chennai, which was dominated by the Hindu. The Hindu also later came out with a campaign titled, ‘Stay Ahead With The Hindu’. Both the campaigns were widely spoken about, despite it being before the time of social media. <div type="Youtube" id="_-qUnFZa6PM" title="TOI CHENNAI EDITION WAKE UP!" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_-qUnFZa6PM/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 <div type="Youtube" id="OT3xeaWVINA" title="Stay ahead with THE HINDU" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OT3xeaWVINA/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 Competitive marketing has an obvious advantage. It makes people sit up and notice. In the age of social media, anything that is a little different from regular communications generates a lot of chatter. Speaking about how brands can stand to gain, <keyword id="873832" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Saurabh-Uboweja">Saurabh Uboweja</keyword> Chief Executive Officer Brands of Desire management consulting firm says, “Competitive marketing is a powerful tool if used intelligently. It brings unforced attention, creates dialogue around your brand and establishes your superiority over your adversary.” Since the advent of social media, coming up with campaigns like this has also become common because a lot can be said in just one post. This also makes it cost-effective. Says N Chandramouli, CEO, TRA, “Guerrilla marketing or competitive advertising is usually low cost and usually piggybacks on a larger advertising campaign. It’s like a judo move, where you use the weight of the opponent against them. It becomes good conversation, and is usually remembered for a long time.” He further adds, “If done well, ads like this can be extremely effective. It brings the competing brand into the consumer consciousness, if it is well executed.” However, many also believe it is a double edged sword. Adds Uboweja, “It is sometimes confused with plain or crass sloganeering and may backfire as a result, making a brand appear desperate for attention.” Agreeing to Uboweja, Karthik Srinivasan, Independent Brand Strategist says, “Brands need to be very careful while coming up with campaigns like this. Campaigns go viral when they evoke a strong emotion in viewers, that emotion can be positive, negative, humor or disgust.” Sharing an example when two brands engaged in competitive advertising, while not putting each other down, Srinivasan says, “When Boeing turned 100 back in 2016, Airbus came up with a video thanking the former for the healthy competition. Similarly, Boeing came up with a video to wish Airbus a happy 50th birthday. In both the cases, the brands kept the snide-ness at the minimal. However, that also meant these videos were not as widely shared as the others.” <div type="Youtube" id="xWaTjYpczKQ" title="One thing to say to Boeing" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/xWaTjYpczKQ/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 <div type="Youtube" id="5j3ob0CfH9I" title="Airbus, We're Glad You're Here" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5j3ob0CfH9I/mqdefault.jpg"></div>
 While brands do capture a lot of eyeballs for campaigns like these, they can also face a backlash, making it critical for brands to be very careful. Srinivasan explains, “People only share content like this when they feel strongly. And it’s not a very good idea to do that on a back of a strong negative emotion. In case of Xiaomi, they pulled OnePlus’ legs but the next time they fall short in some regard, people will pull Xiaomi down too. Brand need to realize that a piece of communication can also evoke a positive emotion and such creatives can also do well with consumers, if the campaigns are executed well.”

Does Competitive Marketing Still Work For Brands?

<ul><li>12 years since its inception, IPL is still a hot favourite for advertisers. </li><li>According to a report, IPL reaches 77% more women than any prime time Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC). </li><li>Advertisers overall are expected to spend more than ₹2,000 crore during IPL. </li></ul>It's just a few more days left until the country starts chanting for the Indian Premier League. Advertisements featuring the cricketers with new slogans for each time have already hit television screens across the country. The enormous popularity of the Indian Premier League – the 20-over cricket match with players from across country teams – is evident in the sold out stands seen at stadiums, high television ratings and recurring prime time slots, with nearly half of the audience being women. Yet, the majority of Indian commercials aired during IPL continue to target just men, a reflection of the typical gender stereotyping still common among advertisers. Even a cursory look at the latest numbers on viewership should make Indian brands sit up and evaluate why they need to switch their strategy – and do so urgently. According to a new report by BARC, IPL reaches to 77% more women than any primetime Hindi General Entertainment Channel (GEC). The report added that IPL reaches out to 262 million women in just 51 days as opposed to a top GEC channel which manages to garner 200 million in a year. Overall, women today hold a 47% television audience share during IPLs. It’s been 12 years since IPL launched and it still manages to be a big favourite of advertisers, attracting big spends. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/rs-2000-cr-ad-spends-set-aside-for-ipl/articleshow/67767108.cms">ET</a> report states that for <keyword id="6128971" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2019">IPL 2019</keyword>, advertisers are expected to spend more than ₹2000 crore, which is a jump from Star India’s last year’s revenue of ₹1,750 crore from IPL ads. From shaving companies to fairness creams for men or ads presented as locker room scenes and even indirect advertising for liquor featuring male actors continue to take centre stage during the primetime spots or even as tickers during matches. While not all top brands that cater to both men and women have stereotyped advertisements during cricket matches to be only for men, the general notion has been to sell a product to men during matches. Brands that hit a six with advertisements in 2018 According to a report on <a href="http://www.adageindia.in/marketing/news/ipl-2018-are-brands-scoring-enough-in-terms-of-creativity-this-season/articleshow/63807101.cms">AdAge India</a>, the brands which made a mark during IPL ads in 2018 were Vivo, Reliance Jio, Colgate, Amul, Coca-Cola, MakeMyTrip, Dream11, Kent, Berger Paints, Asian Paints, Crompton, Blue Star, Voltas, Haier, Luminous, Dollar, Vimal Pan Masala, Ceat Tyres, Pidilite, Vanessa, Sleep Well, Parle Agro, Parle Products, Polycab, Vu TV, AMFI, Dollar, Domino’s, Ford, Elica, Onida, Linkedin, Tata Nexon, among others. Popular phone manufacturer Vivo Electronics Corp <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Opinion/ZBNS9iU91o4k7CN2b8826I/Why-IPL-continues-to-charm-audiences-advertisers.html">paid </a>₹2,199 crore for a five-year sponsorship of IPL, a big big jump from Pepsi’s ₹400 crore 5-year deal. Additionally, IPL has always been a great time to launch new advertising campaigns, and has already seen many success stories in India. One of the most successful ad campaigns that took off during IPL is Vodafone Zoozoo. The Zoozoos took off from the second season of the IPL and also went on to win <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/latest-headlines/story/vodafones-zoozoo-campaign-wins-award-71192-2010-04-07">awards</a> for successful marketing strategy. Even startups like Swiggy witnessed a <a href="https://www.exchange4media.com/ipl-news/swiggys-ipl-ad-campaign-yields-25growth-in-orders-during-ipl-90467.html">growth</a> of 25% thanks to their advertising during the IPL matches. An <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/rs-2000-cr-ad-spends-set-aside-for-ipl/articleshow/67767108.cms">ET</a> report states that for IPL 2019, advertisers are expected to spend more than ₹2000 crore, which is a jump from Star India’s last year’s revenue of ₹1,750 crore from IPL ads. Meanwhile, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/coca-cola-takes-lead-in-advertising-by-signing-deals-for-ipl-world-cup/articleshow/67968570.cms">Coca Cola </a>has already taken a lead in the advertisement race during IPL with a committed ₹135 crore deal with Star India. So for brands who are making more efforts to be gender neutral, or take on sexist messaging in their approach, IPL venues could be a great starting point. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-is-building-the-worlds-largest-cricket-stadium-bigger-than-the-one-in-melbourne/articleshow/67421201.cms">India is building the world’s largest cricket stadium–bigger than the one in Melbourne</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/4-things-we-learned-from-the-recent-auctions-for-the-epl-and-indian-cricket-broadcasting-rights/articleshow/63911554.cms">Here's what we learned from two recent auctions about the future of sports broadcasting</a>

You Searched For "Masala entertainer" and got 7 results

I competed on 'The Great British Baking Show' with very little practice. Here's what week one was really like.

Antony Amourdoux

Ranveer Allahbadia on finding his true calling, learning from his mistakes and goal to collaborate with Virat Kohli

Karuna Sharma

Kurkure's new campaign with Akshay Kumar adds a quirky twist to a heist

BI India Partner

Voot onboards 8 sponsors for Bigg Boss OTT as it opens its digital-first exclusive season

BI India Partner

Does Competitive Marketing Still Work For Brands?

Samarpita Banerjee

Brands can no longer ignore Indian women during the country's most popular sporting event

Sanchita Dash

We're eating our way through every aisle at Trader Joe's. Here are the best things to buy in each category.

INSIDER

Popular Keywords

Buying Guides