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<ul><li>Despite it being a year when people are social distancing and staying away from socializing or meeting friends and relatives, Urban Company has managed to convince people about the safety of its services, thereby resulting in people welcoming them into their homes.</li><li>It is this focus on safety and also the brand's continuous reiteration of its safety protocols in its communications that has won people's trust. It is already witnessing a resurgence in demand in most of its services categories.</li><li><keyword id="2144064" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tarun-Menon">Tarun Menon</keyword>, Director-Marketing, Urban Company spoke to us about all that the brand has been doing to get back into the hearts and homes of its consumers in this difficult year.</li></ul>Home services marketplace Urban Company (UC) has a good run so far this year. Not only has it seen good recovery in business during the various unlock phases, the platform also expects to see its revenue double in the current fiscal over last year. While the first few months of the lockdown meant that there was a complete shutdown for its business, owning to the fact that it offers in-home services, things are slowly falling into place now as consumers are again opening up to the idea of letting people into their homes. What is helping the brand get back on its feet is the fact that it has been focusing on offering safe at-home services and has been using its marketing campaigns to convey messages around how safe its services are. With the help of a brand ambassador like <keyword id="6354535" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ayushmann-khurrana">Ayushmann Khurrana</keyword> who people connect with instantly, the brand has been able to win over its consumers’ trust and is already seeing positive results. In a recent conversation with Ad &amp; Media Insider, Tarun Menon, Director-Marketing, UC walked us through all that the brand has been doing to get back into the hearts and homes of its consumers. The year so far The year has been challenging for most businesses across the world. However, what differentiates the ones who have been able to bounce back from the ones that are still struggling to find their footing is their agility and the rate at which they were able to adapt to changing consumer sentiments and demands. Owing to the fact that UC offers in-home services, it meant that it would take the platform some convincing before people opened up their doors to the platform’s partners. However, things have been moving in a positive direction for the past few months as the brand has been witnessing consistent growth. Urban Company Co-founder <keyword id="3012564" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Varun-Khaitan">Varun Khaitan</keyword> stated in a recent interview that despite the months of lockdown, they are already crossing their pre-COVID peak by more than 30%. He also shared his optimism about seeing 2X growth in FY21 over FY20. On how things were right after the lockdown, and during the early phases of Unlock, Menon told us, “The first 2 months were quite a struggle, like all other businesses. However, the first categories that started to pick up were the ones that could be deemed as essential services, like plumbing, electricians, carpenters and subsequently appliance repairs.” Across the width of categories that UC is present in, there are some for which the pandemic provided tailwinds to and there were others for which the negative consumer sentiments acted as headwinds. UC had launched men’s grooming and haircuts at home in the last quarter of 2019. “That is a category that has seen tremendous growth in the past few months and its actually buoyed our business significantly,” Menon added. However, the platform has had to work tremendously hard on categories like Salon at home, owing to the fact that it is a high proximity service. That’s where its advertising has helped it win its consumers’ trust back. The brand launched its ‘UC Safe Salon campaign’ which comprised TVCs featuring TV actors like <keyword id="166349" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Neena-Kulkarni">Neena Kulkarni</keyword> and <keyword id="27383" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shweta-Tiwari">Shweta Tiwari</keyword> who had themselves availed UC services. The aim was to spread the message about how safe its salon at home option was. “Following the launch of the campaigns, we've seen resurgence across all categories, some obviously moving faster than the others. And it's a function of sentiment and maturity across categories. To give you a sense of where we are relative to July, our salon category has grown by about 50-56% and that's been on the back of structural problem-solving, to deliver on the core quality of experience and safety. We’ve re-skinned the way we talk about ourselves in our communications,” he explained. The team built video communication for each of its services on its app to assure people about their safety protocols. And all these videos featured Tiwari. People responded to the videos, owing to the fact that Tiwari as a brand is relatable and trustworthy. The effort has also been towards coming up with offerings that drive value for consumers in the salon category. “Initiative like Super Saver Week and Salon Spree have helped us meet our monthly targets for the salon category,” he added. He also added that the pandemic provided tailwinds to the men’s grooming category which has seen around 57% growth since July and is coming close to the salon category in terms of volumes. Of new users and markets While the salon at home category had been a winner for UC, it launched its Men’s grooming services right before the lockdown. And owing to the fact that salons had to be shut for a long time, once the unlock process started, the brand saw a lot of demand for the men’s grooming services. And all of the people using these services are new users. It is also witnessing good demand for other services like painting and professional cleaning. And is the platform witnessing more demand from smaller cities? “A significant portion of our business still continues to remain in urban cities. However, our focus has also been on building demand in Tier II cities. We have tried to build relevance at a regional level through our influencer marketing programs, specifically in the salon and men's grooming business. On the salon business, through the month of September, we've worked with about 165 micro-influencers who have a following between the range of 5000- 50,000 but are locally relevant. The aim has been to drive resonance of salience on the message that UC salon services exist in your city, to reiterate our safety protocols and to introduce our roll-on waxing,” explained Menon. UC has also been trying to talk to the slightly older audience, to again assure them about the safety of their offerings, however, the demand is still being driven by the younger audience. Marketing strategies during and post lockdown Usually during the times of crisis, marketing budgets are the first to be cut off. For UC too, the marketing budgets were put on hold for the first two months of the pandemic. “However, once we saw some supply return to the platform, and there was a certain demand to supply ratio where demand was lagging, we activated our marketing budgets. It's been about tracking our numbers and coordinating with the rest of business to identify moments, categories and regions, in terms of building where demand needs to be built,” he explained. It is also spending its marketing monies in a phased manner. “Today we might be slightly below par to where we were pre-pandemic in terms of our marketing spends and that’s a conscious choice. We are spending and have invested on IPL. However, right now its more about optimizing our spends with a view of what the cost of conversion is, and build that based on the structural changes we’ve made to our business, to focus on quality and safety. The larger belief is that if we get these two things right and are able to drive it in a credible, demonstrable way when it comes to experiences, that in turn will lead to repeat business, and even word-of-mouth,” said Menon. TV and Digital continue to be the biggest spends for the platform. During the IPL, the brand launched a campaign with its brand ambassador of 2 years, Ayushmann Khurrana. The vision for Urban Company UC, which was formerly known as UrbanClap, was founded in 2014 with a handful of service professionals. In the last 6 years, the platform has diversified its business and has also expanded to global markets like Australia, Singapore, and the UAE. So where will the next phase of growth for UC come from? “There are several things we have been discussing, like introduction of new services within each category or the tier-ization of services to appeal to different price points and consumer sets. The company's ethos is to pilot, learn, iterate, fail fast, and then deploy. So there are active pilots across each of these, whether it is service expansion, depth of service or segmentation exercise,” shared Menon.

How Urban Company’s continued focus on safety and targeted communication is making people open their doors to the brand

Gone are the days when the small screen was not a lucrative career option for actors. But today, TV can be your ticket to Bollywood (we need not tell you what SRK and Sushant Singh Rajput have done in this regard) and it also pays big bucks for your efforts. While most of the careers compensate you after a month of slogging, a popular TV star can easily bag thousands at the end of each episode. Here’s a look at eight Indian TV stars who take home the fattest pay cheques. 
 
1. <keyword id="17416" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ram-Kapoor">Ram Kapoor</keyword> 
The BIG man of Indian television, who made his TV debut with the serial Ghar Ek Mandir, where he played husband to Gautami Gadgil (now his wife), is the biggest star on Indian telly. According to media reports he charges a whopping Rs 1.25 lakh per day. After kissing popularity with shows like Kasam Se and Bade Achche Lagte Hain, Kapoor is enjoying his stint on big screen these days with films like Agent Vinod and Humshakals. 
 
2. <keyword id="6360486" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ronit-Roy">Ronit Roy</keyword> 
He started his acting career in movies, but it was television where Ronit Roy struck gold. With shows like Kasautii Zindagii Kay and Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, he became the hot favourite among audiences. These days, he is seen playing a famous defence lawyer, KD Pathak, in Adaalat and his compensation amounts to Rs 1.25 lakh per day. 
 
3. <keyword id="6378149" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ankita-Lokhande">Ankita Lokhande</keyword> 
Sushant Singh Rajput’s long-standing girlfriend rose to fame after playing Archana in Pavitra Rishta. Ankita was being paid Rs 70,000 per day when she decided to take a break for three months. Buzz was that to bring her back on the show, her fee was hiked to Rs 1 lakh per episode. 
 
4. <keyword id="6358984" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sakshi-Tanwar">Sakshi Tanwar</keyword> 
One of the most coveted actresses on Indian television, Sakshi Kanwar has come a long way. It was the lead role of Parvati in Ekta Kapoor’s soap Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii that made her a household name. Then she topped the popularity chart by playing Priya in the popular show, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain. Her chemistry with Ram Kapoor is the high point of the show. The actress takes home anything between Rs 70,000-1 lakh per day. And she shoots only 15 days in a month. 
 
5. Shivaji Satam 
He is the popular ACP Pradyuman from India’s longest running crime series CID. This popular Marathi actor, who is also seen playing supporting roles in Bollywood, is one of the A-listers when it comes to the TV industry. He earns around Rs 1 lakh per episode. 
 
6. Karan Singh Grover 
This hot hunk of Indian telly got a huge fan following after playing Dr Armaan Mallik in the TV serial Dill Mill Gayye. After that, he participated in a dance reality show and vanished from the scene. However, we saw him making a successful comeback with Qubool Hai. Buzz is that even after the break, the boy demanded Rs 80,000 per day, which he got, and today he is making Rs 20 lakh a month. 
 
7. Drashti Dhami 
Popularly known as Madhubala, from the serial, Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon, Drashti charges Rs 60,000-70,000 per day and shoots for 20 days a month. Now, that’s indeed some amount. 
 
8. <keyword id="27383" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shweta-Tiwari">Shweta Tiwari</keyword> 
Her stint with the small screen started with the tele serial Kasautii Zindagii Kay that established her as the new queen bee of television. Although the show is now over, Shweta continues to appear in reality and comedy shows. She has also done a couple of tele serials including Parvarish: Kuchh Khattee Kuchh Meethi. Shweta takes home as much as Rs 60,000 per day.

Meet The 8 Top-paid TV Stars Of India

<keyword id="26022" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="bigg-boss">Bigg Boss</keyword> is the most controversial and still the most watched show on Indian television. Based on Big Brother, a Dutch reality show, it has successfully completed 7 seasons and the loyal followers can’t wait for the eighth one, which is touted to go live sometime this September. 
 
Let’s have a look at the winners of all the 7 seasons and where they are now.

The Winners Of Bigg Boss:
Where Are They Now?

<ul><li>Veteran star <keyword id="14505" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="zeenat-aman" source="Orion">Zeenat Aman</keyword> made her <keyword id="819905" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="instagram" source="Orion">Instagram</keyword> debut at 71 and amassed over 1.3 lakh followers in just a month. She will soon make her web series debut.</li><li><keyword id="1813" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="neena-gupta" source="Orion">Neena Gupta</keyword>’s appeal for work on Instagram heralded a change in the way the industry looked at veteran actresses.</li><li>OTT platforms have not only revived careers of veteran stars, it has also brought to centre stage actresses long-sidelined by mainstream media.</li></ul>Gauri Shinde’s English Vinglish that released in 2012, was considered a sleeper hit despite starring one of Indian cinema’s original female superstars, Sridevi. It took the industry by surprise because <keyword id="143" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="bollywood" source="Orion">Bollywood</keyword> rarely backs female-led movies and even when it does, these movies – especially those starring veterans, aren’t expected to become commercial potboilers. However, the advent of over-the-top (OTT) streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney plus Hotstar etc, and the rise of social media has changed the scenario. In some cases, actresses of a certain vintage have begun to take centre stage – with some even landing hits far more popular than the ones delivered by mainstream heroes. In February 2023, the 70s heart-throb Zeenat Aman, 71, made her debut on Instagram. Within a month, she has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thezeenataman/">amassed </a>1.37 lakh followers and won over the audience with her articulate, unabashed and honest views — a far cry from the carefully-curated celebrity updates people are accustomed to. “The roles available to women are clearly not just ornamental anymore. What hasn’t changed though is the gender pay gap. In my time I was lauded as the highest paid female actor, but the disparity in the pay cheque between my male co-stars and myself was so vast it was laughable…it disappoints me that even today women in the film industry don’t have wage parity,” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CpFl3XoA8Un/">remarked </a>Aman in one of her many posts on the platform. Aman, who’ll soon make her <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/zeenat-aman-to-make-her-ott-debut-soon-already-has-two-web-series-in-her-kitty/articleshow/92560748.cms">web series debut</a> with <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/entertainment/web-series/zeenat-aman-to-make-ott-debut-with-the-series-showsttopper-101677773391183.html">Showsttopper</a>, co-starring Shweta Tiwari, Rohit Roy and others, also walked the ramp for Shahin Mannan’s fashion show at the Lakme Fashion week. She’s the latest in a long list of veteran actresses who’ve taken to new-age entertainment platforms and social media channels like fish to water, and have managed to shatter the long-held Bollywood concept of ‘limited shelf life’ for female actors. But, it’s certainly not a new phenomenon. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows" comment="subhead" text="The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows">The Bollywood stars who went to reality shows</cmsannotation> There’s always been a clear divide between a TV and movie star in India, with television often seen as a stepping stone to movies — but only for a few. Most stars who start with TV shows, however, continue to remain there. However, when some of the stars from the 90s and early 2000s first made their comeback, it was as judges of reality shows on TV or in some cases, as contestants. For instance, Shilpa Shetty famously participated in Big Brother —- the British version of Bigg Boss, which catapulted her back to stardom. A few even took to TV shows, like Sonali Bendre in Ajeeb Daastaan Hai Ye (2014). Although superstars like Madhuri Dixit have managed to reinvent their careers and regularly land exciting roles, that wasn’t the case for many other veteran actresses. Until actor Neena Gupta decided to ask for work on social media, heralding a change in the way Bollywood views older stars. In 2017, Neena Gupta, the star of indie cinema in the 1980s, openly asked for work — a move that left a majority of the population within the industry, and even outside of it, surprised. After all, this is an industry where actors out of work for years still spout the excuse, “looking for the right script.” “I live in Mumbai and working, am a good actor looking for good parts to play,” wrote Gupta on Instagram. The result of Gupta’s request – since 2017, she’s starred in over 10 different movies and web series, including blockbuster hits like Badhaai Ho and crowd favourites like Panchayat. Her Badhaai Ho co-star, the late Surekha Sikri also won her third National Film Award for the film. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT" comment="subhead" text="The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT">The other comeback: Sidelined by mainstream media but stars on OTT</cmsannotation> The advent of OTT streaming has not only shone the spotlight on veteran stars but has also given actors sidelined by mainstream media a chance to showcase their acting prowess. Like actor <keyword id="18676" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shefali-shah" source="Orion">Shefali Shah</keyword>. Sidelined by mainstream cinema for years, 49-year-old Shah’s gritty performance in Netflix’s International Emmy-winner Delhi Crime was the perfect response to that mistreatment. Since then, she’s been on a roll, delivering hits across genres — romantic dramas like Netflix’s Once Again, thrillers like Prime Video’s Jalsa and Disney+Hostar’s Human or dark comedies, like Darlings (on Netflix). In fact, OTT brought back many millennials’ childhood divas, be it former Miss <keyword id="326110" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="universe-sushmita-sen" source="Orion">Universe Sushmita Sen</keyword> or the ‘tip tip’ girl, Raveena Tandon. And they didn’t return to play stereotypical mothers to actors who were as old or even younger than themselves — as Shefali Shah did for Akshay Kumar in the film Waqt: The Race Against Time. Shah is six years younger than Kumar. Rather they starred as protagonists in shows with gripping storylines that gave them a chance to flex their long-dormant acting muscles. The result — Sen’s mom-turned-mobster avatar in Aarya and Tandon’s small-town cop in Aranyak and the antagonist in KGF2. As Sen shared <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch">in an interview </a>with film critic Anupama Chopra for Film Companion, “What I like about Bollywood now is suddenly, content is king. It’s incredible how liberal the language of cinema is becoming. It’s allowing people to explore all different aspects — writing, execution, direction, actors getting that opportunity to go beyond the boy-meets-girl phase. It’s wonderful.” Long story short, the stars have finally aligned for Bollywood’s veteran and long-sidelined powerful actresses. And it’s a well-deserved comeback indeed! SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/how-is-gpt-4-different-from-chatgpt-and-what-makes-it-unique/articleshow/98688465.cms">How is GPT-4 different from ChatGPT, and what makes it unique?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/googles-new-ai-features-for-docs-gmail-and-more-to-rival-microsofts-workspace-toolsheres-what-it-means/articleshow/98657324.cms">Google’s new AI features for Docs, Gmail, and more to rival Microsoft’s workspace tools—here’s what it means</a>

How stars like Neena Gupta, Zeenat Aman & Shefali Shah finally found their place in the sun via OTT

The next season of the popular reality show "Bigg Boss" will stream its first six weeks on <keyword id="1245953" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="OTT">OTT</keyword> and then make a gradual shift to television. The new season will be called "<keyword id="11600532" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bigg-boss-ott">Bigg Boss OTT</keyword>" and will arrive early this year. "Bigg Boss OTT", which will stream on <keyword id="3113913" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="VOOT">Voot</keyword>, will introduce a 'janta' factor. The new format will give the common man the uncommon powers of "Bigg Boss OTT" by enabling them to handpick contestants and the contestants' stay, tasks and exit from the show. <keyword id="842774" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ferzad-Palia">Ferzad Palia</keyword>, Head of Voot Select says: "At Voot, experiences and innovation around content are at the forefront of our strategy. 'Bigg Boss' has witnessed tremendous success over seasons and grown to become India's biggest entertainment property. The launch of Bigg Boss OTT on Voot is another step towards solidifying our '<keyword id="50691" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Digital">Digital</keyword> First' approach as an organisation. We are confident that our loyal fans and subscribers will enjoy a truly world class experience through our 24 hour Live feeds, interactivity and gaming offerings." Actress Shweta Tiwari, an ex Bigg Boss contestant and winner of "Bigg Boss 4", is excited about the OTT streaming of the show. She says: "I'm extremely excited to know that my favourite reality show is arriving early this year. For me, Bigg Boss was a life-changing experience. Not only did it let the audience know me beyond my persona as an actor, but ended up teaching me to be more patient, tolerant and yet assertive. It also gave me friends like family. I watch 'Bigg Boss' every year, but I think that as an audience member, I am going to have more power than ever before to be the real judge of the show. That makes this OTT launch absolutely thrilling." SEE ALSO - <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/google-calendars-new-rsvp-option-will-let-you-specify-how-you-want-to-attend-a-meeting/articleshow/84237490.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Google Calendar’s new RSVP option will let you specify how you want to attend a meeting</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/tcs-hires-over-20000-in-june-quarter-its-highest-ever-quarterly-addition/articleshow/84240423.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">TCS has loaded up half a million peeps as it expects many to move on</a>

Reality show Bigg Boss to premiere initially on OTT for six weeks before it hits television

After Zindagi, Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL) has now announced &amp;TV, its another premium entertainment channel. 
 
Synonymous with the spirit of new-age India, &amp;TV signifies a conjunction of aspirations and rootedness, much like the amalgamation of various TV shows that mark their debut with the channel tonight. 
 The first show to be aired would be <keyword id="378933" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="Razia-Sultan">Razia Sultan</keyword>, who was the first woman ruler from India. The show has been produced by Swastik Productions and stars Pankhuri Awasthi and Sooraj Thapar in lead roles, who play Razia Sultan and her father Iltutmish, respectively. It would air at 7:30 PM from Monday to Friday. 
 
Next in line is Bhagyalaksmi, a serial from the affluent lanes of Madhya Pradesh. Starring Barkha Singh and Abhishek Malik with Aruna Irani, Rita Bhaduri, Anil Dhawan and Ashita Dhawan Gulabani, the love story would see the clashes of rich and poor, airing at 8 PM from Monday to Friday. 
 At 8:30 PM, viewers would get to see the cute and bubbly <keyword id="2722206" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Gangaa">Gangaa</keyword>, a child widow. Her spirit to break the shackles of conservative Indian society is the wave that the makers would hope to ride on. Produced by Sphere Origins, The show stars Ruhana Khanna, Rakhi Vijan, Sushmita Mukherjee and Hiten Tejwani. 
 
The prime time of 9 PM has been reserved for the flagship show, India Poochega <keyword id="2695296" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sabse-Shaana-Kaun">Sabse Shaana Kaun</keyword>, to be hosted by <keyword id="1671" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Shah-Rukh-Khan">Shah Rukh Khan</keyword>. The show is inspired by Who’s Asking, an Israeli game show of Armoza Formats. Both the persons who ask the question and the one who answers would be commoners. The show has been produced by Siddhartha Basu of Big Synergy. 
 At 10, we have <keyword id="75320" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Begusarai">Begusarai</keyword>, produced by Saregama Productions. Based on the lives of land mafias of Bihar, the show has Shweta Tiwari, Vaishnavi Dhanraj, Vishal Aditya Singh and Dheeraj Miglani. The highlight of the show, however, would be veteran actress Sulbha Arya, who is donning a negative role for the first time. 
 Next, the channel has a comedy show in line for its audience. Called <keyword id="2749105" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bhabhi-Ji-Ghar-Par-Hain">Bhabhi Ji Ghar Par Hain</keyword>, the show would be based in a middle-class Indian society from Kanpur, and would be focusing on two neighbouring families. Starring Saumya Tandon, Shilpa Shinde, Rohitashv Gaud and Asif Sheikh, the show has been produced by Edit II. 
 
Image courtesy: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AndTVOfficial">And TV Facebook Page</a>

Sabse Shaana Kaun And Four More New Shows To Debut Tonight

<ul><li><keyword id="9648465" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sima-taparia">Sima Taparia</keyword> from Mumbai is back and she’s telling fortune again. This time, it is with <keyword id="8681398" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Urban-Company">Urban Company</keyword> and the audience is loving it.</li><li>Tarun Menon, Director Marketing, Urban Company takes us behind the platform's latest influencer marketing campaign with Sima Taparia, shares the thought behind partnering with her and larger goals for this year.</li></ul>Last year, Netflix's Indian Matchmaking introduced India and the world to ace matchmaker Sima Taparia and she quickly became one of the most talked about character from a reality show. The first season ended in July 2020 but the audience hasn’t stopped stanning over Sima Taparia yet. Sima gained instant popularity among millennials and Gen Z and never faded away from the news cycle. Over the past year, brands like Burger King, Tinder, Asian Paints flocked to partner with the internet sensation, who recently starred in Big Boss OTT. Meanwhile, brands are still not over her. Recently, she featured in a campaign for home service and grooming platform, Urban Company. Before Netflix renewed Indian Matchmaking for season 2, Urban Company’s Align your Stars campaign with Sima Taparia generated a lot of chatter on social media. It helped the brand garner 4.5+ million views in less than a week. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Telling us why Sima was the perfect match for this campaign, Tarun Menon, Director Marketing, Urban Company said, “Sima enjoys cult-like status and is best known for matchmaking based on the stars. She was one of the most talked about people online in 2020. It was a punt – to see if the choice of influencer and content could drive engagement for the campaign.” “The videos themselves have been well received across social media with people relating, reacting and engaging with the content - and has given us learnings to bake into our next campaign,” added Menon. Its marketing objective was to create buzz ahead of the launch of Big Home Rush, an Urban Company sale property. To further spread awareness around its discounts and gain new customers, Urban Company partnered with 14 different young influencers such as Kusha Kapila, Vishnu Kaushal, Mallika Dua, to mention a few, to create content for each zodiac sign. The underlying message of each piece was to encourage consumers to join Urban Company’s Big Home Rush sale. Launched in January 2021, the Big Home Rush sale has become extremely popular with consumers. Even in the ongoing second edition, the company has already delivered close to 500,000 services, witnessing high demand from cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad and more. Sharing why it chose influencer marketing to promote its sale, Menon said, “With other media formats driving awareness, the influencer leg sought to create engagement and conversation around the sale, in a way that’s native to the platform (Instagram). We’d observed that in the last 2 months, sun-sign based content was growing in volume, engagement and traction - as people tag their friends and conversation flows organically.” Before Sima Taparia, Urban Company’s partnership with yesteryear’s TV stars such as Rupali Ganguly as Monisha Sarabhai and Komalika also received a positive response from its audience. The idea behind casting such a unique set of stars, from Sima to Monisha, was to find women who can express shock and help open a door for them in the regional markets. “These content pieces were part of a larger campaign for Salon Classic - a newly launched category that offers salon quality services at unbelievable prices. Our intent in partnering with influencers and content creators was to integrate the key message - salon services at unbelievably low prices - into content &amp; culture. It made sense to partner with influencers best known for expressing shock – Hindi TV celebrities with a cult following for the roles they play. We further extended this concept to regional TV artists as well, to build relatability for regional audiences. We are looking to attract new customers and engage existing consumers through this campaign,” shared Menon. Due to the global pandemic, Urban Company has seen an uptick in the demand for home cleaning and hygiene services as people are becoming more health-conscious. The app had become quite popular for its home repair and salon services before the pandemic broke out. However, people have been wary about letting outsiders inside their homes lately. Urban Company rose to the challenge and tweaked its marketing strategy. It started communicating every day about the changes it introduced in its services and updated its audience regularly about the number of employees vaccinated. It tweaked its logo across platforms to convey the importance of social distancing and wearing a mask. Apart from that, it realised that people are looking for a lot of DIY videos to make the best of their time. Therefore, it started uploading beauty and wellness video tips to help its consumers surf through the challenges they are posed with. It is also conducting live sessions to engage with its consumers. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Telling us how the company has tweaked its larger marketing strategy after the pandemic to win consumer trust, Menon shared, “We focused on communicating every day about the changes we introduced in our services and SOPs. For example, we completely reimagined certain services, such as threading, to ensure low contact with consumers. For threading, our Beauty experts now wrap the thread around their neck, instead of pursing it in their mouth. We launched extensive campaigns to build communication on our safety protocols and how the Urban Company experience has been reimagined for delivering safe and hygienic services. Our ‘<keyword id="11886690" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="uc-safe">UC Safe</keyword> Salon campaign’ included TVCs featuring Neena Kulkarni and Shweta Tiwari aimed at communicating the safety of Urban Company’s salon at home services. More recently, in May ‘21, we ran an extension of the UC Safe campaign, highlighting how over 75% of our service professional base is now vaccinated.” Home services sector in India is largely unorganized and Urban Company is one of the few companies that is formalising it and despite being in the business for 7 years, Menon says that they are still just getting started. Sharing his larger goals for this year, Menon said, Our focus areas will be to increase market share in existing markets and increase penetration in new cities. In the past 2 years, we have expanded to 30 cities in India. Our goal is to be present in the top 100 cities over the next couple of years.”

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