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<ul><li>In our latest interview series, we speak to a few CMOs to understand how they are helping out their organisations find the right ways to connect with consumers.</li><li>Sapna Arora, CMO, <keyword id="6360657" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="olx">OLX</keyword> shares with us how her role has changed over the last few months and walks us through the platform's combat strategy for the horrifying second wave of COVID-19. </li></ul> As India reels through a dire second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, brands are trying to be there for consumers, to help them through these testing times. Till the time the number of positive cases in India declines, it’s not business-as-usual for brands. The overall sentiment of the audience is also grim and brands are trying to be there for consumers in spirit with their consoling marketing campaigns or by donating a part of their CSR budgets. Omni-channel marketplace OLX has altered its marketing approach to be relevant today. It has updated its communication and messaging by focussing on community building and using its platform to amplify pleas on social media. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Sapna Arora, CMO, OLX has found her role changing as a marketer and brand custodian. Her mantra has been to be agile, resilient, empathetic, helpful and kind. The horrifying scale of the second wave has made all playbooks on marketing redundant. Last year, CMOs in India focused on shifting their marketing monies from traditional mediums to digital platforms. Now, Arora’s role at OLX has been about helping the brand adjust to the sudden changes in the macro-environment, prepare for the uncertain tomorrow, use communication tools to help out customers and address vaccine hesitancy. Arora further shared with us how the second wave has changed OLX’s priorities, what route should marketers take to and much more. Excerpts: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How has your communication changed during what is probably one of the worst calamities we've faced in recent times? What is your B2C communication all about?" text="Q. How has your communication changed during what is probably one of the worst calamities we've faced in recent times? What is your B2C communication all about?">Q. How has your communication changed during what is probably one of the worst calamities we've faced in recent times? What is your B2C communication all about?</cmsannotation> It’s true, an emergency of this magnitude, felt across all nations, and for such a prolonged time, has not been witnessed before, not in the last 100 years. Rare complications are further deepening the crisis. We are moving with caution and with empathy. Our communication has vastly changed. How we collectively arrest the progression of this disease will be the litmus test to our awareness as a society. Our endeavour is to ensure that we remain relevant to our users at all times. We have opened up our social media handles to people seeking help, allowing all users to leverage our large reach and ensure wider sharing of messages. To reach out further, we have started donation drives and have partnered with Give India to provide food to Covid-affected families. Brand messaging now shows our side of care, offering comfort, encouragement and hope, addressing vaccine hesitancy, encouraging masking, sanitising, staying home, staying safe, connecting plasma donors with recipients, warning about fraudsters, and so on. It’s no more just a transactional relationship. We have to be real and relevant and show purpose, that’s what’s expected of leading brands at this time. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How has your schedule changed as a CMO during the second wave? What are some of the new tasks that you are doing? Can you draw a comparison between last year's lockdown with this year's?" text="Q. How has your schedule changed as a CMO during the second wave? What are some of the new tasks that you are doing? Can you draw a comparison between last year's lockdown with this year's?">Q. How has your schedule changed as a CMO during the second wave? What are some of the new tasks that you are doing? Can you draw a comparison between last year's lockdown with this year's?</cmsannotation> We don’t know how fast we’ll be able to bounce back from the second wave or what the next normal will be like. The buoyancy that emerged after the first wave was quickly dissipated in the second wave. We need to ensure business continuity, as well as show empathy to consumers, and also within the organisation. There’s no playbook to dip into for response planning. On the business side, among the new tasks, is to offer better content experiences to online consumers, touch more and more digital access points. We had plans that needed to be modified, and that has been the impact on my schedule. The messaging has moved to not just about updating product news, but also to show a higher degree of sensitivity and resilience. Agility, along with mission and purpose, are the reigning marketing principles now. Last year, it was all about digitising, educating people about the virus, hand hygiene, and celebrating frontline heroes. This year, it’s more about reaching out, about vaccines, medicines, oxygen supplies, and offering a helping hand. Affirmative story-telling is at heart of the new reset. Soon after the crisis is sorted, our new tasks would be to think hard about what consumers in the next normal would want. We’ll certainly have to redesign shopping journeys for our consumers, develop adaptive ecosystems, and so on, but as of now, that can wait. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. As a company, how are you using your advertising tools to help out people?" text="Q. As a company, how are you using your advertising tools to help out people?">Q. As a company, how are you using your advertising tools to help out people?</cmsannotation> The scale and ferocity of the second wave has altered all understood paradigms. There are heart rending stories of loss, and people are talking only about essentials, about conscious consumption. At a time when everything feels impossibly hard, there is a greater need to remain optimistic and to steer hyper-local activations. We are infusing positive content across our digital platforms. Responsible brands are expected to have a wider agenda. While social media is full of all kinds of content on the virus, reliable and trustworthy content is hard to find. We have opened up our social media handles for all Covid related queries, people can post their SOS calls, run enquiries that will help them reach wider audiences due to the vast reach of our brand, and we are helping in food supplies for affected families. We are also running campaigns on public discipline, on all our social media handles. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How has your role as a marketer changed?" text="Q. How has your role as a marketer changed?">Q. How has your role as a marketer changed?</cmsannotation> With the constant change that we are all experiencing, like the shift in containment zones, virus mutations, gaps in vaccinations, and so on, our roles, tasks and priorities have also been changing. Stakeholders, consumers and employees are looking at the brand, to know what we stand for, what values we uphold. We need to be realistic in our expectations, our goals, and in our messaging. To gain trust, we need to listen to our communities, employees and customers. We are looking beyond the traditional spaces of marketing, such as advertising and market-driven campaigns, to be relevant to people. We have tweaked our social media content around Covid-related information, encouraging people to vaccinate and to remain masked. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. What is your goal for this quarter? How have your goals changed due to the second wave?" text="Q. What is your goal for this quarter? How have your goals changed due to the second wave?">Q. What is your goal for this quarter? How have your goals changed due to the second wave?</cmsannotation> We have recalibrated our goals, from being number centric to being centred around how our resources can help communities. The goal presently is revolving around building strong connections with our consumers, fostering emotional togetherness while remaining socially distanced, to suppress virus spread. As a brand, we have come forward, using technology to build cohesive customer experiences. We recognize the human tragedy, and also the need to keep business running. As we understand now, the situation will rise and flare up at different times in different market segments. We will be mindful enough to act accordingly, and will continue to rejig our messaging, to show resilience and empathy. One can’t think in silos, or take an absolute stance amid such volatility. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. As a leader, how are you trying to be there for your employees?" text="Q. As a leader, how are you trying to be there for your employees?">Q. As a leader, how are you trying to be there for your employees?</cmsannotation> At this time, CMOs need to help their organisations adjust to the new realities. We have moved swiftly to expand our digital operations. The pandemic has deeply impacted the way businesses work. We have to show resilience, adaptability and help each person in the organisation to deal with the change. It’s a volatile situation, people are anxious, jobs need to be saved. We have adopted a people-first approach. Our teams have prioritised physical and emotional well-being of all. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. No communication or relevant/empathetic communication? Which route should a brand take during difficult times like these?" text="Q. No communication or relevant/empathetic communication? Which route should a brand take during difficult times like these?">Q. No communication or relevant/empathetic communication? Which route should a brand take during difficult times like these?</cmsannotation> In times of crisis, governments, as well as employees and consumers look up to their brands for answers. We have to cut the clutter, come on the front foot, move in the direction of the prevailing collective sentiment. By showing compassion, offering hope and understanding, and delivering relevant and trustworthy messages, brands show purpose, and better connectivity with their consumers. When a brand has reach and voice that can impact lives, the expected course of action is to come forward and help. At OLX, we are mindful of our responsibilities, and are addressing community pain points. Purpose establishes a brand’s culture and strong ethics. It has always been part of top brand cultures of the world. Now it’s playing a central role. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. What are your areas of focus for now?" text="Q. What are your areas of focus for now?">Q. What are your areas of focus for now?</cmsannotation> Till the time the Covid positivity rate declines, it’s not business-as-usual. We cannot afford to drop the ball. We are updating our messaging, focussing on community building; care is central to the underlying thrust right now. Our messages are helpful and uplifting. Holding each other’s hand, we have to steer a route for recovery.

Affirmative storytelling is at heart of the new reset: Sapna Arora of OLX

Strong acceptance of e-commerce and digitisation is expected to accelerate the growth of India's auto sector, advisory firm Grant Thornton Bharat said. Accordingly, India's automobile market is estimated to grow more than '2.3X' from $222 billion currently to $512 billion by 2026. Notably, the analysis by Allied Market Research, Market Line, <keyword id="6354335" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> and Grant Thornton Bharat showed that e-commerce portals focused on the automobile market, such as <keyword id="2947589" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Droom">Droom</keyword>, <keyword id="1945738" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cardekho">Cardekho</keyword>, <keyword id="11077358" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="and-olx">and Olx</keyword> have put consumers and the user experience in the spotlight helping the manufacturers attract more users. Besides, the growing base of internet and smartphone users will further boost the digital transformation, and lead to an <keyword id="6374534" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="increase">increase</keyword> in expanding the market size of the e-commerce portals. "The strong emergence and acceptance of the online channel have provided an impetus to seamless solutions, price discovery, transparency, digital real-time payments along with certification on the quality of the vehicle for the consumers in the auto sector," said Rahul Kapur, Partner, Growth at Grant Thornton Bharat. According to the analysis report, since last year, Maruti Suzuki saw a five-fold increase in <keyword id="6357824" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sales">sales</keyword> through digital means which now stand at 20 per cent of their total sales. "These changes in consumer's buying and research preferences signal a shift for the auto sector, as Covid19 played a big part in the online channel gaining traction." "Technology-enabled innovations like secure digital payments, hyper-logical logistics, analytics-driven customer engagement, increasing consumer awareness and digital advertisements are likely to support the growth going forward." As per the report, other factors such as rising middle class and young population with increasing disposable incomes will contribute towards growing the sector. Furthermore, ease of owning a vehicle through the availability of multiple financing options as well as reduction in vehicle ownership tenure due to regulatory rules in some states, cited the report as other growth inducing factors. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/nokia-x20-specifications-nokia-new-phones-price-in-india/articleshow/81981039.cms">Six new Nokia smartphones announced – price, specifications and availability details you should know</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/founders-take-note-heres-why-most-startups-fail/articleshow/81981138.cms">Founders, take note: here’s why most startups fail</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/google-phone-app-now-lets-you-record-calls-automatically-from-unknown-numbers/articleshow/81982791.cms">Google Phone app now lets you record calls automatically from unknown numbers</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/adar-poonawalla-serum-institute-of-india-has-bought-stake-policybazaar/articleshow/81985425.cms">Serum Institute of India buys into IPO-bound insurance unicorn PolicyBazaar, as True North sells part stake in secondary sale</a>

E-commerce and digitisation to accelerate India's auto sector growth, says report

With the advent of digital technologies, leading brands and companies are now transitioning from traditional sales to digital marketing. This has created ample opportunities across new and emerging areas including online advertising, brand campaigning and social media marketing. Here a few of those opportunities for interested candidates. 1. LinkedIn Position: Digital Marketing Insights Analyst Location: Bangalore, India Experience: Minimum 6 years Eligibility: BA/BS Degree in Data Science/Analytics, Computer Science, Math, Marketing, Statistics, Economics LinkedIn is hiring full-time Digital Marketing Insights Analyst in Bangalore. The job’s responsibilities include analysing social media platforms, impart training on data-driven insights and data tools. To apply for the job, the candidate should have experience in SQL/ Presto/Hive/Pig/Python and knowledge of Tableau, Excel or PowerPoint. Interested candidates can apply<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1430544270/?eBP=CwEAAAFstqRiwm6M5Iy7dvmpoiXDm9Kv5rqVJbx8YbuUyrADXThJqboUdmzCSVCUcVrw4SsoKy2xTwfqCDpMGItbILb0o8wQcYajY48mcNOHivZeuysV-3fWkKq84yvkp4PzSmcsL7R9Ec3mVWZxFxiSN04hHa_r7Ps5eOb1EsBv8QCSd-Gz_xYFWaInBhmfR7V3zJiBgAuq6ERrbT7w_WlWus26Gn33o4s4vyHu9B25wjhMfVqF5UHReZv8TQjFDi4gNpxW4YqTdEXZcONma5ooZmtFc6T-zBhDCEofHYZGY2ldLJ-x8QPiQShVrbIRiDFLcVTcYn90L_M4yU0ilrtGEFy_ksjSsGKaAi0Xdj7o9BwHImOxyXzTZjBUjXsdM5wb0Xy9Y0VvC3zBeQ&amp;recommendedFlavor=COMPANY_RECRUIT&amp;refId=0616e731-b234-4565-9d2d-dc9b5e154cea&amp;spSrc=CwEAAAFstqRi95i_b-XgqnrKXacjgioVIbCM04AYtih6pnocxs6Aw9NxJilZbPFb81FkAP3dyNmxERvSUHMyx0TDbfg&amp;trk=d_flagship3_search_srp_jobs"> here</a>. 2. <keyword id="6360657" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="olx">OLX</keyword> Group Position: Digital Marketing Lead Location: Bangalore, India Experience: Minimum 6 years Eligibility: Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Engineering degree, MBA from Tier 1 institutions OLX Group is hiring a team lead for digital marketing. The candidate will be responsible for outlining the strategy and run campaigns. He or she will also plan web, SEO/SEM, social media strategies and track conversions. Interested candidates must have at least 4 years of experience in digital marketing along with knowledge of analytics. Interested candidates can apply <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1371626613/?alternateChannel=detail&amp;alternateCode=seturl&amp;eBP=CwEAAAFstqpDHH7AG2C2YM30P7FdzPddmnUiV_fLSCj3LKiCS9aduGD7KaW2BM9olNiPyY6ZrWzLUf5HRzClBFUlPOrnKYu4UVGXklxxsZgc4iYXrXXu2mKLljnNv-Ntf1pvjn7E6GBENvhj7KXqEKJPyWgdkkQFYmd2bSLISZaLRCzTBa0st1bb7lOClMxxK6DVzXwKyS7eb9OfhUkChpNR7YYVcTIg7sLvn71HSPODuSoqrileKSfXcQQRkIcGaO_tZTwZlfL7mQQ085dhR6-E2r4g7XLRqpJTCWR1d_HgnE2OQiG_CsB1o5cla9PDyxkDQNeogJwCbPndLwIT15w1KgPkrkU2&amp;recommendedFlavor=IN_NETWORK&amp;refId=c1eda8aa-a9e0-4cdb-b1e0-6094509c99ac&amp;trk=d_flagship3_job_details">here</a>. 3. Infosys Position: Digital Marketing Architect Location: Bangalore, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai Experience: Minimum 8 years Eligibility: Engineering degree, MBA from Tier 1 institutions The applicants should have experience in marketing <keyword id="24019" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="automation">automation</keyword> and knowledge of Adobe cloud solutions, analytics and campaigns. The position requires experience in using technologies like Drupal, SharePoint and FileNet. The candidate should have skills in Big Data or Data Appliance Platform. Interested candidates can apply <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1383153238/?alternateChannel=detail&amp;alternateCode=seturl&amp;eBP=CwEAAAFstqpDHNtAOEnzPLHO9c-ZGO4XWw4boXkUYGYsQ0ToZgWpoAXLKZV-XsF6Rb1-oBIend1CP6mBmOBZc4I0TqLmuOJRlyl9HXjwlAPgtVaD514u8A_FndSq4VWQI5JwzjChMINQMC6eBHI5ce9FM0xV1uj-pK4bpLjeUuXORkMDHYJIeWZ3gdEiVllsr8g_HLUVcOtZZAPw2w75JT01dbzKWvv32z0WlUnasfpdfGQ0FTO-piyyR4D4L05o_nSMCElTuWqeeHNZkwqd-hJ0jicSLaAE3brfD7cQzfa1xibJfzyWt7jWiI44YVhF5hEG9L_QfBRcQPbP1OZ7-6tJ_667Ewpk&amp;recommendedFlavor=HIDDEN_GEM&amp;refId=c1eda8aa-a9e0-4cdb-b1e0-6094509c99ac&amp;trk=d_flagship3_job_details">here</a>. 4. Accenture Position: Product - Digital Marketing, Product Management Location: Not specified Experience: Minimum 7 years Eligibility: Master’s in Digital Marketing, programming skills Technology major Accenture is looking for candidates for the digital marketing team. The role includes content and campaign management along with its analysis, working on advertising and promotion. Candidate should have knowledge of C-Suite, Technology Sales, Client Management, and Consultative sales. Interested candidates can apply <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/as-%E2%80%93-products-digital-marketing-content-management-7-at-accenture-in-india-1371666083/?utm_campaign=google_jobs_apply&amp;utm_source=google_jobs_apply&amp;utm_medium=organic&amp;originalSubdomain=in">here</a>. 5. WWF Position: Manager - Campaign and Communications Location: New Delhi, India Experience: Minimum 10 years Eligibility: Marketing or Communications degree WWF India, one of the leading environmental conservation platforms is hiring full-time manager for its communications team in New Delhi. The job’s responsibilities include development and broadcasting communication material and analysing data. To apply for the job, the candidate should have experience in problem solving and assessment, and management skills. Interested candidates can apply <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/1357429301/?alternateChannel=detail&amp;alternateCode=seturl&amp;eBP=CwEAAAFstrK38vAUQxEx3HYNaiW4UKZNL6wnnZo8O5h6gsV79W0X7f_PNdqdiFJqABa9fpBDTgX-G-eiQxCOeix1d2AW_M1BhUV14lPXZOsgVZUUDFQTcO4JoVK7Bf0RxtDbU0vqPnGUnXSJpelaJv8FpRrOJnV-MsKglmEn7dJFskRaM_tWiM6sHaSfqTAuLLV_w3haRAmrSuYjkTBLdUFT87Bne2EUq6G08iQdwrFI7DIIEusk3-fPgljpDhmtuoqh6TVUk8G140K_GR2UUz9B82SHklLp6QYXkbnCw8X09Cl1WoTnz8P_taBVf5asoRlWw7O2zdjfYwjxCLktNQIzhxe3Rwl0k-oH4G8NSe2RU7F7UfFDktY6xiblqGgWuZIn3-I&amp;refId=532cca77-6791-4a24-89b7-96be14860d3c&amp;trk=d_flagship3_job_details">here</a>.

Are you a Digital Marketing Specialist? Here are some latest opening in leading firms

<keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="environment">Environment</keyword> Minister of India today said popular websites like <keyword id="6381424" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quikr">Quikr</keyword>, <keyword id="6360657" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OLX">Olx</keyword>, Ebay, Amazon and Youtube are involved in trade of rare animals and their body parts. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said online smuggling of rare animals and their parts are being monitored by the state and central governments as part of combating cyber crime. He also said "Several websites are seen advertising sale of rare animals and their parts". 
 He furnished a list of 106 such websites collated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB). The 106 websites include prominent names like quikr.com, olx.in, alibaba.com, eBay.com, youtube.com, amazon.com, shopping.rediff.com, petsmart.com and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">snapdeal</keyword>.com. Dave said several steps have been taken to prevent such illegal activities which include utilising services of cyber crime specialists on contractual basis to carry out regular cyber patrolling to detect posts and offers on such portals. He said if any such offer is detected, details are retrieved of the suspect and information is passed on to relevant enforcement agencies for legal action. 
 
A meeting of representatives from online trade portals was convened in May this year to discuss issues pertaining to online wildlife trade, sensitise them about it and discuss modalities to assist WCCB in case of such detections. Dave said during training and sensitisation programmes conducted by WCCB, the issue of illegal online wildlife trade is being highlighted so that officials involved in the enforcement are abreast of such trends. A wildlife body had recently alleged that a prominent website was selling wildlife specimens, including sea horses and alligator heads, protected under the country's laws. 
 
Wildlife SOS had claimed the website was offering an array of wildlife trophies, including alligator heads, preserved snakes, butterflies, starfish, rare beetles and seahorses, besides hunting manuals and devices.

Amazon, Quikr, Ebay, Snapdeal involved in wildlife trade: Govt

<ul><li>In our series, BTS with Insiders, we take a walk down memory lane, and give you an insider's view of some of the most iconic Indian ads.</li><li>This week <keyword id="269997" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amer-Jaleel">Amer Jaleel</keyword>, Group CCO and Chairman of <keyword id="3391368" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MullenLowe-Lintas">MullenLowe Lintas</keyword> Group tells us some engrossing stories about campaigns he's done for <keyword id="46021" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tata-tea">Tata Tea</keyword>, <keyword id="6616182" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lifebuoy">Lifebuoy</keyword> and <keyword id="47860" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICICI-Prudential">ICICI Prudential</keyword>.</li></ul> Nostalgia is a powerful tool, as we have witnessed in the last month and a half of lockdown. It was primarily this insight that made us start BTS with Insiders, a series that takes a walk down memory lane, and talks about some of the most <keyword id="3814561" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Iconic-Ads">iconic ads</keyword> that have helped build brands and tell wonderful stories. Last week, we spoke to Amer Jaleel, Group CCO and Chairman of MullenLowe Lintas Group, who has been instrumental in creating seminal work for a lot of brands. Over the years, he has created some award-winning work for brands Google, OLX, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Prudential and Bajaj, amongst many others. Jaleel gave us an Insider’s view into a few campaigns he holds close to his heart. <div type="javascript" title="Facebook" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[]]></cdata></div> Tata Tea’s Jaago Re Tea brands, for the longest time, sold on the refreshing proposition of its product. However, it all changed in 2008 when Tata Tea came up with Jaago Re, a campaign that wanted people not just to wake up but to awaken. What had started as a campaign to encourage people to go vote in the 2009 elections has now broadened its appeal and today talks about a lot of other issues too. It was perhaps one of the first campaigns in India that asked consumers to act, giving birth to citizen activism. “What is the most important thing about Jaago Re is that it sparked off the trend of socially responsible work. And this is something that we at Lintas really take pride in, making brands participate in social improvement. We were noticed all around the world for this work and many people have emulated this,” shared Jaleel. R Balki was also a prominent part of the campaign, shared Jaleel, who helped strengthen the idea of the campaign by adding a strong logic to the thought. Once they discussed the idea, Balki said to Jaleel, “You know, you have got this business because it is impossible for anybody to deny this,” he remembered. “It was one of those memorable moments of my life,” he added with a smile. “The funny part is, we cracked the idea for a tea ad sitting in a coffee shop,” he laughed. The first ad also featured actor Pankaj Tripathy, who was just starting out at that point of time. While there had been many auditions, Jaleel remembers being blown away by Tripathy’s audition. “In Pankaj’s audition, when he acted the line ‘Hum aapka vote maange aaye hain,’ he says he has come to request for people’s votes but with his hand, he made a gesture that would denote he is here to grab your votes. That struck me and I told our director Amit Sharma that we should use this in the ad. And that’s how we got Pankaj on board. I am sure he would have reached where he is today even without this ad, because he is extremely talented, but I am glad we were on to him pretty early,” shared Jaleel. The campaign went on to create wonders for the brand and is till today considered to be a game-changer. Lifebuoy’s Help A Child Reach 5 - Gondappa Over the years, Lifebuoy has been doing a lot in terms of spreading awareness around the importance of hygiene and washing hands, not just in India but across the world. And it wanted to come up with a campaign to showcase some of the on-ground work it had been doing. Thesgora, a small village in Madhya Pradesh was infamous for having one of the highest rates of child diarrhoea cases in India. The idea behind the campaign was to bring to light how a simple act of convincing people to wash their hands had a massive impact. “Lifebuoy told us that they’ve been doing this amazing work but people don’t really know of this work. They wanted something that would celebrate the work they were doing while also helping them promote the idea further. The objective itself was so inspirational that we had to do something really special,” shared Jaleel. Sagar Kapoor, the current Chief Creative Officer at <keyword id="274876" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lowe-Lintas">Lowe Lintas</keyword>, told Jaleel that he had thought of an idea that wasn’t like the regular Lifebuoy ads that they did. He told Jaleel about something called ‘maanta’ which is something that people do if their wish comes true. Kapoor shared many examples of people fasting or rolling on the ground while on their way to temples. He was thinking of what would a person who’s child turned 5 do to celebrate the fact. “That’s when Sagar said that someone like him could say that he would walk on his hands to reach the temple and thank him for this gift. And the idea of walking on hands and Lifebuoy and hand-washing and the importance of that just struck like a rocket in my head. And I told Sagar that he had cracked something so special that his career was made,” shared Jaleel. The shoot was carried out in a place somewhere near Hubli in Karnataka, in scorching sunlight. The team had to select 2 actors, one who featured in the film, and another one on standby, considering how difficult it was for anyone to walk on his hands for long distances. The crew had to go to the spot thrice to complete the shoot as the first time the actor gave up as he couldn’t keep walking on his hands and the second time the shoot was brought to a halt by rains. The song used with the film was a Tamil song which wasn’t translated into any other languages and was yet able to cut through language barriers. The team had once gone to China where the film was showcased and the video moved many Chinese women to tears. ICICI Prudential’s Bande Acche Hain ICICI Prudential’s Bande Acche Hain, came at a time when men’s image across the world had taken a serious beating, shared Jaleel. “However, while we read about men doing heinous crimes or watched about them on TV, we realized we don’t know any such man and that inspired us to think about men in this way. We wanted to show that men are also glorious in their own ways. The most important thing that touches you in this ad is that men who do these beautiful things don’t really want it to be acknowledged,” explained Jaleel. And that is exactly what helped strike a chord with the audience with many people immediately identifying with many of the scenarios that have been showcased in the ad. The music of the campaign, composed by music director Shantanu Moitra and beautifully penned by lyricist Swanand Kirkire also added to the magic. “What is special about the ad is that it is a woman singing about a men but the men aren’t exactly looking for any appreciation. They were just going about doing the acts of care that they would anyway do, without anybody coming to know. When it comes to the song, I had a very different idea because Bande Acche Hain sounded a little Punjabi and in my head, the song was something more boisterous. However when I reached the studio and heard what Shantanu had created, it just melted me. I don’t know anybody who hasn’t got affected by the music at the first hearing,” said Jaleel. What also made the film special were the everyday instances that the situations drew from, making it very relatable and possibly the reason why it found so much love from the audience.

#BTSwithInsiders: Amer Jaleel on Tata Tea’s Jaago Re, Lifebuoy’s Gonduppa and ICICI Prudential’s Bande Acche Hain

New Delhi, Apr 10 (PIT) Consumer internet firm Prosus, which has invested in companies like Swiggy, Byju's etc, on Friday pledged to donate Rs 100 crore to the Prime Minister's relief fund for supporting coronavirus relief work. "Prosus, the global consumer internet group of Naspers, has committed Rs 100 crore to the Indian government's response to the Covid-19 crisis. The donation will be made to the 'Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund'," the company said in a statement. Prosus has invested around USD 5 billion (about Rs 37,900 crore) in Indian technology companies since 2005. Its portfolio includes Brainly, Byju's, Codecademy, eMAG, Honor, iFood, LazyPay, letgo, Meesho, Movile, OLX, PayU, Red Dot Payments, Remitly, SimilarWeb, SoloLearn, Swiggy, and Udemy. "These are unprecedented times and we want to play our part in contributing to the efforts underway in India. By working with government and civil society, we hope to help India overcome this very difficult period," Prosus and Naspers Group CEO Bob van Dijk said. In addition to its direct contribution to the PM CARES Fund, Prosus is working closely with the companies it partners with to support measures designed to help Indians affected by the situation, the statement said. Byju's has offered its learning platform for free in India until the end of April to help parents support their children's learning while away from school. On the other hand, Olx is allowing advertisements to stay on its site for an additional 30 days, at no extra cost and PayU has built a platform to enable any brand in India to start raising funds from its customers for the PM CARES Fund. "Swiggy has launched a campaign to donate meals to persons in need in India. The public can also donate to this campaign. The campaign is currently donating approximately 35,000 meals per day, with a goal of raising this to 500,000 meals per day as soon as possible," the statement said. PRS ANU

Prosus commits Rs 100 crore for PM's Covid relief fund

<ul><li>While the ad industry has a lot of womentoday, many drop out by the time they reach mid-management levels, primarily due to the lack of flexible hours, or the flexibility to work from home.</li><li>The women leaders we spoke to believe organizations need to prioritize training more women, to prepare them for leadership roles, and this should be a part of the company’s culture.</li><li>There is also a need to relook at the way employee’s performances are evaluated, coming up with newer ways of assessing talent in a time where the way of doing business has seen a complete overhaul.</li></ul> In late 2019, a report by Credit Suisse stated that women’s representation in boardrooms in India increased only by 4.3% between 2014 and 2019. The report further stated that the current female representation on boards is only 15.2% which invariably led to dialogues around the conspicuous lack of women leaders in the upper rungs of the corporate world. Having said that, the world of advertising, marketing and media is one industry that has seen a lot of women in roles of leadership. While we are still far from an equal man-woman ratio in the industry, it is heartening to see more and more women take the top spots. Conversations with most women leaders from the industry led us to believe that this is an industry that welcomes women to be a part of the workforce. However, it is during their mid-career levels that a lot of women drop out of the workforce, leading to a dip in women who take up higher positions. We reached out to some of the most influential women in the industry currently, to gauge what are the reasons for these drop-outs, and what needs to be done, as an industry as well at individual organizational levels, to ensure that women are retained, and even if they drop-out, are encouraged to rejoin the workforce. We received an overwhelming response to our queries from across the sector from women who made some really compelling points. These women who feel passionately about the subject laid their hearts bare, telling us ways they think the industry can evolve, to become more inclusive. Here are some of the most prominent voices. Building a culture of inclusivity It is often noticed that while a lot of women are joining the workforce, many of them take the decision of quitting once they decide to get married or decide to have children. Many find it difficult to come back, due to the lack of flexible working hours at their workplaces, or even due to a certain amount of judgment where people look at them a little differently after they come back from a long break. Most of the women leaders we spoke to believe that the work culture needs to evolve a little, to make way for such women, giving them the flexibility that many of them need, once they start a family. <keyword id="4356726" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="srija-chatterjee">Srija Chatterjee</keyword>, Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide, India shared that while a few corporates have started giving some assistance to women, the ad industry hasn’t yet started doing that actively. “As an industry, we have woken up to women leaders and we are trying to make things happen for women, to make sure that they don't jump off from the workforce. However, there's still a long way to go. The biggest reason women stop working is when they get into that life stage of having children. A lot of corporates are today providing strong support, through office crèches or flexi-timing options. That has not yet happened in our industry. From a business perspective, the size of our agencies might not be that big, which makes implementing this a bit of a challenge. But the more and more we get into a group structure, and offices become more centralized, it will enable organizations to look at shared resources to help women pursue their passion. This is something that could be done, but has not been done yet.” A lot of times, there is also a lot of judgement involved when women come back to work after a long break. Delving deeper into the need for a change in attitude, Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu said, “You’ve been out of the scene way too long - you can’t expect the salary that you do after the kind of leave you’ve taken - but won’t your attention be divided now?” These are just some of the things women hear when they are seeking to make their way back into the workforce, post a long gap. Of course, this is not a blanket statement - times are changing, mindsets are changing, as are corporate policies. But if companies truly want to be gender-neutral then statements and questions like the ones I’ve cited above would never be heard again. Additionally, flexible working hours, working from home, working on time-bound projects are all steps that more and more organisations can adopt to ensure equal opportunities. And when I say equal, I mean that these options should be made available to both men and women. Shedding some light on how OLX is working on retaining some of its women, Sapna Arora, Chief Marketing Officer, OLX India said, “Setting the right example of favourable work culture much suited to women, not just in terms of facilities and infrastructure, but also in terms of broadening our thinking within an organization across various levels, is the key to inspire women working population to join the workforce and perform better. OLX, as an organization, is working on taking baby steps in creating empowering workplace for women. A couple of years ago, we at OLX embarked on a journey to evaluate the gender diversity ratio and actively worked to encourage more women in roles such as data scientists, engineers, front line sales and more. This is a conscious choice we have made under our global diversity and inclusion programme which seeks to improve the gender ratio across STEM and leadership roles.” Talking about the need to prioritize diversity in leadership, Emrana Sheikh, Enterprise HR Head for India and South Asia – Johnson &amp; Johnson said, “Today, companies are increasingly equating their C-suite diversity to competitive advantage for their businesses – and rightly so, it leads to robust dialogue, richer decisions and the empathy to design good, and human-centered solutions. For organizations looking for a paradigm shift in their work cultures, C-suite diversity sets an example for the rest of the team. At the basic level, it can be a source of inspiration that resonates down to the front-line staff. This is only possible when diversity in the leadership is prioritized and its long-term implementation is ensured at all levels through intentionality and focused talent management. Internal platforms such as Diversity &amp; Inclusion Council and Employee Resource Groups further drive culture strategies from a variety of lenses, championing inclusivity as a collective goal across levels. An inclusive culture transcends barriers, bias and bureaucracy, and makes the employees truly feel that they belong. All around, women are a critical mass of consumers, influencers, stakeholders and communities. Hence, reflection of the same in organizations is a business imperative.” Sharing a similar sentiment, Neena Dasgupta, CEO and Director, Zirca Digital Solutions added, “Organizations need to ensure that women in the workplace are respected and recognized.For women to thrive in the workplace, organizations need to ensure an environment that is rooted in equal opportunity and a culture that is geared to assist women achieve their goals.” Sharing some tips on a few things that can be done at the organization level to help women continue to be a part of an organization, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu added, “Younger women need to see older women in positions of influence. Flexible working hours and working from home might be a challenge in an industry that’s made a virtue of unreasonable working hours but we ought to be non-negotiable about starting early, cutting idle chatter, short lunch breaks and everything else that helps finish work early so that parents (and everyone else, really!) get to spend some time with their families. Ingraining fundamental values will go a much longer way than making token gestures. Enforcing paternity leave, for instance, so that the onus of child-rearing is not on the mother alone. When a parent, regardless of gender is expected to manage time such that they are responsible for their work as well as for their families, everyone will automatically spend less time on idle chatter and work a lot more efficiently.” An organization's culture also needs to have empathy at its foundation, shared Oindrila Roy, Head of Strategy, India, Essence, to make a difference. "As with any type of workforce integration, empathy should be the edifice on which workplaces are designed to integrate and retain both women and men more seamlessly. For women, it starts with stepping into her shoes, evaluating challenges from her point of view and arriving at solutions which are conducive. For example, an online survey conducted by JobsForHer found that 38% of women do not return to the workforce after giving birth, due to the lack of good day care for children. If that is the challenge, companies need to think of solving this problem innovatively - can the organisation collaborate with a nanny service provider to avail reliable childcare options to its employees? Reassured and empowered parents are likely to stay in the workforce longer." Modifying existing performance benchmarks Rubeena Singh, CEO, iProspect India believes that there is a need to relook at the performance benchmarks on which employees are evaluated. “In the middle years, I often see that we are trying to evaluate people on certain benchmarks. The criteria for these performance indicators have been put in place years ago when it was a largely male-dominated workforce. Things like 8 hours of work, or work in office, or if you want a senior position, you should have worked in different geographies etc. But sometimes, for women, it becomes very difficult to be mobile and move to different parts of the country, especially once they get married. As an industry, we really need to re-evaluate the criteria. We should look for quality now, if people are curious, if they are team-players, how innovative and out-of-the-box can they think. If these changes are brought about, a lot of women will find it easier to catch up from where they left, even if they are coming back after a long break.” Treating both men and women as equals at the workplace A lot of women leaders feel that there is an immediate need to start looking at both men and women as equals in the workspace and not differentiate on the basis of gender. Lara Balsara Wajifdar, Executive Director at Madison World said, “We need to look at women leaders as leaders first and not as women leaders. Don’t differentiate us on the basis of our gender, but differentiate us on the basis of our work! Our industry is always hungry for good talent and if the talent is good, the agency will always accommodate personal requests as long as the work is not affected.” Many also feel the starting point is to start a conversation, where both the genders are treated as equal participants. “<keyword id="6372584" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="gender-equality">Gender equality</keyword> is not just a women’s issue, it’s a human rights issue – that extends to all realms, including the workplace. To encourage equality across all lines of command in the workplace and have more women leaders, we need more men to be equal participants in the conversation around gender equality. Having the male workforce as partners can bring empowerment and equal respect among all genders. Global change-making initiatives like the UN’s ‘He for She’ Movement, of which I am a strong advocate, have been setting strong examples for people of all genders to take bold steps in solidarity and are working towards a gender-equal world,” said <keyword id="235731" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nadia-Chauhan">Nadia Chauhan</keyword>, JMD &amp; CMO, Parle Agro. Pointing out to some things that need to be done at an organizational level, Rishika Lulla Singh, CEO Eros Digital at Eros International said, “There needs to be a cultural shift and change at workplaces to eradicate gender inequality and retain women employees. It is about time that companies consider deserving women for higher level positions and evaluate their performance sans bias. If there are more women leaders out there at the top positions, it gives a sense of confidence to the global sisterhood with strong role models. It is essential that companies organize mentorship programs to break the stereotype of what a man and a woman can or should do. There are several ways to retain a woman employee at work, but we also need to encourage more women to join the workforce. Equal pay, ensuring all voices are heard and feeling valued, creating safe work environment, etc. are all the least we can do.” Pooja Jauhari, CEO, The Glitch put it rather succinctly in her three-point recommendation on how to retain women. She said, “Firstly, treat your entire talent base with gender blindness. Best person for the job. Without over-thinking their family, marital, ‘emotional’ status. Just get the right person for the job. Secondly, allow your talent to align personal and professional goals and build a support system for them to come back to the same position at work after a break (marriage| child birth) and lastly, stop saying a certain gender matters more, prove by example by showing gender balance across functions.” Training young employees to think of themselves as leaders There is also a need for seniors to build an environment of motivating young women while also making them aware of their potential as future managers, shared Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Ampilifi India. She said, “This question is asked to mostly senior women but ideally, both senior men, women and the entire team should be equally responsible to motivate the young, efficient women. The entire organisation gains if they can train and then retain competent women leading up to a management role. It is critical to show them advancement opportunities and their growth path. Policies might have to be tweaked but if it benefits all, it should not matter. Building an inclusive workplace, an organisational environment that values diversity not just for the sake of appearances but for the competitive edge that comes with access to multiple perspectives would make a difference.” There are a lot of internal barriers that women have to cross and training them to believe in themselves could help in ensuring they make it to the top. <keyword id="346168" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Lulu-Raghavan">Lulu Raghavan</keyword>, Managing Director, Landor Associates said, “Even before thinking of getting more women leaders, we have to think of how we can create a better working place holistically. Secondly, you have to ensure that women at the top, doing good work get the visibility. It starts with the leadership, company philosophy and culture. You’ve got to find them and put them on the top because deserving women do exist. You can’t give us an excuse that there aren’t any women relevant for the top positions. A lot of training has to be done with women themselves; there are a few external barriers such as company policies, work environment, how other people behave towards you, and there are internal factors, which we women have set up through the years. It is the lack of self-confidence, self-doubt and imposter syndrome. We women have to be trained to be leaders. It should be different from the overall management chain because it is decades of social conditioning that companies have to break when women join them. “ Anita Kotwani, Senior Vice President, New Business, Mindshare added, “The industry needs to first acknowledge that Woman leaders can deliver as well as their male counterparts for senior-level roles. The grooming required should be done for the role and not the gender. If that happens you will see the necessary shift with more woman leaders leading the mantle.” Sharing her optimism about the future where she envisions more and more women to be on the top, Kranti Gada, COO Shemaroo Entertainment said, “A few years ago, I participated in a program called ‘Tanmatra’ organized by IIM Bangalore, to help develop and groom fellow women counterparts for about 9 months and the stories I heard about the differences in opportunities shocked me a little. I was happy to be at Shemaroo, where we have seen women in key roles leading from the front and managing the core business with ease and expertise. While the ratio of women is a little skewed in the industry, the gender gap is narrowing, and we will see more women taking charge in future in every field.”

Making the industry more gender-inclusive: Women leaders show us the way

The furniture market in India is worth $16 billion. The furniture and appliances rental is estimated only at a third of that. However, while the sector is growing at a sizeable 25% month-on-month, only 2% of the industry is currently online. 
 
With sharing economy being on the rise across sectors, the country has seen over 13 startups coming into the space in 2015 alone. The names include Wheelstreet, Etashee, Rentickle and Rentsetgo among others. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rentomojo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rentomojo</a> is among these startups. It is a marketplace that offers furniture, furnishings, appliances and other home verticals that house hunters can book at affordable rentals. It works on an asset-light model, and makes anything from 40-50% of the rental fee as commission on every booking, with the rest going to the vendor. 
 
The company is currently in the market to raise fresh rounds. It raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures India last year. 
 
Business Insider sat down with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Rentomojo&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Rentomojo</a> CEO <keyword id="3210543" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Geetansh-Bamania">Geetansh Bamania</keyword> to understand the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=online+rental&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">online rental</a> space better. 
 
Why could have caused the boom in <keyword id="3438857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="online-rental">online rental</keyword> startups? 
As soon as an industry starts making money, people start trying to get in. This industry is here to stay because India is an income-constraint economy, with a maximum of 30-40k disposable income. That’s exactly why several <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=e-commerce&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">e-commerce</a> companies are suffering. 
 
There is also a bunch of migration from tier II and tier III to tier I cities. This is because of the renewed cash flow and new opportunities being created. People are changing cities every 3 years. Combine the mobility quotient with the income constraint, and you’ll see the renting model making a lot of sense. 
 
Owning vs. renting in the long term. 
When you think of the long term, renting does lose to owning after a certain period. However, our consumer is typically somebody who’s looking to have it for 12-16 months. Also, as we go forward as a company we’ll experiment with 24-48 months rental periods. We’ll continue to offer price bands that will seem lucrative to you. 
 
OLX and Quikr are going pretty hard on add-ons and advertising. <keyword id="864887" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Pepperfry">Pepperfry</keyword> and <keyword id="2539960" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Urbanladder">UrbanLadder</keyword> now have EMI options. Are you worried? 
Our target segment is against the ownership model. You are bound to pay a pending EMI. However, renting allows you the flexibility to come out when you want. 
 
Inherently, rentals will always be lesser than EMI. That’s simple math. A <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Pepperfry&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Pepperfry</a> or <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=UrbanLadder&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">UrbanLadder</a> will have a sourcing cost, a gross margin and a final market price. However, our rental costs will always be lower as they are based on the sourcing cost, and not the market value. 
 
For second hand buying, from a unit economics perspective, I don’t know how lucrative a business it is to be in if you’re making money from relocation. 
 
Why not own some furniture? 
As the industry matures, we’ll be deploying several crore units a month. It’s not going to be scalable. Also, owning also comes with an inherent risk. 
 
The ease of operating a marketplace model is why we replicated it. That’s why our unit economics have been positive from day 1. 
 
<a href="http://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/56cbe59ce4b062f6b59a4bef/0x600.jpg?fit=scale&amp;background=000000">Image Source</a>

Rentomojo CEO wants to make an online offer
you can’t refuse

Ever since companies such as eBay and Google were founded, consumers have been experiencing the contribution of Internet in their daily lives. 
 Internet has touched almost all the industries and has transformed the world of scarcity to the world of abundance by organising the unorganised resources, delivering them at the right time and at the right price to consumers in need. Hypergrowth and appreciation in valuation of several <keyword id="476126" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="internet-companies">Internet companies</keyword> have made people curious to understand what is so special about these companies. 
 
Like nervous system is the control and communication system of a human body and has two main organs- brain and spinal cord, likewise, , the fastest growing Internet companies also have a nervous system with two main concepts --Multisided Platform and Crowdsourcing. 
 
Multisided Platforms: Platform is an intermediary that facilitates exchange of products and services between two (or more) user groups. User groups form sides of multisided platform and are attracted to the platform due to network effects. A network effect is a phenomenon that makes a platform more valuable when more people use it. 
 
When members in user group on one side get attracted towards members of user group on the other side, the network effect is called cross-sided network effect. For instance, patients (user group on one side) would prefer to go to a hospital (platform) that has more numbers of reputed doctors (user group on other side). When more members join a user group on one side and make that specific side stronger, then the network effect is called same-side network effect. In this case, hospital that has good doctors would be able to attract more good doctors and when more good doctors join a hospital, strength of hospital as a platform increases. 
 
Below is the list of a few traditional platforms that we have been using for decades, much before the age of Internet: 
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Platform</td>
			<td>
				Side 1</td>
			<td>
				Side 2</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Vegetable Markets</td>
			<td>
				Vegetable Hawkers</td>
			<td>
				Vegetable Buyers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Consulting Firms</td>
			<td>
				Consultants</td>
			<td>
				Clients</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Hospitals</td>
			<td>
				Doctors</td>
			<td>
				Patients</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Publishers</td>
			<td>
				Writers</td>
			<td>
				Readers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Taxi Stand, Bus Stand, Railway Platforms, Airports</td>
			<td>
				Transportation Mediums</td>
			<td>
				Travellers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Matchmakers, Singles Clubs</td>
			<td>
				Boys</td>
			<td>
				Girls</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Shopping Malls</td>
			<td>
				Retailers</td>
			<td>
				Shoppers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				News Papers</td>
			<td>
				Advertisers</td>
			<td>
				Readers</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Conferences</td>
			<td>
				Speakers</td>
			<td>
				Audience</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Stock Exchanges</td>
			<td>
				Companies that need to raise capital</td>
			<td>
				Investors</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Real Estate Brokers</td>
			<td>
				Builders</td>
			<td>
				Buyers</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
 
 
Crowdsourcing: Crowdsourcing can also be seen as outsourcing to crowd. It is a process of getting ideas and work done through a crowd of people instead of full time resources hired for that particular work. For instance, in the famous quiz show, Kaun Banega Crorepati, contestants used to get few lifelines including audience poll. In this lifeline, participants outsource question to audience (crowd) and get their opinions on answers. Similarly, contests such as case study competitions and programming contests organised by corporates in business schools and engineering schools etc. are also the examples of crowdsourcing as students (external crowd) put in efforts to come up with multiple solutions for a given problem. 
 
When businesses add power of Internet with the concepts of multisided platform and crowdsourcing, they are able to scale up very fast, to aggregate supply from various sources, remove bottlenecks between demand and supply, provide transparency through reviews &amp; ratings and are able to provide niche products that not available locally. Now, let’s have a look at examples of Internet based platforms that are powered by crowdsourcing. 
 
<keyword id="1042120" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Uber">Uber</keyword>: Uber is mobile Internet app that connects commuters with taxi drivers. Uber doesn’t own any taxi, crowd of taxi drivers register with Uber and Uber outsources the commuter’s requirement to one of the registered drivers. In this kind of model, both demand and supply side gets benefited by addition of more people in the respective groups. 
 
 
 
<keyword id="6354576" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Facebook">Facebook</keyword>: Facebook is an Internet based social networking site. Crowd of users joins Facebook to network with other users and get to know happenings in the life of people in their network. Users keep on generating content in the form of news, videos, pictures etc. that keeps other users engaged. As Facebook has over 1 billion users, it is a great platform for advertisers and developers to reach out to their targeted audience. 
 
 
 
Below is the list of a few Internet companies that are based on concept of multisided platform and crowdsourcing. 
<table align="center" border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Company</td>
			<td>
				Platform Utility</td>
			<td>
				Sides</td>
			<td>
				Crowd</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Google</td>
			<td>
				Information Search</td>
			<td>
				· Advertisers 
				· Content Owners 
				· Web Searchers</td>
			<td>
				Websites: Google’s PageRank works by counting the number and quality of links to a page from other websites. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Facebook</td>
			<td>
				Social Networking</td>
			<td>
				· Advertisers 
				· Application Developers 
				· Users who want to connect with friends</td>
			<td>
				Users: Content on Facebook is generated by registered users.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Alibaba, eBay, &amp; Snapdeal</td>
			<td>
				Online Shopping</td>
			<td>
				· Sellers 
				· Buyers</td>
			<td>
				Sellers: Provide products. 
				Customers: Provide sellers’ reviews. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Uber &amp; Ola</td>
			<td>
				Local Transport</td>
			<td>
				· Taxi Drivers 
				· Commuters</td>
			<td>
				Taxi Drivers: Provide Taxis. 
				Customers: Provide drivers’ reviews. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Airbnb</td>
			<td>
				Accommodation</td>
			<td>
				· Accommodation Providers (Hosts) 
				· Travellers (Guests)</td>
			<td>
				Hosts : Provide Accommodation &amp; Reviews 
				Travellers: Provide Reviews. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				OLX &amp; Quikr</td>
			<td>
				Used Goods Exchange</td>
			<td>
				· Used Goods Sellers 
				· Used Goods Buyers</td>
			<td>
				Sellers: Provide products for sale.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Freecharge</td>
			<td>
				Online Recharge</td>
			<td>
				· Telecom &amp; DTH Operators 
				· Retailers (shopping coupon providers) 
				· Users looking for mobile phone, DTH, &amp; Data card recharge</td>
			<td>
				Telecom &amp; DTH operators: Provide recharge options. 
				Retailers: Provide shopping coupons. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Naukri</td>
			<td>
				Job Search</td>
			<td>
				· Recruiters 
				· Job Seekers</td>
			<td>
				Recruiters: Provide job requirements. 
				Job Seekers: Provide Resumes. 
				 </td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Zomato</td>
			<td>
				Restaurant Search</td>
			<td>
				· Restaurant Owners 
				· Customers</td>
			<td>
				Restaurant owners: Provide information on menu, location etc. 
				Customers: Provide reviews.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				JustDial</td>
			<td>
				 Local Service/Products Providers Search</td>
			<td>
				· Service Providers 
				· Prospective Customers</td>
			<td>
				Local service &amp; product providers.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				YouTube</td>
			<td>
				Video Sharing</td>
			<td>
				· Video Uploaders 
				· Video Watchers 
				· Advertisers</td>
			<td>
				Video Uploaders</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				LinkedIn</td>
			<td>
				Professional Networking</td>
			<td>
				· Advertisers 
				· Recruiters 
				· Professional Networkers 
				· Developers</td>
			<td>
				Users : Create profiles, write articles, share information etc.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Apple App Store</td>
			<td>
				Mobile Apps Distribution</td>
			<td>
				· App Developers 
				· Mobile Device Users</td>
			<td>
				App Developers: Provide Apps for downloading.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Shaadi</td>
			<td>
				Matrimony</td>
			<td>
				· Prospective Grooms 
				· Prospective Brides</td>
			<td>
				Users: Profiles on matrimony site are created by registered users.</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>
				Coursera</td>
			<td>
				Education</td>
			<td>
				· Universities 
				· Course Students</td>
			<td>
				Universities: They create content &amp; provide courses.</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>
 
Note: Based on interpretation and evolution of business model, a few of the above platforms may have more crowd sources &amp; sides. 
 
In these kinds of businesses, best performers or leaders capture huge market share and make it difficult for competitors to grow. But, to remain the market leader, companies have to put in a lot of efforts to gain credibility for their platforms and make users and crowd experience pleasant so that they don’t switch to competitor’s platforms. 
Orkut, the social networking platform owned by Google was very popular, but Facebook gained more credibility and eventually people switched from Orkut to Facebook. By providing proper user experience, Facebook has been able to retain its users and has been giving tough competition to Google+. Similarly, Google was not the first search engine in the market, but by providing better search results, it became the market leader and with time its competitors moved out of market. By maintaining its credibility and popularity, Google has been able to create barriers for new competitors. 
 
(Image: Indiatimes)

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