Over two centuries ago, in a France impoverished by multiple socio-economic crises, a French noble casually uttered the words: “Qu’ils mangent de la brioche”. The nobleperson could never have known how consequential these word — roughly translated to 'Let them eat cake' — would be, as this callous string of words would later mistakenly become attributed to the last queen of France. And she certainly could never have predicted how an interpretation of the phrase would butterfly into fuelling one of the largest unorganised protests in modern times. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="The Met Gala incident" comment="subhead" text="The Met Gala incident">The <keyword id="20083183" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Met-Gala" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Met Gala" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Met Gala">Met Gala</keyword> incident</cmsannotation> In early May, popular internet influencer Haley Kalil put on a floral dress designed by her friend Marc Bouwer. All was going perfect; Kalil was headed to the Met Gala — one of the biggest and most exclusive fashion events ever — adorned in an utterly gorgeous 18th-century-style dress. Even if she wasn’t allowed inside the Gala, Kalil would meet and interact with the biggest names in movies, fashion, entertainment.. you name it, all of which would undoubtedly boost her social presence through the roof. All was going well — until it wasn’t. In an attempt to jump onto an ongoing TikTok trend, one utilising a popular audio clip from the 2006 film Marie Antoinette, Kalil unleashed a <keyword id="19897919" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="social-media" source="keywords">social media</keyword> revolution not seen until #Metoo a few years earlier. In the film, Marie heartlessly proclaims “Let them eat cake!” in response to the information that the nation’s starving poor had run out of bread. In another, slightly more perfect world, and maybe at a different time, the clip would have buried itself under the mountains of TikTok trends that would inevitably come after it. But at a time where the brutal <keyword id="20399452" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Israel-Gaza-conflict" source="keywords">Israel-Gaza conflict</keyword> had subject millions of Palestinians to horrifying levels of hunger and thirst, Kalil’s seemingly innocuous clout-chasing did not, quite understandably, sit well with the global audience. A flurry of backlash soon followed Kalil’s now-deleted post from the Gala, which had since received dozens of millions of viewers. Many were furious at Kalil’s tone-deaf attitude towards the ongoing <keyword id="20262850" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaza-crisis" source="keywords">Gaza crisis</keyword>, even if the influencer was simply following a trend without understanding its context. For the vast majority of people frustrated with the general status quo, however, this was the last straw. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Blocklist 2024 is born" comment="subhead" text="Blocklist 2024 is born">Blocklist 2024 is born</cmsannotation> The Israel-Hamas war had been going on for over half a year now. An estimated 35,000 Palestinians, including children too young to make sense of any of it, had perished. As bombs rained down on hospitals, schools and refugee centres, 2.3 million Gazans became forcibly displaced, marking one of the deadliest confrontations the world had seen in a while. As mass protests erupted all over the world, there was a measurably deafening silence from the world’s <keyword id="19903563" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="celebrities" source="keywords">celebrities</keyword>, who commanded the biggest spheres of influence. Frustrations were further fueled by the actions of a few influencers who refraining from participating in an important issue, but were also wasting exorbitant amounts of money on extravagances instead. Many pointed out that tickets to the 2024 Met Gala can cost around Rs 62 lakhs — a massive sum that could have been better spent in aiding the starving and injured in Gaza. Many were frustrated, and decided to force action out of these tight-lipped celebrities. As a result, the Blockout List 2024 was created. The aim was to mass block all these “complicit” A-listers on various social media platforms, thereby reducing their visibility and reach. This, the protestors hoped, would cut into their income by straining brand partnerships, and therefore force them to speak out on the matter. Very soon, multiple star-studded block lists spread through the internet, causing personalities such as Kim Kardashian, <keyword id="19918406" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="alia-bhatt" source="keywords">Alia Bhatt</keyword>, Taylor Swift and Beyonce to lose thousands to millions of followers overnight. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Celebrities finally extend support to Gaza" comment="subhead" text="Celebrities finally extend support to Gaza">Celebrities finally extend support to Gaza</cmsannotation> While most celebrities still remained quiet after the event, some made quick reparations. Singer Lizzo soon posted an Instagram video thanking activists and shared ways to help in the evacuation of Gazans. However, some pointed out that celebrities might now begin to speak out in response to the backlash, and not out of genuine concern for the situation in Gaza. Others simply applauded that at least the bare minimum was finally being achieved. However, the biggest wave of public and celebrity support finally came around after a terrible new tragedy struck Gaza. Just two days after being ordered by the International Court of Justice to halt its deadly offensive on <keyword id="19987254" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rafah" source="keywords">Rafah</keyword> — a cramped refugee city now housing about half of Gaza’s displaced population — Israel ramped up its bombing of the war-torn area. This led to the death of 45 civilians, what Israel has termed “a tragic accident”. In addition to renewing global outrage against the Israeli government, an AI-generated image with the words ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ quickly flooded social media. The image, which has now been shared at least 44 million times on Instagram stories and social media posts, depicted refugee shelter tents in Rafah, and attempted to warn Israel that the world was now watching the nation’s actions closely. Interestingly enough, many celebrities, Indian and otherwise, shared the AI-image in droves this time. This included Kareena Kapoor Khan, <keyword id="19932032" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="madhuri-dixit" source="keywords">Madhuri Dixit</keyword>, Varun Dhawan, Dua Lipa, Bella Hadid, Tripti Dimri, Sonam Kapoor and Samantha Ruth Prabhu. Several of these personalities, such as Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Alia Bhatt, had been added to a Blockout list prior to this act of solidarity. While the real intention behind this suspiciously-timed support can be debated, many of the celebrities have faced new backlash. Several Indians chastised the stars for not speaking out against atrocities against different communities in their own country, spurring a rejuvenation of the Bollywood boycott movement. In response, Madhuri Dixit and Ritika Sharma (wife of Rohit Sharma) deleted their stories, a move that another section of netizens deemed “pathetic”. In an age where the power of social media can propel both justice and vanity with equal fervor, the fallout from Kalil’s ill-fated post underscores a critical question: can the amplification of voices, no matter how misinformed, be harnessed for genuine global change? The true impact of the blockout movement, whether fleeting or foundational, remains to be seen. What is clear, however, is that the power dynamics between the public and its icons are shifting, demanding a more conscientious engagement with global issues.

From ‘Let Them Eat Cake’ to ‘All Eyes on Rafah’: Did Blockout 2024 make Indian celebrities speak out for Gaza?

<ul><li><keyword id="13153678" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="zillionaire" source="Orion">Zillionaire</keyword> is a Jaipur-based startup creating bling jewellery. </li><li>The startup’s clientele includes celebrities like Ranveer Singh, Raftaar, Karan Johar, and others. </li><li>The 19-year-old founders of Zillionaire walked away with an investment of ₹1 crore from shark Anupam Mittal - double their original ask of ₹50 lakh. </li></ul><keyword id="11924074" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="shark-tank-india" source="Orion">Shark Tank India</keyword> S2 has made it clear - India has no dearth of talented entrepreneurs. Like the 19-year-old founders of <keyword id="16077786" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="zillionaire-india" source="Orion">Zillionaire India</keyword> - a lifestyle jewellery brand offering ‘bling jewellery’ primarily made of silver and/or cubic zirconia. The Jaipur-based startup makes ‘bling jewellery’ popularised by rappers, which is only available for sale on the company website. Zillionaire offers a regular range of earrings, pendants, bracelets, cuffs, etc., along with customised items. The average order value is ₹14,000, while the minimum value for a <a href="https://zillionaireindia.com/pages/custom-work">custom piece is ₹15,000</a>. Founded by Aaditya Fatehpuriya and Raghav Goyal in 2020, the direct-to-customer (D2C) brand has a verified Instagram handle with over <a href="https://www.instagram.com/zillionaireindia/?hl=en">56k followers</a>. The startup made revenue of ₹11 lakh in the first year of its operations. Since then, it has enjoyed a growth rate of 554%, raking in sales to the tune of ₹72 lakh in FY22. In the 7 months of FY23, the company’s year-to-date sales hit ₹1 crore, with a profit of ₹15 lakh. The founders projected total sales worth ₹2 crore in FY23. The startup’s clientele includes celebrities like actors Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Janhvi Kapoor, singers Raftaar and B Praak, and director Karan Johar, among others. “We don’t just want to be a jewellery brand. We want to be a lifestyle brand, so that in the future if your chair has the logo of Zillionaire, its value rises. The sky’s the limit for us,” stated Goyal introducing Zillionaire on the show. The founders asked for an investment of ₹50 lakh for 3.3% equity, but went home with an investment of ₹1 crore for 10% equity from shark Anupam Mittal, the founder of Shaadi.com. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="“We’re living what we’re selling”" comment="subhead2" text="“We’re living what we’re selling”">“We’re living what we’re selling”</cmsannotation> During the pandemic, the two founders, who were 16 at the time and in Grade 11, got to discussing rap music. That’s when they came up with the idea of producing bling jewellery for themselves. They uploaded their designs on Instagram as well, and that’s how Zillionaire was born. At present, both founders look after the design, production, and marketing of the products. Goyal is currently studying at the Parsons School of Design in New York - where Zillionaire India helped him earn a 40% scholarship. On the other hand, Fatehpuriya is involved with Zillionaire full-time. His father has been running a jewellery business for over 30 years, manufacturing and exporting fine jewellery, primarily for women. And now, his father’s company is responsible for Zillionaire India’s production as well. The products are designed by the founders and they pay the cost of production (including the cost of material and labour), per piece to Fatehpuriya’s father’s company. Currently, 30 to 40 pieces are produced daily for Zillionaire. The founders have the vision to generate monthly sales worth ₹2 crore by 2026 and expand into global markets, in Dubai, Australia, and the UK. They’re already available in the US. “We’re living what we’re selling. The knowledge we have of hip-hop and this culture, usually others (jewellery designers) don’t have. We make sure to hit our customers psychologically. We already get opportunities to collaborate with Marvel, FIFA, etc., and create products for them - but they ask for MG (minimum guarantee). We’re a bootstrapped brand currently, and can’t afford that MG. In the future, if brand awareness and consequently sales increase, we can even lower the price, if required,” said Goyal, when asked about what sets Zillionaire India apart. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Finding the “king of bling”" comment="subhead2" text="Finding the “king of bling”">Finding the “king of bling”</cmsannotation> Shark Namita Thapar, executive director at Emcure Pharmaceuticals, backed out at the start stating that the business would not yield 100% return due to existing competition, and high average ticket price. However, the duo impressed the other sharks with their product and vision so much that they had two competing offers. Mittal made the first offer - ₹1 crore for 10% equity, valuing the company at ₹10 crore. This was followed by a joint offer by sharks Aman Gupta (co-founder, boAt), Vineeta Singh (co-founder, Sugar Cosmetics) and Peyush Bansal, (co-founder, Lenskart) – ₹50 lakh for 10% equity, which valued the company at ₹5 crore. Mittal responded to the offer by telling the founders that, “by having just 2-3% equity, no shark will be dedicated to your business. You need someone who has skin in the game. Don’t make a mistake!” The founders ultimately went with a single shark, Mittal, while naming him “the king of bling.” Singh, who wanted to match Mittal’s offer but didn’t because of Gupta, appeared visibly shocked at the decision, while Bansal remarked that “he got it wrong”. Even Gupta admitted that they lost the deal because of him, while Singh reiterated that she really wanted this deal. SEE ALSO:

Bling and ka-ching! – This startup’s founders walk away with an investment double the original ask on Shark Tank India

<ul><li>Amul Macho’ blames Lux Cozi for copying its 'toing' ad. </li><li>The <keyword id="117555" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lux-cozi-ad" source="Orion">Lux Cozi Ad</keyword> featuring Varun Dhawan is currently being aired on various news channels and on Sony TV, appears to take more than just inspiration from the popular <keyword id="12036072" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="amul-macho-toing-ad" source="Orion">Amul Macho TOING Ad</keyword> that was released in 2007.</li></ul>J G Hosiery Pvt Ltd., makers of <keyword id="12036071" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="macho-innerwear" source="Orion">Macho Innerwear</keyword>, alleges that Lux Cozi has copied its Amul Macho TOING Ad. The Lux Cozi Ad that is currently being aired on various news channels and on Sony TV, appears to have taken more than just inspiration from the popular Amul Macho TOING Ad that was released in 2007. <div type="Youtube" id="tYOCArcCAhs" title="VARUN DHAWAN//YUKTI THAREJA//LUX COZI AD//NEW AD//2021||" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/tYOCArcCAhs/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <keyword id="3013821" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="jg-hosiery" source="Orion">JG Hosiery</keyword> has complained about the plagiarism and ASCI has accepted JG Hosiery’s complaint for further processing. As is well known, The <keyword id="120108" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="advertising-standards-council-of-india" source="Orion">Advertising Standards Council of India</keyword> (ASCI) is a self-regulatory body and ensures that all advertisements are honest, truthful, safe, within societal norms and not unfair to competition, on a self-regulatory basis. <div type="Youtube" id="lCVodxIGDFg" title="Yeh To Bada Toing hai - Amul Macho sensual Ad" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/lCVodxIGDFg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The Lux Cozi Ad contravenes Chapter IV of the ASCI Code, Clause 4.3, which states that: “Advertisements shall not be similar to any other advertiser’s earlier run advertisements in general layout, copy, slogans, visual presentations, music or sound effects, so as to suggest plagiarism."Navin Seksaria, CEO, JG Hosiery Pvt Ltd said, “We find it shocking that a worthy and esteemed competitor appears to want to ride on the creative success of a brand that’s a market leader in its category, by blatantly copying its popular Ad concept and executional elements. We hope good reason will prevail and the copied Ad will be withdrawn forthwith.” The company finds the premise of the Ad by Lux Cozi to be identical to the Amul Macho TOING Ad and the storyline of the Lux Cozi Ad to be strikingly similar to their own creative asset. It’s a matter of deep concern to J G Hosiery that the woman in the Lux Cozi ad holds up the Lux Cozi underwear to show that her man wears Lux Cozi, implying that Varun Dhawan should stay away, in a similar manner to how it was held up by Sana Khan in the Amul Macho TOING ad. Amul Innerwear team takes the matter of their creative asset being copied very seriously, believing that the visual similarity of the two Ads cannot be a mere co-incidence. Both women in the two respective ads hold up the underwear to make a statement about the fact that, “My man wears this”. The similarity between the two ads does not end there but has so many common executional elements that JG Hosiery has felt compelled to call out the copy-cat work and point out, what appears to be an opportunistic brand building attempt by Lux Cozi. Various executional elements of the Amul Macho Ad film can be seen in the Lux Cozi Ad film, some of which include:<ul><li>The way the woman holds up the underwear </li><li>The colour of the underwear</li><li>The shape of the underwear</li><li>Specific expressions of the support cast when they see the underwear </li><li>The music theme </li><li>The setting being that of a small town and including washing/drying clothes</li></ul>

Amul Macho files a complaint against Lux Cozi for allegedly plagiarising its 'toing' advertisement from 2007

<ul><li>2021 is going to be one of the biggest growth years for <keyword id="133159" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parle-Agro">Parle Agro</keyword> as it is set to release two high impact campaigns for its power brands Frooti, Appy Fizz and B-Fizz simultaneously.</li><li>With combined spends of Rs 240 crore for Frooti and Fizz portfolio, Parle Agro is aiming to dominate the beverage category this summer.</li><li>Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director and CMO, Parle Agro tells us how the brand aims to beat the cola category with its strong marketing strategy and how it would go about spending the earmarked marketing budget of Rs 240 crore.</li></ul>Last week, Mumbai recorded its hottest day of this season and the India Meteorological Department issued a yellow alert with a warning of heat wave. Mercury in Odisha has crossed 44.6 degrees, the highest so far. IMD predicts this year to be the hottest summer in India and it’s only April! To beat this heat, consumers turn to refreshing cold beverages and ice-creams and naturally, summer is the peak season for those categories. For Parle Agro that houses drinks like Frooti, Appy Fizz and B-Fizz, 40% of its overall annual sales come from the summers. Last year, the beverage industry’s business plateaued due to the lockdown. Parle Agro decided to curtail its 360-degree media spends until October and started working on its comeback marketing strategy. So, 2021 is going to be an important year for the conglomerate to revive its business. Sharing her expectations for summer 2021, Nadia Chauhan, Joint Managing Director and CMO, Parle Agro said, “The summer months alone from March to May account for approximately 40% of our overall annual sales. We have witnessed a higher consumption in mango drinks over the Fizz category in summers because Mango is a seasonal fruit hence, a higher intake over the Fizz category which is evenly balanced out year-round.” While the beverage category was struggling in the first quarter of 2020, once the market opened up, Parle Agro launched an innovative product ‘B-Fizz’ and expanded its market share strategically. It is now aiming to grow by 50% over 2019. “Looking at the past year, the lockdown had an immense impact on the beverage and FMCG segment as a whole. Due to mobility restrictions, we focused on reinventing our sales and distribution strategy to cater to the market effectively despite the lockdown. This helped us gain an 8% market share within the category. We avoided a 360-degree brand campaign during the summer months of 2020 as it would not serve the desired purpose due to mobility restrictions. Subsequently, we invested in a strategic marketing strategy in September 2020 when we launched B-Fizz. This year, for 2021, with increased mobility and rise in temperatures during summer months, we are expecting a boom in consumption and are targeting a 50% growth in 2021 over 2019 across all brands,” said Chauhan. However, the lockdown did have a silver lining for Parle Agro after all. The consumer pattern changed and they started preferring fruit-based beverages. Chauhan said, “We have witnessed a consistent increase in consumers moving away from synthetic beverages and more towards fruit-based beverages. Along with that, we also see a demand in products under the good-for-you category. The lockdown has also given consumers an opportunity to spend more time with family and friends. This has resulted in a boost for larger packs for in-home consumption.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Marketing campaigns for 2021" text="Marketing campaigns for 2021">Marketing campaigns for 2021</cmsannotation> Parle Agro has launched its summer campaign starring brand ambassadors Priyanka Chopra Jonas and <a href="https://youtu.be/Tmy9ViY2qR8">Jr. NTR</a> for B-Fizz. With marketing investments of Rs 120 crores for the Fizz portfolio this summer, Parle Agro plans on generating tremendous buzz with a multimedia campaign. The TVC will be aired across national and regional channels. <div type="Youtube" id="8X1DT09Je7A" title="All new 2021 Be.Feel.Fizz advertisement with Priyanka Chopra Jonas.#befeelfizz#bethefizz#feelthefizz" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8X1DT09Je7A/mqdefault.jpg"></div> On the other hand, its new summer campaign for Frooti starring Alia Bhatt, <a href="https://youtu.be/mfq51l5Auwk">Allu Arjun</a> and <a href="https://youtu.be/oz0_585h1DE">Varun Dhawan</a> aims to accelerate growth and strengthen brand equity. Parle Agro has earmarked Rs 120 as marketing budget for Frooti and Rs 120 for Fizz category. <div type="Youtube" id="kopcKizsMIY" title="Watch Alia Bhatt get her favourite drink in the new 2021 Frooti advertisement. #livethefrootilife" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kopcKizsMIY/mqdefault.jpg"></div> The beverage company has increased its marketing budget every year since 2019. Chauhan shared, “Our overall marketing spends for 2019 amounted to Rs 220 crore while our summer spends for 2021 is Rs 240 crores.” Telling us more about the media spends, Chauhan added, “We have an aggressive multimedia campaign charted out for 2021 with the objective of boosting consumption patterns, gaining substantial market share and driving significant growth for Parle Agro in the beverage industry. Our plan includes using strategic mediums and touch points to ensure impactful reach and visibility for our brands via the right audience. This includes Television, Digital and OOH mediums.” To further break through the clutter, the Indian beverage giant will look at enhancing visibility via on-ground branding opportunities at retail outlets, kirana stores and continue investing in e-commerce. A significant amount of its marketing budget will also be spent on the biggest event of the summer season - IPL. Frooti is the official on-air sponsor for IPL in the mango drink category and B-Fizz is the beverage partner for IPL on Disney+ Hotstar. Telling us how important IPL has grown to be for the brand, Chauhan shared, “IPL has been a game-changer for Frooti and our FIZZ range. We started advertising with IPL for Frooti in the summer of 2014 since most of the investment for the brand happens in this season. IPL being the biggest event of the summer months has helped propel visibility for Frooti during this period, ever since we started advertising with the property. The year 2021 is a big year for Parle Agro. To further drive high SOV for our brands during the high consumption summer season, we have associated with IPL. Frooti shall be the on-air sponsor on TV on Star Sports Network. While in the digital space, B-Fizz will be the associate sponsor for IPL on Disney HotStar. If we go by numbers, just these two platforms will drive a reach of over 500 million people.” With combined spends of Rs 240 crores for Frooti and FIZZ portfolio campaigns, Parle Agro is set to dominate the beverage category this summer. It has the lion’s share of fruit plus fizz category and Frooti, too, ranks among the top two mango drinks in India. Elaborating on the beverage company’s expansion plan and current market share, Chauhan said, “For Frooti we have 28% market share in the mango drink category. In the apple-based drink category, Appy holds the largest share with 61% and in the sparkling fruit drink category, our FIZZ portfolio i.e. Appy Fizz and B-Fizz combined, holds the highest market share of over 90%. We are looking to further grow market share and target new consumers by increasing our reach and market penetration. We are already witnessing a massive boom in consumption this season after a slow 2020. Frooti is part of every household, for every social occasion, these indications instil confidence that the product will become a dominant player soon. And with our aggressive plans for Frooti and FIZZ portfolio this year, we aim to further boost consumption and drive significant growth for Parle Agro in the beverage industry.” Apart from spearheading an aggressive marketing campaign this year, Chauhan will also prepare every level of leadership across all teams in her organization who have all been impacted in different ways by the pandemic, to be really prepared and maintain a very positive mindset.

Parle Agro targets a 50% growth in 2021 over 2019 as India prepares for its hottest summer; sets aside Rs 240 crore for marketing activities

<ul><li>ClanConnect.ai’s research study reveals that 45% of the top 1000 influencers in India are women.</li><li><keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword>, <keyword id="89958" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Shraddha-Kapoor">Shraddha Kapoor</keyword>, and <keyword id="598" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Deepika-Padukone">Deepika Padukone</keyword> emerged as the most popular influencers in the country.</li><li>63% of the most popular influencers in India operate in the entertainment category.</li><li>Virat Kohli leads in terms of followers, while MS Dhoni drives the highest engagement rate among male influencers while Anushka Sharma drives highest engagement rate in India.</li></ul>Rounding up the year 2020, ClanConnect.ai, an AI-driven influencer marketing platform, has revealed the top 1000 <keyword id="4726280" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Instagram-influencers">Instagram influencers</keyword> in India. It found that 63% of India’s leading Instagram influencers operate in the entertainment category, while its subsets – sports, lifestyle, cinema, and actors – gained the maximum traction in 2020. According to the data mapped, power couple Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma are currently enjoying royalty status as influencers. While cricketing sensation Kohli has the highest number of followers at 83.7 million, Bollywood queen Anushka boasts of the greatest engagement rate in the country, surpassing even PM Narendra Modi. Others on the list of top 10 Instagram influencers are Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Alia Bhatt, Neha Kakkar, Jaqueline Fernandez, Akshay Kumar, and Katrina Kaif. Amongst numerous noteworthy findings, the platform also found that a majority of the top 1000 influencers in India were women. In fact, women rule the top 1K Instagram influencers and beat men by almost 50% more in numbers. Further, the total unduplicated reach of all women Instagram influencers was found to be a whopping 1700 million, while that of men was 1200 million. While both men and women drive 82% quality engagement, men drive a slightly better engagement rate at 5% as compared to 4% for women. As women rule the roost as Instagram influencers in India, ClanConnect.ai delved deeper to find the top 10 female Instagram-stars of 2020. While Shraddha Kapoor bagged the title of most popular female Instagram Influencer with 57.2 million followers, Deepika Padukone followed close with 52.4 million. Neha Kakkar, betting big on her brilliant wedding Reels, posts and anthem, emerged as the fourth largest female Instagram Influencer in India. Again, Anushka Sharma drives the highest engagement at 6.7% with 3% being the average for the top 10 female Influencers. Cumulative reach for top 10 female influencers was clocked at 452 million, with the quality audience being 388 million at 84% average. In the male influencer category, Virat Kohli is much ahead of his counterparts on the top 10 list with a whopping 83.7 million followers. Surprisingly, however, he was thwarted in terms of engagement by MS Dhoni who boasts an engagement rate of 10.98% as opposed to Kohli’s 1.84%. With 50 million followers, PM Narendra Modi is the second most popular Instagram influencer in India, with Akshay Kumar, Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Varun Dhawan, Hrithik Roshan, MS Dhoni, Shahid Kapoor, and Kapil Sharma also topping the charts. It is worth noting that the top two male influencers do not hail from Bollywood. The platform also found that food influencers enjoy the highest quality engagement at 88% while education, finance, and career influencers cumulatively receive 85%. As far as the most engaging influencers are concerned, the list was topped by Ronit Ashra (32.92%), Dhanashree (24.69%), and Ratan Tata (22.83%). Speaking on the findings, Sagar Pushp, Co-Founder &amp; CEO, ClanConnect, said, “At ClanConnect.ai, our overarching aim is to match the right influencers to brands to help the latter gain maximum ROI from their influencer campaigns. Our top 1000 Instagram influencer list is an extension of this goal and will help brands identify the most relevant influencers who are best suited to their specific campaigns in terms of their follower base, engagement metrics, and content category. We hope that all Indian brands leverage our exhaustive list and get the most out of each campaign.”

Shraddha Kapoor, Deepika Padukone and Virat Kohli emerge most popular Instagram Influencers: Report

<ul><li>The ban on TikTok has helped many Indian video apps come to the forefront. </li><li>Homegrown app Public is now aiming to get 100 million+ users and be available in all Indian languages by the end of 2020. People use the app to raise and discuss their concerns with local authorities in video format. </li><li>Over 1000 politicians have joined the app like Hema Malini, Varun Dhawan, Kamal Nath, C.P. Joshi, Chandrabhan Singh, Bhopinder S Hooda, Deepender Singh Hooda, Om Prakash Dhankar, and Dr Alok Ranjan, to name a few. </li><li>Azhar Iqubal, Founder and CEO, Public shares his action plan with us, talks about evolving revenue model and what makes Public stand out in the clutter of video apps. </li></ul>Launched in April 2019, homegrown short-form video app Public has been on an exponential growth trajectory. Within six months of the launch, it became one of the fastest-growing Indian social apps and ranked 1 on Play store for providing local updates in a video format. After the whole boycott Chinese product sentiment emerged in June, Public saw its users sky-rocketing. It added 50 million plus users that month. While many TikTok-clones cropped up to eat into its space, Public claims to stand out in the clutter for offering informative videos through real-time updates, unlike TikTok which was an entertainment app. <keyword id="9617663" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="public-app">Public app</keyword> acts as a bridge between local authorities and common people. It allows its users to share their opinion on the status quo, ask questions directly to the concerned authority or raise a complaint against an issue they are facing in their city. Another thing that has helped Public stand out in the clutter is the brains behind it, Azhar Iqubal. He is well-known in the industry for another short-form news app, InShorts. He is now focusing on taking his short-form video app to the forefront and is aiming to get 100 million plus users by the end of 2020 and be available in all Indian languages. Telling us the reasons behind this success, Iqubal, Founder and CEO, Public said, “We attribute this success solely to our team for recognizing the gaps that existed in the social media space and offering a product that addresses it perfectly. Our past or future success has little to do with the ban of other apps as we are on track to reach the numbers irrespective.” Iqubal also said that the idea behind launching Public app was not to offer just any video-sharing platform ‘but one that makes a difference and helps people stay informed.’ Target Audience Public’s user base is a mix of diverse sets of audiences from metros and Tier III cities. It has about 5,000 influencers ranging from top politicians to local authorities to budding influencers. Indian Youth Congress, Hema Malini, Bhopinder S Hooda, Ranveer Brar and Sadhguru are some prominent public figures on the platform. “We have users in the biggest of metros to the remotest of cities, and Public app serves a completely different purpose for them, than entertainment focused apps – that is, to create and consume informative video content. Several of our users at local and national levels have emerged as influencers on the platform by providing content related to current affairs, politics, local updates, interesting facts and general knowledge,” shared Iqubal. On its way to monetisation The app has reached here mainly through word-of-mouth and on the back of the ‘Vocal for Local’ trend. It is now working on a way to launch non-intrusive ads on its platform like InShorts. “We have not yet started monetising Public, but it is on the charts and we are going to start soon through advertisements. Our major focus would be to deliver innovative and non-intrusive ad formats to users and the best in class UI experience. For advertisers, we are committed to providing a brand safe environment, quality content and reliable brand affinity uplift metrics. Once we start advertising on the platform, we will welcome like-minded brands who want to connect with influencers to reach out to consumers,” said Iqubal. Building user loyalty Iqubal isn’t worried about the ban lifting up and TikTok coming back. He believes in his product offering. “Creating and consuming informational content is a need that will continue as it is human nature to be inquisitive about our surroundings. With Public app, the sense of proximity is much higher amongst users, and therefore we expect the surge to continue. I am confident that users that are looking to consume, share credible and informative content will continue to stay on the app, despite any external factors,” said he.

Public app aims to get 100 million users by end of 2020 on the back of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat movement

<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mahindra+%26+Mahindra">Mahindra &amp; Mahindra</a> launched an all new <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=micro-SUV">micro-SUV</a>, the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=KUV+100">KUV 100</a> at a price of Rs 4.42 lakhs to Rs 6.76 lakh ex-showroom Pune. <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Anand+Mahindra">Anand Mahindra</a>, Chairman of M&amp;M called it a new inflection point in the history of the company. 
 
<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mahindra+%26+Mahindra">Mahindra</a> said the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=KUV+100">KUV 100</a> is the most fuel efficient SUV in the country. It delivers 25.32 kmpl for the 1.2 litre common rail Diesel and 18.15 kmpl for the all-new 1.2 litre Petrol engine. 
 
It was developed with an investment of close to Rs 1,200 Crores over a period of 4 years by 350 engineers. 
 
Aimed at the youth, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Mahindra+%26+Mahindra">Mahindra</a> has already got Bollywood actor <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Varun+Dhawan">Varun Dhawan</a> as the vehicles' brand ambassador. It has also tied up with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=Flipkart">Flipkart</a>, Carandbike.com and M2all.com to allow online bookings. 
 
The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=KUV+100">KUV100</a> will be available in 7 colors - Fiery Orange, Flamboyant Red, Dazzling Silver, Aquamarine, Pearl White, Designer Grey and Midnight Black. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

M&M launched Compact SUV KUV100, and it’s awesome!

<ul><li>It is our eighth episode of The <keyword id="11422515" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="influencer-adda">Influencer Adda</keyword>, a chat show where we speak to social media stars and trace back their journeys.</li><li>Today, we have a story of determination, passion, failure and finding new doors as we talk to one of the early women content creators of our country, <keyword id="3703117" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="prajakta-koli">Prajakta Koli</keyword>.</li><li>She talks to us about her journey so far, experience of working with Michelle Obama, winning an Emmy, setting her foot into Bollywood, expanding her presence globally, first brand that she ever worked with and a lot more.</li></ul>YouTuber, actor and blogger Prajakta Koli has helped us stay <keyword id="4574577" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="MostlySane">MostlySane</keyword> during the lockdown with her extremely relatable videos. With over 6.4 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.9 million followers on Instagram, Prajakta is one of the early content creators that our country has seen. However, she grew up with a singular dream of becoming a radio jockey. She was quick to realise that radio isn’t for her and decided to shift her focus to content creation in 2015. She took to YouTube like a fish takes to water. <div type="Video" msid="84381479" hostid="261" title="Prajakta Koli on winning an Emmy and her journey so far as a YouTuber" dataSource="BUSINESSINSIDER" thumbUrl="https://denmark.timesinternet.in/cmslite/api/app/images.jpg?msid=84381479"></div> Taking us back to her radio days, Prajakta says, “When I was in college, I saw a lot of friends planning their future, who wanted to do a little bit of this and that. I, on the other hand, never took a minute ever contemplating what I wanted to do. I was focused, I wanted to be a radio jockey and I became one. The downside of that was that I didn’t give myself enough opportunities to explore anything else. So when I became a radio jockey, I quickly realised that I suck. My bosses were not happy and when they replaced me, I felt like I understood why they did that. For the first time in my life, I felt lost. I had no idea what to do next.” When the opportunity of YouTube came by, which was considered as a second option or a ‘hobby’ back then, Prajakta gave it her all. Since then, she likes to take each day as it comes. “I held onto YouTube because I didn’t have another plan. I got a chance to start again and this time, I decided to not make concrete plans. I don’t want to know what my future will look like. I started off YouTube very seriously, I quit everything for it. I told my parents that I just need one year to figure out YouTube and if I don’t, I will look at more options. I looked at it as a serious career option and I am glad that I did. It is the best thing that happened,” adds Prajakta. Even today, Prajakta confesses that her parents struggle to explain her work profile to their relatives if the questions pops up -- they simply open her YouTube channel to demonstrate what she does. Her first video that ever went viral was ‘10 Hilarious Words Delhi People Use’ and gave her channel the first, massive push. She went from 2,000 to 30,000 subscribers in a month’s time after that video and she saw her dream getting a little clearer in her head every day as realised the mighty power of YouTube. The very first brand she got to work with was Yatra.com. She was paid for a promotional tweet. <div type="Youtube" id="CwFeAtiBaKs" title="10 Hilarious Words Delhi People Use | Latest Funny Videos | Mostly Sane" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/CwFeAtiBaKs/mqdefault.jpg"></div> She caters to everyone from Mumbaikars to the Indian diaspora and a large part of her demographic includes people in the age group of 13 to 30. While there are no particularly fixed ingredients that she tries to include in every video, there is a filter that tries to stick to: “I always wanted to create content that everyone will enjoy. And I would never tell a sexist, classist, any kind of phobic content at the expense of a joke. I never want to make anyone uncomfortable with my content. Some of my videos are even watched by people in their 70s and 80s. I remember meeting a grandma with her grandson at Comic Con in Hyderabad who bought the ticket herself to my concert just to see me.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Winning an Emmy" text="Winning an Emmy">Winning an Emmy</cmsannotation> Prajakta is already transcending across borders as two of her films, one short film and a documentary have been recognised globally. Her YouTube documentary ‘<keyword id="11579227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Creators-for-Change">Creators For Change</keyword>’ gave her an opportunity to work with Michelle Obama, Liza Koshy and Thembe Mahlaba. They track the experiences of adolescent girls in Vietnam, India, and Namibia overcoming adversity to pursue their education. Besides that, her short film 'Khayali Pulao' was screened at the New York Indian Film Festival in June 2021. Looking back at her journey and these huge milestones today, Prajakta feels a bit of extreme gratitude and shock. She shares, “It is unbelievable. I feel some part of my brain just refuses to process it, which comes and goes. It made me uncomfortable at first. I kept wondering why can’t I process it? I should be jumping and screaming. I just want to sit still for 10 minutes and then I just simply got back to work. This also happened when I first spoke at Comic-Con. When I first heard that we got nominated at Emmys, my brain just stopped working then. I was happy with the nomination and then the documentary went on to win an Emmy! Emmy was never even in the vicinity of my plans or thoughts.” On whether becoming a global icon was always a part of her plan, she says, “Now it is a part of my plan. I didn’t know that I could do it. I am loving the reactions my documentary and short film have received, but I am not really jotting down my plans. Every day of my past six years has been different from each other.” In India, she has also set her foot into Bollywood with her movie Jug Jugg Jeeyo featuring Anil Kapoor, Neetu Kapoor, Varun Dhawan and Kiara Advani. She does see herself partaking in more feature films now and plans to keep exploring more acting options as they come but Youtube will always be her first baby. She says, “I always liked acting, I was in theatre in college and the first time I performed, there was this mad adrenaline rush of amusement that I felt. But radio was always part of the plan and I stopped acting after college. There were a few professional Marathi shows that I was a part of, it was pretty serious. However, I was hell-bent on becoming a radio jockey so I didn’t think twice before letting that go. After Khayali Pulao, Mismatched and now, Jug Jug Jeeyo, I feel I have tasted blood and I cannot stop. So, I definitely want to act more. I love being on set and it is Dharma! I have grown up loving Dharma.” <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rising from setbacks" text="Rising from setbacks">Rising from setbacks</cmsannotation> There often comes a time in a content creators journey when a few pieces of content don’t perform well and the momentum goes down. Telling us about her lows, Prajakta says, “It has happened to me so many times. It threw me off the first time, which was in 2017, I thought to myself, is it time for me to shut my channel? But I soon realised that it is a part of my job. I just had to make peace with the fact that not every piece of content I upload will work because my audience is changing, growing everyday and so is the platform. I am changing everyday, too. There are things that I wouldn’t like today from my past and I just have to accept that and find my way around it. Right now, content blocks and I are not friends but we are acquaintances and we can exist in the same room. I used to get very scared before and now I have realised that I only come out of it stronger.” Prajakta has seen lots of ups and downs in her career but she never gave up. Now, she wants to act more, write more blogs and keep trying new things. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="83925309" title="Sushant Divgikar on how can brands lead the pride movement and be better allies" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

I would never tell a sexist, classist or any kind of phobic content at the expense of a joke: Prajakta Koli

<ul><li>The number of live online viewers at any point for the World Cup have been far below the peak registered by the recently concluded Indian Premier League (IPL).</li><li>The concurrent users on <keyword id="2739840" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Hotstar">Hotstar</keyword> for World Cup matches are between 2 million and 8 million compared to the peak of over 18 million during the IPL. </li><li>Hotstar, during IPL, alone had garnered an excess of 300 million unique users and was betting on bigger numbers from the World Cup. </li><li>According to reports, Indian businesses are reportedly spending ₹10-₹12 billion during the World Cup on advertising. </li></ul>When India’s star batsmen like <keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword>, Shikhar Dhawan, and Rohit Sharma out-batted Australia at the <keyword id="149598" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="ICC-Cricket-World-Cup">ICC Cricket World Cup</keyword> 2019, as many as 7 million people at any given point were watching it live on Hotstar, Walt Disney’s streaming platform with exclusive online streaming rights to the tournament. During other matches – sometimes, even when India is bowling – the viewer numbers dropped significantly, to less than half of it. This outsized interest in team India is the source of the clout of BCCI (Board of <keyword id="1521" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Cricket">Cricket</keyword> Control in India) at the International Cricket Council (ICC). This was what Hasan Minhaj highlighted in his Netflix show, Patriot Act. Both the ICC Cricket World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) bring in billions in ad revenues and sponsorships, and millions in viewership. However, it seems like this edition of the World Cup is off to a slow start. Star vs Hotstar The opening World Cup match between England and South Africa clocked a reach of 114 million on television alone, according to a <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/sports/icc-world-cup-opening-match-records-reach-of-114-million-viewership/articleshow/69678607.cms">report</a>. According to <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/economy-policy/icc-cwc-final-star-sports-travel-firms-pad-up-for-july-14-super-sunday-119060501129_1.html">reports</a>, from the last World Cup, the semi-final between India and Australia saw over 309 million impressions. The data for the latest India versus Australia clash is not out yet. However, if online viewership on Hotstar in India is any sign, the number of live viewers online at any point has ranged anywhere between 2 million and 8 million in the matches so far. This number did not even touch a quarter of IPL’s numbers. The IPL 2019 final between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians saw over 18 million concurrent viewers at one point. The IPL matches this year that ended in May saw a total reach of 462 million through <a href="https://www.insidesport.co/vivo-ipl-2019-462-million-tune-into-star-sports-netw/">television </a>alone. Hot on Hotstar Hotstar, during IPL alone, had garnered an excess of 300 million unique users and also witnessed a 74% increase in watch-time as compared to last year. And, it was hoping for more from the World Cup. “We aim to continue delivering an uninterrupted and immersive cricket watching experience not just to the domestic consumers, but to global audiences in the US and Canada as well,” Varun Narang, Chief Product Officer, Hotstar had then, said in a statement. With the numbers on its side, the streaming platform had also announced Dream 11, Uber Eats, Amazon Pay and Coca Cola as the co-presenting sponsors this year, while the associate sponsors include Royal Challenge, Acko, CEAT, and ICICI Lombard. Big ad spends With such massive records being set in viewership, brands are obviously leveraging from the World Cup too. According to <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/advertising/ad-spend-may-go-through-the-roof-this-world-cup/articleshow/69669540.cms">reports</a>, indian businesses are reportedly spending ₹10-₹12 billion during the World Cup on advertising. Obviously, the numbers are bigger for India matches alone. In an interview with <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/trends/sports-trends/sports-advertising-to-boom-during-icc-cricket-world-cup-2019-4044111.html">Moneycontrol,</a> MK Machaiah, President Content+, Mindshare, South Asia, said, “The cost for an India match is ₹2 million onwards for 10 seconds. Over ₹ 1 million lakh is for all match packages. The sponsorship package is ₹ 400 million onwards on television and digital sponsorship is over ₹150 million." Cricket accounted for 93% of all sports viewership in India in 2018, according to a BARC India <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/cricket-draws-93-of-sports-viewers-in-india-barc-119060400786_1.html">report.</a> And, this was before the World Cup. So far this year, the IPL has proved to be a bigger crowd puller than the World Cup, though there are still a few interesting games to follow, like the high-tension clash against Pakistan on Sunday (May 16). And as the tournament progresses, the interest level is likely to rise. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/icc-cricket-world-cup-army-insignia-on-ms-dhonis-gloves-have-started-a-fight-on-social-media/articleshow/69689488.cms">Here’s why everyone is talking about Indian cricketer MS Dhoni’s gloves</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indias-men-in-blue-turns-orange-in-world-cup-2019-heres-how-the-cricket-jersey-has-changed-from-1985-to-2018/articleshow/69660311.cms">India’s ‘men in blue’ turns orange in World Cup 2019, Here’s how the cricket jersey has changed from 1985 to 2015</a>

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