Brain Matters: What makes the Indian consumer laugh?

Social media is the biggest platform for them to build on their hobbies. It provides a platform for them to pursue their hobbies and passions, build a community for themselves, and earn good money from it. (Representational image via Unsplash)

Jester or Outlaw, brands have always believed that the way to the consumers’ heart is through bellicose laughter. It begs to ask. What does India find funny?

Does nostalgia work in marketing and brand building?

According to experts, nostalgia is inbuilt in the concept of branding and it is a powerful root to tap into, if brands utilise this strategy well. However, they believe, that nostalgia marketing works well only if the target audience is clear in the brand’s mind. (Still from ads)

A brand is a mini-dose of nostalgia for it is all about making the audience return to a memorable experience. Here’s a look at brands that have infused nostalgia in their products and ads.

Cringe influencers or not? Decoding corporate honchos’ social media game

Social media postings of corporate leaders are carefully planned. Industry insiders tell Storyboard18 that C-suite leaders have a mix of digital strategies under which they hire an agency/image consultant or an internal team to handle their postings; sometimes they are also personally involved in the process. Pictured (L to R) Mahindra Group’s chairman Anand Mahindra; RPG Enterprise' chairman Harsh Goenka; and founder and Managing director of Kalaari Capital Vani Kola.

Senior corporate leaders taking to social media humanise their larger-than-life-size brand image and engage their followers through an armoury of content. However, are they taking it a bit too far? Storyboard18 finds out.

Surya Kumar Yadav may double his score on brand valuations, say experts

The public broadcaster expects, this move to give the matches an unprecedented reach and availability across all households with a television, making it the most extensive and widest coverage on free-to-air TV(Image credits @virendersehwag on Twitter)

His strong performance, especially after the last match against Zimbabwe in the T20 World Cup match, will double his brand value, say experts. It is estimated Hardik Pandya charges around Rs 1.5-2 crore per day for an endorsement whereas Yadav’s fee is around Rs 1 crore.

YouTube Shorts are coming to a television screen near you

India is one of the markets for Courses' pilot rollout owing to the fact that there are 60 million plus videos that are related to digital skills or subjects taught in school. (Representational image via Unsplash)

YouTube Shorts will be rolled out over the coming weeks to smart television models, game consoles, and streaming devices made in 2019 or later.

Brand mascots and ambassadors in the digital age

In digital as well as offline media, there is a huge amount of clutter due to the presence of numerous brands. A mascot helps differentiate. It may represent a group, a thought, or a product. It infuses life into a brand.

While both can bring value to a brand, having them together in the same creative may confuse the audience, say experts.

Is Elon Musk ticking off too many business ambitions?

Musk has been vocal in the months leading up to his acquisition that he wanted to revamp how Twitter verifies accounts and handles bots. While the decision, predictably raised a storm on Twitter, his staccato decision making and rapid-fire announcements have raised serious concerns on the future of the platform. Twitter despite being much smaller than Facebook, You Tube and Instagram has de facto become the world’s virtual town square, where news breaks happen; movie stars; top athletes and heads of state share lock horns and their thoughts and squabble.

Combining the blue tick and Twitter premium subscription is certainly a problem. The best way forward would be to separate the two. This will make the whole process, transparent, equitable and remunerative and help Twitter retain its credibility without jeopardising its economics, suggests Lloyd Mathias.

The Twitter hullabaloo. And why it should choose to be ‘boring’ instead

With the acquisition of Twitter, the South African-American-Canadian citizen said that he would make the platform’s algorithm open-source, combat spambots and promote free speech.

The Elon Musk Twitter Takeover feels more like a soap opera, rather than a platform which the world’s richest man wants to be “maximally trusted” by users and advertisers.

Elon Musk Effect: Marketers exercise caution, reviewing ad spends on Twitter

Pictured (L to R): S4 Capital Plc chairman Martin Sorrell; Elon Musk; WPP, CEO, Mark Read. Currently, marketers across the globe are concerned about how the new leadership will pan out for advertising on the platform. 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising.

Elon Musk’s new pitch to marketers is getting mixed reviews globally. Marketers are looking at pausing advertising on Twitter.