Café Coffee Day (CCD) CEO Malavika Hegde has been both praised and slammed over the company’s slow growth of Rs 250 crore in FY21 and FY22. Some call her farsighted, determined, and resilient, while others criticize her approach as the CEO.
Once India’s leading coffee chain, Cafe Coffee Day, faced its biggest challenge when its founder and the then Managing Director, V.G. Siddhartha, tragically passed away in 2019. Several marketing pundits anticipated an exit from the market following the staggering debts and lack of prominent leadership. Most thought the corporation would not manage to recover from its existing condition.
Cafe Coffee Day: the brand that refuse to die | Mint Explains | Mint
Siddhartha committed suicide by jumping off to the Netravat River near Mangalore. According to a typewritten note, reportedly found after his demise, Siddhartha took this extreme step following his overwhelming debts and his failure to create the “right profitable business model.” He also shared that the extreme pressure from the lenders, private equity partners, and the harassment from the Income Tax Department had made his life unbearable. He expressed his grievances by saying that his intention was “never to cheat or mislead anybody, I have failed as an entrepreneur.”
Malavika Takes Charge as CCD CEO
Without leaving much room for speculation regarding the company leadership, Malavika Hegde, the widow of Siddhartha, addressed all realities and showed radical honesty by taking charge of the sinking ship in December 2020. She is the daughter of the former Chief Minister of Kerala SM Krishna. She has a degree in engineering and has been associated with the coffee business since 2008. She was appointed as a non-executive director of the company in 2013.
Malvika took office at the most unprecedented time, burdened with the multiple responsibilities to take the company out of the debt mountain of whooping Rs 7000 crore, make the company profitable, and retain the trust of her employees.
However, as a thoughtful leader, Malavika issued a letter to her 25,000 employees to win their trust, to assure them of her commitment to the future of the company, and to assure them that the Coffee Day story was “worth preserving”. She also communicated in the letter assuring that she would significantly reduce the company’s debts to a manageable level by selling a few more investments and assets.
Malavika took a courageous approach to save her company from the verge of bankruptcy. She decided to:
Fast forward three years since taking office, Malavika’s resilience, determination, and leadership have driven CCD towards the light and instilled in employees’ and investors’ confidence. The company’s overall debt has been reduced by over Rs 6,000 crore, with the current debt standing at Rs 465.25 as of March 31, 2023. Following the reduction of debts, CCD stock soared by 56% on January 14, 2023. Once the sinking ship, now has been profitable for the last two consecutive years, with a net profit of Rs 100 crore and Rs 125 crore in 2021 and 2022 respectively. As compared to Rs 2,000 crore in 2020, the revenue has also increased by Rs 250 crore, making it to Rs 2,250 in 2023.
Consolidated Revenue of Coffee Day Global from FY 2018 to 2022
Criticisms of Malavika
However, Malavika’s success in turning CCD into a profitable venture came with its fair share of criticisms as well. She has been blamed by some marketing experts for focusing more on debt reductions and not on growth. According to reports, CCD had 1,752 outlets in FY19, but the figures drastically dropped to just 469 outlets across the country in FY23. CCD has also experienced stark competition in the market from competitors like Starbucks, Barista, and Costa Coffee among others, leading to a substantial decrease in the market share by 7% with the current share reduced to 18%. Malavika has also been criticized for not being innovative enough. She has been accused of being slow to introduce new products and services, and her branding has been said to be backdated as well. Some experts, who are still doubtful regarding her leadership qualities, commented that she is still far away from making CCD a sustainable company.
Current Market Strength
Currently, CCD owns 572 cafes along with 332 CCD Value Express kiosks spread out over the nation. It is a “substantial business” with more than 36,000 vending machines providing coffee to CCD customers.
Malavika, so far, has been an example of strategic leadership. Moving on from her loss, she has dedicated her efforts to fulfilling her husband’s vision. It is too early to comment on how they will behave in the future, but for now, it can be assured that, against all odds, CCD is not going to exit.
FAQs
How did Malavika Hegde try to overcome the heavy debt amount?
Malavika took a courageous approach to save her company from the verge of bankruptcy. She decided to cut costs, improve operational efficiency, diversify revenue streams, and renegotiate company debts.
How many cafes and kiosks does CCD own in India?
CCD owns 572 cafes along with 332 CCD Value Express kiosks spread out over the nation.
How much debt does CCD have at present?
The company’s overall debt has been reduced by over Rs 6,000 crore, with the current debt standing at Rs 465.25 as of March 31, 2023.
Who are the competitors of CCD?
A few cafe coffee day competitors are Starbucks, Costa Coffee, and Barista.
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For business owners, monitoring their clients’ subscriptions and ensuring a positive experience with their product or service is no easy process. The list is limitless such as gathering client information, creating bills, collecting payments, etc. The challenge starts when a company has a large clientele because it gets too difficult to maintain the spreadsheet.
Gone are the days when companies do not have to manually update their subscriptions and manage their revenue operations. Several companies offer tools or software to help businesses enhance their sales growth and billing services.
In this article, we are going to talk about Chargebee, which is among the top 10 best subscription management software in the market today. Chargebee is a subscription management and recurring billing application that assists SaaS and SaaS-like enterprises in streamlining Revenue Operations.
Here’s the success story of Chargebee that enfolds all about the company, including its startup story, business and revenue model, funding and investors details, acquisitions, growth, and more.
Founded in 2011, Chargebee operates as a subscription and recurring billing management platform. It helps many SaaS-based businesses in simplifying their revenue processes and other billing services. The company claims to work with the world’s largest payment gateways, such as Stripe, Braintree, and PayPal, to automate recurring payment collection, as well as invoicing, taxes, accounting, email alerts, SaaS Metrics, and customer management.
The company’s intelligent platform manages all of its client’s critical workflows from lead to ledger using powerful connectors such as Salesforce, Xero, Quickbooks, Avalara, and Slack, among others. Chargebee has four official offices in over 17 nationalities.
Chargebee – Industry Details
The financial services industry is one of the most important industries as it consists of money-related services and other activities like lending, payment, investments, insurance, fund transfers, etc. These services are used by every person, organization, corporates, government, and investment institution.
The global financial service industry is expected to touch $37,34.95 billion in 2026 at a CAGR of 9.6%.
Chargebee – Founder and Team
Chargebee was founded by four friends; Krish Subramanian, Rajaraman Santhanam, Saravanan KP, and Thiyagarajan Thiyagu.
Krish Subramanian is the CEO and Co-Founder of Chargebee. He is a graduate of Bharathidasan University. Before co-founding Chargebee, Krish worked in companies like MatexNet Pvt Ltd, TCS, and Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Rajaraman Santhanam
Rajaraman Santhanam is the Co-founder and COO of Chargebee. He did his graduation in Computer Science and engineering from Bharathidasan University. Before Chargebee, Rajaraman was associated with Zoho Corporation for almost 10 years.
Saravanan KP
KP Saravanan is the Co-Founder and chief Technology Officer at Chargebee. Previously, he worked at Zoho Corporation as a Technical Architect for 12 years.
Thiyagarajan Thiyagu
Thiyagarajan Thiyagu is one of the co-founders of Chargebee. He is presently serving as an Architect at Chargebee. studied at Madurai Kamaraj University. Thiyagu has 15 years of experience in the business and was formerly a Technical Lead at Zoho Corporation, where he oversaw projects to establish integration frameworks for numerous products, notably the Zoho Office suite of apps.
Chargebee – Startup Story
The success story of Chargebee began in 2011 with its headquarters in San Francisco.
It began in 2009 when Krish Subramanian worked for Cognizant, he came to a fork in the road when he was offered a long-term chance to open an account and establish a team in the United States. It would have taken 5-7 years to invest. Instead, he chose to return to India and thought of starting his own business. Subramanian’s college classmate, co-founder Rajaraman Santhanam, was working at Zoho at the time, designing a SaaS platform. They both had always wanted to start their own business since they were in college. With time, they enlisted the help of Saravanan KP and Thiyagarajan T, both of whom worked at Zoho with Santhanam. They all left Zoho to work with Subramanian as co-founders of Chargebee. In the beginning, their temporary workplace was a drawing room in the house of one of the co-founders. That’s how they gradually got their headquarters in San Francisco.
The four founders claim that success did not come easy to them and they had to work hard to reach where they are today.
Chargebee – Mission and Vision
Chargebee’s mission is to provide best-in-class infrastructure for every business they serve. Chargebee mentions, “We believe in the elegance of good code, the promise of subscriptions, and the importance of every single customer’s experience.”
Chargebee carries out its business activities based on the following values:
Curiosity
Empathy
Customer Centricity
Bias For Action
Chargebee – Name, Tagline, Logo
Chargebee – Business Model
Chargebee’s business model operates on a B2B model. To be more precise, it operates on a SaaS business model.
The company’s main business operations are designed to meet the SaaS demands of businesses that deliver solutions to clients in a variety of industries. They also give critical company data, statistics, and insights to assist businesses in fast growth.
Chargebee offers services to simplify subscription billing and management. The company’s main focus is to assist businesses in retaining and expanding their consumer base with help of their advanced subscription management software.
Chargebee’s top services are as follows:
Subscription Management
Recurring Billing
Product & Pricing Models
Recurring Payments
Revenue Recovery
SaaS Reporting and Analytics
Security and Compliance
Retention
Integrations
Global Expansion
Checkout and Self-Serve Portal
Account Receivables
Chargebee – Growth and Revenue
Chargebee currently supports more than 100 currencies and has more than 6500 customers in 227 countries and territories.
Chargebee mainly found an exciting way to generate its revenue during the ongoing pandemic, when most individuals spent their days at their homes.
The company generates revenue through monthly subscriptions to its software, which streamlines the billing process for subscription businesses. It offers plan subscriptions like Launch Plan, Rise Plan, Scale Plan, and Enterprise Plan.
Every plan offered by Chargebee is designed to meet every business need.
Chargebee – Funding, and Investors
Chargebee has received $468.2 million in investment across eight rounds. Their most recent fundraising came from a Series H round on February 1, 2022. Chargebee is funded by six investors. Their most recent investors are Sequoia Capital India and Insight Partners.
Date
Fund Round
Amount
Investors
February 1, 2022
Series H
$250 million
Sequoia Capital India, Tiger Global Management
April 20, 2021
Series G
$125 million
Insight Partners, Sapphire Ventures, Tiger Global Management
October 6, 2020
Series F
$55 million
Insight Partners
August 28, 2019
Series D
$14 million
Steadview Capital
March 20, 2018
Series C
$18 million
Insight Partners
March 3, 2015
Series B
$5 million
Tiger Global Management
January 13, 2014
Series A
$800,000
Accel
October 1, 2012
Angel Round
$370,000
–
Chargebee – Mergers, and Acquisitions
Chargebee has acquired two companies. On January 18, 2022, they made their most recent purchase, Brightback. Brightback provides subscription-based businesses with entrepreneurial guidance on customer lifetime value. The other company acquired by Chargebee is RevLock on October 5, 2021. RevLock is an American-based company that offers revenue recognition software for software firms that automates ASC 606 compliance.
Chargebee simplified client receivables automation by acquiring collections platform Numberz and launching Chargebee Receivables in February, 2022.
Chargebee – Awards and Achievements
Chargebee has won the following awards:
Chargebee has accomplished a remarkable feat by taking first place in the G2 Winter 2023 report across a number of categories, including Subscription billing, Subscription revenue management, Subscription analytics, Subscription management, and Revenue management, which is a significant accomplishment for the business.
Chargebee was ranked no. 6 in ‘Best Small Business Products’ and no. 19 in the ‘Best Software Products of 2021’ list
Chargebee has achieved Cloud Award Program for Best Payment, Finance, or Billing solution (2018-2019).
Chargebee – LayOffs
Chargebee’s first layoff was on November 20, 2022, which affected 142 workers in total.
Company, has recently implemented a workforce reduction, impacting around 10% of its global employees, which translates to approximately 100 to 120 individuals across various departments on September 11, 2023. Company CEO, Krishna Subramanian, cited market shifts as the primary driver behind these layoffs.
Chargebee – Competitors
The top competitors of Chargebee are:
Maxio
Recurly
Zoho Subscriptions
Sage Intacct
Chargify.
Paddle
Billsby
Stripe Billing
Chargebee – Future Plans
Since the pandemic, Chargebee has seen exponential growth with a revenue of $115.4 million. It is taking a lead role in offering subscriptions to SaaS-based companies, and e-commerce in managing their revenue systems. The company is already making great progress in helping companies become more profitable, however, it intends to further automation in this sector and enhances commercial revenue processes to emerge as a better option for its clients and to keep up with their expectations.
Cashfree Payments has announced the launch of ‘AutoPay on QR’in collaboration with NPCI. The solution would enable businesses to boost ROI on advertising expenditures.
Cashfree Payments, a leading payment, and API banking solutions company, has announced the launch of ‘AutoPay on QR’ in collaboration with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). The new solution enables subscription-based businesses to enhance their customer acquisition, support retention, and facilitate rapid growth.
‘AutoPay on QR’ Streamlines Subscription Onboarding
Cashfree Payments’ ‘AutoPay on QR’ facilitates subscription-based businesses to boost return on investment (ROI) on ad spends by enabling mandate creation in just two clicks. Subscription-based businesses can seamlessly integrate their subscription QR codes into various marketing channels, including online ads, newspapers, websites, TV, and product packaging, improving the value derived from promotional campaigns.
So far, to subscribe to an investment, content publishing, or OTT platform, customers needed to first download the app, set up an account, choose the plan, proceed with the payment service provider (PSP) app of choice, and then could access the subscription, which resulted in poor onboarding experience. Cashfree Payments ‘Autopay on QR’ now transforms the customer onboarding process into a swift two-step workflow, which includes scanning the QR code and approving an e-mandate via UPI apps within 30 seconds. This eliminates the mandate to download an app or register on the website and directly activates a unique subscription for each customer. Cashfree Payments’ ‘AutoPay on QR’ is designed to turn one-time customers into paying subscribers, swiftly, seamlessly, and securely.
CEO & Founder’s Comment
Commenting on the launch of the product, Akash Sinha, CEO and co-founder, Cashfree Payments, said, “We are excited to partner with NPCI and launch ‘AutoPay on QR’, which empowers businesses to offer an elevated experience during the subscription activation process, while taking greater control of their business’ growth journey. This will help the merchants convert their users into lifetime customers by making it easier for users to pay. Our commitment remains centered on addressing the needs of businesses, driving the development of innovative and efficient solutions that enhance their operational effectiveness, and foster rapid growth.”
About Cashfree Payments
Founded by IIIT Hyderabad alumnus Akash Sinha and IIT Kharagpur graduate Reeju Datta, Cashfree Payments is among the leading payment service providers in India, processing transactions worth $40 billion annually. Cashfree Payments today, with over 50% market share among payment processors, leads the way in bulk disbursals in India with its Payouts and is also among the leading online payment aggregators. State Bank of India (SBI), the largest lender in India, invested in Cashfree Payments underscoring the company’s role in building a robust payments ecosystem. The company works closely with all leading banks to build the core payments and banking infrastructure that powers the company’s products. It is also integrated with major platforms such as Shopify, Wix, PayPal, Amazon Pay, Paytm, and Google Pay.
Cashfree Payments enables more than 3,00,000 businesses with payment collections, vendor payouts, wage payouts, bulk refunds, expense reimbursements, loyalty, and rewards. Apart from India, Cashfree Payments products are used in eight other countries including the United States, Canada, and the UAE. The company is backed by Silicon Valley investor Y Combinator, Apis Partners, SBI, and was incubated by PayPal.
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are perceived as the foundation of all economies. India, a nation of small businesses, is home to more than 64 million SMEs, collectively contributing about 30% of the country’s GDP. However, a lack of financial resources has been a pertinent hindrance to the constant and positive growth of these SMEs. The lack of traditional assets as collateral for loans from conventional financial institutions has been a major roadblock to securing funds. Hence, came the concept of alternative financing.
This article discusses different alternative finance options available for SMEs so that securing funds does not pose a hindrance to acquiring their working capital and sustainable development.
The following are the alternative finance options available to Indian SMEs in 2023:
Securitized debt refers to a financial arrangement where an entity, often a bank, also referred to as the originator, provides loans to a group of borrowers, usually small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). These loans are then combined into a package or portfolio, which is sold to investors in the capital market through the issuance of notes. This entire process is facilitated by a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), which is a separate legal entity established specifically for this purpose and is backed by the loan portfolio. These asset-backed notes are evaluated and rated by credit rating agencies and are made available for purchase by capital market investors. Additionally, it is also to be noted that the originator bank may choose to retain a portion of these notes.
Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding is a form of external funding from a large audience where everyone contributes a small amount of the funding requested. Instead of securing funds from a small group of specialized investors, this method allows small borrowers to raise funds who are unable to do so through conventional means due to credit scores and higher interest rates. It is a web-based method to seek substantially smaller funds through social platforms to fund new ventures. Crowdfunding relies heavily on social media penetration, and India, with its high number of Facebook users, is well-positioned for this financing method.
According to the World Bank report titled ‘Crowdfunding’s Potential for the Developing World,’ Facebook usage could prove to be a useful tool because in crowdfunding the “single most predictive factor for the rate of emergence is social media penetration.”
Your Guide to Understanding Crowdfunding
Factoring
Factoring is a financial arrangement that provides short-term financing to businesses, especially SMEs, by allowing them to sell their accounts receivable (invoices) to a specialized institution called a “factor” at a discount. This provides the SMEs with working capital financing. The primary benefit of factoring is that it provides immediate money to the seller to finance the business. Factors buy the right to accept payments against the seller’s receivables and release 80-90% of the invoice value to the seller. A CRISIL study on 5,000 SMEs reveals that SMEs can increase their profit by at least 15% if they receive time payments from large corporations. It would facilitate SMEs to reduce interest costs, improve profitability, and have a positive impact on the long-term health and sustainability of India’s SME sector. Another major advantage it provides is that the factored receivables are removed from the bankruptcy estate of the seller and become the property of the factor.
Supply chain financing is quite similar to factor. Here the supplier gets advanced payment on the outstanding invoices from a third-party funder for a small fee. But the difference is that here the financing solution is being initiated by the buyer where the buyer agrees to pay an invoice early for a discount. The benefit of the buyer here is the discount on the invoice price, whereas, the benefit of the supplier is early payment, typically at a discounted rate less than factoring. Supply chain finance can be made possible at any point of sale, purchase, production, and at the point of delivery as well.
Warehouse Receipts
In this setup, commodity producers deposit their commodities at a warehouse facility known for its secure and trusted storage practices. The warehouse issues a receipt that certifies its possession of a particular quantity of a commodity that adheres to specific standards. The deposit is then used as collateral to the depositor to secure loans from lending institutions. The lender places a lien on the stored commodity, preventing its sale until the loan is repaid. SMEs often face challenges in providing conventional collaterals, such as real estate or assets, to secure loans from banks and financial institutions. This mechanism reduces risks for the lenders and serves as a viable option for SMEs to secure credit for their working capital.
Participating Loans
Participating loans are a type of loan agreement where the interest or repayment to the lender is not fixed but is instead dependent on the financial performance of the debtor firm or the borrower. The remuneration or returns to the lender can be tied to various factors such as sales or turnover, profits, and share price. The lender’s returns may increase or decrease based on the borrower’s sales or revenue. If the company’s sales go up and generate more profit, the lender may receive higher returns.
However, participating loans do not share in the losses incurred by the borrower. If the debtor firm faces financial losses or difficulties, the lender does not bear the burden of those losses. The lender’s returns are contingent on positive financial performance but do not involve assuming any of the financial risks.
Also, if the debtor firm goes bankrupt or undergoes liquidation, the providers of participating loans are treated similarly to other loan creditors. They receive a share of the proceeds from the liquidation process, but this distribution is not influenced by the borrower’s financial performance at that point. In essence, during bankruptcy, participating loan providers become regular creditors and do not have any special privileges based on the loan’s contingent nature.
Purchase Order Finance
Purchase Order Finance (POF) allows a supplier to secure funds during the production or manufacturing stage. It is designed to address the working capital needs of SMEs when they have received a confirmed purchase order from one or more customers but lack the necessary funds to fulfill the order. The SMEs receive a verified purchase order from the buyer and subsequently estimate the cost required for the production and delivery of the product, which includes labor, raw materials, packaging, shipping, and insurance. The purchasing order is submitted to the financer, and following the approval of the loan, the approved costs are typically paid directly to the suppliers. The loan supports the SMEs in preparing final goods for shipment to the buyers as part of working capital finance.
FAQs
What are the alternative finance options available to Indian SMEs?
Following are the alternative finance options available to Indian SMEs:
Securitized Debt
Crowdfunding
Factoring
Supply Chain Financing
Warehouse Receipts
Participating Loans
Purchase Order Finance
What is Securitized Debt?
Securitized debt refers to a financial arrangement where an entity, often a bank, also referred to as the originator, provides loans to a group of borrowers, usually small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
What is Supply Chain Financing?
In Supply Chain Fiancing the supplier gets advanced payment on the outstanding invoices from a third-party funder for a small fee. Supply chain finance can be made possible at any point of sale, purchase, production, and at the point of delivery as well.
The I-T department slaps notices on Indian startups asking fortheir investor’s identity and last three years’ ITRs to verify their creditworthiness and genuineness of the transactions. Ashneer Grover jumped on X to question the pragmatism of this notice.
The ITR notices to Indian startups since earlier this year continue to create uncertainty and anxiety for the startups, making it difficult for them to raise funding. The turmoil started following the Income Tax Return (ITR) notices that were sent, under Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, to various startups earlier this year asking for the ITRs of the last three years of their investors and shareholders. The Income Tax Department slapped the notices to seek information about the creditworthiness of their investors and shareholders to verify whether the amount invested aligns with the income declared by them.
The I-T department has been sending these notices to startups that have raised large amounts of money from angel investors or venture capital firms. The I-T department is concerned that some of these investments may be disguised as loans and that the startups may be avoiding paying taxes on the interest income.
Ashneer Grover, former Co-Founder, and Managing Director of BharatPe, took his concern to X to ridicule and raise questions on the grounds on which the notices are being sent. He acknowledged that in the last month, several startups, including some under his portfolio as well, have received the ITR notices seeking the shareholder’s information.
He said, “In the last 1 month, a number of startups (a few in my portfolio as well) have received Income Tax notices asking to furnish information about shareholders.”
Grover even raised questions on how and why would a startup have their shareholders’ last three years’ ITR details and why would the shareholder or individual share the same with a private company.
He said, “Bahut interesting hai (It is very interesting) – they are asking start-up companies to furnish 3 year ITR of all shareholders. 1) How and why will companies have ITR of shareholders? 2) Why would a shareholder/individual share their ITR with a private company?”
In the last 1 month, a number of startups (a few in my portfolio as well) have received Income Tax notices asking to furnish information about shareholders.
Bahut interesting hai – they are asking start-up companies to furnish 3 year ITR of all shareholders. 1) How and why will… pic.twitter.com/f48593uE4T
Replying to Grover’s post, the I-T department clarified that the notices were sent as per Section 68 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, when being asked by an Assessing Officer (AO), it is the responsibility of the company to provide the required information about their investor, their creditworthiness and their legitimacy.
His post also contained an image of the notice issued under Section 142(1) of the Income-Tax Act, 1961 which gives the Assessing Officers (AOs) the power to seek data from those filing the ITRs.
It reads, “Provide documentary evidence to substantiate the identity and ITR of last three years of shareholders to substantiate creditworthiness (of) the shareholders as well as the proof of the genuineness of the transaction in respect of fresh credit of the share capital/premium account,”
The reply from the I-T department on X reads, “Section 68 of Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) under which the AO has made the enquiry about the creditworthiness of the shareholder/investor, places the initial onus on the assessee-company to prove the following: the identity of the investor, the creditworthiness of the investor and genuineness of the transaction”
“Finance Act, 2012 mandated that the nature and source of any sum credited as share capital, share premium, etc., in the books of a closely held company (excluding Venture Capital Fund or a Venture Capital Company registered with SEBI) shall be treated as explained u/s 68 only if the source of funds from a resident shareholder is also explained by the investor,” the I-T department added.
The I-T department also mentioned that in this case the notices are sent as the AO has sought to assess the genuineness of the transaction and source of investment by the shareholder or investor. This is to be done to verify if the amount invested is commensurate with the income declared in the ITR of the investor.
However, it was also mentioned by the I-T department that the companies have the liberty to share the PANs of their investors instead, for verification.
“This has been the practice,” the I-T department added.
1.Section 68 of Income-tax Act, 1961 (the Act) under which the Assessing Officer (AO) has made the enquiry about creditworthiness of the shareholder/investor, places initial onus on the assessee-company to prove the following:
PTI reported that Mohandas Rai, Co-founder, of Infosys, who is also an investor, posted on X, tagging Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Grover’s initial post, to say it was “misleading”. He also added, “Sir tax terrorism is increasing! This is against what you have stood for. Please intervene.”
In the same post, he also tagged a multitude of politicians and ministers, including Tejasvi Surya, MP and BJP Yuva Morcha National President, and PC Mohan, BJP’s Bengaluru Central MP.
In response to the clarification issued by the I-T department, stating that companies have the option to furnish their investor’s PANs as an alternative to their last three years’ ITRs, Rai expressed his disagreement, condemning it – “again this is misleading.” He also tagged the Union Ministry of Finance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in his response, which was later reposted by Grover on X.
“Asking for the PAN is the law. But how can you also ask for 3-year tax returns of the investor from the startup? Does the law permit this? @IncomeTaxIndia itself says that Pan is sufficient. Why this overreach?” Rai asked.
The collaborative report by GetVantage and Redseer Strategy Consultants – The India Digital SME Credit Report 2023 – finds a potential $220 billion credit deficit in MSME funding. Analysts suggest that alternate financing is the way forward for MSMEs to secure funds.
The India Digital SME Credit Report 2023 indicates a potential $220 billion credit deficit that poses a major roadblock for the Indian MSMEs to secure financing. The collaborative report between GetVantage and Redseer Strategy Consultants states that only $53 billion was infused into the market through various channels, serving only 30% of the overall addressable demand, resulting in an alarming capital gap of more than $150 billion.
Bhavik Vasa, Founder and CEO, of GetVantage, shared that the credit deficit is larger than the GDP of some developing countries, and it is anticipated to widen further, due to the prevalent economic and regulatory setting.
“As more businesses enter the market, it is evident that the demand for credit presents a potential to reach nearly $570 billion in the next few years,” he added.
India is home to 64 million MSMEs which contributes about 30% to the country’s GDP, but is highly plagued with limited digitalization and limited access to capital. The report reveals that only 12% of them, or 7.7 million, MSMEs in India have been digitized to the fullest. These are the merchants who have already designed their platform and generate 30% of their revenues digitally. The major boost occurred during the pandemic when forced digitalization facilitated exponential growth, leading to lower transformation costs, increased utility, increased revenue, and improved communication and flexibility.
Pandemic-Driven Increase in Working Capital Demand
Before the pandemic, the working capital demand was growing at a stable annual rate of $70 billion. However, the forced digitalization during the pandemic hiked the demand by more than $100 billion in just two years. According to the Redseer consultants, over the next few years, the demand for working capital is expected to rise steadily at a CAGR of about 20% and is projected to reach approximately $570 billion.
Growth in Digitized SMEs FY17-FY27, in Million
Traditional Funding Challenges for MSMEs
The funding challenges ranging from accessibility to red-tapism have been preventing the growth of MSMEs for decades. While the government has made dedicated efforts to tackle liquidity issues faced by SMEs, conventional financial institutions for long made little headway in effectively addressing the accessibility concerns of these businesses. Traditional lending institutions perceived SMEs as risky investments. Their multiple working models and non-conventional payment terms prohibited them from securing funds. Also, financial institutions require 90-120 days to disburse credits, therefore hindering the workflow of the SMEs as they require timely working capital to meet their operational needs.
The report also noted that the absence of collateral and comprehensive documentation has consistently posed obstacles for traditional lenders like commercial banks in offering sufficient funding to SMEs.
Opportunities for NBFCs and Digitally Oriented SMEs
Public and private banks are currently able to fulfill only 30 percent of the total demands from SMEs, creating opportunities for NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies) and third-party lenders. Consequently, 40 percent of the overall capital investment in the SME market has been directed toward digitally oriented SMEs, which represent just 12 percent of the total MSMEs, as reported by Redseer.
Kanishka Mohan, Partner at Redseer said, “Small businesses account for 90% of credit demand but continue to struggle to raise capital, owing to poor business metrics, limited assets, and uncertain growth projections. If the current economic and regulatory climate continues, this gap is likely to widen significantly over the next five years.”
Rise of Alternative Financing Solutions
Alternative financing has emerged as a vital resource for SMEs, where innovative lending models like revenue-based financing, recurring-revenue advances, and trade receivable financing offer accessibility, flexibility, and transparency. These solutions, which resemble quasi-equity options, are well-suited to support SMEs in scaling their operations.
Vasa commented that alternate financing has a vital role to play in extending the limited reach of traditional lenders to serve millions of new-economy businesses and emerging sectors. He said, “The $570 billion credit requirement for digital SMEs in the coming five years represents an unprecedented opportunity for alternate financing platforms, NBFCs, and traditional financial lenders like banks to collaborate and catalyze economic growth by prioritizing compliance, governance, inclusion, and innovation.”
Currently, approximately 5% of the lending market is supplied by alternative finance channels. This segment experienced significant growth during the pandemic and is expected to double over the next five years, reaching approximately 11%. This growth can be attributed to increased market awareness, a focus on serving SMEs, and the flexibility offered in repayment options.
According to Harsh Somaiya, Co-Founder, of The Bear House, the economic growth in India has been fueled by the SMEs as they play a vital role in generating employment and contributing to the overall GDP of the country. As digitalization is increasing rapidly, having access to this credit opportunity would alleviate fund-raising challenges that small businesses generally face, which would help with their rapid expansion as well. “New-age credit platforms are keeping the business goals at the forefront. This along with the credit opportunity will help build a healthy financial ecosystem for SMEs and MSMs to thrive in,” he added.
Importance of Revenue-Based Financing (RBF)
The Redseer analysts stated that RBF is now more relevant than ever before. Being data-driven, revenue-based, and flexible has made RBF one of the most robust and popular forms of alternative funding. With a standard flat fee structure ranging from 6% to 12% and loan amounts tailored to suit the working capital requirements of a variety of businesses, SMEs can benefit from convenient, unbiased access to capital at competitive costs.
Sameer Seth, Founder and CEO, of Hunger Inc., said, “The growth challenges faced by millions of MSMEs today have in a way helped shape the ecosystem, making it easier for businesses to raise capital and be much aware of what kind of capital to be raised when. This is how India is reshaping credit accessibility within the founder community.”
If you love cars but don’t have the time or money to deal with them, you need to change your plan. If you have free time and a car that is worth less than scrap or has already been sold for nothing, you could get paid to promote it.
However, if you drive to work every day, you can get paid to advertise while driving. You could make hundreds of dollars a month with an advertisement on your car that does nothing. Advertising on your vehicle might not be the prettiest way to get around town, but it can earn you hundreds of dollars a month. And if it sounds too good to pass up, here’s what we can do.
We’ll show you some legal ways to make money packing your car. Advertisers want us and other people to walk around with their new product by looking at photos online. So, you can earn money while driving your car.
It’s like doing nothing and getting paid to take road trips and have fun. However, the best part is that you don’t have to do much.
Car wrap advertising is a very popular type of advertising. An effective design can attract thousands of people at once. It is a process of applying large vinyl wraps to the exterior of your car. They usually wrap it around several sides or the whole car. Sometimes they even put it on the windows so that every square inch of your car is covered in advertising. Thus, an effective design immediately provides the necessary information about advertisers. However, it could be a good incentive for you.
The Easiest Side Hustle to Make Extra Money! | Make Money With Your Car
What Can I Do to Earn Money Through Advertising on a Car Wrap?
How about $100 to $700 per month? A lot of money can be made with a small sticker or a full-fledged car ad. Some companies will pay you a flat rate each month, while others will pay you based on the number of miles driven. Advertisers track mileage with their app. This means you can earn more money the more miles you drive.
Wrapify
Company
Wrapify
Founders
James Heller, Phil Chen, Tim Flack
Founded
2015
Headquarters
San Francisco, California
Advertising on Your Car – Wrapify
Wrapify is a company that will pay you to put a wrap on your car. They partner with those who are interested in promoting with car posters. The distance you cover within a campaign area, which is usually within 50 miles of the advertiser’s location, determines your earnings. Drivers’ payments varied during different times of the day.
They will pay you for driving. However, they also offer surveys and other ways of earning money.
You can earn up to $100 per month by driving your vehicle with a wrap on it! You can also get paid extra money by referring friends who want to wrap their cars as well.
Free Car Media
Company
Free Car Media
Founder
Keith Powers
Founded
1999
Headquarters
Los Angeles, California
Advertising on Your Car – Free Car Media
Driving around with a sign is one of the most common ways to get paid to advertise your car. You’ll be able to get paid for driving your car and putting up signs that advertise a company’s product or website.
You can also make money by driving around with a sign or banner on your car telling people about the advertised product or service.
You can work more freely with it. They give you various options to choose from the wraps. You can reject any campaign at any time. You can choose the re-wrap option after your ad campaign period is completed.
Carvertise
Company
Carvertise
Founders
Mac Nagaswami, Greg Star
Founded
2012
Headquarters
Wilmington, Delaware
Advertising on Your Car – Carvertise
Carvertise is a paid app that lets you put ads on your car while you’re driving. You can make money by agreeing to be seen in different places, like grocery stores and gas stations. Face recognition software is used in the app so that it can find your face and use it for advertising your car.
This can be done with any kind of car, but if you want to get more attention for the model you drive (or could afford), it might be worth it to get approved by Carvertise.
You can make $100 to $200 a month, while their whole campaigns pay out $300 to over $1200 via direct credit.
StickerRide
Company
StickerRide
Founders
Gleb Timofeev, Egor Matveev, Mikhail Marchenko
Founded
2013
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Advertising on Your Car – StickerRide
StickerRide is a European company that pays you to put a sticker on your car. You can get paid to drive, park, or even walk around town and get out of the vehicle.
The easiest way to earn money on StickerRide is to download the app, register your car, and choose the right campaign.
It is also possible to make money with StickerRide by selling your old stickers on eBay or Craigslist. You won’t be able to earn much with this method at first, but if it works, it can pay off!
Car Quids
Company
Car Quids
Founders
Edward Ronaldson, Henry Kirkness
Founded
2014
Headquarters
London, United Kingdom
Advertising on Your Car – Car Quids
Car Quids is a platform where you can earn money by promoting your car. You can choose from hundreds of advertisers, including Amazon, Netflix, and Uber. Rentah is another peer-to-peer platform where you can rent about anything – from houses and apartments to cars and boats!
Wrapify lets you drive and get paid in your spare time – Car Quids lets you choose which ads appear on screen while driving.
Rentah
Company
Rentah
Founders
Anup Yogi Desai, Charles Donnelly, Charlton Smith, Sajid Zaman
Founded
2014
Headquarters
Brooklyn, New York
Advertising on Your Car – Rentah
Rentah is a platform that connects car owners with businesses that need to advertise. You can make money renting out your car, but you don’t have to drive it and hope people see it. You can rent your vehicle for purposes other than advertising, e.g. attending events or delivering mail. The more you drive, the more you can sometimes earn!
Several companies will pay you to wrap your car. The best way to find reliable opportunities is through word of mouth. If someone you know has been offered one, ask them if they’d be willing to share their experience and make sure it’s legit before you apply.
Another option is to use the Google search bar: “car wraps”. You can also visit sites like Wrapify or Free Car Media (known as Carvertise) which have many options for getting paid for car ads from different brands including Chevrolet, Ford, and Nissan.
If none of these sites meet your needs or budget, you should consider other options. Many new options are coming to the market with new companies emerging.
Please Pay Attention
Beware of car wrapping scams. Reliability is very important when choosing to work with a company. Select only the legitimate ones. Don’t pay an application fee or give them your credit card number. Valid and legitimate companies will ask you whether or not your car insurance is covered. Update your car insurance.
Conclusion
We hope that this article has not only convinced you to get paid to advertise your car but that it has also helped you in finding the advertising service that is best suited to your needs. Because there are so many choices, it can be challenging to determine how to get started. We are lucky in that there are a lot of great companies that are willing to pay people like us (with advertisements) because we spend the majority of our day driving around in our cars. But before you get into any companies make sure about their legibility. Check for other people’s genuine reviews and then only go for it.
FAQs
How to advertise on a Car Wrap?
Car wrap advertising is a very popular type of advertising. It is a process of applying large vinyl wraps to the exterior of your car. They usually wrap it around several sides or the whole vehicle.
Which companies pay to commute?
The companies that pay to commute are Wrapify, Free Car Media, Carvertise, StickerRide, Car Quids, and Rentah.
What does Carvertise do?
Carvertise is a paid app that lets you put ads on your car while you’re driving. You can make money by agreeing to be seen in different places, like grocery stores and gas stations. Face recognition software is used in the app so that it can find your face and use it for advertising your car.
Content creation is buzzing today like never before. Just a decade ago, we couldn’t have imagined the impact that content would have on our lives. As per a report by EY, the Indian content industry stood at a whopping $19 billion valuation in 2020 and is expected to reach an impressive $30.6 billion this year, highlighting the growth potential in content creation.
This growth has led to a massive rise in digital content creators. Among them shines a rising star, Ishita Khanna, whose journey from UPSC exam preparation to the world of fashion and lifestyle content has been inspiring.
We at StartupTalky recently had the pleasure of interviewing Ishita, and in this article, we’ll explore her journey, her insights, and her invaluable experiences in the world of digital content.
Now, let’s dive into her inspiring journey and gain wisdom from her valuable insights.
StartupTalky: Ishita, can you share your journey from UPSC aspirant to successful fashion and lifestyle content creator? What prompted your career pivot?
Ishita: When I was in my school and university years, I was extremely drawn to creative direction, filmmaking, editing, and digital media. My mother is an artist, and that definitely had an influence on my tastes and what I liked creatively as an adult. However, I was also very academic-oriented, I am a postgraduate in financial economics and even prepared full-time for the UPSC examinations for over 2 years. It was sometime in 2018 when I began freelancing across social media managerial and content writing roles and started working for a food blog.
While creating videos for the blog, I revisited my interest in creative direction and decided to start my own YouTube channel. Fashion, lifestyle, and styling have always been close to my heart, so it was a no-brainer for me when it came to the focus areas of my channel. Within three months of taking this up full-time, I gained an audience of over 100K YouTube subscribers, and that’s when I knew I had to continue to do this.
StartupTalky: Could you kindly share the strategies that helped you achieve the impressive growth of 100K YouTube subscribers in just three months?
Ishita: I was laser-like focused on creating content around fashion, lifestyle, and styling, however, what formed the backbone of the content was relatability and relevance. Which is why I think the content I was creating touched a chord with audiences and it really grew. There were a few things I stayed true to in the early months; identifying the target audience, building long-term relationships and trust as well as measuring impact. Three years on, and I still make sure these principles form the bedrock of my strategies.
StartupTalky: Collaborations are key in the content creation industry. Could you share some strategies you employ to ensure successful and mutually beneficial collaborations with diverse brands, each with distinct goals and expectations?
Ishita: Definitely, collaborations are key to the content creation industry. It has become imperative for brands to incorporate influencer marketing as an integral part of their marketing strategies, right from Adidas to Fenty Beauty to boAt — everybody is doing it. I believe collaboration is a two-way street; it’s important to bring in content creators at the ideation stage so as to leverage their creativity and align with brand objectives. I believe in getting to know the brand and researching well to be able to communicate their objectives and goals clearly. Furthermore, I don’t believe in adopting a one-size-fits-all approach, there must always be room for customization and a touch of personalization to truly strike a chord with audiences.
StartupTalky: Ishita, what tools and technologies do you rely on for creating high-quality and engaging content for your audience?
Ishita: I believe in the power of leveraging the latest developments in technology to create content. For instance, I use immersive shopping to create more engaging and interactive shopping experiences for audiences. I use content creation tools in order to move away from manual/ mundane tasks so I can spend more time on the creative aspects. Some of these tools include Notion for writing scripts and managing my content calendar, Canva for everything visual, Final Cut Pro for video editing, and ChatGPT to help with ideas and brainstorming — this AI is still at a nascent stage but if used correctly it has huge potential to help creators in improving their content.
StartupTalky: How do you envision the landscape of influencer marketing evolving over the next five years, and do you anticipate any emerging trends during this period?
Ishita: I think we’re going to continue to see influencer marketing behaviors take center stage when it comes to marketing and it will continue to shape the future of relationships between brands and consumers. Additionally, social validation and trust form an integral part of a consumer’s experience in our digital worlds. Those influencer marketing strategies that will prove to be trustworthy, relatable, and personalized will thrive.
StartupTalky: Could you provide your perspective on how de-influencing might impact the content creation landscape and potentially influence consumer behaviors in the future?
Ishita: De-influencing is the antidote to throw-away culture — and quite simply, about becoming a bit more mindful about consumerism, and our spending habits. Our consumption habits are all too much, and we are all complicit. I think at a time when we all collectively agree that we consume too much and that we ought to be paring back, de-influencing has come about at the right time. This is hopefully going to change the way we consume stuff, right from re-wearing clothes, to re-reading, and for content creators, about actually focusing on what they need to do to resonate with their followers: be authentic.
StartupTalky: How do you ensure your fashion and lifestyle content speaks directly to your audience’s interests and offers valuable solutions to their needs?
Ishita: I have always been interested in fashion and styling, but more importantly it’s about being relatable and honest about what I know I can deliver. I try to stay tuned into the pulse of what my viewers are thinking or feeling, and then deliver content around that. Having said that, I am constantly open to change and able to adapt to the changing environment around me, which is also something that helps me stay on top of things.
Styling Tips for Women by Ishita Khanna
StartupTalky: Could you provide insights into the various income streams available for content creators and how you see content creation as a lucrative and sustainable career choice in today’s digital landscape?
Ishita: There’s a host of ways content creators can build a financially sustainable career — be it through advertisements, brand sponsorships, brand partnerships, selling merchandise, product placements, affiliates, consulting, workshops, courses, etc. The creator economy is evolving each day, and that means there are more innovative ways for creators to generate income streams. When it comes to brand engagements, I believe it’s important to find the right alignment with brand values and objectives and find ways to be more deeply involved when it comes to content creation.
StartupTalky: Managing a creative career can be challenging. What key lessons have you learned as a content creator, and how have you tackled the demands of your profession?
Ishita: The one thing I have always believed in is constantly creating things, and putting it out there. You have to stay persistent and resilient and not be afraid to showcase your true self and make content that resonates with you. Further, content creation is a lot about deadlines and sticking to timelines — I believe in being self-disciplined.
StartupTalky: Could you share some insights into your experience with the Myntra Fashion Superstar show and how it impacted your content creation journey?
Ishita: The Myntra Fashion Superstar opportunity came to me at the perfect time. It gave me a national platform to showcase my creative talents and capabilities which ultimately garnered a lot of love and appreciation, just what I needed to kickstart my content creation journey. Even though I did not win the show, I was in the top 5 and got the opportunity to work directly with one of the biggest e-commerce brands.
StartupTalky: Lastly, Ishita, could you share some tips for aspiring content creators on how to start their journey in this field to grow and make a positive impact?
Ishita: As a content creator, you have to start your journey by being multi-hyphenated; you have to be your own editor-director-account manager. Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. So be prepared to do that, at least in the early years until you build a great team around you, with a similar vision.
There are hundreds of beverage brands offering a variety of drinks to consumers. But PepsiCo, Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. are leaders in the global beverage industry. They are the world’s largest beverage manufacturers. Their business models are similar in terms of flagship products and ideal consumers and industry.
The Coca-Cola company was founded in 1892 with its headquarters situated in Atlanta, USA. The PepsiCo Company was founded in 1898. At that time, its name was Pepsi-Cola. The company merged with Frito-Lay, Inc. in 1965. After that, its name changed to PepsiCo. The headquarters of the company is situated in New York, USA.
PepsiCo operates several brands including Tropicana, Frito-Lay, Gatorade, Quaker, etc. The world’s top soft drink brands, such as Coke Sprite, and Fanta are brands owned by Coca-Cola company. We can find so many key similarities and differences between these two business models. The comparisons between these two business models are given below. Also, we’ve listed the pricing strategies of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo and the Marketing Strategies of Coca-Cola and PepsiCo.
PepsiCo has a brand value of over $18.2 billion and has ranked 36th in the most valuable brands in the 2020 list prepared by Forbes. Sales of beverages and snack foods of the company are coming under one umbrella. It made PepsiCo a diversified and stronger business. It had 60% of its revenue from the food business and the remaining 40% from the beverage industry in 2022.
Products of PepsiCo
The company has 23 brands, including Pepsi, Fritos, Doritos, Pepsi Max, Diet Pepsi, etc. Each one makes more than $ 1 billion annually from sales. PepsiCo has a strong global presence in more than 200 countries around the world. It utilizes Direct Store Delivery (DSD) for its distribution network and supply chain. So the distributors deliver snacks and beverages directly to small stores.
The target audience of PepsiCo is the younger generation. They stand as a brand for the youth. To face the challenges and increase resource sustainability, the PepsiCo Company works with many community-based organizations.
In the case of Coca-Cola, it has strong a and unique brand identity. In 2011, it got the “highest brand equity award” from Interbrand. The company has a larger global presence. They are selling products in more than 200 countries. They also sell 1.9 billion bottles per day.
Customer loyalty is another strength of Coca-Cola. They are one of the most emotionally connected brands in the US. It is difficult to find substitutes for them. Coca-Cola has the 3rd rank in the Best Global Brand list annually prepared by Interbrand. According to the Forbes List of Most Valuable Brands, it ranked 6th with a brand value of $64.6 Billion in 2020. Also, it has more market share than PepsiCo in the beverage industry.
Products of Coca-Cola
Diet Coke, Sprite, Limca, Maaza, and Fanta are the top-growing brands of Coca-Cola. The distribution network of the company is more extensive and efficient in the world. They have almost 250 bottling partners. In 2016, Coca-Cola acquired the largest soy-based beverage brand in Latin America named “Ades” and expanded its beverage portfolio through this.
PepsiCo is over-dependent on soft drinks and packaged foods. It decreases the agility and flexibility of the company. Most soft drinks of PepsiCo have high sugar concentrations and its snackscontain chemical additives. It is not good for your health. Unsuccessful PepsiCo products, such as Pepsi Blue, Crystal Pepsi, etc. have made employees frustrated, and it allowed the growth of competition.
Companies must use their highest position to achieve the common good of society. But in 2017, PepsiCo’s advert featured by Kendall Jenner received criticism. That advert trivialized the Black Lives Matter movement.
Coca-Cola’s biggest competitor is Pepsi and it is preventing them from becoming a leader in the beverage market. In the case of Coca-Cola, the product diversification of the company is very low. They are lacking in the snack food category. At the same time, PepsiCo presented snack items like Kurkure and Lays. This puts Pepsi ahead of Coca-Cola.
Carbonated beverages are one of the main sources of sugar consumption. It causes health problems such as diabetes and obesity. Coca-Cola is the largest producer of carbonated beverages. Most health experts advise decreasing the use of soft drinks. The company hasn’t found any solution to this problem yet.
Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo: Business Model
Both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are towering brands well-renowned in the beverage industry for years and a significant part of their popularity surely comes from their robust business models. Though Coca-Cola and PepsiCo seem quite similar in their product lines and business models, there are slight differences that make each of them unique and speak for themselves.
Diversified Product Portfolio
PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are undoubtedly famous for their beverages under a range of brands but along with that they also bring out many different ancillary products.
When it comes to PepsiCo, it exhibits a truly diversified product portfolio and manages to put equal emphasis on each of its products. The consumer packaged goods industry is the other industry where PepsiCo has its footprints. The products of PepsiCo in the snack food category account for nearly 50% of the company’s total revenues. This diversified business model of the company has made it create and acquire several complementary products in both the food and beverage industries.
On the other hand, when it comes to Coca-Cola, the company purely relies on its beverages and beverage brands for the revenues it collects. The company possesses around 100-plus beverage products of its own.
Coca-Cola’s policy of dominion
Coca-Cola believes in a more focused form of business thereby dominating the beverage industry almost exclusively. Therefore, it minimizes the cross-promotion of multiple products across a wide range of industries.
Pepsi’s unique way of branding
PepsiCo has been successful in branding all of its beverage brands along with its consumer packaged goods interestingly. Unlike the Coca-Cola company, Pepsi manages to equally focus on each of its products with the help of its unique branding, which leads the customers to purchase a second product of Pepsi as soon as they buy the first one owned by the brand.
After a successful run of Coca-Cola and Pepsi in the beverage industry with their soft drinks/fizzy drinks, the growing concern of the masses for maintaining their health and fitness led them to opt for newer and healthier options. This resulted in the emergence of energy drinks.
Some new beverage companies hit the markets with their new products but the beverage giants didn’t take a step back and yield to it, but take their steps valiantly forward to make their mark even in this new segment. To diversify its offerings further, Coca-Cola bought a large stake in Monster Drink back in 2014 while Pepsi started producing its energy drink labeled as Mountain Dew Kickstart.
Coca-Cola’s pricing is based on the value that its products create for customers in different situations. The pricing strategy of Coca-Cola is what they refer to as “meet-the-competition pricing“: Coca-Cola product prices are set around the same level as their competitors because Coca-Cola has to be perceived as different but still affordable.
Pricing Strategy of PepsiCo
Pepsi is taking this value-based pricing strategy a bit further with its “Hybrid Everyday Value” model. This pricing strategy is an effort to make customers buy Pepsi not only when it is on sale. They have various sizes of bottles offered at various rates. This is priced according to the quantity of the drinks supplied. The promotion is also done keeping in mind the targeted customers.
PepsiCo’s Net Revenue Worldwide from 2012 to 2022
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Coca-Cola vs. PepsiCo: Marketing Strategies
Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, being two of the most loved beverage brands dominating the industry for decades surely sport foolproof marketing strategies. When it comes to big flashy advertisements and marketing campaigns, both of them play their parts incredibly well to drive their sales effortlessly.
Both of the brands keep on introducing popular flavors into their drinks. Furthermore, they are also claiming a good foothold even in the relatively new segment of diet drinks and energy drinks. Besides, it is important to note that as the millennials form the core of the customer base that the soft drinks and beverage industry boasts of, both Coke and Pepsi aim to target them first.
Memorable Campaigns of Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola has had its share of brilliantly made ad campaigns that not only went on to drive a considerable amount of sales but also have the brand etched in the minds of the customers. One such advertisement campaign is “Share a Coke with.” This campaign introduced the Coke bottles listed with people’s names on them. It went well with the customers, who not only wanted to see their name printed on Coca-Cola bottles on TV ad commercials but possess the actual bottle with them as a souvenir. The campaign resulted in around 7% growth in the consumption of Coke by young adults.
Coca-Cola Advertisement – Share a Coke with
Coke then launched the famous campaign “Taste the Feeling.” This initiative revolved around the good old feelings and emotions of the people associated with the legendary brand, Coca-Cola. The advertisement picturized groups of friends drooling over ice-cold bottles of Coke and having them together, toasting to their friendship and reliving the memories of their past, evoking a sense of friendship and togetherness.
The advertisement “Holidays are Coming” is yet another one of the famous Coke campaigns that went on to be a huge success. With the idea of holidays, most people associate the feelings of positivity, joy, homecoming, and summer or Christmas holidays. Therefore, this is another campaign that hits on the people’s emotions about Coca-Cola, as a drink, which is associated with fun, relaxation, vacation, and togetherness, and feelings of warmth, friendship, and brotherhood.
Coca-Cola Christmas Commercial
Coke has also scored big with its effective reactive marketing campaigns after the implementation of the sugar tax. This campaign had the advertisements of the company saying “They don’t make them like they used to – we do.” With this campaign, Coca-Cola tried to hint at the authenticity of the taste of Coke, which has not changed in the 132 years that the brand has seen, thereby encouraging people to taste the authentic flavor of Coke.
Pepsi’s advertising campaigns are a lot different than Coke’s. This brand likes to experiment with the latest developments and work with current celebrities. Pepsi’s advertisements are either purely witty or catapulted by its rivals, with a tint of humor.
Pepsi is also big in terms of the celebrity collaborations they make for their advertisements. Over the years the brand has been associated with a whole range of big names from the singing and acting industries. People like Britney Spears, Cindy Crawford, Cardi B, and more have already been roped in by the brand so far, which resulted in multiplying the overall sales of the brand.
A popular campaign brought out by Pepsi featured a young boy standing on 2 Coke cans to reach a can of Pepsi. These kinds of adverts have proven quite successful for the brand that believes in coloring their campaigns with a tinge of humor. However, on some occasions such humor also resulted in backfiring against the brand, even harming their reputation at times.
Pepsi Commercial
The Prominent Difference in the Marketing Campaigns of Pepsico and Coca-Cola
While Coca-Cola wants to empower friends, college-goers, students, and other professionals to come together and relive their days as young adults and toasting to their brotherhood, PepsiCo has marketed the products in such a way that the present generation can connect with them. PepsiCo on the other hand has been successful in creating advertising campaigns that bring in the newer elements of the age, a bit of wit, and ooze “coolness” or inject the perception of being “cool” and thus different and superior to other tastes.
No doubt both of them have been equally successful with the help of their innovative ideation and the implementation of unique marketing campaigns.
The organizational structure for Coca-Cola is designed in such a way as to suit the changing needs of the customers. It uses a decentralized system of management, which is divided into two operating groups; the Bottling Corporate and Bottling Investment.
What is the production cost of Coca-Cola?
It should be around 15–16 Rs, including the cost of sugar which is over 100 Mg in one liter of the bottle.
What is the pricing strategy of Coca-Cola in India?
The pricing strategy of Coca-Cola is what they refer to as “meet-the-competition pricing”: Coca-Cola product prices are set around the same level as their competitors because Coca-Cola has to be perceived as different but still affordable.
What is the difference between Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s marketing strategies?
A large part of Pepsi’s marketing budget goes to digital marketing and advertising. Apart from that, a large sum is also spent on television advertising and other traditional methods of advertising. Any leading brand is investing heavily in digital technology for marketing and a better customer experience.
Coca-Cola works on building Customer relationships and making their production and distribution more efficient and cost-effective.
What is Coca-Cola’s business strategy?
Coca-Cola is evolving its business strategy to become a total beverage company by giving people more of the drinks they want – including low and no-sugar options across a wide array of categories – in more packages sold in more locations.
This article has been contributed by Aditya Anand, Chief Revenue Officer, Viral Fission.
In today’s dynamic marketing landscape, crafting a successful brand activation campaign requires marketers to navigate a plethora of choices and strategies. The challenge is not only to stand out amidst fierce competition but also to captivate the fleeting attention spans of the modern generation. In order to cut across the clutter and create impactful campaigns, marketers need to keep in mind a few key parameters that will enable them to create an impactful campaign.
The first step towards launching an effective brand activation campaign is to define clear and concise campaign objectives. Focusing on a single primary goal ensures that your campaign maintains a cohesive and impactful message. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or introducing a new product feature, a well-defined objective serves as a guiding light throughout the campaign’s planning and execution phases.
Understanding Your Target Demographics
A deep understanding of your target demographics is the cornerstone of a successful campaign. Identifying the core audience allows you to tailor your campaign assets, messaging, and communication channels to resonate with their preferences and needs. Crafting relatable and relevant content ensures that your campaign doesn’t just capture attention but also establishes a genuine connection with potential customers.
If you would like Gen Z to know or experience your product or service, for instance, then the brand activation campaign would need to study this demographic carefully to create a tailored strategy that captures the hearts and minds of this young generation. Investing in research to understand the demographics, behavioral traits, and patterns would be a good starting point to start mapping the audience and truly understand them.
Create Compelling Campaign Assets
Now in order to leave a lasting impression, campaign assets must speak directly to the target audience’s psychographics. In other words, a brand would need to tap into its values, interests, and emotions. By doing so, you create a sense of authenticity and relatability that fosters stronger brand recall. Depending on the demographic that is being wooed, brands would adapt these assets to different communication channels to ensure maximum reach and engagement.
Measure Success and Adaptability
Setting clear and measurable metrics for success from the outset is paramount. These metrics could include engagement rates, conversion rates, or even sentiment analysis. Regularly monitoring these metrics throughout the campaign allows for real-time adjustments. Flexibility is key here. Be prepared to modify your strategies based on the data gathered and the achievement of the success parameters you set out at the beginning of the campaign. By maintaining an open line of communication with your audience and actively seeking feedback, you ensure that your campaign remains responsive and far more impactful.
Harness the Power of Earned Media
While paid media has its merits, the true impact of a brand activation campaign often lies in creating real value and fostering organic conversations. Relying solely on paid advertising may limit your campaign’s efficiency and authenticity. To achieve real-world impact, tap into existing communities and leverage word-of-mouth marketing. One of the most reliable methods to do this is to encourage brand advocates to share their experiences and opinions, thus generating authentic buzz around the campaign and more importantly, around the brand.
A Brand Activation Campaign in Action
Let’s consider a hypothetical example to illustrate these principles in action. A sustainable fashion brand aims to launch a brand activation campaign around its eco-friendly clothing line. Its objective is to raise awareness about sustainable fashion and drive online sales. The brand wants to target environmentally conscious individuals aged 25–40 who also value ethical fashion choices.
The fashion brand starts off with visually appealing content, showcasing its sustainable materials and manufacturing processes. This includes videos, social media posts, and blog articles, all tailored to resonate with the target audience’s values.
Responses to the campaign are measured as success through website traffic, engagement rates on social media platforms, and an increase in sales for the featured clothing line, which might be tracked by coupon codes dedicated to this campaign specifically. Midway through the campaign, data reveals that engagement is higher on Instagram than on other platforms. Resources are reallocated to focus more on Instagram content, resulting in a significant boost in engagement and sales.
The brand can take it one step further and partner with eco-conscious influencers who also encourage customers to share their own sustainable fashion journey on social media using a unique hashtag. User-generated content (UGC) is a powerful tool. This approach sparks authentic conversations, expands the campaign’s reach, and increases the chances that a consumer will consider the brand while making a buying decision.
Irrespective of the creativity used in a campaign, launching an effective brand activation requires careful planning, adaptability, and creating a genuine connection with your target audience. By setting clear objectives, understanding your demographics, crafting compelling assets, measuring success, and embracing the power of earned media, brands will be able to create a successful campaign that not only captures attention but also leaves a lasting impact on the target audience. Remember, the heart of any successful campaign lies in its ability to resonate with people on a personal level and evoke genuine emotions.
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