The growth of messaging apps has been faster than ever. Messaging apps make people stay connected no matter wherever you are. Indian Government has decided to go on their mission “vocal for local”. The announcement by WhatsApp stating the change in its data sharing policy with Facebook has annoyed the messaging app service’s users worldwide. This new policy makes it mandatory for all WhatsApp users to accept the new privacy policy that enables the sharing of user data with its parent company Facebook. The new policy came into effect from February 8, and social media was filled with continuous news. Though, whatsapp announced afterwards that all communications on WhatsApp will still be end-to-end encrypted. From Jan 1 to Jan 6, there was a sudden 79% increase in Signal app downloads can be seen, according to a TOI report. We cannot deny that over the years, the continuous usage of WhatsApp has made us dependent on it. Other Indian messaging apps will keep your data and information safe. Here some of the best made in India messaging apps as WhatsApp alternatives.
Here are some of the best messaging apps that are made in India. These can be used as an alternatives to WhatsApp with varied features.
Indian Messenger App
Indian Messenger app Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
It is developed by Loopytime private limited. It is one of the most popular chat apps in India. Indian Messenger app has done its marketing on the “vocal for local” campaign and is used by over 130k users across the country. Its features include text messaging, calling, story, chat requests, and a global search like Facebook or Instagram. It also competes with Twitter and Facebook having an interesting feature that allows users to share a message with an unlimited number of people. Indian Messenger supports images, videos, voice messages, and different file formats for seamless interaction.
Indian Messenger App – Best Indian Messaging App
Hike Sticker Chat
Hike Messenger Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
Hike Messenger, also called Hike Sticker Chat, is an Indian freeware, cross-platform instant messaging (IM), Voice over IP (VoIP) application. Hike was one of the oldest Indian messaging apps. It was built with the motto “building a new social future”. It was once the sixth-largest mobile messaging application in the world. The hike could work offline through SMS and has multi-platform support. Hike decided to go from a single super app strategy to a multiple app approach so that it can focus more on the core messaging capabilities. Hike Messenger was not an ad-driven application, neither does it sell the user data to third-party applications for revenue. Hike also introduced artificial intelligence (AI) powered HikeMoji that existed within the Hike Sticker Chat app.
JioChat is an instant messaging application with voice and video calling capability. When Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp are the two important choices for instant messaging, other chat apps such as Reliance’s JioChat made a mark due to their awesome features. One of the key features in JioChat is peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfer within the app. The feature allows JioChat users to transfer money directly to other users through chats.
JioChat features that are not available on WhatsApp:
Stories: JioChat comes with a unique feature called Stories. The section contains short videos from various genres, including news, food, entertainment, and more from sites like PinkVilla, Hindi Rush, and more.
Channels: JioChat gets a dedicated ‘Channels’ tab where you can follow popular brands, companies, and news publications to know the latest trends, news, and promotional offers.
Jio Care: JioCare channel lets you view your account related information, IUC charges, and the latest Jio cashback and recharge offers. You can also troubleshoot your network problem using the bot.
Voice Assistant: JioChat doesn’t feature its Voice Assistant yet. Instead, it integrates Google’s voice search for you to search for contact names using voice. It can be useful for people who don’t want to waste time scrolling the contact list.
Theming Options: WhatsApp only lets you select chat background and switch between light and dark themes. In comparison, JioChat lets you change theme colors as well as font colors besides chat backgrounds, similar to what you might’ve seen in WhatsApp mods.
Delay Messages: There’s a unique feature called “Delay Sending Message” in JioChat settings. Using it, you can delay the delivery of your message by up to 3 seconds.
Moods (As Status): WhatsApp lets you add a short bio as well as post video and photo status updates. Now, while JioChat lacks the latter, it does let you set your mood as your status. You can choose between different moods such as happy, busy, tired, angry, and so on to let others know how you are feeling right now.
Group Limit: JioChat lets you create groups for conversations with as many as 500 people at a time. In contrast, WhatsApp allows only 256 people in a group.
Troop Messenger
Troop Messenger Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
Troop Messenger is one of the most premium quality Indian messaging apps. It is very much suitable for office communication. Troop Messenger is a user-friendly office chat app compact with contemporary features addressing your business needs and necessities.
It provided with these features group calling, join now, remote screen sharing and controlling, instant messaging, video call and voice call, groups, wallpapers, help tile, settings, audio messaging, dashboard, orange member, profile, splashboard, burnout, live location tracking, emoji layout, sharing, read receipts, edit, respond later, flagging, search, search filters, unread messages, mute conversations, favorite users, message history, live-chat support, data record, storage, enhanced group profile, admin dashboard- groups, group controls, airtime groups, contacts management, integrations, and browser pop-out.
Namaste Bharat is one of the most-searched Indian messaging apps. Namaste Bharat has features such as messaging, group messaging, audio and video calls, audio and video conferencing, collaboration, group messaging, setting up scheduled meetings, etc. Namaste Bharat has end-to-end encryption. All messages, photos, videos, voice messages, documents, status updates, and calls are end-to-end encrypted. There is no need to turn on settings or set up special secret chats to secure your messages. This top chatting app in India offers data synchronization across multiple devices to ensure that the user does not lose all their chats. Moreover, this Indian messaging app has exclusive features for businesses.
ShareChat
ShareChat Logo | Best Indian messaging apps
ShareChat is one of the fastest-growing Indian messaging apps. ShareChat has over 160 million monthly active users across 15 languages. The company’s application offers features that include private messaging, tagging, and a personal messaging feature, enabling users to share videos, jokes, songs, and other language-based social content with other unknown users. ShareChat, made in India app has become one of the most popular chat apps in India because of its multimedia-rich interface and design. ShareChat is a Facebook-style Indian messaging app which allows user to share videos, written posts, audio, etc. The reason for ShareChat’s popularity with its users is the local language access.
ShareChat has update three new features that include private messaging, tagging, and a personal messaging feature that allows users to connect with other unknown users.
Sandes Messaging App Logo – Best Indian messaging apps
Sandes is a app made by National Informatics Center (NIC), Government of India. It is an update of Government Instant Messaging Services (GIMS). GIMS was limited to government employees only but Sandes is can be used by anyone. It has a lot of features that whatsapp offers. It also provides end to end encryption like whatsapp.
Sandes can be downloaded from GIMS website. Sign in only requires your mobile number or email-id and a OTP verification. Sandes does not necessarily require your mobile number unlike Whatsapp. Also it has verified accounts of government officials.
About Sandes Messaging App – Best Indian messaging apps
Thrilling ‘virtual loot’ at youlry.com to celebrate the all-mighty woman of today, campaign conceptualized by Digital Dogs Content & Media
December 13, Mumbai: There’s another heist in town. And this one’s bigger. YOULRY.COM – the newest entrant in the fine and delicate gold jewellery category has launched their e-commerce site with a sensational ‘virtual loot’ to celebrate the all-mighty woman of today.
The YOULRY.COM GRAND HEIST is a big bang launch, inviting uber Indian audiences to a “virtual loot” to take away from their wide array of 18K and 22K pure gold jewellery. From chic, boho bracelets to jaw-dropping engagement rings, the jewellery designs by youlry.com are up for grabs on their website – www.youlry.com. This stylish jewellery collection using hallmarked gold, high-quality materials and intricate craftsmanship comes at a surprisingly palatable price point starting from as low as Rs. 4000/-, with an additional, no-conditions Rs. 1000/- off for first time buyers.
Nishit Nanda, CEO, youlry.com said, “Youlry – as the name suggests, is a jewellery brand inspired by ‘you’ – the consumer. Every design, every cut and every framing is done keeping in mind the consumer’s tastes and wants. The jewellery designs by youlry.com are meant to be cherished, worn with ease and adorned with effortless style. Through this new campaign, we put up our latest range of beautifully crafted pure gold jewellery and accessories for a grand heist.”
The campaign has been conceived and deployed across digital and social platforms by Digital Dogs Content & Media, the creative and technology partners of YOULRY.COM.
Anjali Rawat, Co-Founder and Creative Chief, Digital Dogs Content & Media said, “The latest in the club of D2C and born-in-the-cloud brands, youlry.com is a brand we have worked closely with. This particular campaign has been designed with the objective of building an exciting and cohesive messaging that is engaging, exciting, relatable and experiential in nature for our target group. This is the age of real, raw storytelling and we are hoping to kick up some serious dust with this line-up.”
“By developing interesting and topical campaign strategies, we want to ensure diversification of the ad platforms used, ultimately increasing the overall reach of the social campaigns and drive better conversion rates in sales too for our client brands,” adds Rawat.
YOULRY.COM is the latest consumer play from the House of Khimji Jewels, an 85-year-old generational goldsmith and jewellery powerhouse with customers ranging from India to the United States.
The e-commerce platform boasts of new collections, extensively researched designs that reflect culture and a smooth checkout with minimal information requests. Owing to its direct-to-consumer business model (where consumers can only shop their items from its site), prices are lower than traditional luxury brands. Consumers can stock up on the pieces they love without feeling like their bank account has been ransacked. This brand is for the independent, strong, resilient woman of today.
For a brand centred around youth culture, youlry.com sure has opened its play well. The Grand Heist hits the spot in the wedding sale market with Indians back to their shopping sprees. Young, bold and catchy – the campaign across digital, social and physical media grabs attention and gets people to check out this new ‘heist’.
About YOULRY.COM
YOULRY.COM is a born-in-the-cloud gold jewellery and lifestyle e-commerce brand from the House of Khimji Jewels, a venerable and highly reputed generational goldsmith and fine gold jewellery house with over 85 years of experience. youlry.com is built ground up for the Generation Z young customer of today, keeping their sense, sensibilities and tastes in front and centre of everything the brand creates. The platform showcases a dynamically evolving repertoire of collections in pure 18K and 22K gold, embellished with diamonds and precious stones.
About Digital Dogs Content and Media
Digital Dogs Content and Media, founded by Ambarish Ray and Anjali Rawat, is a creative, content, design and digital marketing company. It creates technology and brand solutions for businesses across categories, sectors and global markets ranging from CPG, Finserv, Fashion and Lifestyle, Real Estate and B2B to Service sectors, Media and D2C brands. The company specialises in audience and market making strategies for its clients and has in-house capabilities across the entire value chain of digital business development and scaling.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a technology that is fascinating and interesting as well and which is constantly on its way to transforming the world. Gone are the days, where AI was just a part of a sci-fi movie, now has become a reality in which we live.
People have started adopting Artificial Intelligence into their business, from hospitality to advertising to the healthcare industry, AI is ruling the market. Various businesses and organizations are taking a part in this industry to upgrade them and make their work easier.
When we talk about artificial intelligence, it basically means a machine that has human-like intelligence, which can perform all those tasks that a human can do, maybe much more than that. Artificial Intelligence has also embarked on a journey where now it can use for writing as well.
We are living in a world, that AI for writing doesn’t seem like something impossible. In this article, we will find out if AI writing tools are worth using for blogs or not. So let’s get started with the first and foremost thing.
“AI as a technology is complex, of course, but the capabilities and benefits of AI aren’t hard to understand.”
AI for writing is nothing but Artificial Intelligence technology that looks into big data sets to write in a natural language and in the desired format. This technology can generate texts and create content for you just like a human, not only that you get to have long content.
Different algorithms are used to understand what the users want as its content and, it can also deal with SEO. AI is becoming smarter and it might replace professionals in the future.
AI writing tools are used for:
Blogs
Essays
Articles
How does AI Writing Tools Works?
Two technologies that are deep learning and natural language processing are included in this process, deep learning tries to work like a brain of a human and the NLP tries to examine and use the language just like the way a human uses it.
The technology understands and learns the meaning of the words so that they can structure sentences for the content when the users put all the data that are necessary for it, like the format of the content and its length.
The steps how an AI writings work are:
The technology use algorithms to understand the meaning of the words.
After finding the meaning of the words, the data is transformed into texts.
Advantages of AI Writing
People are thinking about introducing AI for writing because it has an upper hand that is extremely intriguing and helpful, which are:
AI writers can write anything, one just needs to insert some data and the work will be done. It can even convey emotions by writing a poem. In 2011, an AI robot writer was created that wrote a poem.
AI writers can write ad campaigns for blogs and the best part is once you get an AI writer, there is no need to pay the other writers for their services and you also don’t need to spend any other expenses on them, as AI writers are going to the job.
Errors are almost non-existent as data once put into them; through algorithms, they can create the almost perfect content.
AI can create high-level and sophisticated content way faster than human writers.
AI can create logical content regarding any subject and has various worldwide ideas as they are versatile in nature.
AI copywriters can go beyond generating copy with AI copywriting tools.Nowadays, AI isn’t just used for copywriting, but also for analyzing copy. For example, AI copywriting platform Anyword can predict how each copy variation will perform even before a campaign starts. It also determines what kinds of ads appeal to which type of audience, defines the emotional tone of copy, and so much more.
Disadvantages of AI Writing
If something has its advantages, it is bound to have disadvantages as well. There are some limitations that AI writing has and those are:
AI writing may start creating content that is low quality which is not good for the image of an organization.
Fake contents are easier to provide through AI, once it started spreading, it can lead to a bigger mess, which will also tarnish the image of the organization.
One of the greatest fears related to AI is that it will start replacing humans in jobs, which will lead to a risk of unemployment.
Sometimes AI may create content that can have a lot of inaccuracies as it is derived from all the publications that can be found on the internet.
AI Writers for Blog Writing
Blog writing is a very time-consuming task, AI writers will help in creating high-quality blogs that will also work in attracting the attention of the audience through good content. It collects information from all over the internet and uses them, through that they can also create new ideas.
AI writers for blogs have many pros and cons, some of the pros are that it creates engaging and relevant content in a very quick time for the audience. On the other hand, the cons included the loss of human touch in a blog and it may also lack originality. Definitely, it saves money and time, plus it is said to be a one-time investment.
AI creates content that is not biased and is based on facts that can be found on the internet. AI Writer may not fully replace a content writer but will be better for any organization to have a versatile source that will be able to coexist with a human content writer.
What are the Best AI Writers?
Some of the best artificial intelligence content generators that can help you in writing blogs and articles are:
With artificial intelligence emerging and increasing its popularity in every sector, blogging will also be a great option where one can use AI writers for creating content. People have witnessed the technological advancement that is happening all over the world and it is just a matter of time when AI will make its presence known in every sector and including blogging as well.
FAQ
Can AI writing tools write Blog Posts?
Yes, AI writing tools can write blog posts.
Is AI Copywriting Worth it?
Yes, it is definitely worth it as it is cheaper than hiring an actual copywriter.
What are the best AI Writers?
Article Forge, Jarvis, and Rytr are some of the best AI writers.
The pandemic made the whole world come to a halt for a while. Some people lost their jobs and others found themselves unhappy in it. Everyone liked to have something that could make them happy and help them earn.
During the pandemic, people had to stay inside their homes. So, they got plenty of spare time at their hands. This spare time created the buds of starting a business in various minds.
Today, the idea of starting a business is getting more and more popular. The days when people liked being comfortable in one job are almost gone. Besides the job, people like to engage in various other activities. It would be a boon if some of the activities can be lucrative too.
As the world is digitizing. This digitalization has encouraged people’s business ideas to come to life. Your age or experience doesn’t matter, starting a small business during this winter can prove to be fruitful.
With great technology and digitalization, the idea of starting a business seems more possible. One can start a business from things they like to do in their spare time. It is like turning a hobby or passion into a business.
Starting a small business can turn out to be lucrative in this present time. It is even a good idea to indulge in a seasonal business. With the winter season ahead, you can start a business that can be profitable right now.
Best Business Ideas You Can Start This Winter Season
The Winter season is the season of holidays and various festivals. This season comes with Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, winter vacation, and more. All these make for an advantageous environment for starting a business.
With this digital age, one can start earning from their homes and be their own bosses.
Here are some of the lucrative business ideas that you can start:
A Bakery
Bakery Business | Profitable small business during this winter
One of the most lucrative business ideas right now is to start a bakery. If you are someone who is fond of baking or learning to bake, this is the idea for you.
The Winter season is around. We have Christmas, New Year, and the holidays coming. This is the time when almost everyone needs a cake, cookies, and other bakery items. So, this winter makes the perfect time for you to start your bakery. The best part is you can even start it from home with a small investment.
Running a bakery is not only profitable during winters, it is something that has a demand throughout the year.
Event Decoration Business | Profitable small business during this winter
This is the time of winter parties. Be it big or small, in-home or outside, every party needs decoration services. So, if you have a touch of creativity in your hands. This is the perfect business idea for you.
You can start this business with a small team and take small contracts. You can put in a small investment and take an advance amount from the client. This will help you to source your materials and pay your team their dues.
Nowadays with increasing social media presence, beautiful and aesthetic décor has become popular. This has made the event decorators even more in demand. Hence, a profitable small business idea.
Customized Gifting Business | Profitable small business during this winter
This business idea has always been there but it became super popular during the pandemic. People are now more interested in gifting something with a personalized touch.
The best part is you need a small investment for starting a gift business. You can make customized gift boxes, handwritten letters, portraits or paintings, and more.
For starters, you can create an Instagram page and display your work there. In this way, you can start taking local orders and also ship them to other cities. This idea with a small investment can turn out to be profitable in the future.
Restaurant from home | Profitable small business during this winter
Good food is something the demand of which never falls. If you like to cook, it is time to turn it into a business this winter.
You can start this restaurant from your home. You can make food at home and deliver it to customers. Pandemic has made people realize the importance of healthy and hygienic eating.
Nowadays, home-cooked food is in great demand. Be it small parties or working professionals, everyone loves to eat home food. So, starting a restaurant from your home is a flourishing idea to start.
Cleaning Services | Profitable small business during this winter
People are getting busier with time. They are not able to find time between their busy schedule to clean. The winter season is the time of partying and hosting guests. So, to start offering cleaning services now is a lucrative idea.
You can even make customized packages to attract more customers. For example- deep cleaning, cleaning plus rearrangements, cleaning plus décor, etc. Thus, starting a cleaning services business is an idea worth of profits.
Blogging
Blogging | Profitable small business during this winter
We all know the fact that social media is growing faster than ever. Earlier, blogging was considered merely a hobby or an informative resource. But now, with proper planning and tools, it can be a great business.
In today’s time, you can be a freelancer, affiliate marketer, social media influencer, etc., and turn blogging into an advantageous and profitable business.
Conclusion
These were a few simple and lucrative business ideas that you can indulge in. There are various other options like selling clothes online, making masks at home, selling Christmas trees during winters, online tutoring, etc.
The zeal to create something from one’s own heart and earn from it is what makes a successful business. Various factors are responsible for the success of a business. These include the customers, market rates, planning, resources, etc.
To start a business, there are a few most important things. These are passion and the motivation to work hard and a not giving up attitude.
In today’s modern and digital world, the idea of starting a business comes into various minds. People are afraid to start a business. But remember that even taking a small step counts. So, if you want to start a business this winter, but feel confused, consider this a sign.
FAQs
What are the best Business Ideas to start this Winter Season?
Best Businesses you can start this winter are:
A Bakery
Event Decoration
Customized Gifting
Restaurant From Home
Cleaning Services
Blogging
What are the best small scale business to start?
Some of the best small scale businesses to start are:
In recent events, many businesses opted for digital marketing as things weren’t the same after the Covid-19 Pandemic. Because people were purchasing or selling their products through digital to avoid human contact. Some businesses find it easy to market their products & services via a digital platform by using advanced and available marketing trends, meanwhile, some businesses still want to sustain themselves in the industry.
For instance, with the impact of the ongoing pandemic, various small-scale businesses failed to progress or market their products in the industry due to low connectivity with the real world or even worse, didn’t advance their marketing strategies according to the trend. In order to attain a top brand among the competitors, one business must apply trending digital marketing tools. Here, we have enlisted 22 digital marketing trends that will help your business to attain its objectives & goals effectively and efficiently.
With time changes, AI became a prominent element, especially in marketing. So; we have to also change certain things to survive in the digital world, especially opting for AI over traditional marketing. Recent studies stated that AI marketing helps a business to speed up its function by taking any automated decisions based on Data Analysis, Data collection, and other information to determine the audiences without any manual aids.
Programmatic Advertising
Without any intermediary to persuade the customers, businesses have started to install programmatic advertisements that do automated buying & selling of online advertising on various digital platforms. In other words, programmatic advertising delivers the right information to the right people at the right time, and this could be done, by analyzing the audience’s segmentation and using algorithm software.
Interactive Content
KitKat Interactive Advertisement
Nowadays, people look forward to interesting content rather than expatriate content. So, in the upcoming marketing trends, your business can use interactive content that will result in increased sales with increased leads. By means of this, add visual content, creative advertisement, infographic, images, videos, marketing billboards, and other elements to strengthen the brand and drive traffic.
Conversational Marketing
Two-way communication is key in conversational marketing, where people anticipate quick responses, as well as businesses, expect effective feedback. Therefore, a business should adapt to conversational marketing to augment customer engagement, experiences & revenue, say, Chatbots, which are automated to customer-centric and dialogue-driven approaches.
5G Network
As everyone knows, the upcoming future relies on the 5G Network that generates a global-based wireless standard. 5G Network empowers the Internet of Things (IoT) that promises a long-term potential service as IoT aids Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in the marketing.
Social Media Marketing
Another trend that has been ruling the digital world since its commencement is Social Media marketing. In recent times, social media has become a popular mode of marketing in generating a wide range of customers. Instagram, for instance, has nearly 130 million users, where users create brand awareness and introduce new products through Instagram algorithms, Instagram Live streams, shopping options, filters, and other features.
Personalization
One-to-one marketing is done based on data analysis and digital technology to deliver individualized messages & product offerings according to the audience’s segmentation, i.e, interest, backgrounds, demographics, and many more.
Live stream shopping is considered an effective marketing tool in 2022, where Live streaming enhances engagement, interaction, and viewers. The live stream is used to proclaim any brand news, information, product launch, and other live interviews. In this way, marketers can perform live streaming as a marketing trend to attain netizens’ attention.
Omnichannel Marketing
Nowadays, many businesses are adopting omnichannel marketing that corporate & connect various digital platforms to interact with customers. In omnichannel marketing, branding, messaging, and online and offline touchpoints are seamlessly integrated as customers move down the sales funnel, enabling a more engaging customer experience.
Consistency is the key to Omnichannel marketing, which allows businesses to adopt a consumer-centric approach that keeps the customer journey at the forefront.
VR Technologies
A virtual reality marketing campaign involves using virtual and augmented reality technology to promote brands and their products. The devices can make VR marketing visual, multi-sensory, or some combination thereof. Virtual reality headsets make VR marketing more powerful. While a VR Instagram filter overlays objects or pictures onto the camera view, an immersive experience is completely immersive.
Geographical Marketing
In marketing, geographical segmentation means targeting products to people who reside or shop in a specific area. When selling products that are influenced by regional differences in culture, climate, or population, this approach will be especially useful. Conducting a proper survey will help to market the products & services according to their location. Like seven sisters, demand production of umbrellas, so businesses can sell rainy season products to those regions that augment business profit.
Push Notification
Push Notifications
In push notification marketing, marketers send browser notifications on a variety of devices to their target audience to inform them of services and products. In a push notification, a short message is sent to the user’s mobile or desktop, prompting them to act with an intention to make them acquire a purchase. Push notifications have the advantage that you can time them and you can even customize them to fit your specific circumstances.
Blockchain Applications
A blockchain is a shared, immutable network of ledgers that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets among business networks. Blockchain offers immediate, shared, and transparent information since it stores information on a ledger that can only be accessed by network members with permission. Besides, the blockchain network can track orders, payments, production, sales, accounts, and so on.
Quantum Computing
To perform calculations, quantum computing uses the collective properties of quantum states, such as superposition, interference, and entanglement. Quantum computing can be used to generate huge amounts of data to study shoppers.
Green Marketing
Recently many countries joined together during an environment summit 20 intending to manage climate change by eliminating negative aspects. For this, various businesses promote such products based on the environmental benefit which plays as eco-friendly to the company as well as to the surroundings. In order to obtain green marketing, one such business should manufacture sustainable trends, eliminating toxic manufacturing, producing recyclable goods, using a 3Rs system while producing goods & services.
Digital marketing is one of the fastest-growing industries. It is one of the most valuable assets of any startup or company. It is an evergreen industry and the only possibility to survive is to stay notified about the growing trends in the digital marketing industry.
FAQ
What are future trends in digital marketing?
Artificial Intelligence, Personalized advertising, green marketing and push notifications are some of the future trends in digital marketing.
What is the next major trend in digital marketing?
The next major trend in digital marketing is Chatbots.
What will marketing look like in 2025?
Customer lifetime value will be the main priority of marketers in 2025.
Started by Fabrice and Alec. The story of OLX began as these entrepreneurs observed that apps like eBay or Craigslist had no interest in entering the market segment of buying and selling products and services. They took the opportunity and launched OLX as a marketplace. And bang, OLX took a step into the world of developing countries. OLX acquired the 7th position on the Google Play Store in the category of top free shopping with 30 million downloads. A rating of 4.2 stars and is labelled as one of the best local shopping apps in India.
The top categories in which the app allows its consumers to deal are: MobilesCars and bikesElectronicsReal EstatesFashion
Consumers can buy and sell easily through a smartphone.
Discover deals and buy from verified sellers in your neighbourhood.
Safely get what you want from home and have conversations with certified sellers, negotiate with them.
Manage your chats easily.
Get recommendations based on your interest.
Manage and edit ads on the go. The app is designed for fun, simple, intuitive, and a great shopping experience. It promises a cutting-edge experience that effortlessly helps you find what you need and sell something new in just seconds.
Apart from having apps and a website. OLX has its presence on social media, which includes accounts on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.
Marketing Strategy of OLX
Advantage of a wider reach across the globe
OLX has a global footprint with 322 million monthly active users (MAUs) using the trading platform. Not only this, the team of OLX itself that includes 11,000+ members are spread over 81 nationalities (countries) making it diverse and having a wide reach; the organization ranks 3rd highest among the global companies in digital footprints.
Partnerships
Associated with brands like Property 24, Storia, Otomoto, Obidos and more. Its investors include Prosus Naspers, which is also its parent company. DN Capital, Founders Fund, The Perkins and more. OLX also has venture capital firms.
The Smart Cost-cutting Infrastructure
With the consumer market segment that includes people who are interested in buying and selling goods and services, OLX facilities as the marketplace for the same purpose, especially for people outside the United States.
Enabling customers to strike deals directly between them. Offline also cuts the cost of getting involved for different customer segments for its infrastructure. It is an online platform that makes the process for people involved hassle-free.
Using digital platforms and other channels
There is a mix of media including Television ads, blogs that are targeted, having a presence on various social media platforms and digital platforms with its website which makes OLX easily stands out making people aware of its presence along with having its app available on the Play Store and App Store highlighting the fact that it is easily accessible to its users.
The company has also kept up with change and swiftly moved onto marketing on digital platforms; when the internet started ruling the world, the company gradually adapted its budget from offline marketing to digital platforms.
They have educated the people on how to use the app addressing the concerns of both the buyers and the sellers with various creative campaigns when entering the new markets, while some of their campaigns like “O Womaniya” and the” 6 Months Break-Up Challenge” relied on consumer insights that the company smartly used to its benefit making them successful.
Giving a reason to the “What’s in it for me?”
When the consumer asks the most basic question of “What’s in it for me?” OLX gives them infinite reasons to use it. Being able to filter and choose from across categories ranging from smartphones to tool kits for the user-based application and the website with constantly updating the design and adding useful features for the smooth navigation and enhancing the users’ experience.
An additional benefit is with the knowledge that OLX has gained as exploring the cultures around the world is resolving the stigma that is usually attached to buying “second hand” goods.
Driving Click-through rate (CTR)
OLX positions itself as savvy and experimenting a lot with the new technology to develop visuals and the interface. Which brings new features and tools that enhance the user experience which reflects the dynamic, confidence and bursting with energy, expressing all the optimism and attitude that’s true to OLX.
OLX leveraged its users according to a new case study which drove their metrics up to 300% CTR (Click-through rate) with the new “saving a search” feature allowing its users to be notified when a new ad goes live that matches their search.
The Social and Environmental Impact
OLX Group is driving the change. It is carbon neutral since the year 2021, creating a positive impact on the environment. The company is also giving back to its communities in India and Brazil, clearly creating a good image for the organization also showing responsibility as a leader.
OLX Pledge
Covid-19 Marketing Strategy of OLX
Never a marketing strategy that has been made to suit all situations, as human dynamics are always changing.
Tailoring a new tone
The business observed its consumers silently to understand the changes and the situation. The brand strategically devised a tone that was fit for the ongoing situation during the lockdown. That is reassuring, empathetic, and humorous.
Giving a message of positivity
Reminding and encouraging consumers that they can still find ways to do the most even while being at home. Inside the four walls. During the third and the fourth stages of unlocking, the brand also came forward, being socially responsible, lending a helping hand to come to terms with helping people in the stage of acceptance and decluttering.
Built a campaign around decluttering
Acceptance and decluttering. Coming to terms with the ongoing pandemic and encouraging consumers to declutter their homes. The campaign centred around the idea of how it helps in mental well-being and builds a stress-free environment.
Sapna Arora, the chief marketing officer of OLX, India centred her message around:
Marketers using their moral compass while communicating with consumers.
The business has not lost its sight and is aiming towards its long-term strategy. And being conscious of where they put their money for marketing. As buying and selling online is coming more into view. Having an online presence is the new primary marketing channel for all businesses.
With its marketing communications, OLX is building trust with its consumers. Encouraging them to follow the necessary protocols laid out by the Government. Maintaining social distancing and practising the right sanitization protocols. Take the advice caring for your consumers and structuring new strategies helps you go further in the long run.
FAQ
What type of marketing strategy is followed by OLX?
Olx focuses its marketing strategy to make people aware of the advantages of buying and selling on OLX. It uses almost every advertising medium.
What is the target market of OLX?
The target audience of OLX is young, educated who have good disposable income.
Why is OLX successful?
OLX focuses on advertising, It also has made its site easy to navigate and mobile-friendly.
Looking for the best personal finance book to help you manage your finances, achieve wealth, and pay debts? Experts’ personal experience and advice will inspire you in handling your finances. We have compiled some of the best books for you in this article!
Books, especially from well-known writers and experts, can be expensive, and you might not want to settle for just one book. Payday Depot offers quick and easy funding to get the best personal finance book you want to manage your finances successfully.
1. “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill
This inspirational book, written in 1937, contains the results of various interviews with millionaires and philanthropists. It focuses on the mindset behind getting rich such as having the desire and persistence to do so.
2. “I Will Teach You to Be Rich” by Ramit Sethi
This book talks about how to deal with common money pitfalls. It helps readers plan, strategize with their money and set up systems to build wealth.
3. “The Millionaire Next Door” by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
The authors of this book found out what wealthy US citizens have in common through thorough research. Some factors include: living below their means, saving money monthly, spending less than they make, and others.
4. “A Random Walk Down Wall Street” by Burton G. Malkiel
Malkiel, a long-time financial investor, discusses the importance of investing, investors’ common mistakes, and how to avoid them.
5. “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
One of the most admired and popular personal finance books of all time that has been in the market for more than two decades. This book shares what Kiyosaki learned from his father (the poor dad) and his friend’s father (the rich dad.) According to him, a dropout who spends less than his earning is brighter than a professor who cannot make ends meet.
6. “Your Money or Your Life” by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
This book, first published in 1992, helps readers determine what money means to them. It teaches how to reach financial independence and learn how much is enough.
7. “Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey
Ramsey offers solid advice and discusses how to get out of debt, avoid buying on credit, build an emergency fund, etc.
8. “How Much Money Do I Need to Retire” by Todd Tresidder
Tresidder explains the most important questions before retirement and how to estimate return from investments, among others. He also reveals how traditional retirement plans fail.
9. “Financial Freedom” by Grant Sabatier
Sabatier shares his strategies on how he became a millionaire in just five years from a broke 24-year-old.
10. “The Psychology of Money” by Morgan Housel
The author discusses how a financial plan can be worthless without action or execution. He also explains the real ways people do with their money and helps readers manage their finances.
Conclusion
We can learn many lessons from the books of financial experts, and there are many more books out there. If you are ready to make new financial moves, it is best to learn from the experts.
Middle-class people are looking to buy the best car at the cheapest price. Well, rarely these two combinations can be found in new cars. Droom’s platform provided an opportunity for second-hand car or bike buyers to buy the vehicle that people wanted at in much cheaper price than new ones.
Droom’s platform also became an opportunity for sellers because they are the ones posting images and pictures of their car and bikes so that they can find a buyer for them. Droom came into the market when there was already an existing application like OLX. But, how did they gain people’s attention and become one of the most reliable platforms when it came to buying and selling second- hand cars?
It was all about the marketing strategy that the company adopted. The company focussed on efficient marketing and made sure to reach out to as many people as possible.
Droom is an e-commerce company that was founded in 2014 by Sandeep Aggarwal. Droom is an online application platform where people can either buy or sell second-hand cars and bikes with a fresh perspective. The company has its headquarters located in Gurugram.
Droom’s business is primarily in creating a marketplace in India to help people buy and sell used cars (multi-category). Sellers on this platform are provided with useful tools to manage their listings. Droom became the 17thIndian startup to achieve the title of a unicorn as a high-profile investor.
Droom’s services were appreciated by most users because a deal could be done between a buyer and a seller within five days. This was pretty amazing and a new way of bringing a service to the people.
Droom’s Marketing Strategy
Droom logo
Droom’s marketing strategy is quite simple yet effective one which is being able to attract new users to its website every day. There are four to five strategies that the company uses to market and brand its company. Some of them are as the following.
Facebook (Meta) Community Advertising
India’s most trusted motor place i.e. Droom created a community page on Facebook where the company is carrying on with its marketing. This is one of the simplest methods of marketing to attract a large number of customers at a single time.
Impressions
Also known as ‘ad view’ impressions means a metric system that is used to quantify digital views in a piece of content. To put it in simple words, impressions are all about online advertising.
Targeted Mailers
Also known as email marketing is what Droom uses as one of their marketing strategies. Once a user becomes a subscriber then the user receives emails from the company regarding deals and offers. A targeted mailing list is important for the profitability of the business. This is why Droom focussed on such marketing techniques.
Banner Advertisements
Banner advertisements again are one of the common methods of marketing not only for other businesses but for Droom too. It is the simplest way to reach out to the audience directly. Droom captured the attention of the audience through such advertisements.
All in all, it can be said that the company uses the use of social media primarily for its advertisement. The advertisement methods might be common but they have proved to be effective ones.
Droom, also recently rolled out their TV advertisement and started new campaigns. ‘Droom Hai, Toh Fir Test Drive Kyu?’ advertisement campaign created a buzz on several platforms. The ad campaign urged customers to buy used cars rather than testing them first.
Droom Advertisement
Droom’s Growth Over The Years
With effective marketing techniques used by the company, it was obvious that Droom’s future was all about growth and flourishing in the market. Back in 2014, when the company was just stepping into the Indian market its inception took place in Singapore. It was in the same year that the company had raised its 1st and 2nd rounds of capital funding.
By the year 2015, the company sold its first vehicle of Droom and in the same year, its several applications were launched like the mobile application, website, etc. By the time July came in 2015, the company had already raised its 3rd round of funding. By this time the company had already sold more than 100 orders.
Droom received several awards for its contribution to the online automobile platform. Some of the prestigious awards were the Coolest start-ups award, Consumer Durable and Integrated advertising campaign awards, and more.
Conclusion
A company like Droom has proved that competition does not matter if marketing is done efficiently. Droom’s current growth rate is 100% every year which is quite surprising because it is something that does not happen with every business. Altogether, the company had 6 rounds of funding and by the end of its 6th round, Droom had already raised more than $125 million.
FAQs
When was Droom founded?
Droom was founded in 2014 by Sandeep Aggarwal.
What does Droom company do?
Droom is India’s online marketplace for buying and selling new and used cars. Droom is India’s largest auto portal.
How to contact a seller at Droom?
There are support assistance provided to the customers who want to engage business with Droom. However, other than that there is also a Whatsapp number that people can use to contact them.
Which vehicles can people buy and sell on Droom?
Vehicles to buy and sell on Droom are:
Car
Bike
Scooter
Bus
Bicycle
Plane
Truck
Tractor
What are the popular brands of used cars on Droom?
Some of the popular brands of used cars on Droom are:
Why pay for online courses when you can get them for free? upGrad is such a company that brought out its online education application where students, teachers and everyone else can do courses for free. upGrad’s free courses offer makes it a standout application from other educational websites.
Most websites and applications that you find on the internet do not come free of cost. upGrad is quite opposite to that and that is one of the reasons why it attracted a lot of customers. Competitions are tight in the Indian market and upGrad’s marketing strategy helped them take the lead in the online education platform.
upGrad is an EdTech company that came out with the motive to help students with their higher education. The company performs its business completely online based and free of cost. The application also caters to large variety of courses ranging from undergraduate programs to Master’s degree programs.
Master’s degrees and some post-graduate programs are only offered on a fee payment system. Otherwise, most courses are free of cost and are also offering a completion certificate unlike other educational applications in the market.
It was in the year 2015 when upGrad was launched by the co-founders of the company- Ronnie Screwvala, Phalgun Kompalli, Mayank Kumar, and Ravijot Chugh. Their efforts made upGrad become one of the leading EdTech companies in Asia. Currently, all co-founders of the company are leading different divisions within the organization. Their efforts made it to enter the unicorn club in August, 2021.
Interestingly, upGrad was not meant to be for college students, or school students or any other institutions. But, it was designed so that more people could be familiar with the term ‘entrepreneurship’ and all those things that are required to become successful.
about upGrad learning platform
upGrad Marketing Strategy
upGrad Logo
upGrad is a B2C company and follows a wide range of marketing strategies. The company also focuses on its marketing because it is the only way a company is recognized. Well, a company like upGrad does the same thing.
The CEO of upGrad, Arjun Mohan had even mentioned in an interview that the company spends a whopping sum of money on its advertisements. The company also uses online tools for marketing its products to customers. Some of the most common ones are Google Ads, Social Media Ads, promotional guest posts, and many more.
Back in the year 2020, when the company was just 5 years old had set a budget of INR 175 crore for its marketing. For a startup like upGrad, this amount is considered to be a massive one and surprising too.
Other than spending a large amount on advertising, upGrad also focussed on promotional activities. The company took an active part in promoting its business during the 2020 IPL season. Even in the latest IPL season, i.e. 2021 upGrad took an effective part in its promotional activities.
The company tied up with Disney+ Hotstar and associated with the Star Sports network. This again became a huge boost in the company’s marketing and promotional activities. Surprisingly, the 2021 IPL event became upGrad’s first association with any sport-related event.
upGrad acquired Pyoopil Education Technologies only a year after its formation i.e. in 2016. Pyoopil Education Technologies was a mobile-based SaaS product that was used by corporate. Two years later in the year 2018, upGrad made another acquisition of Acadview Software which was in the field of a college education.
Later, in the year 2019, the company acquired CohortPlus which was known to be India’s largest product management community startup. Looking at the progress that the company has already made it is clear that the company will become the leader in the TechEd companies in the world.
Moreover, the company has got notable connections and tie-ups with large institutes and universities. Some of the most famous collaborations are mentioned below.
Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)
International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT)
Though there are not many revelations from the company’s side of view it is expected that by the end of 2025, the company plans to cross the 5 million alumni members mark. However, other than that, the company is working on other specialization programs curated by global universities.
With collaborations with global universities, upGrad would become a different and standout educational company in the Indian market. There will be a lot coming from the company’s point of view in the future and we hope to experience the brilliance of learning from upGrad.
upGrad’s products and services are likely to improve and enhance better learning to its customers in the upcoming days. It is not that the company is not doing great currently but the future of the company will determine upGrad’s sustainability in the market.
FAQs
Who has founded upGrad?
upGrad was founded by Ronnie Screwvala, Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli, and Ravijot Chugh in 2015.
Are there free courses available at upGrad?
Yes, there are free courses which can be done free of cost. The company caters to courses ranging from various subject areas.
Does upGrad provide a 100% job guarantee?
Yes, the company offers a 100% job guarantee to fresher candidates and other people as well.
Since its entry into India in 2007, Vodafone has established itself as a trusted mobile service provider in the country. After the launch of Reliance Jio, the company is facing tough competition in India, and some are even speculating the shut down of the company in India. Besides India, Vodafone has its operations in over 30 countries worldwide, and despite its ups and downs, Vodafone has managed to hold a significant share of the telecommunications market in many countries across the world. Vodafone is yet another example of a business that started small and went on to make a mark worldwide. Here is how Vodafone started and rose to become a leading player in the global telecommunication sector.
Racal Strategic Radio Ltd, a component of Racal Electronics, Britain’s biggest manufacturer of military radio equipment, launched a joint enterprise with American telecommunications company Millicom in 1981, which evolved into the modern Vodafone.
Today Vodafone provides a wide range of products and services for consumers, businesses, and Governments. Besides mobile services, Vodafone offers fixed broadband and television services, cloud and hosting, internet protocol-virtual private network services, roaming, and unified communications services.
Vodafone’s M-Pesa is a mobile financial and mobile payment service that allows customers to access their bank accounts to receive or send money, purchase stuff, make bill-payments, save funds, and get simple loans; and Vodafone One Net is a converged fixed and mobile communications service for big multinational companies as well as small and medium enterprises.
Vodafone also provides machine-to-machine services, as well as tablets, smartphones, and telematics commodities/services. It has roughly 16,000 retail locations, distributors, and third-party merchants selling its products.
Vodafone – Latest News
Vodafone’s first-quarter revenue for FY2021-22 increased by 1.4 percent in Germany which is its biggest market. In the UK, as international travel reopened, the telecoms behemoth benefited from visitors to the UK utilizing its network. A marginal increase in Vodafone’s revenue also came as it levied roaming fees as a result of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. Overall, the Vodafone group made revenue worth $51.169B in FY 2020-21 which is 2.32% more than in FY 2019-2020 revenue.
Since the pandemic, Vodafone has experienced a resurgence in mobile phone sales, with greater customer loyalty across Europe, according to the company.
Vodafone – Industry
Companies in the telecommunications sector make communication possible on a worldwide scale, whether it’s through the internet or phone, over waves or wires, or digitally. These businesses built the infrastructure that allows data to be transferred anywhere in the globe in the form of text, speech, audio, or video. Telephone (both landline and wireless) operators, satellite companies, cable companies, and Internet service providers are the main corporations in the industry.
Telecommunications has grown in importance as a fundamental business, which speaks well for its prospects for the future and expansion. Continuous advancements in high-speed mobile networks and Network connectivity across devices continue to fuel industry invention and rivalry. Most of the industry’s attention is focused on delivering quicker data solutions, particularly in the field of high-resolution video. The driving causes are essentially faster and crisper services, improved connection, and multi-app utilization.
Vodafone is an acronym for VOice DAta FONE (a dramatic spelling of “phone”), which was selected by the firm to “represent the availability of telecommunication services through mobiles.”
Saatchi & Saatchi, a well-known worldwide advertising business, created the Vodafone logo in 1997. Conversation and voice communication is represented by the apostrophe in the logo. It brilliantly delivers a classic telecom brand that conveys its intended message in an aesthetically attractive manner.
Vodafone’s tagline says, “Together We Can.”
Vodafone – CEO and Founders
Vodafone was founded by Ernest Harrison and Gerry Whent in 1985.
Ernest Harrison
Sir Ernest Thomas Harrison OBE (11 May 1926 – 16 February 2009) was a British entrepreneur who was best known for being the first chairman of Racal’s spin-off mobile phone section, Vodafone.
Gerry Whent
Sir Gerald Arthur “Gerry” Whent CBE was the founder and first CEO of Vodafone. He was born on March 1, 1927, in Ferozepore, India, and died on May 16, 2002, in Chilton Foliat, Wiltshire.
Nick Read
Nicholas Jonathan Read aka Nick Read is the current CEO of Vodafone group. Born in 1964, Nick is a Certified Management Accountant. Prior to joining the Vodafone group, Nick worked for United Business Media Plc and Federal Express Worldwide. At Federal Express Worldwide, Nick worked as the Chief Finacial Officer for Europe, the Middle East, and the Africa region.
Nick joined Vodafone UK as the finance director in the year 2001 and became the CEO of the Vodafone group in 2018.
Ravinder Takkar
In India, Ravinder Takkar is the MD & CEO of Vodafone-Idea. He was the Ex- CEO of Vodafone Romania.
Vodafone – Startup Story
Based in Newbury in the United Kingdom, Vodafone has been offering its services since 1985. Vodafone’s story dates back to 1981. British Electronics company Racal Electronics and American company Millicom Inc joined hands to bid jointly for UK’s second cellular radio license. The joint venture between the two companies was named Racal-Millicom Ltd. In December 1982, Racal-Millicom Ltd. was successful in earning the second Mobile phone network license of the UK.
The Network was named Vodafone as the network lets its users transfer voice and data over the mobile phones. Racal-Vodafone (Holdings) Ltd became the holding company of Vodafone replacing Racal-Millicom Ltd. Racal held the majority shares in Racal-Vodafone (Holdings) Ltd. Meanwhile, Racal’s radio division earlier called Racal Strategic Radio was renamed Racal Telecommunication group limited.
In December 1986, Racal Electronics bought the entire shares of Vodafone from the minority shareholders, and thus Racal became the sole owner of the Vodafone brand.
In September 1988, Racal Telecommunication group limited was renamed Racal Telecom. In October 1988, when Racal Telecom went public, it came out that Racal Telecom was valued much more than its parent company Racal Electronics. This led to the de-merger of Racal Telecom from Racal Electronics, and Racal Telecom was renamed again as the Vodafone Group. Gerry Whent became the first CEO of Vodafone Group.
Vodafone – Mission and Vision
Vodafone’s mission statement says, “To connect for a better future and our expertise and scale gives us a unique opportunity to drive positive change for society.”
Vodafone’s vision is, “To be the communications leader in an increasingly connected world and to enrich our customer’s lives through the unique power of mobile communication.”
Vodafone – India
Vodafone India (previously Vodafone Essar Ltd, Huchison Essar Ltd) is the Indian subsidiary of the UK-based Vodafone Group plc and a telecommunications service provider in India, having its operating headquarters in Mumbai. Vodafone India has a market share of 21% as of March 2018, and after merging with Idea, the Vodafone Idea network now has around 375 million members, making it India’s third-biggest cellular mobile provider.
The advent of Jio in the Indian telecom business in 2016 prompted a flurry of mergers and corporate restructuring. In March 2017, it was reported that Idea Cellular and Vodafone India will be consolidated. In July 2018, the Department of Telecommunications approved the merger. The Vodafone-Idea merger received final approval from the National Company Law Tribunal on August 30, 2018. On August 31, 2018, the merger was finalized, and the newly formed company was named Vodafone Idea Limited.
As per September 2021 data, Vodafone Idea Limited is the third-largest mobile communication network in India on the basis of the number of subscribers. The Vodafone Group owns 45.2 percent of the merged firm, the Aditya Birla Group owns 26 percent, and the remaining shares are held by the general public.
Vodafone is well known as a mobile service provider, but there are many more categories that Vodafone has entered into. Vodafone offers broadband and wifi services. Another popular service is Vodafone TV. Vodafone TV has been designed to offer an all-round entertainment option to the viewers. On Vodafone TV, viewers can access live TV, Video on Demand and can also access platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. Vodafone TV comes with attractive features like Ultra HD picture quality, intelligent voice search and smart replay of games, etc.
Vodafone released Vodafone 360, a new internet provider for mobile, PC, and Mac, in October 2009. After low hardware sales, this was canceled in December 2011. This followed the resignation of the Director of Internet Services in September 2010, who tweeted, “5 days until I leave Vodafone, freedom beckons.” Vodafone launched, Vodafone 150, which is the world’s cheapest mobile phone, in February 2010. Vodafone intended to sell ‘Vodafone 150’ for less than $15 (£10) in underdeveloped countries. It began in India, Turkey, and eight African countries, including Lesotho, Kenya, and Ghana.
Some other services offered by Vodafone are –
Payment through mobile phone – Safaricom, Kenya’s biggest mobile communication operator and a Vodafone joint venture, released Vodafone-developed digital payments software in March 2007. M-PESA, Kenya’s mobile money transfer service, had 1.6 million users by February 2008. By 2011, there were fourteen million M-Pesa accounts, with 40% of the country’s savings saved in them. Vodafone launched a global collaboration with Visa in February 2012.
Health Services – Vodafone launched a newly developing market sector in November 2009 (the application of mobile communications and network technologies to healthcare). Several of its early accomplishments is the Novartis-led “SMS for Life” project in Tanzania, for which Vodafone designed and developed a message-based system that allows all of Tanzania’s 4,600 public healthcare facilities to report their levels of anti-malarial medications so that accurate inventory data can be seen centrally in legitimately, allowing for quick and efficient re-supply of stock.
Vodafone Foundation – With the tagline “Connecting for Good,” the Vodafone Foundation is a well-known charity that supports and initiates programs that employ mobile technology as a means to assist the needy. They frequently collaborate with other philanthropic organizations.
Vodafone – Business Model and Revenue Model
Various economic variables have an influence on the industry’s enterprises, including high infrastructure costs, price wars in various market forces, and enmeshed mobile telephony sector, and government restrictions. Government laws, such as the recent Vodafone-Hutch transaction, which the Indian government sanctioned for tax evasion. Vodafone uses a mix of segmentation tactics to divide its mobile network services, enterprise services, and internet services. It makes use of geographic, demographic, and psychographic segmentation.
Coming to Vodafone’s revenue model, a huge chunk of Vodafone’s revenue comes from selling mobile data, voice, financial services, and messaging services to individual and enterprise customers. Vodafone also makes money by offering various other services like cloud and hosting, cyber security solutions, remote working solutions, IoT related services and more to the enterprise customers. As per 2019- 20 reports, the company is aiming to diversify its revenue streams further in segments like financial services, IoT, digital services and enterprise.
As per some reports, Vodafone’s mobile networks, which allow consumers to call, text, and download files, account for about 70% of its revenues and even more of its earnings. Fixed-line services, which include internet, TV, and voice, make for the majority of the remaining revenue.
Vodafone – Investments
Vodafone has made 25 investments in total. Below are some of the recent investments made by Vodafone.
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
Apr 7, 2021
AST SpaceMobile
Post-IPO-Equity
$230M
Jan 20, 2021
FifthIngenium
Convertible Note
€470K
Mar 3, 2020
AST SpaceMobile
Series B
$110M
Aug 1, 2016
DAZL
Seed Round
$10.5K
Jun 30, 2016
Fight The Stroke
Seed Round
–
Jul 27, 2015
Cognia
Venture Round
–
Jun 22, 2015
LINKX
Seed Round
€30K
Jun 22, 2015
Mentelity
Grant
€30K
Jun 22, 2015
Jobtease
Seed Round
€30K
Jun 22, 2015
Puffer
Seed Round
€30K
Vodafone – Acquisitions
Vodafone has acquired 32 organizations. Some recent acquisitions made by Vodafone are –
Acquiree Name
About Acquiree
Date
Amount
GrandCentrix
GrandCentrix develops and provides a platform for suppliers of interactive mobile value-added services
Nov 18, 2019
–
Liberty Global
Liberty Global is an international cable company providing television, broadband internet, and telephony services.
Jul 31, 2019
$21.3B
Hellas Online
Hellas Online is one of the leading Greek fixed-line telephony services providers based in Athens
Aug 22, 2014
€72.7M
Cobra Automotive Technologies
Cobra Automotive Technologies design, development, manufacture and marketing of electronic systems.
Aug 1, 2014
–
The Cobra Group
The Cobra Group is an Electronics company.
Jun 16, 2014
€145M
ONO
Communications and Entertainment
Mar 17, 2014
€7.2M
Kabel Deutschland
Kabel Deutschland is the largest cable television operator in Germany.
Jun 24, 2013
$10.4B
Complete Telecom
Complete Telecom provides network infrastructure, converged networks, and metro and WAN bandwidth solutions.
Oct 1, 2012
–
Cable & Wireless Worldwide
Cable & Wireless Worldwide is a global telecommunications company.
Apr 23, 2012
–
Bluefish Communications
Consulting and Professional Services
Dec 1, 2011
–
Vodafone – Growth
Year
Revenue
Percentage Increase/Decrease From previous Year
2021
$51.169B
+2.32%
2020
$50.011B
-1.1%
2019
$50.565B
-18.16%
Vodafone – Competitors
Vodafone’s top global competitors are : AT&T, BT, Orange, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Telstra, Tata Communications, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Liberty Global and Telefonica Colombia.
Vodafone’s business will almost certainly continue to be hampered by tough regulatory frameworks and adverse demographic trends in its major European countries, particularly in Spain and Italy, which account for over 25% of revenues and have some of the weaker fundamentals.
Meanwhile, Vodafone’s capital allocation history does not bode well for the company’s M&A (Merger & Acquisition)plan. Since 2009, Vodafone has incurred more than $50 billion in impairment charges, which reflect the fact that an acquired asset is currently worth less than what Vodafone paid for it.
Vodafone is one of the major telecommunications businesses in the world, having a strong presence in its main European countries. However, due to its increased fragmentation and fewer business-friendly authorities, this is a challenging region to compete in when compared to America.
In light of Vodafone’s need to continue deleveraging and invest substantially in 5G, cautious income investors may choose to avoid the stock in favor of more stable telecom companies like Verizon (VZ), which have more obvious routes to profitable long-term development.
In India, Vodafone is burdened by huge dues. In total Vodafone Idea has total debt of ₹1.92 trillion, which includes AGR dues, Spectrum-related dues, and bank loans. Stiff competition from reliance JIO is another major challenge Vodafone (Currently Vodafone Idea) is facing in India.
Vodafone – Future Plans
In the March quarter, Vodafone Idea recorded a net loss of Rs 7,022 crore and net debt of Rs 1.7 lakh crore.
“Financial performance has impacted its ability to generate the cash flow that it needs to settle/refinance its liabilities and guarantees as they fall due,” the company said, “which, combined with its financial condition, is resulting in material uncertainty that casts significant doubt on the Company’s ability to make the payments mentioned therein and continue as a going concern.”
Vodafone Idea stated in a statement that it is undertaking 5G testing in the cities of Pune and Gandhinagar, utilizing spectrum authorized by the government.
With its equipment partners in Gandhinagar and Pune, the telecom claimed to have reached peak download rates of 1.5 Gbps utilizing the 3.5 GHz spectrum.
Jagbir Singh, CTO at Vodafone Idea, said, “We are pleased with the speed and latency results in the initial stages of the 5G trials on the government allocated 5G spectrum bands. Having established a robust 4G network pan-India, delivering fastest 4G speeds and a 5G-ready network, we are now testing the next generation 5G technology to be able to bring a truly digital experience for enterprises and consumers in India, in the future.”
However, despite all its efforts, ‘Vodafone Idea’ is not in a good position in India. As expressed by Vodafone Group CEO Nick Read, the company has no plans to infuse fresh funds into the ‘Vodafone-Idea’ Venture.
In its fiscal Q4 and full 2021 earnings statement, Vodafone Group stated that it will focus on growing as “a new generation connectivity and digital services provider” for Europe and Africa.
The Covid 19 pandemic has proved yet again that connectivity and digital services are crucial to society and Vodafone Group is ready to grab the opportunities that the Covid situation has created in the field of connectivity and digitization.
As per Vodafone CEO Read, the company is targeting revenue growth and disciplined capital allocation. It is also working on bringing down operating costs by 20% across its European and central Units by the end of the financial year 2023.
Vodafone – FAQs
What does Vodafone do?
Vodafone (based in Newbury, the United Kingdom) is a telecommunication services firm that provides phone, text, and data services via mobile and fixed networks, as well as fixed broadband and television services, cloud and hosting, internet protocol-virtual private network services, roaming, and unified communications services.
Who founded Vodafone?
Vodafone was founded by Ernest Harrison and Gerry Whent in 1985.
When was Vodafone founded?
Vodafone was founded by Ernest Harrison and Gerry Whent in 1985.
How does Vodafone make money?
Vodafone’s mobile networks, which allow consumers to call, text, and download files, account for about 70% of its revenues and even more of its earnings. Fixed-line services, which include internet, TV, and voice, make for the majority of the remaining revenue.
Which companies do Vodafone compete with?
Vodafone’s top global competitors are : AT&T, BT, Orange, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Telstra, Tata Communications, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Liberty Global and Telefonica Colombia.
Vodafone’s top competitors in India are Bhart Airtel, Reliance Jio, Tata Communications, etc.
ATHUL C K
Anurag Gade
