Psychology helps a business to flourish if it is used in a proper way. One has to affect their audience in such a way, that they become compelled to use their product and services. From building a good workspace to attracting consumers, psychology can play a huge part in doing so. Here, we are going to talk about one effect that involves people’s minds in such a way that is interesting and fascinating as well. In this article, we will learn about the Mandela effect and how it works in the business. The first thing we need to know is the concept of the Mandela effect, so letâs get started.
Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.
The Mandela Effect is a situation where a large group of people remember something that is completely opposite of what actually happened. It doesnât include one, two, or just a group of people but a huge mass of humans, who have a false memory of an event.
Origin of The Mandela Effect
The term came into existence when paranormal researcher Fiona Broome created a website where she shared her experience of a memory where believed former South African President Nelson Mandela died while being in prison in the 1980s.
While in reality, Mandela after serving 27 years in prison becomes the President in 1994 and lived till 2013. In spite of all this, she claimed, that she remembered an International news coverage that states the death of Mandela in the 1980s. Not only that she found other people who also had the same false memory. As this thing deals with Nelson Mandela, she termed it the Mandela effect.
Features of Mandela Effect
The first and foremost thing that one should understand is that it is not about lying, faking, or any kind of deception. It is all about having a clear but false memory. Some of the features of the Mandela effect are down below:
Having distorted memories that are not at all truth but believing them to be one.
Having memories of events that have never happened in reality.
Having other people who shared the same false memories.
Causes of Mandela Effect
Some of the causes of the Mandela effect are:
False Memories- This is about recollections of some events that are mostly untrue or events that closely resemble an actual situation. This can happen if there is some personal or emotional biasedness.
Confabulation- Doctors states that here people create a false memory to fill up the void of missing memory and this is not done to deceive someone.
Parallel Universe- This is another theory that states the Mandela effect is the memories of a situation that never happened in real life and this effect comes under procedure when our alternative reality or parallel universe interacts with each other.
Priming- It basically means suggestibility, it influences a personâs memory. Thus, sometimes people without hearing the full sentence assume what their mind is suggesting.
Examples of Mandela Effect
Some of the examples of Mandela Effects are:
Play it again, Sam
In a Hollywood film called âCasablancaâ, people heard a Character Rick saying âPlay it again, Samâ, while in reality, another character Elsa said, âPlay it, Samâ.
Mirror mirror on the wall
In Snow White and the Seven Dwarf, thereâs a line that says âMagic mirror on the wallâ. But most people remember the line as âMirror mirror on the wallâ.
Luke, I am your father
In Star Wars: Episode V, people claim that there is a line âLuke, I am your fatherâ, but in reality, the line is âNo, I am your fatherâ.
How Mandela Effect Affects Business?
If something like Mandela effects happens in a company then the order of the business can get disturbed, which may lead to serious problems for the businesses. It includes a missed deadline, products not delivered to the correct place, or the wrong way of making a product. It will definitely create a bad image of the company in front of its consumers.
How To Avoid Mandela Effect in Your Office?
There are some ways that can be followed to avoid the Mandela effect and will help you in the smooth functioning of your office and they are:
Listen well, when someone is speaking
With our minds always being busy, we tend to complete othersâ sentences in our minds while they are not done with speaking. This habit needs to be changed, when someone is speaking, listen carefully and avoid interrupting, and of course use small verbal encouragements like âhmmâ, âyesâ or nod your head, it is a symbol that youâve understood what they are trying to say.
Use follow-ups
Takedown notes while having a meeting about any assignments or any other important things and send them into emails of employees. This way it will help in clearing doubts if anyone has them regarding the work. Not only that, but you can also ask the different employees to take notes whenever there is a meeting regarding assignments or something else. This will help improve their listening power.
Encourage your employees to write weekly reports about the goals that they have achieved in a week, this way you can avoid the Mandela effect as it will help you in clearing any possible error or doubts your employees have.
Mandela effect can create confusion in business which may lead to losses and problems, including internal and external. This effect can be avoided if one takes care of the environment and follows all those ways to avoid the effect in the office that can disrupt the business.
FAQ
What is Mandela Effect?
It is a phenomenon where a huge mass of people remember some event or a situation that is totally different from how it has occurred.
How Mandela Effect affects business?
Mandela effect can cause a missed deadline, products not delivered to the correct place, or the wrong way of making a product.
What is an example of the Mandela Effect?
In a Hollywood film called âCasablancaâ, people heard a Character Rick saying âPlay it again, Samâ, while in reality, another character Elsa said, âPlay it, Samâ.
Has Facebook stepped into the banking sector? Will they be renamed for their new venture? Is there any other type of loans and services they provide? A lot of such questions popped up as soon as their announcement of the âSmall Business Loans Initiativeâ came out. However, it is important to note here that even in the past couple of years, Facebook has offered such loans or credit grants to small businesses around the world. They wanted to make it easy for SMBs to secure a loan quickly in times of need. India became the first country for Facebook to launch this âSmall Business Loans Initiativeâ programme, which was launched on August 20, 2021. Read further to know about Facebookâs new loan initiative and the reason for its commitment to it.
Small Business Loan Initiative is a new initiative taken by Facebook partnered with Indifi, an online lending platform. Their primary vision is to provide loans to small businesses. They wanted to create an accessible and easy way for SMBs to take a loan without much delay in the process. Businesses that are attached/listed on Facebook, will have the eligibility to apply for this loan.
Though Facebook is leading this initiative, it does not directly involve in the entire process. Fixing the eligibility criteria, processing loans, risks in repayment are all borne by the lending partner. Facebook, on the other side, creates awareness of this programme and formulates regulatory frameworks for this business. It serves as a bridge to connect SMBs with lending partners. India is the first country where Facebook launched this initiative in August 2021. This facility is available to businesses across 200+ cities and towns in India so far.
Components and Benefits of Loan Initiative Programme
Here’s a look at some of the key features of the loan programme:
Loan Amount: Facebook business loan for small business initiative offers the businesses a loan amount ranging from Rs 5 lac-50 lac, which is based on the business requirements. As the majority of the traditional business lenders often shy away from lending money to businesses nowadays, the Facebook loan initiative would certainly be a boon thereby solving the problem of the business capital.
A Quick Process and Collateral-Free: The applicants can apply for this loan online and it won’t even be needing collateral. Furthermore, the application process is really fast and simple. Once it is approved, the loan would be disbursed within three working days.
Fixed-rate of interest: The Facebook-backed business loan boasts of a fixed interest rate between 17%-20% annually. Notwithstanding, the loan amount, which might be anything between 5 lacs and 50 lacs, the rate of interest is capped the same.
Provision for the women: The businesses that are owned entirely or in part by women are allowed special concessions. This would mean a 0.2% reduction in the rate of interest. This initiative is designed to motivate more entrepreneurs in the time upcoming.
Quick Support: After the application, the users would be confirmed for the approval of the loan within one working day. After that, they would easily be able to find out the status of the loan by calling the customer service department of Indifi.
No processing fee: The Facebook loan initiative for small businesses does not require any processing fees.
Collateral-free: The loan initiative programme that has Facebook partnering with Indifi will not need any collateral security against the amount lent.
Why Facebook started giving Business Loans in India?
Facebook’s Business Loan Initiative in India
Facebook has conducted a survey in 2020 with OECD and World Bank, to analyze the challenges faced by Small and Midsize Business (SMB) sectors. The outcome of the survey was the reason for the birth of the âSmall Business Loans Initiativeâ. Here are the reasons why:
The survey showed that the major factors affecting Small and Midsized Businesses are Capital and Cashflow. Timely requirement of Capital is necessary for the efficient and smooth functioning of the businesses.
Most SMBs expressed their concern about the time taken to obtain credits from financial institutions.
So, Facebook along with Indifi has taken these issues into its own hands. They provide loans to businesses that advertise through Facebook.
Under this programme, SMBs can receive credits in less than five days.
It is evident that Small Businesses are going to push Indiaâs financial and economic sectors. Facebook acknowledged it by saying that they are doing this for the economic growth of our country.
In the words of Ajit Mohan, Facebook Indiaâs CEO, âWe’re not looking to make money from this programme and we don’t have any revenue share. But we are hoping, this creates growth in the economy that will eventually benefit usâ.
Facebook just serves as a platform to provide loans through Indifi. This retrieves the businesses from their constraints caused due to lockdown.
Other initiatives by Facebook
Small Grants Programme was launched by Facebook in 2020. Through this, they contributed a $100 million dollar grant to SMBs across the world. This programme was launched in more than 30 countries. This was to support the SMBs that were suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Small and Midsized business is the major occupant of the Indian business sector. They constitute roughly 63.4 million units spread across the country. They contribute to 6.11% of manufacturing GDP, 24,62% of the service sectorâs GDP. They also contribute an enormous 33.4% towards Indiaâs manufacturing output.
Such a huge sector, when affected largely, has an adverse effect on an economy. As a result, Indiaâs GDP for the year 2020-21, has fallen by 7.3%. India hasnât faced such a huge drop in GDP in 68 years.
Most of the SMBs operate regionally. They require capital for their day-to-day operations. The lockdown implemented across the country was the reason for their steep downfall. When they returned to business, there was no capital to invest. Facebook identified their issue and addressed it at the right time through the âSmall Business Loans Initiativeâ.
Indifi is an online financial lender that was started to provide business loans to small businesses operating in India. They serve with a motto âWe Help Small Businesses Thriveâ. They stand true to their words by taking all necessary measures towards SMBs development.
It is an Indian company started by Alok Mittal in the year 2015. They provide financial services to diverse business entities like travel, e-commerce, hospitality, retail, etc., Indifi serves to be the first lending partner to be associated with Facebook.
Conclusion
Facebook has taken measures to promote the countryâs economy through various initiatives. It has promised to do more in the future. With these tech giants investing in the business sectors, it is going to be a boon for SMBs and as a result to Indiaâs economy. It’s the right time for Small Businesses to capitalize on the opportunities showered on them.
FAQs
Has Facebook launched the Small Business Loans initiative in India?
Facebook India partnered with Indifi, an online lending platform to provide business loans to small businesses.
What is the loan amount offered by Facebook Small Business Loan Initiative?
Facebook Small Business Loan Initiative offers loans from 5 lakhs to 50 lakhs for small businesses.
What is the interest charged on loans through Facebook Small Business Loan Initiative?
Loans by Facebook for small businesses are offered at interest rates of 17% to 19%.
The world has about 775 crore people living on its surface. If you look at the population graph, you will notice a straight line facing the sky. The rate at which the population is growing makes a steep graph.
The world is divided into continents and countries. Most people live in china. China is the most populous country in the world. In fact, China has been the most populous for a long time now. When we write âfor a long time, it means centuries. The first census showed the Chinese population at 583 million and by the fifth census, it had risen to double at 1.2 billion. The Chinese population now has crossed a mark of 1.4 billion people. It also covers most geographical time zones after that of Russia. This means that the country is not just big in population but also huge in the area.
A big country like that of China needs a lot of products and services. They need a lot of goods to meet the needs of people residing in that country. Some of the goods can be imported and the rest have to be produced in the home country. In fact, most goods that they canât import or the goods that are not economical to import, they have to manufacture by themselves.
Not to mention that China is one of the cheapest labour countries out there. In this article, we are gonna cover the economy of this country. We will discuss what comprises the most in this economy and what are its driving factors. Read on to know more about the second-biggest economy in the world.
China or the Republic of China (official name) is a country in East Asia. As we mentioned earlier it is the biggest, in terms of population. It contains the largest number of people than any country. This country also spans and covers most geographical time zones after Russia.
The country has 23 provinces, 4 municipalities, 5 autonomous regions and 2 SARs (Special administrative regions). The capital of China is Beijing. The largest city in China, which is also the financial centre, is Shanghai. In terms of technological and innovative approaches, the city of Shenzhen tops the chart in this country.
China at its inception emerged as one of the very first civilisations. It was the fertile land basin of a river named Yellow that marked its beginning. After the civilization boom, China also emerged as one of the first economically strong countries. Their time as a strong economic power also remained for almost most of the two millennia (thousand years).
Also, the political system of this country is based on monarchies. It has been this way for almost a thousand years (Millenia). This means that for those many years, Chinaâs political system was controlled by rulers and then their heirs and then their heirs. This is what we call an absolute hereditary monarchy. This system of political control began from the âXia dynasty in about the 21st Century BCE. Moreover, since then the country of China has seen multiple expansions, fractions and re-unities.
China: The Culture
The culture of such a big country is expected to be special and unique. Since very ancient times, the culture has been heavily influenced by the philosophy of Confucianism. Which is a tenet in philosophy. This is also known as a truism and inspires people to live a humanistic, rationalistic and very simple life.
The culture there in the past also offered examinations, tests. Those exams were to be passed by a person to get a highly prestigious and better status in society. This is one of the reasons why China has a long history of writing and calligraphy. In fact, calligraphy, writing poetry and painting are more celebrated than other forms of art like dancing or dramatics. Its culture also inspires people to be diving deep into the lanes of history to know about their past. This also invokes the trait of an inward-looking behaviour of Chinese people in the past, this ran at a national level of thought process.
China: The Economy
It is an aforementioned fact that China is big and has a lot of people. It has to cater to about 1.4 billion people for its sustenance. This really marks that the economy must be big and effective. However, this is not as easy as it seems.
Even though China is the largest in terms of population, we cannot really say that it is the biggest when it comes to the economy. It is second in terms of magnitude just after the United States. It is important to note that economies are weighed in terms of GDPs. GDP stands for the gross domestic product. That is in simpler terms, the sum total of all the valuable products or services that a country produces in a financial year.
According to the GDPs, in the pandemic year 2020, China is seen to have the second-largest GDP in the world. Here are the top five countries according to the GDP ranks.
Highest-ranking countries in the world in nominal GDP
When we talk in terms of GDP, we measure it in dollars. We can also notice that China may be the second largest in GDP but it is the largest in terms of PPP.
PPP stands for purchasing power parity. PPP is a popular macroeconomic analysis metric that is used to compare economic productivity and standards of living between countries in purchasing power. The theory follows a theory known as the âBasket of goodsâ for comparing the purchasing power of different countries.
China tops the list when we see through the lens of purchasing power parity. This shows us the fact that even if the Chinese economy is the second-largest, the citizens of China are better in purchasing power and economic productivity than that most countries. Please note that PPP here does not mean a paycheck protection program, made by the CARES Act.
Chinaâs growth rate (In annual terms) is displacing that of the United States of America. Many think that Chinaâs rate will overtake the United States in terms of Nominal GDP too in the upcoming years. Donât get scared of the terminology âNominal GDPâ. Nominal GDP is a form of GDP that is in the current rates, without accounting for the effect of inflation on the GDP. So, this is a GDP at the current market price.
There are many reasons for china that made this country get this spot of a top tier pacer in the economic race. We will discuss more in a second. But let us get some overview, China has progressively opened its economy with the whole world, continuously for more than forty years. This reveals a good reason why its economy is on a paced growth and why the standards of people there have been improving vastly.
The Chinese government has gradually phased out collectivised agriculture too. It means the type of agriculture in which multiple farmers can hold land and share workloads of the agriculture activity. Thus, it helps in sharing Profits and losses among farmers and makes farming a little more smooth sailing.
Collectivised farming has also boosted flexibility for market prices and increased the autonomy of businesses. When a countryâs agriculture is doing well, it can then pay more attention to the industrial sector and thus Chinaâs domestic and foreign trade magnitudes are also rising at a good rate of growth.
By far we have discussed China and its economy. We have seen that it is a rapidly growing economy with such a behemoth sort of population. This might interest you in how this big country is fostering growth with such a huge number of people and how it is able to raise citizens’ standard of living. This is the part of the article where we discuss the reasons for such growth in China. How it is becoming, what it is becoming and what are the main drivers of growth for this economy.
The Manufacturing Hub of the world
China, if you donât know, is the manufacturing hub of the world. If you are using a product that is sold by a brand or even a local product then it is a good possibility that the product would be manufactured in China.
Yes, look around yourself. Your favourite Apple products are assembled in china, your favourite Converse or Nike sneakers are made in China, and most things that you can think of are manufactured in China. Do you ask for a reason? The reason is obviously cheap labour.
With such a big population, China has some special benefits over any other country in the world. It can provide a good basis for cheap labour. For that one reason, it has emerged as the global capital of manufacturing items.
Besides its large hands on the textile industry, the economy also is big on machinery, processing of food items, Cement for infrastructure, consumer goods and many many more fields.
Moreover, China is not a huge hub only for domestic manufacturing plants, it also caters to the needs of foreign companies to come and manufacture there or assemble items. Famous examples may include Apple. Apple designs their products in California and they are assembled in China. Adding to this, The Chinese software and IT industry grew by over 14.2% from 2018 to 2019, generating revenue of approximately $940 billion.
Apple Factory in China
Heavy Focus on Industries
Another reason which makes this country a big economy is its industries. As any normal developing country, China knows that for growing its economy, it needs to pay attention to the industries that are set in its territory. So they focus extensively on that.
China is a super friendly nation when it comes to industries wanting to set up manufacturing plants there. Results of which are the fact that China is the world’s biggest steel manufacturer. This shows a strong will of steel.
The Chinese government began opening up the economy for the whole world in 1978. Which is also known as globalisation. So it began its reforms for economic development under the leader named Deng Xiaoping. That was a turning point in the history of this big country, after the reforms it went on to become the fastest-growing major country globally.
According to a report, the growth rates were averaging 10% over 30 years. China also has three of the ten largest stock exchanges in India. They are located in prime cities like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. They are big in terms of market capitalisation and trading volume. All these factors establish that China is an industrial hub.
The Medicines industry
Abbreviated as Pharmaceutical industry. China has one of the best, state of the art medical supply chains. The growth trends in this industry copy the whole of China. It grows almost as China grows, which is rapid. China had the second-largest pharmaceutical market in the world as of 2017.
The pharmaceutical industry follows the same structure as most of the world. They have manufacturers at the top and then middlemen or distributors and then retail stores communicate directly to the general public. However, the global share of China’s medicines is seen less. With a big population, it is forecasted to grow even more and is still one of the biggest in terms of scale.
The Populationâs Demand-pull
As mentioned earlier, China is very populous. Which makes it a generator of huge demands. Brands all over the world try to target this demand to get some share of this market. So this has become one of the most important drivers of economic growth for that country. It is a consumer paradise with all types of demands for goods, be it normal or luxury items.
China has some of the biggest shopping malls in the world. They, not to mention, stimulate growth in a good direction. The retail lines of China contributed about 1.8 trillion dollars to the Gross domestic product.
China Global Center Mall
China is also the home to the E-Commerce giant Alibaba. It is responsible for giving a lasting boost to the already big consumerism in China. A report said that Alibaba on a shopping festival achieved something sort of called a miraculous sale. It touched a sales record of 540.3 billion Yuan (it is about 84.5 billion dollars), which is a huge record for such a huge country. This gave a much-needed boost to the consumer sector. Even today it is one of the benchmarks for sales all over the world.
Alibaba Logo
Tourism and travel is also big sector in China. It reportedly contributed 992 billion dollars to the Chinese GDP in the year 2019. Other sectors that are the prime demand pullers are transportation, construction and estate.
What can go wrong with China?
China, however big it may seem from the outside, can go weak from the inside. There can be many premises on which the country is not doing well. For example, China uses a lot of Non-renewable resources to produce power, electricity. The population needs it and the shift in this sector seems impossible. This marks the country as a huge member of the world’s pollution and a big emitter of greenhouse gases.
As we discussed previously, the China government is a monarch at its core. This makes enough space for corruption. The government is however trying to curb corruption and make the country more flexible and friendly for the worldâs businesses. This can take time and if not done correctly can leave a bad impression on the image of China. This problem is not just one faced. It is a multifaceted problem, as it can lead to fewer industries in China and thus low employment rates in the country.
Speaking of that, China also faces the problem of unemployment. It needs to place people with enough skillsets for employment. Which is also a big deal in a country as big as China.
In addition to the political and the internal housing issue, one more issue lurks there. The recent downward trend of the labour industry. This means that China is slowly losing the crown of the cheapest labour in the world. The reason for this can be inflation and the digitalised working models and economy. China is losing its position to other cheap labour countries like Pakistan, India etcetera. For India, it is good news but if China has to retain its manufacturing position then it needs to be more ready for this changing technological world.
As we discussed above, China is a big country with a huge population and big demands. It is important to note that it, obviously, also has some cracks. Some cracks in the economy that are not severe but if not cured could sink a big ship.
The recent Evergrande fail was one such big example of how things can go wrong. China has seen real estate bubbles in its history too. The previous bubble burst and hit the whole worldâs market, more recently the Evergrande crisis made the investors scared of investing in China.
It is a good point to say that âWith great powers comes great responsibilitiesâ. China has a load of the most people on the globe, which can be overwhelming to the government. In these times of pandemic, the future remains random and uncertain.
The fact that the Covid 19 pandemic originated from the heart of China also is affecting the Chinese economy in the wrong manner. It has defamed China in some sense. This is the reason that some industries are looking to shift base to developing countries like India.
For China, it remains a tough call to tackle a pandemic and the future of its economy. Again, it is not supposed to be easy to handle such a big and populous economy.
FAQ
Is China a developed country?
Yes, China is one of the largest developing countries in the world.
What is China’s GDP?
The gross domestic product (GDP) of China is around 14.87 trillion U.S. dollars as of 2020.
Is China the fastest growing economy?
Yes, China ranks second in the world’s fastest-growing economy.
Real-life can be boring. If you are someone who is a student, or a working professional, life can be pretty repetitive. Thus, not only students and employees, everyone is looking for a fun way to go through the day. We try to find a good escape from time to time. This is an article about the most famous escape that people follow to get through their hours.
Moreover, as computers are getting smaller and smaller, almost to the size of our palms. We can see a surge in mobile gamers as well. This slope is likely not to go down with time, it has only risen from the past. Go to YouTube and search any game, you will see a plethora of streamers making their content around games. This is how creators go on about making their brand.
If you Google, what is the average age in India, you will get the result as 28.4 years. This tells us that India is a supremely youthful nation. Youngblood is known to have a new way of looking at things. As they occupy the most population, we can see a large number of people, who are rethinking career options. Traditional careers are a thing of the past now.
Gaming is Fun
Come on, I didnât think much before writing this point. Gaming is fun. How many of us have played Mario, Contra, or Road rash in our childhood. Who does not know about Pacman? even grandmas know about Candy Crush.
You must be living under a rock in a village if you havenât heard about these names before. The fact that gaming is fun, makes it accessible to all of the generations. If you are 5 or your age is 55, games will find a soft spot in your heart. They are the perfect water for quenching your adrenaline rush.
The Required Technological Boost
India is bullish on the tech revolution. This is actually an understatement, as it is already happening. We all are seeing a boom in the tech sector. As the boom rises on many scales it is seen that tech is becoming more and more accessible. As I say accessible, I also mean that technology is getting economical and cheaper for everyone. This leaves people with more tech in their hands, and with more time comes more games. Thus, more gamers.
Gaming as a Profitable Business
Gaming is not just a harmless time pass, it is an extremely profitable business too. It is so profitable that it is regarded as having more dense profits than the global box office and global music business. Let us discuss the past and present of this field. Then we will ascertain if this is a viable career option or not. Read on to know.
The History of the Gaming Industry
The history of video games started as early as the 1950s. They were at the very inception were just seen as a recreational activity. Computer engineers made them kill time. One such engineer and inventor thought of lifting the whole game by making these games mainstream. His name was Ralph Baer.
Ralph Baer
Baer is considered the inventor of video games, especially the concept of TV consoles. He one day started to think about the possibility of playing games on a television screen. As television sets were becoming more affordable in his home country, Baer saw an opportunity. An opportunity to make games more than just time pass. To give them the honour that they deserve, according to him. He always wanted games to be in the mainstream rather than on the sidelines of everyday life.
He used to work at an American defence company when he got the idea. It was just another fantasy at that time. Baer was serious and stepped up to invent something for the first time. He made a brown box. Well, not so ordinary brown box but a gaming TV console. Being the first of its kind, people went frenzy over it. Now, the box may seem pretty simple but back then it was the best thing for somebody to own. It launched its first game named âMagnavox Odysseyâ. 130,000 units were sold in its very first 12 months.
Magnavox Odyssey
From the year 1972 to 1981, more or less about ten different consoles were being traded in the market. Each of them was inspired by the first console ever âthe brown boxâ. Famous names popped in the market like – Atari, Farichild channel F, Bally Astrocade, Mattel Intellivision, and the likes.
This was the time when the gaming market was booming to the brim. This happened also to be the time when Nintendo entered this hot market. Nintendo came and took the market by storm with a legendary game called âMarioâ. Nintendo before that was purely focused on playing cards but then shifted its main focus to the video gaming industry. Mario was the game that took the whole market by a tornado. It instantly became a fashion among young people, to collect Mario cassettes.
Every company was trying to get a slice of the cake of the video gaming industry. Microsoft added games to its windows, Sony jumped into the scenario too, with PlayStation. PlayStation is the most sold gaming console in the whole world, with over 430 million in sales.
In 2019 the gaming industry at the global level was marked at a valuation of 151 billion dollars. That is literally 7 times the GDP of Afghanistan. In the pandemic year 2020, nearly 2.7 billion people were into gaming, that is a good chunk of the whole population.
Not only that, games are not just personal time-passes now. It is a national time pass now, yes, we do have gaming world cups. First held in 2019, with an audience of 23,000. The prize of that Fortnite World Cup was 3 Million dollars, which in every sense is pretty huge.
Fortnite World Cup
Gamers are celebrated as celebrities, they have a fan following of thousands and even millions. Moreover, they are just teenagers and young adults. In this age, having a fan following in millions is a huge milestone in itself. Not only people, Brands to are going frenzy over deals. They are tapping into game development companies to make characters that promote brand names.
Brands like Adidas, Puma, Louis Vuitton have collaborated with game makers to make characters exclusive wearing their signature suits. This proves how rooted and widespread this industry has become.
Adidas Collaboration with Popular Fortnite Youtuber – Ninja
Then too, games are not even leaving the movie and film space, they are woven into stories and made into films for fans all over the world. Movies like Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil, Need For Speed, Tekken etc. are blockbusters to name a few. Movies like these do very well with gamers and to add to the spice, it increases game sales revenue.
India has not grown into a hub yet but is showing signs of untapped potential. Despite being a young nation, we have not yet made expected space in this domain. According to a report, there were about 120 million gamers online in 2016 and on average each spent 42 minutes every single day on games. This really proves that India has great potential but is lagging in some sense. Right now this is not a structured industry in India. It can be and surely more or less, it will be in the future.
In our country, India, gamers mostly are skewed to the content side. They are more like content creators on YouTube. They mix gameplays with their commentary and pop culture references to fetch some subscribers, which in turn make them a little famous and get them brand deals.
So again, India is not structured as we see with the lens of gaming. It is varied in dimensions and it lacks clarity. However it is always changing and refuses to be constant, it is becoming better and better. With games like Free Fire and top game brands organizing tournaments and championships, gamers are forecasted to grow. It will take some time to actually be in the line with global standards, but it is surely on the right path to it.
The Expected Future of the Gaming Industry
What the future of this industry will look like is yet to be seen and only time will tell how many other industries it will affect. It is already so big at the global level that it combines the film and music industry in it totally and completely. Indian gamers have to wait a bit on being professional gamers but if you want to work in-game building, there is enough space for you.
With tournaments and championships being hosted by brands every other day, like Free Fire, we will see surges in this space. As the Indian gaming industry goes from being unorganized to an organized sector, we will see many gamer professionals. They will be treated like athletes in future global championships and as always hopes remain high with India.
Is Gaming a Viable Career Option?
When we talk about gaming, it is not just playing but it also includes much more. Things like game building, game designing, game animation, game programming also come into subsets. All these can be a career choice and you can train in them professionally.
When it comes to people who want to play games, then the hard truth is that you need to build an audience for yourself. You need to create a name and some sort of fame for yourself. You need to work a lot on your gaming skills, not just that if you are someone who wants to face a competitive gaming field, then you have to train even harder.
A good thing is that creating an audience is much easier in this world now. You can create a YouTube channel and get going with a nice PC or a console. You can work on your branding with tools available for free online. But the main thing is that you are on your own. You need to do whatever, will enhance you as a gamer or a public figure. This way is uncertain for sure but if you can make it work its a great career option. All you need is a nice beast PC, a console and the undying will to take over the whole world, more or less.
Deriving a conclusion is hard on this topic as it is constantly evolving. Getting better and bigger not only in the worldâs top countries but in India too, which is seen as a developing country. One thing can be said with surety that India has potential. With the right direction and a little more added fuel, it can go to the stars.
Being a gamer can be hard in India but the domain has many edges, you can build games, programme them, make them big and much more. You can get professional training in all these above-mentioned fields.
FAQ
What is the gaming industry worth?
The global gaming market was valued at USD 173.70 billion in 2020.
What is the most popular gaming companies in the World?
The Biggest Video Game Companies in the World are Sony, Tencent, Nintendo, Activision Blizzard, Electronic Arts and Epic Games.
Does gaming have a future in India?
Yes, the Indian gaming industry is growing at a fast pace and is expected to generate $2 billion by 2023.
On September 22, the board of Zee Entertainment Enterprises (ZEEL) accepted a non-binding term sheet with Sony Pictures Networks India to consolidate their businesses, with Sony’s promoters investing Rs 11,615 crore ($1.57 billion) in the merged entity as growth capital, making it India’s most extensive entertainment network with approximately $2 billion in revenues and a 26% viewership share. The statement resulted in a 9.99 per cent increase in Zee stock.
Following the infusion of growth money, ZEEL shareholders own around 47 per cent of the combined company, while Sony India promoters own 53 per cent.
Zee-Sony Merger – Division of the Shares and Profits
Punit Goenka- CEO of ZEE
Based on the current anticipated equity values of ZEEL and Sony India, the stated merger ratio would have been 61.25 per cent in favour of ZEEL.
In exchange for current ZEEL backers and their affiliates pledging not to compete with the combined firm, Sony India’s promoters agreed to transfer roughly a 2% interest in the merged entity. The Subhash Chandra family would own 4% of the amalgamated business, which established India’s first private sector entertainment network, with the opportunity to grow their holding to 20%. The family liquidated their ZEEL shareholding to repay Rs 13,000 crore in loans from Indian banks for failed diversifications such as infrastructure projects.
While Sony’s promoters will have the right to appoint the majority of the board’s directors, Punit Goenka, ZEEL’s CEO and MD will lead the amalgamated firm.
The nomination compensation committee, the board of directors, and the shareholders of the combined firm must all approve Goenka’s appointment.
Sony Pictures N is attempting a deal with ZEE for the second time. SPN was one of the few shortlisted strategic investors with whom ZEE was negotiating to sell the promoters’ shareholding and infuse funds for development.
ZEE could not reach an agreement with a strategic investor in 2019 and was obliged to settle for a financial one due to a liquidity shortage. Even though most of the promoters’ debt had been paid off, the firm still needs development capital.
During the lockdown, ZEE was considering various funding possibilities, including loans, as it is a debt-free firm. However, the board of directors and promoters believe that a strategic investor will be the first choice.
According to those familiar with the situation, when the transaction with ZEE fell through owing to value issues, SPN attempted to combine with Viacom18. That contract fell through in October of last year, and SPN’s parent business began hunting for new partners, they added.
Due to the rough treatment of stockholders, the purchase was likely to face legal challenges, with the Subhash Chandra family receiving an extra 2.1 per cent stake from Sony promoters as a non-compete fee.
Zee-Sony Merger – Challenges Companies may confront
The merger conditions include a non-compete agreement between the ZEEL promoters and Sony Pictures Networks India, with the ZEEL promoters receiving an additional 2.1 per cent interest in the combined firm.
Obtaining ZEEL shareholders’ approval for the planned merger and the continuance of ZEEL’s MD and CEO as the head of the merging company for the next five years may also pose hurdles, considering the tense relationship between certain institutional owners of ZEEL and the ZEEL board.
However, the amalgamated entity’s planned structure’s board of Directors may assuage institutional shareholders’ worries. Because the Sebi Takeover Code exempts the acquisition of interest via a Scheme of Arrangement for amalgamation/merger, there will be no open offer for ZEEL shares.
The sale was accelerated when Invesco, one of ZEEL’s significant owners, requested an emergency general meeting within three weeks to remove Goenka. After proxy advice companies reported corporate governance issues in the business that ZEEL later funded, two directors, Manish Chokhani and Ashok Kurien resigned from the ZEEL board.
Zee-Sony Merger – How is it Beneficial for Both Companies?
Analysts estimate that the transaction will create a new media and entertainment powerhouse in India, with revenues of Rs 15,000 crore.
According to analysts, the deal is a strategic match since Sony is a big player in the Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) market, mainly non-fiction. Zee is strong in movies of all genres and the regional GEC area. Zee has a 17% network viewing share, whereas Sony has a 10-12% share. As a result, it would be a solid strategic match in broadcast, digital, and content.
In terms of synergies, Sony is performing well in sports and mainstream GEC, but Zee has a high recall on regional genres, which Sony has less of or none of. Sony’s foreign repertoire would be available for ZEE to exploit and monetize.
With this acquisition, ZEE Entertainment’s corporate governance issues should be resolved, boosting investor trust. Both companies have a robust film library that can be exploited for OTT and TV offerings. The combined firm will be better positioned to compete with Disney on both the distribution and advertising fronts.
According to Zee’s annual report, its network in India connects over 3,000 brands with their customers.
According to ZEEL’s aggregated figures, the company made a profit of Rs 800 crore on revenues of Rs 7,730 crore in the fiscal year ending March this year.
In March 2020, Sony Pictures Network India made a profit of Rs 976 crore on revenues of Rs 5,846 crore, with cash on books of Rs 11,000 crore.
Following the announcement of the merger, ZEEL’s shares soared 32% to Rs 337 per share, valuing the company at Rs 32,378 crore.
ZEE and SPN are two of India’s most popular media and entertainment companies, having strong consumer appeal across genres, languages, and platforms. The combination of these two companies will bring together the media industry’s most powerful leadership teams, content creators, and high-quality series and film libraries, resulting in a combined content platform that can compete with domestic and global platforms while also accelerating the region’s digital transition.
FAQs
Is Sony and ZEE merging?
Zee had announced merger with Sony on September 22.
Who is the owner of Zee Entertainment?
News Corporation is the parent organization of Zee Entertainment and owns it.
In this fast-pacing era where really nobody has the time or the interest to walk over to a bank branch to do banking or business, âNeobanksâ are a change and, in a good way, but are they really a promising future? Letâs find out.
Neobanks are financial institutions or digital banks that exclusively operate online and do not have any physical branches. Neobanks provide services and products that are not found in traditional banking systems and are also, very efficient. They work either directly with service providers or with already established banks as they donât have regulatory licenses, in the Indian context. Neobanks are a wide umbrella of financial services such as faster deposits, transfer of payments, credit cards, etc.
Neobanks had a customer base of around 7.7 million in 2018 and nearly tripled it to 20 million in 2020. In 2019, in India alone, Neobanks raised a big amount of 90 million dollars. And are expected to raise an amount of 394 billion dollars globally by 2026, according to reports of lead squared. Globally there are more than 200 Neobanks and more than 10 in India and the numbers are rapidly increasing.
In India, the growth of Neobanks are not that fast compared to the growth around the globe, but looking at how vast the Indian Market it can take over by a storm.
Difference Between Neobanks and Traditional Banks
Neobanks mostly press on solving banking issues faced by customers but lack in better overall customer experience.
The onboarding process of Neobanks is very simple, paperless, and less time consuming compared to traditional banks.
Neobanks are beneficial for small businesses whereas traditional banks prove to be very useful to millennials.
What Do The Neobanks Offer That Traditional Banks Donât?
In the past few years, thereâs a lot of change in the finance industry and with the introduction of UPI in India, which recorded over 4 billion transactions in October 2021, and the mobile wallets in the US and Europe we have seen tremendous amounts of transactions digitally.
Neobanks use innovative new technologies such as AI, Cloud analytics and for their audiences, they are merely an app, unlike the traditional banks which rely on financial products and expand their large network of branches for the customer base.
Neobanks mostly come in handy to the people who do not have much time to handle the hassles of visiting physical branches and have a busy living. They are way different than other financial institutions in certain ways such as,
Reduced timeline of acquiring customers and provide seamless customer services and paperless operations
Removing the challenges that are faced in the traditional banking system and thus, providing a brilliant user experience.
They have fewer regulations and are easy for customers to set up their accounts and also ensure advanced security and privacy.
They provide accounts and money transfers, seamless international payments. They also provide better interest rates than traditional banks because of their fewer costs and easy processes.
How Does Neobanks Work?
Neobanks work on the âBanking as a serviceâ module and fix the gap between traditional banks and customer expectations. Banking as a service is an end-to-end process of operation of financial services on the internet and allows digital banks or third parties to connect with banks for better financial and banking services.
They are completely digital and online as there are no physical branches. Neobanks have modernized platforms that help them collect data of their target audience and based on the data collected they customize their marketing strategies accordingly as a result successfully creating a cohort of customers.
Are Neobanks The Future of Banking?
They are changing the face oftheFintech communityand one day maybe replace traditional banks but itâs not easy and one can never be sure. Neobanks are mostly like digital banks but remember âmostlyâ. They are much recognized as companies than banks.
In India, the RBI still doesnât allow banks to be 100% digital and have some physical presence. The defining and most important reason for this is and the difference between Neobanks and traditional banks is funding and not forgetting customers’ trust. Traditional banks may find it hard to compete in this tech-savvy world still the legacy canât be weighed down so easily.
Pros and Cons of Neobanks
Pros of Neobanks
Adapting technology and no presence of credit base makes them low cost and convenient for the low-salaried customer base.
Neobanks are convenient as allow operations through an app from basic banking to investing and other finances.
Better services and benefits. Quick processing for loans and speeding other requests by ditching paperwork.
Cons of Neobanks
Limited services compared to traditional banks and less regulated. No physical presence may hinder customersâ trust.
Keeping up with technology and advancements in trends.
No physical bank branches and In-person assistance access.
Neobanks have emerged as a buzz wave in the fintech community and have been doing great in maintaining their spotlight on a global level and every day more and more businesses and banks are signing up with them. We see a new player everybody whose intention is to simplify financial services and provide additional benefits with them.
Though itâs going to be hard to revolutionize the whole industry of banking and finance itâs gonna take time and real hard work for tech geeks. As the saying goes, âit’s the little changes that make the most important changesâ.
FAQs
Are Neobanks banks?
Neobanks are not banks and do not have a bank charter. Instead, these institutions generally partner with a bank to ensure their products. Before signing up with a neobank, make sure it’s FDIC insured by a partner bank.
What is Neobank?
Neobanks are digital banks that do not have any physical branches and provide all financial services to their consumers through apps that can be accessed through a smartphone.
Is Neobanks secure?
Money deposited in a neo-banking account is as secure as it would be in a regular bank account in India.
When did Neobanks start?
The term neobank has been in use since at least 2016 to describe fintech-based financial providers that were challenging traditional banks.
Are Neobanks legal in India?
Talking about the neobanks in the Indian context, neobanks are not directly regulated by the banking regulator. This is mainly due to the fact that RBI does not grant licenses for operating virtual banks in India.
âSurvival of the fittestâ is a phrase the biologist Charles Darwin popularised. This denotes in biology the fact that, for an organism to live and survive in extreme nature, it has to be the fittest. So, the laymen implication is that the fittest are mostly entitled to survive. This is a widely used term in biology, whenever someone studies a species. In fact, every species that you see today is the fittest left out of past versions of species. The process of evolution leaves the fittest and curbs the rest of all.
While âsurvival of the fittestâ is the truth for the biological world, it seems that the same phrase cannot be used for the trade world. Businesses all over the world need not follow the trend. However a little tweak in that phrase will perfectly fit how the business world behaves. We can say that the business world follows the thumb rule of âSurvival of the biggestâ. Big corporations with deep pockets run the show. Everywhere you see, its valuations, employees magnitude, and scaling demographics are the prime factors that businesses run after.
This is not as simple as it sounds. The reason being that every corporation in the world was at a time, nothing but small and fringe. The rough path that these small businesses go through makes them tough and with the flow of time they become fatter and bigger. The traditional path is to go bootstrapped, that is to use its own revenue for growth. Some follow raising capital techniques to go and scale.
One of the most famous (now) and new trends that the businesses follow to go big is something other than these. It is through the way of acquisitions. So what does it mean ? How does it work ? and why do businesses resort to acquiring other businesses ? These are some questions which we will try to figure out in this article. Read on to discover otherwise unnoticed details.
Acquisition means buying other corporations. Businesses all over the world follow this method to grow and scale either business. Not to mention that this is probably the fastest way to scale. So, acquisition occurs when one company obtains a majority stake in the other (target) firm, which retains its name and its legal structure.
This can be done to foster your own growth or it can be also done to revive a dying business. For example, in the year 2002, PayPal was having a rough time and eBay stepped in as a hero to save its life. There are case studies or examples in later of this article but first let us know some basics.
There are many ways a company can acquire some other company. We will discuss them in detail now. However there can be many types but there are always some prime types of acquisitions. Before jumping into the types of acquisitions, we need to learn why companies do that in the first place.
There are many benefits to acquiring. That is why big businesses are always looking for good businesses to acquire. They kind of prey on them. The benefits can turn into  disadvantages too if the acquired business is not good. So, the acquirer has to be choosy in this matter. Here we are discussing some of the best known benefits of acquiring other businesses. Read on to find out the reason for which businesses acquire,
Synergy
The word synergy means to combine two organisations or substances in order to make the resultant substance more effective than the individual power of every combined corporation. This is one of the biggest reasons why big companies like to acquire other small corporations.
The resulting organisation after the acquiring process turns out to be more effective and efficient than the previous two individual organisations. This helps in achieving more power and thus to get more market share in whatever product the companies are dealing in. This also ensures that both the companies get bigger market share than they were getting before the acquisition. This is a win-win situation for both the parties, which becomes now a single unit.
Reducing Competition
When a company acquires some other company, the resultant company faces less competition. Simply stated, earlier both the companies were competing for the same market share and with similar products.
With the inception of acquiring, both the companies join hands to eliminate the competition and run towards the same goal of owning more market share. This however requires both the acquirer and the acquiree to be bound by a contract.
The acquiree may agree to the acquiring terms only after some handsome paycheck. This makes it a little more complex than it looks on the outside. Moreover, for this transaction to happen we need to calculate the exact value of the acquired company which is a time consuming process. Anyhow, once it happens, eliminates the competition.
Growth and Performance
Another reason for acquiring a business is growth. This point can be said as a subpoint of the first mentioned reason. A company can grow and scale significantly without doing much hard work by itself.
Acquiring can do the work for the organisation. It gets the opportunity of growth while achieving the goal of efficiency. You get to use the goodwill of the acquired company and the reach of that company to make your own organisation touch the sky. However, choosing which corporation to acquire is a challenge in itself. If done correctly, it can be a recipe for success and if done wrongly, can make you the architect of your own downfall.
The Advantage on Cost Savings
When a business acquires another business, it happens mostly in between businesses of the same product. When two same organisations of supply chain assimilates then this results in cost savings for the resulting company. Thus, by buying out a distributor or supplier of a product, businesses can lower their cost up to a large extent. This helps in achieving efficiency in manufacturing products and thus getting a much larger share of the product market.
There can be many forms and types of acquisitions. They can differ from one to another with a change in organisation to organisation. There are however, four basic and most widely accepted types. Those four types we are going to list here.
Horizontal Acquisition
If you’re a math fan, Horizontal means a flat two dimensional line on a plane. In a market, each organisation has to deliver some sort of value in order to survive. Not only this, they have to strive to be better than everybody else in that segment of product. This competition can be easily eliminated by acquiring the other standing organisation. So horizontal acquisitions are those acquisitions in which a firm acquires another similar firm (in a horizontal direction) to eliminate competition.
Vertical Acquisition
As horizontal is a flat line, Vertical is a perpendicular, that is a standing line from ground. In horizontal acquiring we saw firms acquire firms which are in almost the same shoulder as the acquirer. In vertical, we don’t look at some flat line, we just acquire forward or backward of the supply chain. For example, a wholesaler who is a big wholesaler in a market can acquire the manufacturer of the product in order to supply the product at cheap rates. This is known as backward vertical acquisition. In the same manner, if that wholesaler acquires a retailer, then it will be called a forward vertical acquisition. In this case he/she will be able to be more consumer facing and consumer centric.
Congeneric Acquisition
This acquisition is a little bit different than types mentioned before. So, in this modern world when time is really a luxury, we tend to go to shopping malls to get everything at one place. This helps us to save time travelling. This concept inspired the mode of Congeneric acquisition, which says to acquire businesses to provide a one-stop destination for your clients. For example, a bank whose big customers require more frequent travel around the world may need travel insurance.
After identifying this opportunity, that bank can buy or acquire an insurance company in order to help get its customers a travel insurance plan. This makes them more profitable and provides the customers with a one stop market. This reduces hassle for both the parties.
Conglomerate Acquisition
This type takes the acquisition models to a whole new level. It is an acquisition between companies that are totally different. They have different products or services, different demographics, different business and revenue models. Even with all these disparities, they go on and initiate the acquiring process.
The reason for such an acquisition happening is that the company is trying to go on unexplored territories. They want to expand to new places and to a different product market. This type of diversification strategy helps both the firms in diversification of their businesses, Synergy benefits, increasing customers magnitude, and to achieve better economies in scale.
One famous example of this type of acquisition can be the merger between PayPal and eBay, both the companies are totally different and PayPal in 2002 was struggling to play in the payments markets.
eBay acquired it by paying a sum like a billion dollars and kept PayPal going. Since then PayPal is able to revolutionise payments in the whole of the world. This is what a good acquisition can do to companies and it is still considered a benchmark in silicon valley.
Few Famous Examples for Understanding Acquistion
We all are fans of big and flashy organisations but most often we donât get to see the BTS (Behind the scenes). Almost every big organisation has acquired some other businesses to foster growth. They were small too at some point in time, but now stand at a paramount position. Here are some examples of a few famous behemoths.
Apple bought Siri (the automatic personal assistant) in 2010 to enhance its then newly launched iPhones. It became an instant hit and iPhone users loved it. So, In 2014, Apple purchased Novauris Technologies, which was a company specialised in speech-recognition-technology, in order to further enhance Siriâs capabilities. In 2014, Apple also purchased Beats Electronics, which had recently launched a music-streaming service. Both the companies now enjoy the biggest market share in their product segments.
Speaking at India level, we are not too far off the list. We have seen many acquisitions in our business world as well. Startups do it, established companies have done it.
Say for example Zomato in the year 2020 acquired Uber eats. In January 2020, Zomato had acquired Uber Eats’ India operations in a non-cash deal for âč1,376 crore, excluding an amount of Rs 248 crore payable towards GST. As part of the deal, Zomato issued 76,376 compulsorily convertible cumulative preference shares (CCPS), each valued at âč180,153, to Uber India. This acquisition was done to make Zomato scale and touch new heights, which it did. Zomato went on to even get listed in Indian stock exchange on July 27, 2021. Its story has been repeatedly referred to as a great success story in our startup ecosystem.
Another big acquisition which the Indian startup ecosystem recently saw was BYJUâs acquiring Akash Institute for a whopping billion dollars. Byju’s is an educational and technology faced startup, referred to as an Ed-tech company. On the other hand Akash institutions are one of Indiaâs biggest coaching institutes for competitive exams. This acquisition made Byju’s spread its wings as the company prepares to take a flight that will cover the whole of India. IPO-Bound BYJU’s Spent More Than $2.4 Bn On Acquisitions In 2021
So we read what acquisition is and why companies acquire other companies. They can be a great way to scale in a country like India. Not to mention that the second most populous country is still in its development phase. Despite being hard to perform, acquiring businesses has become famous among not just big companies but new age startups too. New age startups like Zomato or BYJUs are open to buy corporations to scale new heights.
There is however, indeed no magic formula for a successful acquisition. All we can do and hope and research for, is just better probabilities. Each deal has its own research and its own personal strategies at the back. But an acquisition is mostly seen as a neat method to scale, if done correctly. India has seen multiple acquisitions and it has seen economics of startups at scale too.
This is a new world where leverage is at its probable peak. Anyone from anywhere can use it, but the thing that differs is how the person uses it. Use it well and you will fly, use it badly and you may become the architect of your own downfall. Some people may want to quote that âthere are no losses, only learningsâ and I agree with that.
FAQ
Why do companies buy out other companies?
The major reasons companies acquire other companies to seek economies of scale, diversification, greater market share, increased synergy, cost reductions, or new niche offerings.
Why companies merge or acquire?
The most common factor companies acquire other companies are to grow its market share and reduce the costs of developing business activities.
How do company acquisitions work?
An acquisition is when a company acquires the target company’s shares to make decisions about the newly acquired assets.
Let me ask you a question, what do you do when you are free ? Keeping the pandemic in mind, Chances are most young folks would say that they play games, multiplayer games with their friends. Even though I assume that we have a variety of audience on our blog, who like reading, being curious etcetera but gaming has always been most people’s favorite.
If I had asked this question a couple of decades from now, the answer would vary hugely. With technology disrupting every field, gaming has become the one stop destination for quite any of the age groups. It is an escape from our rather boring world. This world doesn’t allow us much freedom but the gaming world is always ready to fulfil our human need to be limitless. Moreover as computers are getting smaller and smaller, almost to the size of our palms. We can see a surge in mobile gamers.
Around the last couple years, the most played and talked game was PUBG or the Player’s Unknown Battlegrounds. The concept was simple and cooperative. Hundred random real people are parachuted into the same terrain, they fight till the end. The Last one standing wins the game.
The game was so popular with Indians that there were reports of extreme addictions among children and teens. The issue got so big that even our prime minister Shri Narendra Modi commented on it in one of his speeches. The game was hated by parents and absolutely loved by their kids. As the game had multiplayer, It allowed them to connect with friends during the pandemic. But with rising tensions among India and China, PUBG was banned due to its roots in China.
This doesn’t stop here, there were alternatives for these types of games. The most famous one âFree fireâ came into the limelight. It had excellent marketing that made it surge the charts of downloads and installs. This article dissects the marketing of the game Free Fire and how games like these are changing the face of the Indian mobile gaming industry. Read on to discover unnoticed facts and figures.
India with its huge population is the second most populous country in the world. Moreover, the average age in India is approximately 29 years. Which means that we are an immense young nation.
Youngsters are known to break stereotypes and create their own path to success. This country is increasingly moving towards dominating the gaming sector. Till now, it was not seen as a viable career option but now the tide around this topic is changing.
Especially after a pandemic hit the whole world. It confined us to our homes and led us to change our ways of living. Most of the sectors are now working on a remote model. Thus gaming got its much needed boost. With streaming partners like YouTube, it has become extremely easy to showcase your gaming skills online and build a community.
One of the most famous formats of games in India and world wide is the online multiplayer genre. The genre that is followed by Free fire, the recent hit android game. Read to know about how this world operates in Free Fire.
What is Free-Fire?
Garena Free Fire
Free Fire or Garena Free Fire is an android game. In 2017, it was released as Garena Free Fire, which has over 80 million daily active users globally as of May 2020. It is headquartered in Singapore and is traded with the name of Forrest Li. The company which holds all the rights to this game is Sea Limited, with Terry Zhao as its president.
At the heart of it, the game is a survival shooter game. Each game, which is about 10 minute places the player on a map with 49 other people. Every player is allowed to build up a team of four and play as a team also. Players can land on any point on the map by gliding through a parachute. They can fight, hide, take vehicles and travel the map. The ultimate standing wins the match.
Other than the basic running-frame, the game also offers different modes and methods to play. Game modes like the 10 minute battleground, 4 people squad game, or 4 versus 4 modes are amongst the most played. The game manages to provide great graphics with all its functions as an online multiplayer. However the quality of gameplay may differ according to device specs.
Free Fire is not just a regular game that hopes to increase its downloads with word of mouth, but it prepares for its marketing in India. It manages to hook more and more players with its marketing campaigns. This section of the articles lists some noticeable brand campaigns that the company runs.
Roping in Celebrities
It seems like the golden rule of advertisement is to make a celeb say good things about your product. Free Fire does not lag in that domain too. It roped in the all time pro footballer, Cristiano Ronaldo as the gameâs brand ambassador. This is not a regular sight when you see the OG footballer promoting a game. The football player said on its association with the game a great feeling,
Itâs a great feeling having not only a character in Free Fire modeled after me, but also having the whole universe within the game-changing along with it. The Garena team has worked into the game tons of new features and elements for Operation Chrono. I hope Free Fire players all over the world are just as excited as I am!â said Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ronaldo Character in Free Fire
This collaboration with Cristiano Ronaldo went really well. The company reported more installs after this collaboration than recent times. This is a promotional video that the company uploaded on its YouTube channel.
ââSpeaking of celebrities, India is a special place. If Free Fire wants to hold their leg in here they need something personalised with Indian audiences. They did what was probably needed. They made a song, roping in Sachin Jigar as singers. The song starred YouTube celeb Bhuvan Bam and actress Shraddha Kapoor. The song, not to mention really hit the chord with fans of these stars and the singer duo.
Championships: the battle of bests
The best part of a sport is not the winning or the losing, but the sport itself. The sportsman spirit and the sweat of hardwork is the best part about the game. Free Fire knows this very well and that is why it hosts championships of the best players and anyone can be the next player for that matter. Making an indoor game as exciting as an outdoor sport takes time but Free Fire is hacking the process on how to make a nerve racking thumbs game.
The company has managed to make a space in the hearts of budding gamers. If you are someone who wants to be a gamer, then tournaments are what you look forward to. These tournaments provide a stage to show what you got, to show your skills and be liked by the gamer folks. This is one of the best marketing strategies that the company follows. Despite being marketing, it is first the gamerâs win.
Free Fire Tournament in India
India is a land of diversity and we have a lot of people of different ethnicities. The company thoughtfully made this a task. What they did was they made the championships for people of almost all Indian languages. Yes, the championships happen in different slots, keeping in mind one region at a time. That is the reason we can see their YouTube channel filled with championships in languages like Hindi, English, Tamil, Bengali and much more.
Onboarding Streamers
When you are in a business of games, online streamers have to be your friends. They promote games without naming it as an advertisement or marketing tag. So Free Fire onboards streamers who create content around the gameplays.
Streamers make the game a little more spicy with their own way of commenting. This makes up the basis of their tribe or channel. It also helps the game get more liking among the age group. It’s a win-win situation for both the gamers and game makers.
Take for example, âTwo side brothersâ, two brothers who stream Free Fire and give their viewers a glimpse of their life. They also go and compete in tournaments, domestically and international tours, hosted by Free Fire.
More than just reviews, Free Fire makes them more inclusive to their fans. In this video streamers went that extra mile and met their most loyal subscribers. This is all done to promote the sportsmen spirit that the game provides. It is to celebrate the collaboration of gamers and game makers to make everyday life a little more fun.
Quick Updates for better performance
Free Fire Update
If you look at the last update of this game on Google play store, it will show November 1. Not to mention, the company focuses on the user satisfaction in a very steep manner. If we notice the games of these types, we will find that these are quite heavy games and take good time to get better. They are heavy games because of the data that they are packaged with.
Moreover they are multiplayer, which increases the probability of glitches every now and then. This makes the updating process expensive and time taxing, but Free Fire doesn’t stop, it manages to release updates on time. The recent updates included,
Clash Squad Season 9 – Begins 09/29 17:00 GMT+8.
Airdrop Vending Machine now available in Battle Royale.
New Weapon – Treatment Sniper now available in Battle Royale.
Weapon Stats adjustments.
Character Balancing adjustments.
Replay system available for Battle Royale and Clash Squad.
Players can now customize the amount of items to drop from the bag.
The key differentiator between PUBG and Free Fire, as seen by experts, is the fact that the latter has more flexibility with earning game characters and rewards. Keeping the skill sets almost the same on both levels.
Mobile apps are considered to be a difficult market to win in. The mobile gaming market is even harder to tap into. Even in these windy markets, Free fire is mostly able to stand. As of May 2020, Free Fire has set a record with over 80 million daily active users globally. As of November 2019, Free Fire has grossed over $1 billion worldwide. These are massive numbers to the benchmarks in the mobile gaming industry.
Free Fire was also one of the first battle royale games to hit the market in 2017. It soon became the most downloaded mobile game globally in the year 2019. The game also received an award for the “Best Popular Vote Game” by Google Play Store in 2019.
The company behind Free Fire seems like it is pushing the throttle to make India its prime playing country. The game has more than 1,000,000,000 downloads as of now. however these are global numbers, the larger chunk of these numbers are expected to be in India.
One visit to their YouTube channel will make you aware of the efforts that the company is putting in to elevate the game. Nonetheless these efforts can be proved with the hype that the game has garnered.
FAQ
Is Garena Free Fire a free game?
Yes, Garena Free Fire is a free to play game.
Who is the present CEO of Free Fire?
Forest Li is the founder and the current CEO of Garena Free Fire.
Which country has most downloads of Free Fire?
India ranked top in the most number of Free Fire downloads and was followed by the USA at number 2 and Brazil at number 3.
We have seen automation happening in manual habitats but AI has brought us a whole new world to figure out. Computers are slowly taking over manual tasks and this has triggered fear in a tech giant you might be familiar with. Using artificial intelligence in marketing has now become a norm as it has transformed the Marketing Industry.
Yes, I’m talking about Elon Musk fearing that the advancements in AI might create human hunting robots and it would be us, mortals, against AI-powered geniuses. However, there has been an increase in companies using AI for marketing and ad campaigns.
Artificial intelligence plays a big role in marketing, as it helps companies to make decisions based on the data collected by a company. The use of artificial intelligence in marketing will help you get the data could be anything from the customerâs favourite hangout places to their birthdays.
Any AI marketing strategy helps data to be collected from general behaviours of consumers from polls on social media, surveys, and their interests when surfing the internet. Marketing teams along with AI study consumer patterns and accordingly place and plan their AI marketing campaigns.
AI has suspended a large area of the consumer field where everything can be predicted. The AI marketing research mainly consists of collecting and analyzing data, media buy-in, personalization, content creation, and much more. This case study on artificial intelligence shows you how most of the marketing tasks are highly dependent on AI these days.
Why Is AI A Good Approach For Marketing?
AI-based marketing has entirely changed the way people use social media. Before it sneaked into every device, social media was leisure, rather, luxury.
Cut to today, every individual and even kids are owners of smartphones enabling them access to social media and shopping sites because of the artificial intelligence advertising campaigns. Your everyday social media behaviour is what fuels the study of AI-based marketing tools. With this being done, marketers can reach up to a larger demographic without spending a fortune on marketing campaigns.
Many AI marketing companies use core elements like Big Data, Machine Learning, and other powerful solutions that allow AI to get adopted quickly by a marketer. Big data is nothing but a prodigious amount of data aggregated by the marketer and segmented into various categories with a minimal amount of manual work.
With the help of big data, marketers can personalize every message sent to their customers. Like mentioned earlier, several marketers keep an eye on repetitive actions which offer deeper insight into responses. It is a demanding task when we try to make sense out of the massive data collected. This is where machine learning and AI in marketing are used.
You may have been familiar with pop-up messages or push notifications from the apps you install from time to time. These messages are powered by AI-programmed systems and automated to deliver context in a specified manner. There are several other AI marketing strategies that marketers have adopted to keep you hooked and engaged. Let us have a look at what they are.
Pay-per-click (PPC) is an online advertising model used to drive viewer traffic to the website. Nowadays AI-based marketing is used in every blog, website, and video. When you visit a certain page and click on the link containing an advertisement, it directs you to the said website.
This is an AI marketing analytics used by the advertiser where they pay the publisher every time a user clicks on the link. Some of the tops AI marketing companies like Facebook ads, Instagram, Twitter Ads, Google Ads make PPC Ads.
Pay-per-click Ads
Personalization
If you have your mailbox overflowing with promotional emails, worry not, youâre not alone. Personalization has become a crucial contributor to every company where they want you to feel like the most sought-after customers.
Personalized messaging has a direct influence over your mind giving you the impression that this auto-generated message was especially typed for you because it has your name on it. Artificial intelligence marketing helps organizations to place bids on relevant ad spaces in real-time. With critical analytics and results from big data, artificial intelligence, and marketing you can send personalized messages to individuals.
The AI tools for marketing are not limited to just emails. Have you noticed how Netflix uses your previously watched movies and gives recommendations based on past experience? Or how it shows you different imageries for the same movie every time you open it? Their blog, Netflix tech blog, talks about how creating different imageries for the same movie or show has got viewers hooked to Netflix all day long.
Netflix using Different imageries for the same show
A movie title may not be that intriguing. But a picture is worth a thousand words. It may contain a familiar face, your favourite actor, something that draws you in and keeps you engaged.
Predictive analytics is based on processing the historical data of a demographic to understand or carve a pattern or predict future behaviour. Predictive analytics is an AI marketing strategy that compares the trends and patterns of different data sets and pulls out a new analysis using a mathematical âmodel which helps companies prepare for whatâs coming.
It could be identifying a customer likely to ditch a service or product, or a customer who is likely to stick around and send them marketing campaigns. AI marketing companies use predictive analysis to improve current services and make organizational changes accordingly.
Deep learning
Deep learning is a class of machine learning algorithms used to extract higher-level data from raw input and is considered to be the future of AI in digital marketing.Machine learning and AIin marketing are important because they help in creating voice-controlled chatbots, image recognition (in the case of Facebook), and predicting customer interests.
Many brick-and-mortar stores are turning to AI systems enabled by deep learning such as cashier-less counters, contactless payment options, and virtual baskets. One of the popular AI in marketing examples is Amazon GO stores that have adopted auto checkouts where AI-enabled cameras detect the movements of customers and add items to a virtual basket. Customers can check themselves out after making payments online.
Most Successful Marketing Campaigns Designed By AI
Chase+Persado
Chase, a New York-based consumer bank upgraded its copywriting by collaborating with Persado, is one of the tops AI marketing companies that use AI in its creative processes. Chase bank wanted a humanitarian perspective to their AI marketing campaigns and after a successful pilot, the bank saw a 450% surge in the click-through ads created by Persado and both the companies have ties hands for a five-year contract.
Starbucks
Starbucks is one of the other companies using AI for marketing. The company uses predictive analytics by making use of its loyalty cards and mobile app to collect and analyze customer data. The coffee giant has also used AI marketing research to optimize the user experience to an extent where it records details of purchases, including what time and what buy. It is concentrating on a model âAI for Humanityâ where they believe will create better connections with humans surrounding them.
Alibaba is known to use many AI tools for marketing, it has now opened its first AI fashion store in Hong Kong. This store has deployed AI in streamlining fashion retail. The store has introduced Intelligent garment tags with radio-frequency identification, gyro-sensors, and low-energy Bluetooth chips. This can enable the garment to carry information such as colour and size.
Smart mirrors
The gyro-sensors will recognize patterns when an item is touched, moved, or picked up. Another intriguing feature is its smart mirrors located on sales floors and changing rooms that help customers find related items along with the ones picked up and also add them to a virtual basket. Alibaba uses different types of AI in marketing in order to provide a one of the kind experience to its customers.
Nike
Nike launched the âNike Makersâ experienceâ campaign in 2017 that allowed customers to design their own Nike pair. Using AI marketing analytics, the shoe brand can encourage their customers to choose their designs and graphics using projections and augmented reality on blank Nike X Presto sneakers.
Nike Makersâ experience
This is the future of AI in digital marketing, as customers then chose their designs and they were delivered the shoes in 90 minutes. Not only their sales soared but Nike used this opportunity to collect customer preferences using machine learning and design future products.
Sephora is one of the few companies using ai for marketing and is also an early adaptor of AI-based marketing. The AI marketing strategy that the company uses is responsible for three bots that interact with customers on a personal level to understand their needs and wants. It is really daunting to order a foundation or lipstick that may or may not be your perfect match.
Sephoraâs Kik bot
Sephoraâs Kik bot helps you with an interactive quiz, make-up tips, how-to videos, and reviews. Using AI in marketing will help your customers can even scan images of celebrities to find matching make-up products.
How Small Businesses Are Using Ai Tools
The use of artificial intelligence in marketing has proven to be quite a revolution in the industry. Recent studies and case studies on artificial intelligence, predict that almost 70% of marketing jobs will be replaced by automation. The vital role of artificial intelligence in digital marketing has made many AI marketing companies successful, while the small businesses are no longer shying away from
Hereâs a list of AI tools you could check out while you chalk out your next marketing plan.
Concured
Concured is an AI content strategy platform that gauges what your audience is looking for. This AI tool for marketing offers three exclusive tools for content- research, creation, and personalization. It has other beneficial tools which include live audits, automation of content and removing of content waste by 90%, planning tool for detailed content brief, performance tracking, and analysis for better ROI and user engagement.
Import.io
Import.io is a data extraction tool that helps you with everything from extracting data from the sea that is the internet, even hidden pages, with anomaly detection, and validation rules. These AI-based marketing tools allow you to optimize your campaigns with access to competitor price search and analyze all your customer reviews.
Grammarly is a popular AI tool for marketing and is considered a savior for all the content creators out there. Writers, please take note. Grammarly not only eases the spell checks but suggests you rephrase your sentences in case they appear to be blurry or unclear. Ultimately, it makes you a better writer over the period.
Cortex
Cortex helps you build AI-based marketing strategies based on visual analytics, that is what images or video ideas are trending on social platforms. These AI marketing strategy helps you gain insights on what will work better and whatâs suited better for your company. After you have analyzed your competitorsâ social media efforts, it pushes you and your team to do better by refining your marketing and content strategies.
Phrasee
If you break a sweat every time copywriting challenges come up, then Phrasee is here to ease that out. With AI-powered language optimization, you can create professional and compelling copies for your audience. These AI-based marketing tools help you create email subject lines, push notifications, social media posts, and much more with, what they call a âMagicâ button.
Sentinent Ascend
Sentient Ascend is a testing tool for marketers that helps enhance conversion rate optimization (CRO). AI for marketing has proven to be 100 times better than the current A/B testing multivariate solutions and gives marketers a free hand in trying several copies, images, designs, and interaction changes that speed up revenues and conversions.
Drift helps in AI marketing research as it connects you to potential clients in real-time. It is a marketing and sales chatbot that helps you connect with business leads. It personalizes every experience of your website visitors by interacting with them while turning conversations into conversions.
FindTheRipple
FindTheRipple is an AI-driven platform that enables you to create content with impact, find untapped trends, and alert you with emerging engagement peaks to target your audience. It also recommends you match digital assets to optimize your content creation.
Lucy
Lucy is an AI-powered knowledge management assistant that helps you leverage business insights across your company. You ask her a question, and she answers you with the best possible solutions for your challenges. Lucyâs integrations allow it to quickly enter your systems and access information hence helping you the right answers to your business needs.
Nudge.ai
Nudge.ai is a relationship management tool that helps you connect better within and outside your organization. Its powerful AI leverages big data and data mining brings better connectivity to your business and helps you make meaningful relationships.
One of the AI tools for marketing helps develop relationships that are organic and natural and shows you how to reach out with a perspective thereby creating a genuine sense of urgency which is vital during closing a deal.
Cogito is a real-time conversational and analysis system that identifies human signals on calls and predicts the emotional intelligence of the caller. It incorporates AI and machine learning to voice calls and assists call centres to be more empathetic while conversing.
It monitors speed, volume, and pauses in the conversation between agents and customers records the transcripts of the call and detects keywords used by the customers, and helps executives with apt responses.
Optimail
Processing emails manually can be extremely time-consuming and expensive. A manual process is always prone to human error. Hence, Optimail enables marketers to continuously and automatically optimize their email and AI marketing campaigns. It not only promotes campaigns but adjusts the timings, content, and personalization. It builds better engagement and also reduces spam.
Aizimov
Aizimov is an AI social selling platform that writes ultra-personal messages for each of your target audiences. Itâs basically like having a personal secretary. It optimizes the time spent on sales leads and improvises with every feedback and response. The smart AI also analyses the psychological profile of a prospect and crafts its message carefully. It takes a step further and chooses the best channel to reach the potential client.
Pathmatics
Pathmatics offers solutions to what, when, where, who, and how-to questions in marketing. You can see ads served, impressions, and digital strategies of brands and publishers across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Marketers can take a jiffy from aggregating data and use digital insights to pitch new ideas and create more effective campaigns.
Emarsys
Emarsys is an omnichannel customer engagement platform that helps you accelerate your business outcomes. These AI-based marketing tools include industry-specific analytics and use-cases that cater to every business. By oneâs own bootstraps, Emarsys powers all your marketing needs with 1:1 personalization across all channels and devices.
Conclusion
AI has become indispensable in many areas of our life. The importance of artificial intelligence in marketing is that it leads to Driverless cars, Automation Marketing, conversational bots like Siri and Alexa are the new highs of AI technology. Weâre yet to comprehend what AI can accomplish.
Could they completely replace human interference and take over our world like Elon Musk fears? We donât know. But it surely has prodigious potential to make things happen which we never imagined were possible. Hopefully, this artificial intelligence case study would have helped you understand the importance of artificial intelligence in marketing.
AI tools are used in marketing to learn how to best communicate with customers, then serve them tailored messages at the right time.
What are the 3 stages of AI?
The three stages of AI are artificial narrow intelligence (ANI), artificial general intelligence (AGI), and artificial superintelligence (ASI).
How AI is used in mobile marketing?
AI used to craft more targeted and personalized marketing messages such as special offers and ads by spotting consumers’ behavioural trends and patterns.
Ho does AI work in digital marketing?
Artificial intelligence is transforming customer-facing services for digital marketers by increasing efficiency and optimizing user experience.
Is AI the future of marketing?
AI is changing the future of digital marketing, that is certain. It’s not so much about what new developments are happening, but also what new trends are likely to emerge over the next few years.
How is AI used in Marketing?
One common example of AI across the web is the use of chatbots to provide customer services to users.
What is AI marketing?
Artificial intelligence plays a big role in marketing, as it helps companies to make decisions based on the data collected by a company.
This article is contributed by Sumit Suneja, Managing Partner of Merlin Brands, an urban consumer goods company that owns the leading brands – Rabitat and Headway.
The Covid-19 pandemic has completely disrupted our lives in so many ways. It has changed the way we communicate with each other, work, and even buy things on a daily basis.
This unprecedented scenario has led to brands adopting the Direct-to-consumer model to grow ever since the time the pandemic hit us. Mr. Sumit highlights some key factors driving this change and how D2C brands can make the most of the situation, to thrive and not just survive!
A Paradigm Shift in Consumer Behavior
Covid-19 pandemic has induced a more isolated and contactless way of operating/living, significantly transforming customer preferences. With limited physical movement, consumers are migrating into the virtual environments at a tremendous rate thus accelerating the adoption of digital media & platforms. And itâs unlikely to be coming back to a ânon-virtualâ set-up, as more and more consumers are drawn in and getting used to the convenient experience provided by online platforms. In addition to being the more obvious safer option, people are preferring to just sit back and shop from the comforts of their homes.
In a nutshell, here are the key factors influencing behavioral changes in consumers during a pandemic –
Digital adoption: More people are shifting to digital platforms for everyday needs.
Mobility preferences: Limiting public transport and unnecessary travel; Greater inclination towards remote working setup.
Purchasing behavior: Shift to online shopping more for convenience and a better experience.
Offline Presence becomes a Liability
In response to evolving customer preferences, more businesses turned towards digital and online platforms as their primary outlet for selling products as compared to traditional brick-and-mortar stores. This process has proven to be a double-edged sword for companies.
Smaller and upcoming brands open to Direct-to-Consumer (D2C) models found the scenario ideal for growing their presence. These brands benefit from the fact that D2C eliminates the role of dealers as companies can get across to consumers directly. However, the legacy brands which have been heavily relying on physical presence and more traditional ways of marketing found it far from ideal. Moreover, the restrictions levied in travel across different parts of the world adversely impacted the supply chain, making businesses look for alternatives.
With more focus on online, social media came into the picture with platforms like Facebook/Instagram acting as a marketplace for sellers fuelling further growth and bringing down Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC), at least in the initial phase. This championed the development of the D2C brand ecosystem. Social media platforms are filling the void of online presence for companies that relied primarily on legacy distribution channel partners to reach customers.
As the D2C model became the core of every consumer brandâs marketing strategy, competition intensified among companies. Apart from reaching and communicating with customers directly, brands had to work on creating a unique value proposition driven by brand-building exercises and delivering better quality products. Standing out from the crowd became ever so important with both small/upcoming and larger legacy brands competing in the same platform and space.
The competition can only get stiffer and challenging from here on. Players who are here for short-term gains will face even bigger challenges as customer acquisition costs are bound to further increase. This is inevitable as more and more legacy brands rush towards social media platforms as they try to harness and understand the importance and power of this network in building their sales strategy. Soon advertising costs will have quadrupled, which will eventually push away temporary players who are here for the short run.
Thus, only the serious and long-term players who would not solely rely on social media channels will be able to sustain and make it big as a successful brand. Companies will need to focus on creating a cohesive marketing strategy leveraging other communication channels like email and SMS marketing. These mediums are likely to play a more important and bigger role in the long run in establishing the brand and reaching out to the masses.
Learnings as a D2C brand
One key aspect of building a successful brand that is valued is understanding the importance of customer retention. While companies put in a lot of effort and capital in acquiring new clients, not a lot of focus is given to retaining an existing one. To begin with, it is proven that acquiring new customers is far more expensive than retaining ones. Also, even if your business has a high customer acquisition rate but at the same time it is equally losing out on many existing ones, the overall customer base will remain nearly stagnant. Moreover, having some loyal customers onboard can enhance brand reputation as well as develop a constructive relationship with customers and understand their needs better.
For us, customer retention has been a key factor in driving brand success. To ensure that we bring value for customers and get those recurring purchases, at Rabitat and Headway, we provide benefits such as â doubling the warranty, compliance with European norms, and lower pricing. This helps us to keep the customer acquisition costs down by 40% than our immediate peers.
Getting genuine reviews from the customers and working on it to improve on the companyâs shortcomings has helped enhance customersâ experience. Staying in constant touch with the customers through email and messages also helped in building the brandâs trust.
Also, Brands that have transparency throughout their business strategy (production, supply chain, etc.) will be able to build trust and credibility in the long run. D2C allows companies have total control over these various factors for them to sustain with no hindrance in their journey.
Companies trying to shift to D2C from the traditional model might face bigger challenges. They should be clear about what they exactly want, either go solely D2C or go hybrid model (both traditional and D2C). Adopting new processes, training employees, or hiring new ones for the new model can cost a lot of money while ensuring efficiency, profit, and providing value to the customers at the same time.
As the competition is growing one needs to think beyond the current buzz of D2C, work towards building a stronger brand. While building it, one should think in terms of being sustainable and not fly by, think in terms of decades and not years.
Harshit Verma
