Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

Unusual brand partnerships

February 8, 2022 by Karthik S

I have been tracking brand partnerships over the last 2+ years, particularly those that seem necessitated by prevailing conditions around the world, and those that are not about the pandemic. The pandemic has heightened our sense of hygiene and cleanliness, and this…

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Subscription fatigue, and a twist in Netflix’s subscription plans

February 7, 2022 by Karthik S

Netflix’s quarterly results announcement seems to be the trigger for the occasional opinion pieces on ‘subscription fatigue’. Every time the streaming platform’s expected new subscriber additions are less than the actual sign-ups, these articles pontificate if there is subscription fatigue among users…

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Calendar wars

February 4, 2022 by Karthik S

Facebook’s former VP Sam Lessin (now a partner at the venture capital firm Slow Ventures) recently posited that the use of the online appointment scheduling tool Calendly was “The Most Raw / Naked Display of Social Capital Dynamics in Business”. Understandably, the…

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India’s quick commerce trend: Hawking ka naya address

February 3, 2022 by Karthik S

No… this post is not about Stephen Hawking. When I wrote about the ‘quick commerce’ trend in India in August 2021, I wouldn’t have imagined that more brands would join that bandwagon and one of them would have essentially won the positioning…

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Ssssshhhhh!

February 2, 2022 by Karthik S

I usually write on all-things-communications. Today’s topic is the extreme opposite – silence! I go through this phase every winter (though winter, now in Bengaluru, just got over). What happens is this: in winter, we do not need to switch on the…

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Housefull, 100 days, 100 crores… for a streaming-first film?

February 1, 2022 by Karthik S

Malayalam star Prithviraj, basking in the success of this recent film ‘Bro Daddy’, recently tweeted some interesting ‘data’. Remember: Bro Daddy was released directly on Disney+ Hotstar. Consider the kinds of ‘data’ used by producers of films as part of the movie’s…

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Ola, Bhavish, and Burnol

January 31, 2022 by Karthik S

Originally published in Moneycontrol. Note: This is about the personal brashness of a founder CXO affecting the company. But if you’re wondering if companies can themselves be brash online, as part of their positioning and personality, here’s an example: Can your brand…

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