Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

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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PhonePe and vehicle inspection during insurance policy renewal

January 28, 2022 by Karthik S

Shorter version on audio: YouTube: Spotify: Full post: The insurance sector in India usually uses a few standard templates for messaging. Price is one – this is the ‘we’re the cheapest’ pitch. ACKO has positioned itself very well in this zone. Speed…

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Microchips Ahoy!

January 27, 2022 by Karthik S

There’s considerable news about the global ‘chip shortage’ owing to COVID-19 and the issues around USA vs. China, among other reasons. But let me isolate two recent ‘chip’ announcements from an advertising perspective, from two tech. giants, Apple and Google. Apple launched…

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Siway Jon Hamm!

January 25, 2022 by Karthik S

Back in September 2021, Disney+ Hotstar launched a campaign titled ‘Siway SRK’, co-written by Devaiah Bopanna, Tanmay Bhat, Vishal Dayama, Puneet Chadha, and Deep Joshi. The narrative device was unique – it has a very well-known star (Shah Rukh) who wants to…

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Brands volunteering to get roasted on Twitter

January 24, 2022 by Karthik S

Fast-food giant Wendy’s invented the ‘National Roast Day’ back in 2018, as a Twitter version of the ‘roasting’ done by comics at the New York Friars Club, Dean Martin’s Celebrity Roasts in his TV show in the 70s, or the Comedy Central…

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I disagree with Adam Grant’s perspective on personal branding

January 21, 2022 by Karthik S

Wharton’s organizational psychologist Adam Grant recently stirred the ‘personal brand’ pot given how people hold myopic and misleading views about the topic and, as a result, tend to see it as a not-so-desirable activity 🙂 This is what he shared. The time…

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