Karthik S | beastoftraal.com

Freshdesk’s early digital PR offensive

September 27, 2021 by Karthik S

Considering the amount of (online) news FreshWorks has been making around their IPO, this is probably a timely recall. A decade ago, just a year into their inception, Freshdesk was called an ‘unethical troll trying to cash in on Zendesk’s (that was…

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Framing vaccine nudges

September 24, 2021 by Karthik S

For some reason, India had more high-decibel mask-wearing campaigns than get-vaccinated campaigns. Last year, we were inundated with creative mask-wearing and social distancing campaigns by both the Government and brands, but the get-vaccinated campaigns seem less vocal or visible, and it is…

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Kuchh Khaas Tokenism?

September 23, 2021 by Karthik S

This post is a response to Shivaji Dasgupta’s article in BestMediaInfo, titled, “Is tokenism the latest variant of Dairy Milk?“. Let me summarize Shivaji’s arguments (but please do read the full article before reading my response).1. The new Cadbury’s Dairy Milk ad…

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Children and/vs. vegetables

September 22, 2021 by Karthik S

When I mention ‘children’ and ‘vegetables’, most parents inherently know that I’m talking about sworn rivals 🙂 My daughter makes a fuss for brinjal but manages to eat most other vegetables, while my son makes a fuss for drumstick but is generally…

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Ajay Claude Devgn Damme

September 21, 2021 by Karthik S

Actor Ajay Devgn recreates his iconic introductory scene from his debut, Phool Aur Kaante in a recent ad for Mahindra Furio trucks. I had recently written about Mahindra Furio trucks in a different context. A lot of people have commented about Devgn’s…

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Star Bars

September 20, 2021 by Karthik S

A fairly unlikely product category that seems totally obsessed with using stars (from films and sports) in its advertising campaigns is TMT Steel rods. The consistency with which assorted brands that manufacture TMT bars sign up (mostly) male film heroes and use…

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Storming your brain

September 17, 2021 by Karthik S

As someone who has been in the ‘creative’ industries (marketing and advertising, public relations), I have been in a lot of brainstorming sessions, both at the client side and the agency side. Whenever a large’ish problem needs solutions, a brainstorming session is…

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