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In a significant move to enhance career opportunities for its delivery partners, Swiggy has launched "Project Next," an initiative focused on providing pathways for professional growth and accelerating restaurant onboarding. 

This program is part of Swiggy's broader "Swiggy Skills" initiative, which encompasses skilling, training, internships, and employment opportunities within its operational ecosystem.

By transitioning qualified delivery partners into sales executives, Project Next seeks to facilitate the expansion of Swiggy's restaurant network across 150 emerging markets, particularly in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. This initiative not only promotes restaurant growth, but also allows delivery partners to pursue meaningful career advancement.

"Swiggy works with nearly 4 lakh delivery partners across India," said Rohit Kapoor, CEO of Swiggy Food Marketplace. "This unique programme helps delivery partners transition from 'blue collar' to 'white collar' workers."

In just five weeks since its inception, Project Next has successfully transitioned 100 delivery partners into sales executive roles, resulting in the onboarding of approximately 360 restaurants. The company aims to expand this initiative further in the coming months, with plans to transition hundred more delivery partners in markets such as Vadodara, Amritsar, Nashik, Agra, and Dharwad.

One success story is that of Ravindra Khati, a 27-year-old delivery partner from Sikar, Rajasthan, who is now thriving as a sales executive. "For the past few years, I've been successful in securing a position. However, my role at Swiggy has sparked my interest in a career within the private sector," he shared.

Project Next is the latest addition to the "Swiggy Skills" initiative, launched in collaboration with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India. The program aims to facilitate online skill development and upskilling for approximately 2.4 lakh delivery partners and the staff of Swiggy's 2 lakh restaurant partners. Additionally, it seeks to create employment opportunities for 3,000 individuals in various roles within restaurant operations and skill management.

Swiggy launches 'Project Next' to empower delivery partners with career growth

Swiggy in its annual report for FY23-24 reported that they have reduced spending on marketing and promotion compared to last year. The Bengaluru based company spent Rs 1,581 crore in FY24 as compared to Rs 2,501 crore last year. The food aggregator app also reported that a former junior employee embezzled Rs 33 crore over a period of time. 

The company asked an “external team” to investigate the matter and filed a "legal complaint" against the former employee. The annual reports states, "The Group, during the current year, identified embezzlement of funds in one of the subsidiaries by a former junior employee amounting to Rs 326.76 million over the past periods." 
"Based on review of the facts discovered during the investigation, the Group has recorded an expense for the aforementioned amount during the year ended March 31, 2024."

Swiggy is looking to raise up to Rs 3,750 crore (around $450 million) through a fresh issue and up to Rs 6,664 crore (around $800 million) as an offer-for-sale (OFS) component in its $1.25 billion IPO later this year. 
The food-delivery company’s revenue grew 36 percent to Rs 11,247 crore in FY24, the annual report said. It narrowed losses to 44 percent from Rs 4,179 crore to Rs 2,350 crore, as it curtailed expenses.

It spent Rs 13,947 crore in FY24, 8 percent lower than the previous year as it cut down its promotion and marketing spending from Rs 2,501 crore in FY23 to Rs 1,851 crore in FY24.

Despite the improving finances, Swiggy lagged its rival Zomato during the year. On a gross order value (GOV) basis – which totaled to around Rs 56,924 crore between the two companies in FY24 – Swiggy had a market share of 43 percent in the food delivery industry and Zomato was the market leader with a 57 percent share in FY24.


Swiggy spent Rs 1,581 crore on marketing, says junior employee embezzled Rs 33 crore

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>MuscleBlaze - Ladies Who Lift</strong>

<strong>Agency: In-house</strong>

<iframe title="" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tjzziDz3Qmo" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Surprisingly even a two minute spot can be fun if made well. This new campaign titled Ladies Who Lift (#LWL), by MuscleBlaze is an interesting one. Conceptualized and executed by an all women in-house crew, the ad shows women from all walks of life who don’t live by conventional expectations. The campaign creates a progressive narrative around the spirit of ‘Zidd’ portraying women at their stubborn best when it comes to choosing the kind of life they want for themselves. The catchy number ‘Ni Aar Di’ is the cherry on the cake. This one blazes all the way to the top.

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Paytm First Games</strong>

<iframe title="Play Rummy on First Games and Win Cash!" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hFZXTALBWkg" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

To promote the game of Rummy, Paytm First Games brought Fukrey famed actors Richa Chadha and Varun Sharma in its latest ad. The 30-seconders feature the actors indulging in a fun shayari (a form of poetry) to communicate how First Games is akin to having the best rummy gaming experience, comparing the experience to combinations such as Butter-Chicken combo or No Ball-Free Hit. The campaign is relatable and is likely to engage viewers.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Vadilal Ice Cream</strong>

<strong>Agency: Mullen Lintas</strong>

<iframe title="Har Moment Ko Right Kar with Vadilal Ice creams! Ft. Ranveer Singh" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tzVnqZ2GKYY" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Vadilal’s new ad featuring Ranveer Singh follows the tropes of a typical celebrity campaign. Singh, true to his personality, appears in a brightly coloured attire mimicking the shades of a cassata ice-cream at a party. Calling himself a slice of cassata he starts gyrating to the – ‘lick it, bite it, right it!’ jingle while distributing the brand’s ice-cream variants to the party guests. It’s a clear case of the celebrity overshadowing the brand in the spot, viewers are likely to remember Singh’s bizarre fuzzy outfit and crazy moves, not the ice-cream unfortunately.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Country Delight - Oil is Well.</strong>

<iframe title="Oil is Well" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NtrxKD64atA" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

A traffic jam - petrol in a well - curious cat - Country Delight. A roundabout way to drive a straight message. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth.’ Unfortunately, that’s exactly what has happened in this case. Country Delight has a value driven product, a coconut that guarantees two full glasses of water. However, this core message gets lost amidst all the din and commotion. The traffic jam and the loud sound of cars honking, followed by a loud conversation between the two main characters, constant pumping sound of the well and background music that is very unpleasant to the ears, left us eagerly searching for some harmony in all the chaos. Adding to all this was an unclear product shot. The best part about this ad was its short duration. All of the above points, if it isn’t clear already, resulted in us awarding this spot a big, huge MEH.

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Cleartrip - #MeantForMore</strong>

<iframe title="Cleartrip International Flights | #MeantForMore" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Cx63ypMxTmU" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Online travel aggregator Cleartrip’s latest ad film is high on reliability. Stand-up comedian, Biswa, narrates the brand’s insight which is, passports are meant for more than just being an identification proof document, in a cheeky way. Biswa is seen submitting his passport as identification proof for a home loan to a bank officer. The passport then personifies itself and calls out that its job is to travel and not be an ID proof. It talks about the dreams that it has, from adding autographs of immigration officers to scuba diving in the Maldives. Cute writing. The passport demands respect and recognition of its purpose, that is to explore the world. And then we get the sell - Cleartrip’s offers for international flights. The brand hits the spot by converting a sharp insight into smart advertising with a layer of humour.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>Swiggy - Big Birthday Bash</strong>

<strong>Agency – In House</strong>

<iframe title="Swiggy Instamart - Our birthday. Your surprise!" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ISAu342jRGY" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

<iframe title="Swiggy's Big Birthday Bash is here!" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8gtd5TDOoAw" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

<iframe title="Swiggy's Big Birthday Bash is here!" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0hdHC8eL9TE" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

This is the third Khali ad that we are calling out in the last two months. Before you send us angry emojis, hear us out. Everyone enjoys a bite of Swiggy’s topical advertising. However, this one was bland. The food delivery platform collaborated with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) star The Great Khali to celebrate their respective birthdays. The Great Khali and Swiggy will be turning 50 and eight, respectively, this year. Is that insightful enough to drive a big campaign? We aren’t sure. Talking about the ads in the campaign, it lacks that “Swiggyness” we’ve come to expect from the brand. It’s forcefully quirky. Also, this might be a good time to find more creative ways to deploy the Great Khali in advertising.

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>Shopsy - Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya? Har Din Aisa Sale Jaisa</strong>

<strong>Agency: Tilt Brand Solutions</strong>

<iframe title="Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya? Har Din Aisa Sale Jaisa | Sara Ali Khan" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hv2nzg_l0pA" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

This commercial is in some ways the holy grail of advertising - relatable, informative and entertaining. It is a known fact that most wait for the sale season to drop so they can splurge. Shopsy’s ‘Aaj Shopsy Kiya Kya? Har Din Aisa Sale Jaisa’ captures that sentiment in an entertaining manner. The brand got the casting spot on, with the three characters in the film portrayed by talented actors. This spot is an early antidote to what we expect will be a season of ads that read and feel like a dull catalog of offers.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>JSW Paints - Think Beautiful</strong>

<strong>Agency: TBWA India</strong>

<iframe title="JSW Paints - Independence day | Think Beautiful Film" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NLKaEo1O9RE" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

If people have watched the critically acclaimed movie Lage Raho Munna Bhai, they will be able to relate it with JSW Paints’ ‘Think Beautiful’ commercial. A paan chewing biker repeatedly spits on a wall where it's clearly mentioned that one should not spit. A paint shop owner quietly goes about painting over the paan stains. This quiet act of resistance has no effect on the actions of the person spitting. The paint shop owner paints the colors of the Indian flag on the wall. This stops the man in his tracks as he’s just about to smear the wall with paan juice again.

The ad garnered lots of attention in a sea of I-day ads. Most were positive and some were critical of the theme. The big question was around the moral of the story in the ad. Do we need to paint symbols all over the country for Indians to develop a civic sense?

<strong>MAST</strong>

<strong>ResMed - Awaken Your Best Film | Baba Sehgal x ResMed India</strong>

<strong>Agency: Bang In The Middle</strong>

<iframe title="Awaken Your Best Film | Baba Sehgal x ResMed India" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DLyzgN_IKEQ" width="885" height="498" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Are musical ads back? Porter's delivery song and dance from last week, and ResMed's sleep song by India's OG rapper Baba Sehgal, makes us believe they are. This is such a smart use of a celebrity in an ad. The song has ear-worm-like qualities, the writing is top notch and every scene has something interesting going on, like the guy asleep at the coffee machine of all places. You certainly won’t snooze or skip this one.

<strong>MEH</strong>

<strong>HDFC Bank - Vigil Aunty</strong>

<strong>Agency: Kinnect</strong>

<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MFkGKrECcvE" title="Origin Story of Vigil Aunty | HDFC Bank" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In a bizarre twist, this big HDFC Bank campaign that talks about fraud detection and prevention is being accused of plagiarism. It's accused of lifting ‘Vigil Aunty’ from author and artist Appupen's character that was created in 2016 for the Indie satire comic called Halahala. But, keeping that aside for the sake of this review, the campaign is still not hitting the right chords for us. While the story of Vigil Aunty’s origin has a good flow and is fun to watch, what’s missing, especially in this film, is an explanation of her existence. Is this an attempt to make a public service campaign or does this open a window to a larger brand purpose? We are still scratching our heads. What is also off the mark is how the narrative is weaved around stereotypes. The usage of veshti and vibuthi because the character from a Southern town made us facepalm. 

<strong>Watched a Mast or Meh ad recently? Tell us about it.</strong>

<strong>Share your picks and reviews with us at <a href="mailto:Storyboard18@nw18.com">Storyboard18@nw18.com</a> and, if we think your review is Mast, we'll publish it.</strong>

Mast & Meh: Swiggy, Shopsy, JSW Paints, Vadilal, Cleartrip, ResMed, Paytm, Country Delight

<em>Keep up with key people movements in the brand marketing ecosystem in Storyboard18’s CXO Moves. Here’s a round-up of the executives who are in, out, and in-between in the past two weeks.</em>

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Untitled-design-77.png" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1573" />

<strong>Bhasker Jaiswal</strong>

Previous: Regional Lead - APAC, Publicis Media

Present: Chief Operations Officer - Media, Dentsu India

Dentsu India recently appointed Bhasker Jaiswal as the chief operations officer. In his new role, Jaiswal will lead integration, transformation and operational excellence agendas. Further, he will closely work with Dentsu India’s chief executive officer Divya Karani to deliver business transformation, set up and standardise operations and systems, govern product leadership and enable sustainable revenue growth.

Jaiswal, who has an experience of more than two decades, has worked across Career Launcher, OMD China, MediaCom India, Buena Vista Television India, etc. Few weeks back, Publicis Media won the media mandate of PepsiCo India. 

<strong>Sumeer Mathur</strong>

Previous: National Strategy Head and Managing Partner, Havas Group

Present: Chief Strategy Officer, Dentsu Creative

Dentsu Creative recently appointed Sumeer Mathur as the chief strategy officer. His mandate includes building on Dentsu Creative’s strategic capabilities in order to further enhance its work, brand management, digital and public relations. He will work closely with Dentsu Creative’s group chief creative officer, Ajay Gahlaut. Mathur started his career with Rediffusion DY&R almost two decades ago, and has worked across Lowe Lintas, Contract Advertising, JWT, DDB Mudra, Havas Group and Edelman. At the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2022, Dentsu Creative India was declared as the ‘Agency of the Year’. A month ago, Dentsu International appointed Robert Gilby as CEO of APAC region. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Saurabh-Bajaj.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1567" />

<strong>Saurabh Bajaj</strong>

Previous: Marketing Head - Dairy, Britannia Industries Limited

Present: EVP, Prepaid Marketing, Vodafone Idea

Vodafone Idea has appointed Saurabh Bajaj as the executive vice president for prepaid marketing. Bajaj, has marketing experience of more than 15 years with stints across Wipro Consumer Care & Lighting, Mondelez International and USL - Diageo. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Untitled-design-78.png" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1575" />

<strong>Adit Chouhan</strong>

Previous: General Manager Marketing, The Phoenix Mills Ltd

Present: Vice President - Business Operations, Merkle Sokrati

Dentsu-owned Merkle Sokrati, a data-driven, and technology-enabled performance marketing agency, has appointed Adit Chouhan as the vice president of business operations. Chouhan who has more than a decade experience has worked across KPMG, Laqshya Media Group, Peninsula Land Ltd, Creaticity, Modish Operandi and TCT - Digital Marketing Solutions. Apart from being an author of three marketing books, he is also the founder of World Digital Conclave, a platform that brings together digital marketers and technology enthusiasts from across the globe.

<strong>Anuj Poddar</strong>

Previous: Executive Director, Bajaj Electricals

Present: MD and CEO, Bajaj Electricals

Bajaj Electricals recently elevated Anuj Poddar to the position of managing director and chief executive officer. Poddar, who has an experience of more than two decades, has worked across KPMG and Viacom18 Media Private Limited. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Untitled-design-79.png" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1576" />

<strong>Sasha Abraham</strong>

Previous: AVP - Marketing, Disney Star

Present: Head of Brand, Plum

Plum, an employee health insurance platform has appointed Sasha Abraham as the head of brand. In her new role, Abraham will be responsible for crafting the brand strategy, driving brand awareness and affinity and spearheading thought-leadership. Abraham, who has more than a decade of work experience, has worked across Tesco, General Mills and National Football League. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Untitled-design-80.png" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1577" />

<strong>
Oindrila Roy</strong>

Previous: Head of Strategy, Essence

Present: Managing Director, Publicis Worldwide India

Publicis Worldwide India recently appointed Oindrila Roy as the managing director. Her responsibility will include working towards fostering rapid growth and publicising the agency as the preferred choice for brands and the industry. Roy, who has more than two decades of experience, has worked across JWT, Lowe Lintas, Saatchi & Saatchi, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance, Bright Angles Consulting LLP and Leo Burnett. Recently, Publicis Groupe-owned Leo Burnett launched LB Regional, the agency’s specialised division for brands to maximise its reach with the national audiences through understanding based on region wise insights.

<strong>Shitu Anand Patil</strong>

Previous: Co-Founder & Creative Head, Plus One Design

Present: Head of Art and Executive Creative Director, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India

L&K Saatchi & Saatchi India has appointed Shitu Anand Patil as the head of art and executive creative director. Patil, who will be based out of Mumbai, will work toward raising the quality of art across all branches of the network, including the digital-first vertical Saatchi & Saatchi Propagate. Further, she will also lead a few key lifestyle businesses. Patil, who has more than two decades of experience, has had stints across Wipro Limited, FCB Ulka, Lowe Lintas and Publicis Ambience. 

<img src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Untitled-design-81.png" alt="" width="500" height="500" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1578" />

<strong>Rohit Kapoor</strong>

Previous: Global Chief Marketing Officer, Oyo

Present: Chief Executive Officer, Swiggy

Swiggy announced the appointment of Rohit Kapoor as the chief executive officer - food marketplace. Before joining Swiggy, he was with Oyo, where he worked for close to four years first as the CEO of the company’s India and Southeast Asia operations, and later as global CMO. Having an experience of more than two decades, Kapoor has worked at McKinsey&Company, Max India Limited and Max Healthcare. Very recently, Swiggy found itself in a soup after a vegetarian Tamil lyricist took to Twitter claiming he found meat chunks in gobi manchurian. 

<strong>Satish Krishnamurthy, Ameya Kapnadak, Payal Shah, Rahul Bansal</strong>

Previous: Chief Strategy Officer, TBWA/India; Chief Marketing Officer, Artha Financial Services Ltd; Associate Strategy Director, Interbrand; Senior Consultant, Interbrand

Present: Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Growth Officer and Head of Consulting, Strategy Director and Head - Human Truths, Strategy Director and Head - Brand Economics

Interbrand recently made new appointments and elevated existing executives. Krishnamurthy, who has 21 years of experience, has worked across brand consulting, creative strategy and design thinking. Kapnadak has 25 years of experience across technology, banking and finance, automotive, consumer goods, food, fashion and retail.

Shah has more than 15 years of experience in the USA and India, and has worked across categories such as spirits, FMCG, technology and fashion. As a strategy director, her approach is to help brands rise to meaningful arenas for growth and sustainable iconic leadership. 

Bansal, who has 15 years of experience in this role, has helped with the expansion of Interbrand’s footprint in South Asia across Sri Lanka, UAE and Bangladesh. Further, he also led projects for some of the public sector units (PSUs) and private sector brands in India. 

In January, Interbrand had bagged the brand strategy mandate for ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India - a joint venture between two global steel companies ArcelorMittal and Nippon Steel.

<strong>Sambit Dash</strong>

Previous: SVP - Brand Factory, Honasa Consumer Pvt Ltd

Present: Partner, RPSG Capital Ventures

Investment company RPSG Capital Ventures appointed Sambit Dash as a partner. Dash said, “Having worked with consumer brands throughout my career, I am always excited about solutions that lie at the intersection of consumer needs, brand propositions, and viable business models. RPSG Capital Ventures has built a strong portfolio of successful brands in various consumer verticals, and my immediate focus will be to support the portfolio companies with my experience in consumer businesses and D2C marketing.” Dash, who has an experience of more than a decade, started his career with Nestle India and led the P&L as well as marketing responsibilities for products like Nestea – Iced Tea and Nescafe. Subsequently, he headed the marketing department at Taco Bell in India and Sri Lanka. Recently, Honasa Consumer Pvt. Ltd. appointed Pratik Mukkherjee as the vice president of the Brand Factory, where he will be responsible for the launch and creation of new brands. 

<strong>Myleeta AgaWilliams</strong>

Previous: Director, Content - SEA and Australia, Netflix

Present: Chief Executive Officer - International, upGrad

Edtech unicorn upGrad appointed Myleeta AgaWilliams as the chief executive officer - international, where she will spearhead growth across the regions of APAC, EMEA and the US. Further, she will leverage her experience in scaling businesses through strategic interventions across content and global distribution for broadcast and streaming media. AgaWilliams, who has more than two decades of experience, has worked across UTV, Discovery Communications, BBC Worldwide India, Sony Pictures Network India and BBC Studios etc. During the first two quarters of the year, Netflix lost more than one million subscribers. Further, Netflix also announced that in early 2023, it will introduce a ‘cheaper-ad supported tier’. The company had earlier also announced a partnership with Microsoft to sell and power its ads.

<strong>Shubham Khurana</strong>

Previous: Client Partner, Facebook India

Present: Brand Head, Cleartrip

Global online travel company Cleartrip, which is owned by Flipkart in India, has appointed Shubham Khurana as the brand head. In the new role, his responsibilities will include augmenting Cleartrip’s brand presence across the country and expanding in the newer markets. Khurana has previously worked at Unilever for five years, and Treebo Hotels where he served as the director of brand marketing.

<strong>Nikhil Madhok</strong>

Previous: Executive Vice President, Disney+ Hotstar

Present: Not known

Nikhil Madhok, who served as the executive vice president at Disney + Hotstar has put in his papers. During his stint at Disney+ Hotstar, he was behind the conceptualisation and launch of the platform’s entry into original content titled Hotstar Specials. Madhok, who has an experience of two decades, has worked across Unilever, Turner, Star India, Discovery Inc and Star TV Network etc. 

CXO Moves: Dentsu gets two execs from rival networks; Swiggy, upGrad, Vi, RPSG hire

Meme marketing is becoming the latest tool in companies’ digital marketing arsenal. More companies are devoting a bigger portion of their budget than ever before towards meme marketing, and specialised companies are stepping in to help them go viral.

But why memes? “That is the language that Netizens understand. People don’t want to be preached to. Memes subtly integrate brand messaging into conversation,” says Aditya Sobti, creative lead at Schbang, a creative and digital transformation agency. “Customers don’t know their time has been taken (by a brand).”

Take the case of the recent trailer for the movie Brahmastra, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt and Amitabh Bachchan, among others. A dialogue said by Kapoor’s character Shiva in the trailer – ‘Kuch rishta hai mera aag se (I have a strange connection with fire)’ – quickly became a meme. Several brands like Tinder, Dunzo, Zepto and Voot were quick to catch on, and posted their own variations of the meme.

“Memes are a part of our day-to-day lives,” says Saksham Jadon, founder of Youngun, a meme marketing agency that was started in 2019. “And brands want to be part of internet conversations.”

Youngun handles clients such as Netflix, PepsiCo, Swiggy and Cred.

<strong>A short history of meme marketing</strong>

According to Sobti from Schbang, the meme marketing trend in India was started around 2018 by brands like Zomato and Swiggy, both of which are in the food-delivery space.

Many startups typically didn’t have much money to spend on recurring campaigns that are heavy on print ads and TV commercials, which are typically expensive.

Instead, they relied on a more irreverent – and practically free – marketing style which involves catching on to the latest trending topics online and putting the brand’s spin on it. And this often involved memes.

An analysis of Google Trends indicates that the search term ‘meme’ had been slowly gaining in popularity in India since around 2013. When compared to the worldwide trend, growth in India was slow.

The real spike happened during the pandemic-induced lockdowns in March 2020, when millions of people all across the world were stuck at home, with little other than their phones and laptops in the way of entertainment. While worldwide interest in memes grew at that time, India’s growth was much faster, and stabilised at about 75% of those levels since then.

Startups and their marketing teams were quick to catch on. The ability to make memes is even a part of the job description for a social media role at a startup. Fintech unicorn Slice even has a ‘Chief Meme Officer’.

<strong>The method to the viral madness</strong>

Brands that don’t have their own meme makers go to agencies like Jadon. “We’ve cracked how to make it so organic that even news publishers will pick it up. We make sure it’s worth people’s time.”

For instance, Youngun handled the meme marketing for the recent ‘Ranveer vs Wild with Bear Grylls’ web episode, featuring actor Ranveer Singh. The trailer sparked a meme fest, and ended up getting covered by several news outlets.

Brands are also exploring user-generated memes, but with a caveat.

Meme Chat, a meme community social media app started in 2019, enables brands to take this route. Kyle Fernandes, 24-year-old co-founder and CEO of Meme Chat, explains how the process works, “A brand sponsors a meme template. Our users generate thousands of memes, which are curated by moderators. The best ones are shows to the brand. If a user’s meme gets selected by the brand, they get paid Rs.5-10.”

The chosen memes are propagated across meme pages on Facebook and Instagram. Meme Chat said it owns 100 meme pages with a total following of 60mn and has tie-ups with another 300 that have a following of 540mn, meaning it can tap a collective following of 600mn.

[caption id="attachment_1307" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<img class="size-full wp-image-1307" src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Kuch-viral-bana-do-yaar.jpg" alt="Kuch viral bana do yaar" width="700" height="1200" /> Kuch viral bana do yaar[/caption]

Meme Chat has done campaigns for companies such as Britannia, Moj (owned by ShareChat) and films like Jugjugg Jeeyo. Last year, the company raised $1mn in a funding round led by BeeNext, a Singapore-based venture capital firm.

OTT platforms are the biggest clients for meme marketing agencies, followed by e-commerce and digital startups.

Sometimes, memes can also be "seeded" via influencers and content creators – they either repost these memes, or make their own versions of them. And when multiple brands are handled by a single agency, the agencies ensure the brands end up participating in each other's meme trends online, seemingly organically.

Larger, more traditional companies are slow to the uptake, says Sobti. Lawsuits arising from copyright infringement are the main concern, even though lawsuits like these are rare.

Way back in 2015, Getty Images asked GetDigital, a German blog, to pay licensing fees for using a picture of a penguin from their image database to create what would become a widely popular meme called ‘Socially Awkward Penguin’.Getty said they were trying to protect the livelihoods of photographers who click such photos. GetDigital was also asked to keep quiet about it. They didn’t.

In a later report by Huffpost, Getty said they had pursued similar action against several such blogs who used images in this manner.

“Companies like Jio and Britannia have a lot to lose,” says Sobti. “It’s been tough to convince them, (but) slowly and steadily, brands are warming up to the opportunity – they know they will lose out on social media reach otherwise.”

Britannia recently launched a meme campaign for the launch of a new biscuit. The campaign was managed by Schbang and Meme Chat.

<strong>A numbers game</strong>

Meme marketing companies can change anywhere between Rs.2 lakh to Rs.3 crore, depending on the duration of the project.

Memes are now becoming a bigger part of companies’ marketing budgets. Snehil Khanor, CEO of Indian dating app TrulyMadly says that meme marketing now makes up 30-40% of his content marketing budget, up from 7-10% when they first started meme marketing about two and half years ago.

“We see very good engagement for memes versus other posts. Users are able to relate to it – it doesn’t seem like advertising,” says Khanor. Video memes are now becoming more popular versus static ones, says Khanor.

What constitutes virality? It depends on who you ask. Fernandes says that it would have to be about 10 million in reach and engagement numbers would constitute virality. Jadon says that it’s viral when news publishers organically pick up stories on memes, or the meme makes it to the meme review video of an influencer like Tanmay Bhat.

But sometimes, it’s hard to tell what’s organic and what’s not.

For instance, a recent meme that went viral was a screenshot of a WhatsApp conversation between a college student and his dad. Storyboard18 spoke to the original poster of the meme, 23-year-old engineering student Jitu Malani from Ajmer. Malani, who posts memes on his Twitter page, said he had no idea that this screenshot would go viral. Malani said he was approached by a few news outlets after the meme went viral, although not by the brand itself.

While the meme appears not to have been posted by the brand, the story was picked up by several news organisations. Jadon put up a LinkedIn post with screenshots of the coverage, with the caption ‘Remember this viral meme? Work by Youngun – a Meme Marketing agency for Swiggy’.

Similarly, yet another viral post by Swiggy shows signs of the blurring lines between brand-led and organic viral content.

In this case, it was a video of a man on a horse carrying a Swiggy delivery box. Three days later, the brand put out a tongue-in-cheek notice saying it had taken note of the viral video, and announced a reward for whoever identified the horseman. The day after that, the app’s delivery status section had a modification which showed a man on a horse, instead of the usual bike.

A week after the meme went viral, the company put out another letter, saying it had identified the horseman, as well as the person who shot the video.

Sobti says that, typically, changes to an app take weeks to plan and execute. He added that this particular meme was considered a well-executed campaign in marketing circles because of how organic it looked.

In response to questions about the story, Swiggy sent links to the notices it posted on its official Instagram page (described above).

Sobti says there’s no harm in marketers trying their best to make memes look as organic as they can.

The audience has a few laughs, and the brand wins too.

[caption id="attachment_1306" align="aligncenter" width="700"]<img class="size-full wp-image-1306" src="https://images.storyboard18.com/storyboard18/Manufacturing-Memes-How-meme-marketing-works.jpg" alt="Manufacturing Memes - How Meme marketing works" width="700" height="700" /> Manufacturing Memes - How Meme marketing works[/caption]

Engineering the viral: The science behind meme marketing

SWIGGY