Month: June 2023

Weekly Shorts: Dad-influencers – the new buzzword for brands

Dad influencers have been the most sought-after content creators by brands in fashion, fitness, food and beverages and lifestyle categories. In fact, data from the influencer marketing platform affable.ai shows that the number of dad influencers has increased by 12.89 percent between 2018 and 2022. (Representatuve Image: Tim Mossholder via Unsplash)

What’s buzzing in influencer marketing and the creator ecosystem? What’s the next big thing coming down the line? Catch the big trends and hot topics in our weekly shorts.

Google has been operating an illegal advertising monopoly, says the EU

Social media users reprimanded Gemini as ‘absurdly woke’ and ‘unusable’ after requests to generate representative images for subjects prompted the creation of bizarrely revisionist pictures. (Representational image: Rajeshwar Bachu via Unsplash)

European regulators threaten to break up Google’s ad monopoly; Google charged with violating antitrust law in how it operates its suite of digital advertising technologies.

Acquired at 40% discount, Ustraa says its valuation can increase 6X in 3 years

VLCC had filed its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP) in August 2021, but the plans were shelved after Carlyle, the private equity (PE) giant, acquired a controlling stake in the New Delhi-based beauty and wellness chain. The PE firm bought VLCC for around $250-$300 million, as per reports, and was likely to revive VLCC’s IPO goals in the coming years. (Representative Image: Christoffer Engström via Unsplash)

Ustraa’s Rs 250 crore deal with VLCC also took some by surprise because The Good Glamm Group had put around Rs 490 crore on the table to acquire Ustraa last year, sources told Moneycontrol. The deal did not materialise because of internal reasons, they added.

Hip and happning: French dating app happn refreshes brand proposition

happn is going even further with Crush Points, which enables happners to meet singles who like and go to the same places as them. It builds trust and community by discovering people with shared interests.

For its 37 million Indian users, happn is launching its newest feature CrushPoints in multiple Indian cities, combining dating with social networking.

GroupM launches hyper-local audience targeting solution, Geo Granularity for addressable TV

Covering an expansive area of 26,000 square kilometres across India’s top cities, this innovative solution was developed using proprietary geo-spatial technology and is the country’s first ever initiative of its kind, offering unparalleled targeting capabilities exclusively designed for TV advertisers. (Representative Image: engin akyurt via Unsplash)

Geo Granularity, developed by GroupM Nexus’s Finecast, enables hyperlocal targeting in high quality broadcaster inventory for more precise audience reach that optimises ad spend

ASCI introduces guidelines on manipulative online deceptive design patterns in advertising

This comprehensive approach equips brands to make discerning investment decisions, with consideration for brand and consumer safety in media strategies. (Representative Image: Nick Fewings via Unsplash)

The guidelines will serve as a framework for businesses to design and implement user navigation and interface that put informed decision-making and express consent a priority.

India has potential to become one of the world’s superpowers: Publicis Groupe’s Maurice Levy

According to Maurice Levy, India has the potential to become one of the superpowers of the world as it has the world’s largest population with innovators. (Image sourced from CNBC International)

Maurice Levy commended India for making significant progress in the field of cyber security and praised the country for its creative, and disruptive innovators.