Media

Reddit Beats Facebook And Telegram In The Race Of Cryptocurrency.

While Telegram and Facebook are still facing issues in their planning and launch of their cryptocurrency, Reddit took the leap and launched it’s very own crypto for its users named “Moon”. The working strategy of Reddit cryptocurrency is different from that of Facebook and Telegram. But at least for Reddit, the game crypto is on.

Image credits – Reddit

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Reddit has always been in controversies, it is a discussion platform with around 430 million active monthly users. The Reddit cryptocurrency will provide people with the lucky chance to purchase exclusive badges on the website. They can even buy exclusive emoji GIFs and post them as a comment. As stated, the Reddit game plan for the cryptocurrency is a lot different when compared to others. The Reddit crypto will be available to around 1million users from the midsummers.

Reddit Crypto will not work as a cryptocurrency launched for in-game cash prizes or like other video games cash. It is an actual cryptocurrency that is running on Ethereum Network. We shouldn’t forget that Reddit has a huge user, and launching its cryptocurrency means that it will be ahead in the game from tech companies like Facebook and Telegram.

These other tech companies are fighting hard to enter the cryptocurrency market for a long time now. They have even faced clashes with regulators and authorities of the court regarding this decision. Telegram, on the other hand, has discontinued his plans of cryptocurrency launch after getting knocked down several times by authorities. Facebook is continuing with his struggle to make sure that his cryptocurrency Libra enters the market at the soonest. But synopsis says that Facebook’s Libra can’t be launched any soon.

Aaron Brown, a crypto investor and a writer at Bloomberg Prophets says, A “possibility is the plan is to introduce the currency and get people used to it and then gradually build it into a valuable general exchange currency.” The currency can further be used to buy content, subscription, or even to purchase goods on websites or even beyond that. A trading system can also be created using the currency.

Image credit – Reddit. Distribution schedule.

Even if all that is possible it won’t be happening anytime soon. The reason being, before circulating the crypto exchanges have to list tokens and needed to be named differently for each Reddit subgroup. The user should be able to set a digital wallet to accept currency using Reddit mobile app using Android or iPhone.

According to Reddit, the cryptocurrency is just a try-out. Other subreddits are running tests on cryptocurrency. Fortnite BR is one such example that people utilize for playing Fortnite: Battle Royale. The concept of the token is very common among gamers. V-buck is another popular example which people can purchase or earn while playing the game.

“We continuously run experiments to explore features that engage our users and communities,” said Reddit spoke person, based in San Francisco. “With Community Points, we’re working exclusively with two communities to test this feature and gather feedback from our users.” It was further clarified that Fortnite Epic has no association with this effort of Reddit.

But some crypto analysts have their doubts clouding in their minds. They think that the awards of community point can be related to “karma.” Reddit uses “karma” as a source of income, for example for posting a smart comment.

Will Price, a data scientist at researcher Flipside Crypto says that Reddit needs to be careful with the policies and usage of its cryptocurrency so that the users don’t misuse the cryptosystem. Also, Reddit is keeping 20 percent of the tokens for itself, the users might not be united with it.

Price adds “That being said, if all goes well, this could be the first step towards a more engaged and invested Reddit community, raising the bar for quality content creation and curation.”

Wunderman Thompson Brings Agency Office Buzz To Employee’s Homes.

COVID-19 has compelled the world into self-isolation which means working from home indefinitely- which is challenging for highly collaborative and creative industries like marketing and advertising. Technology bridges the gap of connectivity but nothing can replace the buzz that comes from working in a busy agency. Therefore, Wunderman Thompson Canada is keeping you company with the ambient noise of an agency office from the pre-pandemic times.

The 8-hour soundtrack spans from 9 a.m coffee to 4 p.m happy hours, every elevator ping, chatter, and email notifications of a typical office day, recorded by the agency’s remote employees. The audio is called ‘Isolation Station’ on SoundCloud and is hoping that this tracklist might recreate the familiar and nostalgic buzz which will help employees feeling sick of working from home in the pandemic, get the feel of a more productive setting. Even the track names remind of office life with titles such as “But first, coffee” and “Beer o’clock”.

Wunderman Thompson Canada executive creative director Ari Elkouby said that they tapped real Wunderman Thompson Canada employees to record themselves having conversations with colleagues over Microsoft Teams and on their mobile devices to make the soundtrack truly authentic.

“We created a story map over the course of eight hours and got employees to contribute to different parts of the day. That dialogue was mixed over an audio bed of office ambient sounds to complete the track.”

Ari Elkouby also mentioned that Isolation can be scary and less ideal for many, however, this is to show the team and industry that we are together and provides much-needed comfort in a creative and fun way. Who knew that a conference room discussion meet can be so nostalgic?

This is similar to a campaign from the New York Public Library, in which the sounds of the bustling New York City were recreated.

This is also an interesting read: Noise-O-Meter By Bose Rewards Rising Noise Level With Discounts On Its Headphones.

Digital Marketing Strategies Fail Due To Fake Bots And Manipulated Data.

Digitalization in Marketing strategies has increased the demand for high inputs and better results from Digital Marketing Strategies. The game has changed and it’s no more about the number of likes and views, it’s about the engagement of the right audience with the content. A tremendous increase in marketing platforms has increased the demand for a target-oriented, and result-driven marketing.

As Peter Parker principle states: “With great powers comes great responsibilities!” the increase in marketing platforms, has increased the challenges to get the ideal data. Intensifying the challenges, Bots are manipulating customers’ data which the companies are extracting from various sources. These include data generated by the landing pages.

Marketing firms are struggling to distinguish between the data filled by humans and advanced bots. This leads to a rise in demand for developing technologies that can help marketing firms to resolve this issue.

Data manipulation isn’t the only thing that bothers! Countless people are investing their crucial money daily on digital marketing tools. They do this to gain marketing benefits. Each interaction with the customer costs them. Every interaction counts! Even if it’s with a bot.

A person running global campaigns, by utilizing Digital Marketing Strategies like landing pages analyzed the conversion rate. He observed that the traffic he’s attracting on his page is great! Yet, the conversion is grieving. The extensive analysis helped him to discover that around 37% of his page data is Bot-driven and fake. Meaning that a 37% share of his spendings went to total waste and became irrelevant. Don’t you consider this an unfair or fraud practice with those who are investing their money in digital marketing?

This doesn’t end here! The marketing team chases fake data received from the internet, resulting in loss of productivity and wastage of crucial time. The time and wasted efforts of teams are equivalent to companies’ money and resources. Companies can utilize these resources to provide better services to their customers.

How to avoid this crisis and find a resolution to this mounting problem?

Most importantly, instead of curing ie. differentiating data based on its authenticity, we should apply a preventative approach. Therefore, In other words, we should stop the bot from entering the marketing domains. Marketing teams likely don’t have the luxury of time which they can spend on examining data.

For instance, marketers should be equipped to examine the behavior and authenticity of a user session. This will very likely help them to monitor the behavioral dissimilarities between a well-bred bot and a genuine human. Firstly, these tactics can be applied to different campaigns, and the collection of fake data from the internet can be prevented. Secondly, with special techniques, methods, and similar additive challenges Bot should be stopped from filling web forms. In conclusion, this will not only help in maintaining the authenticity of data but similarly, it will also help in saving the money of the customers.

The results of digital marketing campaigns are effective only if humans are at the receiving end. Therefore, the development of industries and the evolution of new markets demand techniques that most importantly help in delivering the message to the right audience further, eliminating bots interference. By doing this they can obtain better results by keeping marketing humane not only today but even in the future.

Omnicom Media Group MENA To Provide Complimentary Media Space To Charities

Omnicom Media Group MENA has decided to work together with regional media owners in the Middle East to provide complimentary media space to its long-standing partner charities. This initiative is a part of the company’s COVID-19 relief efforts. This noble act will help Dubai Cares, Gulf for Good, and Médecins Sans Frontières to reach out to a larger audience with their call to action. The COVID-19 campaigns are mainly aimed at education, health, and critical support for people especially children who are in need in the region and beyond.

The response from the media industry is astounding. The media partners currently include Backlite Media, Digital Tree, DMS, Elevision Screens, Eye Media, Future Tech, Group Plus, Maddict, MMP, Reach MENA, and Snap Inc. They have offered free media space to promote various charities and draw support for their causes. Omnicom Media Group MENA also provides creative support.

Omnicom Media Group MENA has shared a long-term relationship with these three non-profit organizations and supported their causes over the years. The latest initiative is a step to ensure to get the means for the mission of these charities towards the community continues when donations are down due to coronavirus crisis.

Mario Stephan, Executive Director MSF UAE said,

“This pandemic is like no other we’ve seen in modern times, impacting our patients, our staff, and our programs. Only together can we muster hope to get through it successfully.”

He further added,

“We’re very grateful for this initiative as it will help drum further support for our patients. It’s important we never lose sight of the less fortunate than ourselves, even now.”

Alanna Turpin, Sustainability Lead at Omnicom Media Group MENA added, 

“Our industry has a very powerful talent that’s acutely needed right now. It’s the ability to raise awareness, rally and move people to achieve great things through collective action.”

In this crisis, it’s about saving people from illness and poverty. It’s urgent our charity partners get the resources they need to alleviate the suffering. Media owners with available advertising inventory they wish to commit to this effort can contact us at CSR-MENA@OmnicomMediaGroup.com”.

Google Cuts Marketing Budgets by 50%, Freezes Hiring.

Key Points

• Budget cuts and hiring freezes across marketing and across Google.

• An internal document reveals Google is cutting its marketing budgets by as much as 50 % for the second half of 2020.

• The marketing budget cuts may be a way to combat reduced advertising earnings in the wake of coronavirus.

• The development comes in less than a week from where Google is scheduled to discuss Q1 2020 results on 28th April.

Google is doing what other big tech companies are or will be doing soon to mitigate the coronavirus impact – cutting marketing budgets. An email viewed by CNBC, sent to the marketing employees this week was about budget cuts and a new hiring freeze for full-time and contract employees.

The e-mail stated:

There are budget cuts and hiring freezes happening across marketing and across Google…We, along with the rest of marketing, have been asked to cut our budget by about half for H2.

In 2019, Google spent $18.46 bn which includes employee compensation. One important area that required advertising was Cloud, as it competes with Amazon and Microsoft by hiring more sales representatives.it is unclear how such areas will be affected that need wide consumer reach.

However, Google confirmed that some areas’ budgets are being cut but not every area will be impacted as it adjusts plans.

A company spokesperson said in an emailed statement to CNBC,

As we outlined last week, we are re-evaluating the pace of our investment plans for the remainder of 2020 and will focus on a select number of important marketing efforts….We continue to have a robust marketing budget, particularly in digital, in many business areas.

Sundar Pichai, CEO in his memo last week stated, 

The clear lesson from 2008 is that preparing early is key to weathering the storm and emerging in a position to continue long-term growth…We are reevaluating the pace of our investment plans for the remainder of 2020. That starts with taking a more critical look at the pace of hiring for the rest of the year.

…we continue to invest, but will be recalibrating the focus and pace of our investments in areas like data centers and machines, and non-business essential marketing and travel.

Sundar’s announcement emphasized that the company will not cut back in areas where consumers needed Google’s support for their growth and success. It will also continue with digital advertising which is in line with the stay at home audience.

Travel advertising  earnings plummets:

Recently, a search marketer who knows travel advertising well tweeted the collapse of travel-related advertising and one of the contributing factors to a negative impact on the earnings.

When nearly 10% of your business is as a performance marketing supplier to Expedia and Priceline, and they stop advertising, the knock on effects are strong: https://t.co/TKNFl3YgOs

— Martin MacDonald 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇪🇸🇺🇸🇧🇧 (@searchmartin) April 23, 2020

Following the news, Google shares had dropped nearly 2%.

Google pledges $800 million to coronavirus relief, including Ad credits

Google announced in a blog post that it will be offering $340 million as free ad credits to small and medium businesses that have an account with them. It is committing more than $800 million which will be used towards a range of charities and to support initiatives to help those affected by the global pandemic.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained:

“As the coronavirus outbreak continues to worsen around the world, it’s taking a devastating toll on lives and communities. To help address some of these challenges, today we’re announcing a new $800+ million commitment to support small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), health organizations and governments, and health workers on the frontline of this global pandemic.”

Google’s commitment includes the following key areas:

• A $250 million in ad grants will be used to help the World Health Organization and other more than 100 government agencies globally to provide information about the pandemic.
• A $200 million investment fund will be set up that will support NGOs and financial institutions to provide small businesses with capital. This is in addition to the  $15 million in cash grants Google.org provides to non-profits to help bridge gaps for SMB’s.
• A $340 million in Google Ad credits to small and midsize business owners with active Google ad account over the past year. Credit notifications will appear in their Google Ads accounts and can be used at any point until the end of 2020 across our advertising platforms”, as mentioned on the blog.
• $20 million in Google Cloud Credits for academic institutions and researchers as they leverage Google’s computing capabilities and infrastructure as they study potential therapies, vaccines and identify new ways to combat COVID-19.
• Financial support and expertise to help increase production capacity for lifesaving equipment which includes masks and ventilators.

In addition to this, Google has increased the gift matching support program for its employees who donate to charities. Pichai said that employees from across Alphabet including Google, Verily and X, are

“bringing engineering, supply chain, and healthcare expertise to facilitate increased production of ventilators, working with equipment manufacturers, distributors and the government in this effort.”

Earlier this month, Verily, Google’s sister company launched a coronavirus testing screening website with 1,000 Google volunteers to test people with symptoms. It’s a significant commitment from the tech giant and growing contributions towards a social cause.

Over the past few weeks, we have seen major contributions for COVID-19 from Silicon giants like Apple, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Salesforce has also funded to relieve the economic stress amidst the global pandemic.

COVID 19 Effect : How Could It Impact The Digital Ad Spend

The Great Recession was the lowest point in the history of advertising. The only time digital spend dropped in absolute terms was in 2009. However, according to the IAB survey of nearly 400 media buys and brands, 74 percent of buy-side decision-makers think coronavirus pandemic will have a larger impact on the digital ad spend than the 2008 financial crisis. The struggle against the ongoing coronavirus pandemic looks grim among the buy-side decision-makers.

Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of all respondents have paused all ad spend for the first and second quarters while another 46 percent have adjusted their media spend during the first half of the year as researched conducted by Interactive Advertising Bureau.

As quoted in Forbes, IAB President David Cohen said,

“This is what happens in times of crisis. Typically marketers will press pause for a moment, take a breath, assess the situation, replay and reevaluate.”

The COVID-19 crisis is going to have a material impact on the calendar year 2020. According to the report, the buy-side expects an increase in spending during May/June but no rebound for the final six months of the year.

The report suggests digital advertising to fair better than any other medium. Digital ad spends from March to June down by 33% compared to traditional media declined by 39%. Traditional out-of-the home advertising is highly affected by an estimated ad spend down by 51% for March and April and 41% for May and June. This makes sense considering people are home in self-isolation across countries, there would be fewer people to see billboards and digital displays.

With all the changes in the ad spend, 63 percent of advertisers are adjusting their messaging to focus on mission-based marketing and cause-related marketing. Meanwhile, tactical changes are also happening as a 38 percent plan to increase audience targeting and 35 percent plan to increase device marketing for OTT and CTV.

Media consumption is going to increase with this stay-at-home and work-from-home. The report also reflects that the crisis is going to hit the annual Upfronts in late April and May with Disney, Hulu, and Discovery pulling out as 73 percent of buyers said COVID-19 will impact their spending plans for 2020 and 2021. While 20 percent expect a decrease in their Upfront spends versus original plans.

Despite the bleak picture over the next few months, two-thirds of buyers are undecided for making any ad spend changes in Q3 and Q4 and 25 percent plan to make changes due to COVID-19. The IAB surveyed the marketers about the milestones they will be watching to calibrate their decisions. 65 percent said they will be watching the quarantine status while 49 percent are focused on the number of coronaviruses cases. Other milestones amongst the top five were business openings and closing (47%) and stock market (44%).

Speaking to Forbes, Sue Hogan, the IAB’s senior vice president of measurement expanded on the point,

“I would say that I think the optimism right now for the second half of 2020 is heartening,”

He further added,

“There’s definitely a pendulum swing in the minds of buyers to move from a pretty tight decrease in ad spend or pause entirely to what we hope will be close to planned by end of year.”

Brands Get Creative With Their Advertisements To Encourage Social Distancing

Who says Social Distancing can’t be creative? With creative advertisements, it surely can be!

• After Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre’s Safety Match Art went viral, many iconic brands are getting creative with their advertisements to promote the importance of social distancing and creating advertisements to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.

• As the situation around the world intensifies, the citizens of the world are called to understand and follow hygiene practices, self-isolation, and social distancing. Understandably, it is a challenging phase and including these behaviours in our day-to-day life isn’t easy.  Unfortunately, there have been cases of defiance and indifference. 

• Therefore, brands have stepped up to spread awareness on social distancing by altering the most essential element of their existence – Logos and slogans. While some consider it as a marketing gimmick and others as an incredible way to spread a vital message.

Whichever side you belong, take a look at brands like Audi, Fevicol, Nike and others spreading the message of “SOCIAL DISTANCING” on social media with their creative advertisements.

AUDI and VOLKSWAGEN

Held under the same ownership, Audi and Volkswagen tweaked their logos to promote social distancing messages on their social media accounts.

• AUDI

Audi took to Twitter to share a short video with a message “Stay at home, keep your distance, be healthy, support each other – we are in this together”. The post shows the interlocked rings of the luxury brand’s logo stretching out so it gets disconnected from each other to be four separate rings.

Keep your distance – stay together. Only together we make the difference. #AudiTogether pic.twitter.com/othOsjRRYA

— Audi (@AudiOfficial) March 26, 2020

• VOLKSWAGEN

Volkswagen also shared a similar video with a message “Thanks for keeping your social distance!” and separated the iconic V and W.

We are #Volkswagen. Thanks for keeping your social distance! #FlattenTheCurve pic.twitter.com/JeY27epjhl

— Volkswagen News (@volkswagen) March 23, 2020

MERCEDES BENZ

The automotive brand unveiled a logo on Instagram account designed by one of its employees Marcel Hobrath. The logo features an iconic three-pronged star implying to keep a safe distance from the outer circle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-XZizpC8DX/?utm_source=ig_embed

COCO-COLA

Coco-Cola is presently running its ad in New York’s Time Square which shows the usual interlocked letters are spaced out  from each other with a slogan reading “Staying apart is the best way to stay united.”

Before experts jump to any conclusion that the brand is taking advantage of the situation, Coco-Cola through its Coco-Cola foundation has pledged to donate USD 13.5 million to five non-profit organizations in Canada and the United States for those involved in helping the affected to the pandemic.

Image Credit: The Coco-Cola Company

McDonald’s (BRAZIL) 

One of the controversial logo changes from McDonald’s Brazil, which shows its iconic golden arches are pulled apart as posted on its Facebook page. Designed by ad agency DPZ&T, it explained that the distance between the customers and the company is temporary so that we can stay always together. McDonald’s is providing food through delivery and drive-thru.

It faced a backlash from consumers including Bernie Sanders, who tweeted about the company’s sick leave policy for its employees.

Image Credit: McDonald’s Facebook Page

IKEA

In Israel, advertising agency McCann designed IKEA assembly manual with a caption “Stay Home” showing a picture of the house with a key, lock and toilet paper.

Image Credit: Dezeen

CHIQUITA

The international provider of bananas and other fruits produce tweaked its logo on Instagram. It posted the logo without the iconic mascot and captioned the post saying she was “already home” and asked the followers “to do the same and protect yourself.” The social accounts of the brand are operated by Portugal-based digital agency Alice from the Young Network group. This post received positive feedback including heart emojis and claps.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-E7kQjIj1D/?utm_source=ig_embed

ADIDAS

Sportswear manufacturer started a series #hometeam virtually to encourage everyone to be creative and fit while staying indoors.

Image credit: Money Control

MUCINEX

Mucinex created a series of informational ads promoting facts about COVID-19 to combat misinformation. The campaign promotes hand sanitization, maintain at least 6 feet distance, refrain from touching faces and debunks many myths. Each campaign directs people to visit website COVID-19facts.com run by the World Health Organization, John Hopkins and international experts.

Created by McCann New York and McCann Health New York in association with award-winning art illustrator Noma Bar, Mucinex’s campaign will run across all mediums to help calm people and provide the right information.

Image Credit: Money Control

NIKE

Nike didn’t tweak its logo but launched a social media campaign with a global roster of star athletes which includes NBA player LeBron James and golfer Tiger Woods. The campaign shows how these sports stars are practicing social distancing by “playing inside.”

Nike had to closed several of its global stores due to the pandemic. Many sports events like NBA and Olympics have been postponed or canceled. Earlier a logo was redesigned by Slovenia based creative director Jure Tovaljan with a catchphrase modified to “Just Don’t Do It” but the company opted to stick to its identity.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AguSsAL0o/?utm_source=ig_embed

MERCADO LIBRE

Argentina Ecommerce platform tweaked its logo from changing handshakes to elbow bumps.

Image Credit: India Television

FEVICOL

The world’s strongest adhesive product owned by Indian company Pidilite Industries tweaked its logo which showed two elephants pulling away from each other with a tagline in Hindi that means “For future bonding, maintain some distance today.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/B91G66rlS3q/?utm_source=ig_embed

Surely, this unique initiative of creative advertisements by brands can help to bring awareness to social distancing and encourage more people to adopt the practice.

After Coronavirus Pandemic, Economic Downturn Awaits Ad Industry

Hello! At first, hope you all are safe, healthy, and isolated in these trying times. 

Last week due to the rapid rise of coronavirus, all events and big announcements in the ad tech industry were cancelled and companies shifted to work remotely. However, there is an unexpected sting in the tail – the economy is slipping into recession.

Initially, the advertisers thought the impact of coronavirus would be short but now they are preparing for its effects to stay for months. With the economists warning that a global recession is underway, the global markets witnessed a sharp fall. On the other hand,  the investors feared coronavirus would stunt the economic growth resulting in a market crash of 3000 points from the Dow Jones and the value of stocks falling steeply. The advertising executives think the coronavirus pandemic means normal business is on hold indefinitely.

According to a report from research firm eMarketer, a reduction in the growth of advertising is expected on a global scale due to COVID-19. The firm said the global ad spend is expected to be $691.7 billion, down from the earlier estimate of $712 billion. The total ad spending of China, the second-largest ad market is expected to reach $113. 7 billion, down from the previous estimate of $121.13 billion.

Many business events and pitches worth millions of dollars have been postponed until the coronavirus stabilizes. While it is early to predict the overall economic outcome due to coronavirus outbreak, however economists like IAB Europe’s Daniel Knapp warns a situation similar to the 2008 recession. However, that recession was driven by the issues in the financial system, currently, coronavirus is creating the collapse of the consumer demands across sectors weakening the economic activities around the world.

The impact of coronavirus pandemic on advertising has begun to sink in. As quoted by the DigiDay, David Indo, CEO of ID Comms said,

“We are facing unprecedented market conditions and many advertisers have sensibly focused on protecting key business and commercial requirements.”

He further added,

“A significant number of pitch plans are being paused and placed on hold until the situation clarifies. The result could be an avalanche of reviews through the second half of the year or perhaps a delay until the beginning of 2021.”

The biggest impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been a major disruption to supply chains. For instance, Apple witness a shortage of iPhone supply in China. As a result, it established  Foxconn as a primary manufacturer. Currently, the production is shut down in China reducing the forecast in iPhone shipments in Q1 by as much as 10% according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo cited by MacRumors. Some advertisers like Adidas and AB InBev are pulling out dollars from China because of coronavirus overturning the ability to sell ads whereas others with streaming services are wary to take more ads as it might look that they are trying to gain more profit from people forced to stay at home.

Cancelled events and travel restrictions refer to fewer people travelling which means business metrics like return on advertising spend are in freefall for travel companies. According to Gareth Owen, MD of independent agency network TiPi Group, certain verticals like travel are trying to cut down on advertising and their travel clients aren’t bidding on the keywords that usually drive sales as a part of cuts to pay-to-click strategies that have also stopped display budgets.

Speaking to DigiDay, Christian Gladwell, Global CEO, M&C Saatchi Performance expanded on the point,

“The virus is bad news for performance marketing budgets if they are only employed at a low stage of the funnel that’s acquiring the media within a narrow cost per action range.”

The problems of the travel industry and event organizers are becoming a part of the ad industry as well. For example, influencers looking for collaboration on lucrative projects are suspended for two reasons – no travel or event is cancelled. Even though only a few travel and tourism campaigns and brand sponsorships have been cancelled by companies, but if the situation gets worst it can have serious repercussions on the influencer’s income

The outbreak has even halted the shooting of movies and series at various stages of production. This can cause monetary damage to the production houses and channels.  Therefore, insurance is a big consideration for them as the outbreak comes under force majeure ‘clauses in the contract and is not covered in any policy. Alternatives, like repurposing old footage or investing in animation, is being considered as neither requires to shoot.