2024 bloopers: Startup marketing fails; How drones dominated this year

Hello,

If you’re a billionaire, you can build your own city.

In what is a real-life Cities: Skylines scenario, Elon Musk is planning to establish a city in coastal south Texas after he had earlier announced that he would shift SpaceX’s headquarters to Texas. His employees are now working hard to get the required support to create a municipality.

The name of the city? Starbase.

The large-scale project will help SpaceX lure talented employees, create infrastructure geared towards space exploration, and ease the tax burden on the company.

Such company towns have been in existence since the Industrial Revolution to give employees housing and jobs near their workplaces. India too has had a fair share of such industrial towns.

The most famous company town in India is Jamshedpur, which was created from the erstwhile village of Sakchi by Jamshedji Tata after he laid the foundation of India’s first steel plant in the city. Over 100 years later, it is now the largest city in Jharkhand.

Modinagar, located around 50 km from Delhi, is another company town founded by Gujarmal Modi in 1933 to establish the Modi Group of Industries. It is now home to around half a million residents.

However, company towns have a few downsides too as employees face extended working hours and limited job opportunities if the company declines.

In today’s newsletter, we will talk about 

• Marketing fails of 2024
• 2024: When drones dominated
• Building a big company from scratch

Here’s your trivia for today: According to Spotify Wrapped 2024, which was the most-streamed song of 2024?

Review 2024

Marketing fails of 2024

This year saw innovative viral campaigns that combined humour, technology, and personalised messaging to captivate audiences. However, not all campaigns hit the mark, with many backfiring due to poorly conceived messaging or a lack of cultural sensitivity.

“Poorly handled campaigns fail when they don’t understand their audience, misjudge cultural values, or make claims that are hard to believe,” says Prady Kumaar, CEO and Co-founder, NP Digital India.

Missing the mark:

• Home salon services company YesMadam faced public outrage for a LinkedIn post claiming it fired 100 employees for being stressed. The post, intended as a campaign to highlight workplace mental health, was criticised for its insensitivity.
• Zomato’s CEO, Deepinder Goyal, faced criticism for a job posting requiring candidates to pay a Rs 20 lakh fee in their first year. While the fee was intended to be donated to charity, it sparked debates about elitist and exploitative hiring practices.
• “Marketing strategy comes first and advertising comes next. Unfortunately, a fair number of startups get excited by the sexy creative and get excited by moment marketing buzz and in the bargain,” says Harish Bijoor, Founder of Bengaluru-based boutique consulting firm Harish Bijoor Consults.

Review 2024

2024: When drones dominated

More Indians are flying drones than ever before. The integration of drones into sectors such as agriculture, logistics, healthcare, defence, and construction has created a pressing need for skilled operators. 

“With a projected 40% increase in requirements by 2025, the demand for trained drone pilots is escalating rapidly,” Dhanashree Mandhani, Founder and CEO of Salam Kisan, tells YourStory.

Tech innovation:

• Awareness campaigns educate the public about the benefits of drones. Under the Namo Drone Didi scheme, women’s self-help groups will be educated on the operational benefits of drones, such as how to efficiently spray fertilizers and pesticides.
• Smit Shah, President of the Drone Federation of India, adds that the drone training ecosystem is generating high-quality jobs. “It’s especially impactful in agriculture, where drone spraying helps retain youth in rural areas.”
• “Technological advancements in drones, such as longer battery life, enhanced AI, and improved sensors, are driving new applications like precision farming, medical supply delivery, and large-scale infrastructure surveying,” says Prem Kumar Vislawath, CEO and Co-founder of Marut Drones.

Woman entrepreneur

Building a big company from scratch

Payal Nambiar’s journey into entrepreneurship began with a single spark amid the dotcom boom in the early 2000s, when she started a small business with her husband, PKD Nambiar, a software professional. This venture would lay the foundation for the B Square Group–an information technology-focused company that offers customer service and products ranging from IT to ERP solutions.

Business expansion:

• They started with two computers, with Payal pitching in with her expertise in marketing and communications and Nambiar focusing on software development.
• B Square Solutions diversified from CRM into multiple applications and a wide range of software solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses, automotive companies, manufacturing industries, car management software, ERP software for startups, and more. 
• Nambiar believes in emulating the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy to drive the company to newer heights. “This philosophy is at the core of what we do. We focus extensively on the manufacturing sector, working on industry-specific solutions."

News & updates

• Snag: Japan Airlines said it was hit by a cyberattack, causing delays to more than 20 domestic flights but the carrier said it was able to stop the onslaught and restore its systems hours later. There was no impact on flight safety, it said.
• Workaround: Russia has started using Bitcoin and other digital currencies for international trade after legislative changes designed to counter Western sanctions. This year, Russia legalised the use of cryptocurrencies in international trade and began formalising Bitcoin mining operations. 
• Downturn: China’s finance and property companies saw their workforces shrink in recent years for the first time, reflecting the damage caused by a housing market collapse and regulatory probes. The financial industry had 12.4 million employees at end-2023, down 32% from five years earlier, according to economic census data. The number of people working for developers slid 27% to 2.7 million people.

According to Spotify Wrapped 2024, which was the most-streamed song of 2024?

Answer: Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso”.

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