Issue 06 - Weekly LI Newsletter
Under Armour #IndiaWill, TikTok integration with Bala movie and Snapchat's growth in India
10/11/2019 | Lighthouse Insights Newsletter | Issue 06
Hello LI reader,
“You cannot control what happens to you in life, but you can always control what you will feel and do about what happens to you,” Viktor E. Frankl.
Around 1969, some soldiers in Ladakh discovered a curious bladed shoe in an army storage facility. In 1972 Tonzang and his men, introduced inter-brigade tournaments near the Chinese border. The sport saw its first civilian teams eight years later. Tonzang, the last living army man from Ladakh's original class of ice hockey players tells the story to Sam Goldman.
However, women were not allowed to play sports. “Women can't play hockey—this hockey is only for the men,” said Stanzin Dolker, one of the revolters(lady below) challenging the Ladakh Winter Sports Club against the discrimination. The ban was eventually petered out and seven years after the men’s team was formed, the Ice Hockey Association of India held tryouts for a women’s squad.
Representing India for the first time on 22 March 2016, the girls participated in the five-team Challenger Cup of Asia. The team’s performance was substandard. “It was bad," Disket Angmo said.
“It was really bad. That was when the tears started. First of all, they're losing games," she said of her teammates. “And then they don't know anything about this game ... and then people are getting hurt. It was very emotional.”
Disket, a defender in the team remembers how the team stayed positive and kept working on the game. Giving up was not a choice for the girls who had come so far with barely some support and money.
Finally, in the 2017 Challenger Cup, the Indian girls tasted their first success after defeating the Philippines by 4-3.
Sam does a brilliant job in carving the struggle of India’s women's ice hockey team and their journey.
Read: How A Team Of Incredible Ladakhi Women Hockey Players Broke India's Ice Ceiling
“Setbacks are part of life. To break, heal and transform.”
The Indian women's ice hockey team has now got the support from Under Armour - the brand focussing on performance gears. In association with Dentsu Webchutney, the team released a must-watch video.
I share my thoughts on Under Armour’s #IndiaWill campaign which is an extension of the “Stories of Will” campaign, why teens find the brand old and addressing the Indian sportswear market.
Read: Can Under Armour be a loud brand and quiet company in India
If the Indian women’s ice hockey team has an inspiring story, then the current favorite Bollywood actor Ayushmann Khurana has one to share. What a talented soul he is and with every movie, he is setting new benchmarks in Bollywood.
In a recent interview, he talks about his journey and why he considers struggle as a part of his life’s journey. Slow interview with Ayushmann is bliss in which he talks about his life, childhood, struggles, and how his wife has made him a better human.
I am a cinema lover and recently watched Bala, Ayushmann’s latest blockbuster. The movie is an entertainer and I loved it. I also saw that TikTok is a social media partner. Brand integrations and placements have become very boring but TikTok proves me wrong.
I write how TikTok India has a seamless online and offline brand association with the Bollywood movie Bala.
With everyone talking about TikTok and Instagram, has Snapchat disappeared from the Indian market? The app that once considered India as a “poor” country to expand its base is actually growing its base slowly... slowly...slowly (what a coincidence I am listening to Guru Randhawa’s Slowly Slowly )
According to Statistica, new markets are slowly catching up for Snapchat and India(15M) is as important as any other country after the U.S.(97M)
In my last post for this week, I take a deep dive into Snapchat's stealth mode growth which includes partnerships, brand campaign, publisher relations and competing Instagram, TikTok.
Read: Snapchat’s revamped strategy for a “poor” country India
That’s all for this week, enjoy your weekend and read my stories when you have time.
See you later, alligator :)
Prasant Naidu (@prasantnaidu)