Brands
Are brands ready to make the most of Twitter fleets?
MUMBAI: Recently, micro-blogging site Twitter joined the likes of Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook by launching fleets, stories which will disappear in 24 hours. The purpose is to encourage timid Twitter users to post their drafted thoughts without the social pressure of public likes and replies.
The stories function is a popular feature on other platforms, especially Instagram, where brands and users have used it to craft different interactions than just a picture one can like. On the arrival of fleets in India, many social media users took at dig at Twitter for recycling features but experts are of the opinion that fleet is here to stay and it opens a new door for content creators and brands to engage with their audiences.
AdLift co-founder and CEO Prashant Puri says, “Just like Instagram stories have been usefully leveraged by brands and influencers (over 500 million Instagram accounts use stories) – we see that fleets would also be leveraged by both brands and content creators. Short video (three to six seconds), text content, offers and sales (by brands), breaking news by content creators are some of the content that will be shared.”
According to GenY Medium VP strategy Niki Singh, fleets look like a great opportunity to share more authentic, real and behind the scenes content with the audience hence, making the brand more relatable. It gives the brand a more human touch, thus making the viewer feel ‘this brand is for me.’ Disappearing story format is a great way to build urgency for time-bound offers. Think coupons, flash sales, giveaways, announcements or information that is relevant only for that day, Singh states.
BC Web Wise creative director Yorick Pinto believes that the disappearing stories format is here to stay. However, he says that it’s too early for brands to use this opportunity as they are still getting used to Instagram stories even as Facebook stories hasn’t been leveraged much. Some of the names that come to his mind are magazines and other content portals that can make use of fleets.
He adds that fleets will be another way for Twitterati to express themselves, especially if it’s a more fleeting story like a picture of them enjoying a coffee during the rains. This is to be noted since Twitter has been viewed as a more serious platform compared to its peers.
“I can expect to see a lot of fleets on monsoons, memes, gifs, etc., anything that’s in the fun space and is topical, as opposed to tweets that would remain on their timeline. I’m also guessing that there could be a behavioural change in the way Twitterati use the platform,” he says.
Adding to this, Pulpkey founder Amit Mondal says that influencers, who predominantly have their primary channel on other social networks, now have a way to be more active on Twitter. A fashion influencer can share his or her visual lookbook, a food influencer can share recorded recipes, etc. It opens a new door for Twitter to onboard newer influencers. Influencers always had a mindset that Twitter was serious copywriting, breaking news-heavy, so getting a casual feature like fleets will make them share their daily life updates, behind the scene etc more comfortably.
So, will fleets surpass Instagram or Snapchat in terms of popularity? “Each platform has its own unique features and influencers. So, I might follow a journalist or a business leader on Twitter, whereas I’m more likely to follow a musician or a sportsperson on Instagram, and the ones I follow on TikTok would be a completely different set. So, comparing fleets to stories on the platforms is not an apple to apple comparison. Only time will tell as to how popular will fleets become,” Pinto responds.
While perishable content has proven to work well for all major social platforms including Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, Twitter is a fairly busy platform.
According to growth marketer Rohan Chaubey, the lifespan of a tweet is between 15 to 20 minutes, so Twitter’s fleet gives content creators and brands an opportunity to enjoy extended lifespan and visibility for their content.
“Fleets will help brands and creators have more direct and personal conversations as their fans and followers will be able to reply or react to the fleets. Creators can share more personal thoughts and brands can leverage perishable content by sharing glimpses from behind-the-scenes. Fleets will be suitable for live reporting on any news or events. They can post a series of fleets sharing live updates,” he says.
Since its launch two days ago, celebrities and brands alike have made a smashing debut on fleets. The announcement received a resounding response and instantly piqued the curiosity of Twitter enthusiasts, including Amitabh Bachchan, who expressed his desire to learn more about fleets in a good old tweet.
T 3559 – OKaaayyyyy .. so FLEET .. what is this .. and can you educate me Twitter so I can start using it ..
Mt Ef Barun just told me and gave me a link but .. then— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) June 10, 2020
Brands like Netflix, Zomato, Amazon Prime Video and Tinder made the most of fleets too.
Calling the Fleets feature Mikkel because he too disappears after some time.
— Netflix India (@NetflixIndia) June 10, 2020
Now waiting for 2AM 'you up?' fleets
— Tinder India (@Tinder_India) June 9, 2020
Love for dalgona coffee was a fleet.
Pyaar for chai is a tweet.
— Zomato (@ZomatoIN) June 9, 2020
check
our
f l e e t
in
caseyou’re
wondering
what to watch today
— amazon prime video IN (@PrimeVideoIN) June 10, 2020
Brands
Big Bowl appoints Lyxel & Flamingo as social and media partner
QSR brand eyes next growth phase after crossing Rs 100 crore ARR milestone
MUMBAI: Big Bowl, one of India’s largest bowl-format quick service restaurant brands from Lenexis Foodworks, has appointed Lyxel & Flamingo (L&F) as its social and media partner as it prepares for its next phase of growth.
The partnership comes after the brand crossed the Rs 100 crore annual recurring revenue milestone in 2025 and aims to help accelerate its journey towards Rs 150 crore ARR in its fifth year since launch.
Big Bowl currently operates more than 250 kitchens across 50 cities and has emerged as a major player in India’s organised bowl-format food segment. Built around hearty portions and delivery-first convenience, the brand offers a wide mix of Indian, Chinese and fusion bowls designed for quick, affordable and portable consumption.
As urban consumers increasingly gravitate towards easy-to-carry and value-driven meal formats, the company sees the bowl category as a scalable format aligned with modern eating habits.
With the appointment of Lyxel & Flamingo, Big Bowl plans to consolidate its social media and digital media operations under a single partner. The move is intended to sharpen its digital reach, strengthen youth-focused storytelling and improve performance marketing outcomes.
Lyxel & Flamingo, one of India’s largest independent digital-first agencies, manages more than 350 brands and oversees advertising spends exceeding $100 million across its network.
Under the mandate, the agency will handle Big Bowl’s social media strategy, content development, digital performance marketing, media planning and buying, as well as campaign amplification across platforms.
Commenting on the partnership, Lenexis Foodworks founder and director Aayush Madhusudan Agrawal said, “Big Bowl has scaled rapidly to cross Rs 100 crore ARR and established itself as one of the largest bowl-format brands in the country. As a delivery-first, digitally native brand, our next phase of growth will be driven by sharper performance systems and stronger brand storytelling. Consolidating social and media with Lyxel & Flamingo allows us to integrate data, creativity and media precision as we scale towards our next revenue milestone.”
Lenexis Foodworks marketing head Vikas Iyer, added that the delivery-led category requires content, media and performance marketing to work closely together.
“With Lyxel & Flamingo, we aim to build a sharper social voice, stronger acquisition systems and measurable impact, ensuring the brand scales not just in presence but also in precision,” he said.
Lyxel & Flamingo chief executive officer Dev Batra, said the agency will combine data-driven marketing with creative storytelling to support Big Bowl’s growth. “Big Bowl brings the flavour, and L&F brings the fire. Our strategy combines data-led performance with engaging storytelling to help build a strong digital brand presence while delivering measurable business results,” he said.
With this partnership, Big Bowl is looking to strengthen its position as a digitally driven QSR brand, blending brand-building with performance marketing as it scales within India’s rapidly growing organised food delivery market.
