Brands
Net sensation Priya Varrier promotes Pringles
MUMBAI: At a time when the whole wide world seemed to be lingering around with cupids and love-struck angels, Kellogg’s popular potato crisps brand and the world’s second-largest potato chips player Pringles created a frenzy by striking the right chord with singles!
Unlike other popular brands that were hopping onto the Valentine’s Day buzz, creating fancy coupled campaigns, Pringles was trending on Twitter (alternating between number 2 and 3) on the afternoon of 14 February securing much affection with an intriguing singles campaign.
To further amplify the buzz around the campaign, overnight internet sensation, Priya Prakash Varrier joined the bandwagon by sharing a Facebook post on Valentine’s Day, “So many Valentines requests but I’m staying #SingleAsAPringle because I’m just Puurrfect. Pringles ;)”; with a photo of her eating Pringles. Overnight, the post went viral with more than 1.4 million ‘likes’ on Instagram alone.
Love is surely not in the air for many of us all the time; and with so much hype around Valentine’s Day and the week before, the pressure of being alone and insignificant tends to bog even the best of us down. Pringles activated a noteworthy campaign on Facebook and Twitter a week ago where it celebrated eternal singlehood and the unending love one has for Pringles. The brand helped embrace the singlehood status and that Pringles is all they need hence, they’re happy to be #SingleAsAPringle.
Pringles has always been atop topical campaigns. From interactive experiences to engagement formats, it is all about being fun and fresh along with highlighting their value proposition in a unique way. This particular activity managed to reach about 7.5 million people, garnered over 300 million online impressions and generated close to 40 thousand conversations.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
