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Optiminastic Media launches digital influencer marketing platform Click2Collab
Mumbai: Digital marketing agency Optiminastic Media has announced the launch of Click2Collab, a tech-based influencer marketing platform. Click2Collab is built upon a seamless interface that helps influencers, brands, and agencies to connect with each other on a single platform.
By introducing an end-to-end solution, Click2Collab aims to help brands and agencies design, curate, and customise campaigns as per their needs and requirements with the platform’s network of verified influencers from across India, said the statement.
Speaking on launching a first-of-its-kind platform in India, Optiminastic Media co-founder Akshae Golekar said, “Click2Collab is a platform that is built to ease, simplify and bring efficiency to this evolving business. The platform is multifaceted wherein it allows influencers to on-board themselves and become more easily available and accessible, brands with easy discoverability of the right influencer for their campaign as well as agencies to streamline their business.”
He further added, “Click2Collab reduces the complexities associated with the influencer marketing business. We are sure that it will also help the influencer marketing and creator’s ecosystem grow to greater heights. We will continue to invest in enhancing the platform and are certain of becoming a platform of choice for influencer marketing campaigns.”
The platform, designed to cater to all three stakeholders – brands, influencers and agencies, will ease the business of influencer marketing, improve efficiency and help all stakeholders plan better, said the company.
By providing brands with a state-of-the-art tech interface, Click2Collab aims to help them easily identify, estimate, execute campaigns in a short span of time by doing away with pseudo-science and manual intervention. It also provides the creator community an e-commerce platform thus giving them the opportunity to sell merchandise directly to their followers along with an exhaustive dashboard to track their earnings, it added.
MAM
Star Sports under fire for ‘cringe’ India–SA Super 8 promo
Broadcaster accused of arrogance and disrespect as fans slam Super 8 promotion
AHMEDABAD: Star Sports is facing a wave of criticism after its latest promotional campaign for the India–South Africa T20 World Cup Super 8 match triggered a fierce social media backlash, quickly dubbed “Cupcakegate”.
The advertisement, released this week, hinges on a cupcake metaphor that many viewers have condemned as patronising and disrespectful. In the clip, an Indian supporter mockingly offers a pink cupcake to a South African fan, a visual jibe widely interpreted as portraying the Proteas as a soft, easily beaten opponent.
The backlash has been swift across platforms such as X and Reddit, with fans and commentators accusing the broadcaster of tone-deaf bravado at a crucial stage of the tournament. The criticism is sharpened by the context: both India and South Africa arrive in the Super 8s unbeaten, undermining any suggestion of a one-sided contest.
Online, the cupcake symbol has been read as carrying multiple barbs. Some users argue it alludes to South African president Cyril Ramaphosa’s domestic nickname, while others see it as recycling the long-running “chokers” trope associated with South Africa in ICC tournaments. The casting choice has also drawn scrutiny, with viewers noting the physical disparity between the actors playing the two fans, which critics described as a cheap attempt to belittle the opposition.
Even Indian supporters have joined the pile-on. Many warned that such chest-thumping marketing risks “jinxing” the team, pointing to past tournaments where aggressive campaigns preceded unexpected defeats.
Star Sports is no stranger to rivalry-led advertising, having struck gold with its earlier “Mauka Mauka” series. But analysts say the cupcake campaign misreads a fanbase that has grown less tolerant of overtly mocking narratives and more attuned to sporting parity and respect.
India and South Africa meet on Sunday, 22 February, at the 132,000-seat Narendra Modi Stadium. With South Africa securing their Super 8 berth through a commanding win over the UAE, the fixture is widely billed as a heavyweight clash, not the walkover the ad appears to suggest.
