MAM
This community of over 250 million has always been underserved by businesses: Club app founder Tapan Mishra
Mumbai: In a first, online startup community for older adults, Evergreen Club has rolled out a social networking platform exclusively for the 50 plus populace called ‘Club’. Designed specifically to create a safe space for the elderly, the ‘Club’ app aids them to network, learn and share their creations with like-minded people from the community. Evergreen Club founder Tapan Mishra spoke to Indiantelevision.com on what propelled him to come up with this concept, and whether the pandemic-fuelled social isolation had anything to do with the app’s rollout.
An alumnus of the London School of Economics and Political Science, Mishra is not a newcomer to this segment, having founded Seniority- a consumer product platform catering to assistive and lifestyle requirements for senior citizens back in August 2016. Being the first mover in this space, Seniority leveraged its market intelligence and expertise to create a carefully curated product portfolio of over 10,000+ SKUs, 100+ brands catering to senior care.
The recently launched social networking feature, ‘Club’ facilitates the creation of user-generated content (UGC), making it a one-of-its-kind platform designed to help senior citizens live a more fulfilled and empowered life while catering to their social needs and providing a sense of belonging.
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Catering to an ‘underserved’ category
“I have been working with this audience for more than five years now,” says Mishra. Interacting with them through various channels, and conducting several focus group discussions (FGDs), he says that he found “loneliness and social isolation” is the biggest issue they face in life.
While we may think that loneliness and social isolation are recent phenomena, age-related loneliness and social isolation issues existed even before (the pandemic), Mishra notes. “It just happened that the issue started getting noticed because everyone could now understand what it felt to be by yourself due to limitations beyond your control,” he adds, referring to the Covid-19 fuelled pandemic.
On whether the pandemic had anything to do with the app’s rollout, Mishra says, “It just happened that our efforts were accentuated to build Evergreen Club since its need was felt by everyone around.” And one year hence, when we hear feedback from our users about our platform, the belief in growing and Evergreen Club strengthens, even more, he asserts.
From his experience of working with this community for the past half-decade, Mishra says he received feedback and complaints about businesses either not taking cognisance of their needs or building products without understanding their needs. “With increasing urbanisation and lifestyle changes, I believe we need to create online safe spaces to address the specific needs of the particular group.”
Mishra believes this community of citizens has been always ‘underserved’. “The number of individuals in this age group is about over 250 million and we know that a considerable portion is tech-enabled if we take the WhatsApp user base as a proxy,” he adds.
He’s firmly of the opinion that restricting the offering to the 50 plus age group is not a limiting factor but “a much-needed intervention to build an exclusive platform” for this audience.
“With Evergreen Club, we have been able to understand the needs of our audience through our official close groups and also through our hosts who conduct various sessions. We made these close groups to help users interact with each other and our customer service teams to help them in their journey of networking and at the same time gain free-flowing feedback,” explains Mishra, on what led them to build the ‘Club’ for people in similar life phases.
“Through this, we observed the users were keen to share learnings from sessions, their artwork, their performances and also engage in exchanging, appreciating and motivating others through their next phase of the journey of life,” he adds.
As per a recent report cited by the company, more than 90 percent of elderly internet users utilise social media platforms primarily to connect with family and friends. The Evergreen Club founder asserts that while multiple social networking platforms exist and are well-established, each serves its purpose. “We created ‘Club’ as a no-judgement platform where like-minded people above the age of 50, share not only their emotions, their journeys but also their artworks, performances, their progress, etc., that they learn from our sessions and courses.”
“While if they are on these other platforms, there will be content that may not speak to them at all considering the content is largely created by a generation or two younger,” points out Mishra. Here is where they feel belonged and can generate and consume content that relates to them, he states.
The feature also claims to keep a “close check on the negative noise through automated moderation capabilities.” Mishra explains, “To build a safe space it is important for us to check if there is any content shared that goes against our community guidelines. If any post goes against our defined guidelines, we do not let the user post the same or ask to take the same down informing the reason.” Since no human can crawl through every post, we use artificial intelligence and machine learning-enabled tools to keep our networking space safe, he adds.
The Safety Factor
Senior citizens today are increasingly vulnerable to digital cons and fall prey to online swindlers. How will the platform ensure that it provides ‘a safe space’ for the community?
We are very cognisant of this fact, acknowledges Mishra. “While the previously stated automated tool helps us with removing spam content, remaining if any – can be dealt with by using crowd intelligence of our user base. We have report features where users can select reasons to report a particular post, comment or a profile. Our team keeps a regular tab on such reports and takes necessary action as per our laid-out procedure.”
The platform also hosts sessions where it educates its members about such frauds and mishaps. “We participated in the “Check Kiya?” campaign (a part of Verified, a global campaign by the United Nations in partnership with the purpose to stop the spread of misinformation) by conducting sessions on the same,” he shares.
Growth & Distribution of Users since Launch
With over 300K+ installs, 150K+ monthly active users (MAUs) and close to 1000 live sessions every month, the platform has seen more than 20x growth in the user base in the past year, showcasing growth at the rate of up to 40 per cent month-on-month, according to the company.
The Evergreen Club is open to all 50+ adults, through its website presence as well as app (on iOS and Android) free of cost. Its primary user-base is spread across India, from not only tier-1 cities but also tier-2 with some folks joining from tier-3 as well, shares Mishra. “We also have a few users from across the borders too, ” he says, adding, “The offering in its current form and structure is capable of being launched globally, but we are prioritising to first cater to the needs of the Indian market.”
The Evergreen Club was awarded “Playstore’s Best App for Good, 2021” by Google, while also being selected to the Google for Startup Accelerator program 2022, according to the company.
View the Club social networking app’s launch video here:
MAM
Lessons from global media markets on building enduring content franchises
Rose Audio Visuals COO and CFO Mitesh Patel.
MUMBAI: The global media landscape has undergone a fundamental shift. Success today is no longer defined by a single hit show. It is defined by the ability to build intellectual property (IP) that travels, evolves, and compounds over time.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this shift is central to how we think about content pitching and creation. We are no longer in the business of just making shows. We are in the business of building IP ecosystems.
From Hits to Franchises
Globally, the most successful content is designed to extend beyond its first outing. It travels across: Seasons, Platforms (TV → OTT → Digital), Formats (series → spin-offs) Shows like Stranger Things and Money Heist are not just successful series they are multi-layered franchises with global recall, fan engagement, and long-term monetisation. The key learning is simple: If content cannot scale beyond one season or one platform, it remains a project not a franchise.
Local Stories, Global Impact
One of the most powerful global trends is the rise of culturally rooted storytelling. Platforms today reward local authenticity combined with universal emotion. Stories that are deeply regional are no longer limited by geography they are amplified by it. Consider the global impact of Squid Game or India’s own Sacred Games. The takeaway is clear: The more authentic the story, the greater its potential to travel if the emotion resonates universally.
Monetisation Begins After the First Window
A critical global learning is that the true value of content is not realised at launch, it is realised over time.
Strong franchises unlock multiple revenue streams: Licensing, International remakes, Brand integrations, Digital extensions , Events and immersive experiences
Global players like The Walt Disney Company have mastered this approach, turning content into long-term ecosystems that extend far beyond the screen.
The first window is just the beginning. The real value lies in what follows.
At Rose Audio Visuals, we increasingly evaluate projects not just on commissioning value, but on their long-term franchise potential.
The Rise of Creator-Led Franchises
An important global shift is the emergence of creator-led IP ecosystems.
Creators today are not just content producers they are building full-scale franchises across platforms, formats, and businesses.
A powerful example is MrBeast. What started as YouTube videos has evolved into: Multiple content formats, Global audience scale , Brand extensions and businesses, High-impact experiential content This is a fundamentally different model digital-first, audience-owned, and infinitely scalable.
This model is still in its early stages in Indian but it represents a massive opportunity.
The next wave of Indian content franchises may not come from traditional studios alone but from creators who think like media companies.
Balancing Data with Creative Instinct
Streaming platforms today are deeply data-driven. Data helps Identify emerging genres, Predict audience behaviour , Inform commissioning decisions However, global experience shows that data alone does not create hits. Data informs scale, but storytelling creates impact.
Talent is the Foundation of Franchises
Enduring franchises are rarely accidental they are built through long-term creative partnerships. Globally, there is a clear focus on nurturing Actors, Writter, Show runner and director. Franchises are not built on scripts alone they are built on creators. This is an area where we continue to invest deeply building long-term relationships with talent rather than project-based collaborations.
Multi-Platform Thinking from Day One
Content consumption today is inherently multi-platform. A successful show must be designed not just for its primary platform, but for: Short-form extensions, Social media amplification, Digital-first engagement. Every show today needs a second life beyond its original format.
India: A Market at an Inflection Point
India today stands at a unique moment in its content journey.
We are seeing significant opportunity in Regional markets (Telugu, Tamil, Marathi and others) Emerging formats such as micro-dramas, Scalable, franchise-driven fiction IP
India does not lack stories. What we have historically lacked is structured franchise thinking something that is now beginning to evolve.
The Way Forward
The biggest lesson from global markets is this: The future belongs to companies that do not chase hits, but systematically build franchises. Because while hits may deliver immediate success, franchises create long-term value, recall, and compounding growth.
At Rose Audio Visuals, this belief shapes how we develop, greenlight, and scale content across platforms.
For content companies today, the question is no longer “Will this show work?” It is: “Can this become a franchise?”
A Personal Note
Having worked across content, business, and strategy, one thing has become increasingly clear to me, the most valuable companies in our industry will not be those that create the most content, but those that create content that endures.
Building a franchise requires patience, conviction, and a long-term lens something that the industry is only now beginning to fully embrace.As we continue this journey at Rose Audio Visuals, our focus remains simple: to move from volume-driven creation to value-driven storytelling. Because in the end, stories may start conversations but franchises build legacies.
