MAM
World’s first social media loyalty platform ‘Brandie’ comes to India
MUMBAI: After a successful run in the US and homeland Sweden, Brandie, world’s first crowd marketing platform, has entered India in partnership with 11 carefully selected innovative Indian brands. Brandie is built on the principle that consumers already endorse their favourite brands on social media and the brands can now reward them to encourage and build a network of brand loyalists on the way.
Playing on the concept of word-of-mouth marketing, the founders of Brandie have developed a disruptive model where consumers promote the brand they love on social media by posting pictures and earn rewards for it.
Brandie co-founder Pranav Kosuri said, “We believe that brand loyalty can only be achieved by empowering the consumers and engaging with them on a direct level. Our platform allows brands to directly incentivise and engage with their audience in a way which is meaningful. This sets us apart from discount platforms and other influencer marketing players.”
He further added, “India is an exciting market for us. The consumer behaviour here is very different from that of US and Sweden, our other markets. The one-month beta test gave us a lot of insights which we included into the platform before the official launch.”
Brandie has been launched with 11 carefully selected Indian brands after a month’s Beta testing, including The Bowl Company, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Raw Pressery, Anand Ahuja’s Bhaane, Pipa Bella, Le15 Patisserie by Pooja Dhingra, Olive Bar and Kitchen, Yerha, FancyPants, and Bengaluru FC.
During the one-month beta test, a closed community of four thousand users posted 15000 photos and generated 3.9 million impressions and 400,000 likes which resulted in more than 6000 rewards being claimed. The testing demonstrated an instant increase in revenue by 30 per cent and a reduced marketing spend of about 40 per cent by the brands.
The app is available on iOS and Android. Users either need to be invited to the platform by the brands or they can choose the brand they like and request to join their reward programme. The platform is channel agnostic and allows users to post on all popular social media channels such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, WhatsApp, Tumblr etc. Brandie’s photo recognition tool makes sure that the content posted by users is related to the brand, basis which users are rewarded points which enable them to get non-cash meaningful rewards from the brands like VIP access to matches by Bengaluru FC, limited edition jewellery from Pipa Bella, exclusive invites to future events by Bhaane and more. In the next six months, Brandie plans to onboard 10 more brands on the platform.
Brands
Jubilant FoodWorks faces Rs 47.5 crore GST demand, plans appeal
Tax authorities flag alleged misclassification of restaurant services
MUMBAI: Jubilant FoodWorks Limited has landed in a tax tussle after receiving a GST demand of Rs 47.5 crore from the office of the additional commissioner of CGST and central excise in Thane, Maharashtra.
The order, issued under the provisions of the Central Goods and Services Tax Act, 2017, relates to an alleged incorrect classification of certain services under the category of restaurant services. According to the tax authorities, this classification resulted in a short payment of goods and services tax for the period between the financial years 2019-20 and 2021-22.
The demand includes Rs 47.5 crore in GST along with an equal amount as penalty, in addition to applicable interest. The order was received by the company on March 13, 2026.
In a regulatory filing to the BSE Limited and the National Stock Exchange of India Limited, the company said it disagrees with the order and believes its arguments were not adequately considered.
The company is preparing to challenge the decision and plans to file an appeal. It added that once the redressal process is complete, the demand is likely to be dropped.
Despite the sizeable figure attached to the notice, the company said it does not expect any material impact on its financials, operations or other activities.
The disclosure was signed by Suman Hegde, EVP and chief financial officer, who confirmed that the company received the order at 19:06 IST on March 13 and has already initiated steps to contest it.
The development places the quick service restaurant major in the middle of a tax debate that could hinge on how certain restaurant-linked services are classified under GST rules. For now, the company appears ready to take the matter from the tax office to the appeals desk.
