iWorld
Guest column: Navigating India as a global brand with a pre-conceived reputation
MUMBAI: When an organisation, often termed globally as ‘a challenger’, ‘provocative’, or ‘millennial whisperer’, expands to be present across multiple screens reaching millions of new viewers in new geographies, there’s always a dilemma between living up to the years and years of brand legacy or forming a new identity that the local community can trust. On one side is the brand DNA and on the other are the cultural nuances of a country like India.
As this proverb puts it in the best way, “Every two miles the water changes, every four miles the speech.”
In such a scenario, the biggest challenge for any global entity, especially in the content and media landscape, is to understand diversity, not only in the context of geographical boundaries or topographical differences but in terms of culture, food habits, customs, beliefs, attire, scripts, and more.
High mobile penetration and connectivity in the country have provided us with avenues that unify communication in a way that transcends most of the aforesaid barriers. A young girl in a remote town has access to not only entertainment at her fingertips but also more time at hand to be influenced or inspired.
This represents a great canvas to do business but also a high sense of responsibility when it comes to creating and distributing content. Hence, for those looking at the country from the outside, India cannot just be an opportunity game of exceptional audience numbers or percentages; it has to be a learning process to help brands navigate and set up a business away from home.
Investment in research and local talent acquisition are two important factors that need to be emphasized on while drawing business models and go-to-market strategies for India. No one understands India like Indians and no amount of time invested is enough in understanding the nuances that make us truly who we are.
While establishing VICE in the country, the team deliberately invested time in hiring the best talent to form local content and research functions even before a business development team was put in place. This allowed the brand to develop its own indigenous tonality while keeping the global brand DNA intact. Furthermore, widespread on-ground primary research allowed the local teams to educate the global counterparts about the market and what makes it unique in terms of regional variations, etiquette and languages.
It is an exciting time for India with a new wave of audiences coming online for the first time. These users will experience content and entertainment in way that they haven’t imagined yet. To play a significant role in creating a brand that represents the voice of the youth of India, and help bring their stories and creativity to the rest of the world, we have to believe in the importance of staying authentic.
Operating in India demands organizations to remain true to their core ethos. For VICE, it means content taking center-stage with a strong youth focus. And above all, full transparency while communicating with our audience.
In today’s dynamic times, companies have to create what the audience wants and not get influenced by what is working in some of the more developed parts of the world. We have to believe that we are building a culture that is unique and that will have an impact on how the parent brand does business in other parts of the world.
The author is CEOat Vice India. The views expressed here are her own and Indiantelevision.com may not subscribe to them.
iWorld
X launches XChat messaging app on iOS with calls and encryption
Standalone app marks shift from “everything app” vision, adds E2E messaging.
MUMBAI: From one big app to many small chats, X seems to be splitting its ambitions. X has rolled out its standalone messaging app, XChat, to iOS users, opening up a new front in its evolving product strategy. The app allows users to connect with existing X contacts through private and group messages, file sharing, as well as audio and video calls. The launch follows a limited beta phase, where the platform tested the product with a smaller user base to refine the experience. Now available publicly, XChat marks a notable pivot from earlier ambitions championed by Elon Musk to turn X into a single “everything app” combining messaging, payments, commerce and more.
Instead, the company under xAI ownership and backed by SpaceX appears to be building a suite of standalone applications, each targeting specific use cases while expanding its broader ecosystem.
At launch, XChat includes end-to-end encrypted messaging, PIN-based access, disappearing messages, and features such as message editing, deletion for all participants, and screenshot blocking. The company has also said the app is free from advertisements and tracking mechanisms, positioning it as a privacy-first alternative in a crowded messaging space.
However, security claims around the platform are likely to face scrutiny. Earlier iterations of XChat drew criticism from experts who argued it fell short of established encrypted platforms like Signal. With the wider rollout, the app is expected to undergo fresh evaluation to assess whether those concerns have been addressed.
Beyond messaging, XChat will also house X’s Communities feature, which is being discontinued on the main platform due to low usage and spam concerns. Migrating these users could provide an early boost to adoption, effectively turning XChat into both a communication and community hub.
The move underscores a broader recalibration at X less about cramming everything into one app, and more about spreading bets across multiple touchpoints, one message at a time.
