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Pocket FM gives global influencers a good earful
MUMBAI: In a world drowning in digital noise, Pocket FM has found the ultimate Indian hack: an old-school ear-cleaning.
The audio entertainment platform’s latest campaign, India, Kuch Acha Suno!, sees global influencers—yes, actual internet celebs—sitting cross-legged on Indian pavements getting their ears cleaned the desi way.
Featuring familiar names like Brown Wanderers, Kyle Paul, Andy Evans aka The Aussie Bhai, Joshua Barnes, and Praveen, the phygital series follows these creators as they ditch algorithm fatigue and embrace an age-old Indian street tradition. What begins as comic relief soon turns meditative. With each cotton swab and tiny ear-spoon, the influencers shed unsolicited advice, performance anxiety, and motivational junk—only to pop in their earbuds and tune into Pocket FM for actual storytelling that soothes.
“We live in probably the noisiest times. We are exposed to unsolicited advice, opinions, and noise from every direction,” said Pocket Entertainment head of brand marketing and communications, Vineet Singh. “The ‘roadside ear cleaners’ concept both metaphorically and literally holds a mirror to our lives, filled with noise we never signed up for. It takes forward our brand ideology and adds a quirky and global twist to it. It further reinforces our message – Block out the chaos and listen to something that actually makes us feel better.”
Shot on real streets with real reactions, the campaign is all texture and truth. It also clicked with audiences: over 900,000 video views in a week, a million-plus engagements, and a 37 per cent spike in app search trends.
At a time when even influencers are crying burnout, India, Kuch Acha Suno! hits a universal nerve. Before you can hear something worthwhile, you might just need to clean the wax out—digital or otherwise.
eNews
PNB partners Kiwi to launch credit-enabled UPI for users
Targets 180 million customers; RuPay card offers 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent cashback
MUMBAI: Swipe, tap, or scan credit is quietly slipping into the rhythm of everyday payments, and Punjab National Bank wants in on the action. The state-run lender has partnered with Kiwi to roll out credit-enabled UPI payments for its 180 million customers, marking a significant push to blend traditional banking with India’s fast-evolving digital payments ecosystem.
At the centre of the collaboration is the launch of the PNB Kiwi Credit Card on the RuPay network. The card is designed with a digital-first approach, offering fully online onboarding and seamless integration with UPI, allowing users to transact via scan-and-pay while accessing credit.
The offering also brings in a rewards layer, with cashback ranging from 0.5 per cent to 1.5 per cent on online transactions, positioning the product as both a convenience play and a spending incentive.
The move comes as UPI continues to dominate India’s digital payments landscape, increasingly blurring the lines between debit-led transactions and credit access. For PNB, which operates over 10,000 branches around 60 per cent in semi-urban and rural areas, the partnership signals a targeted effort to extend formal credit to segments that have traditionally remained underserved.
The collaboration also reflects a broader industry shift, where banks and fintech platforms are converging to embed credit directly into payment flows, reducing friction while expanding access.
With RuPay credit cards gaining traction and UPI evolving beyond peer-to-peer transfers, the PNB–Kiwi tie-up positions both players at the intersection of scale, accessibility, and the next phase of digital finance in India.
