iWorld
ZEE5’s campaign #TruthIsNeverLost with Yami Gautam Dhar focused attention towards ‘missing’ cases in the country
Mumbai: ZEE5, an Indian home-grown video streaming platform has concluded a campaign titled #TruthIsNeverLost led by Bollywood actress Yami Gautam Dhar on the back of her latest ZEE5 original movie ‘Lost’. During the week-long campaign from 13 to 20 February Dhar spoke on the subject at various public places across Mumbai and Kolkata with placards in her hand that highlighted the hard-hitting figures on the concerns around ‘missing people’ in the country. The pictures from these locations were spread across social media to amplify the cause.
The initiative, which aimed to increase awareness of these tragedies, attracted a lot of attention and support. Yami was joined by more than 500 people across the country who joined the campaign and came out to the street to show their support. The response was equally overwhelming on social media with fans, followers and media micro sites covering the campaign #TruthIsNeverLost.
Talking about the same, ZEE5 India chief business officer Manish Kalra said “The campaign #TruthIsNeverLost was conceptualized to raise awareness on the concerns of missing people in India which is a pertinent challenge in our country and is still largely left unaddressed. As a responsible brand it has been our endeavour to bring real stories to the screen along with social messaging that empowers our audiences with knowledge alongside entertainment. As a consumer first brand, we are committed to curate a slate that resonates with our audiences through quality storytelling and engage with the viewers through focused marketing.”
Lost, a ZEE5 original movie, raises important questions around the rising number of missing cases in India and how they are put in the ‘Lost’ category without any proper closure to the cases. The film deals with one such case and also brings forth official numbers for such cases in major metros and in India. It highlights how every 8 mins a child goes missing in India and every day 174 children go missing. 35-40 adults go missing alone in Mumbai and 500-600 adults go missing in Kolkata every month.
iWorld
Snapchat parent Snap cuts 16 per cent of workforce in AI-driven restructuring
The Snapchat parent is axing around 1,000 jobs and closing 300 open roles to save $500m, as artificial intelligence makes smaller teams the new normal
CALIFORNIA: Snap is snapping. The Snapchat parent has confirmed plans to cut around 1,000 employees, roughly 16 per cent of its full-time workforce, as it bets that artificial intelligence can do what headcount once required. Shares jumped more than 10 per cent in premarket trading on the news, a brisk vote of confidence from a market that has watched the stock shed about 31 per cent this year.
The restructuring, which also closes more than 300 open roles, follows pressure from activist investor Irenic Capital Management, which holds an economic interest of about 2.5 per cent in the company and has been loudly pushing Snap to tighten its portfolio and lift performance. The firm got what it asked for, and then some.
Chief executive Evan Spiegel told employees the cuts would reduce annualised expenses by more than $500m by the second half of the year. The company expects to incur charges of between $95m and $130m related to the layoffs, mostly severance, with the bulk landing in the second quarter. Staff in Snap’s North America team were asked to work from home on the day of the announcement.
The financial backdrop is not without bright spots. Snap expects first-quarter revenue to rise around 12 per cent to approximately $1.53 billion, broadly in line with analyst estimates. Adjusted core profit for the January to March quarter is forecast at about $233m, comfortably ahead of Wall Street’s expectation of $186.8m.
The harder question surrounds Specs, Snap’s augmented reality smart glasses subsidiary, which Irenic has urged the company to spin off or shut down entirely. The unit has absorbed more than $3.5 billion in investment and burns through approximately $500m in cash annually. Snap is pressing ahead regardless, with a consumer product expected later this year, even as Meta leads the market in the segment.
Spiegel is betting that leaner teams, smarter machines and a consumer AR play can restore Snap’s credibility with investors who have run out of patience. The redundancy notices have gone out. The harder restructuring, the one that requires a hit product rather than a headcount reduction, is still very much pending.
