Storyboard18 Insider: Gaming the system, clients at shoots, founder’s luxury sneakers, creative czars’ luncheons

Games people play?

A powerful fantasy gaming platform is under scrutiny for orchestrating lobbying efforts by circulating fake letters in the letterhead of a gaming companies' association. This move aims to push their own agenda, making it appear as the industry's stance. The timing coincides with the upcoming GST Council meeting on August 2, where draft rules on taxing online gaming, casinos, and horse racing will be finalized. Executives worry, saying such deceptive tactics raise concerns about industry ethics and the need for transparency in decision-making.

Types of clients at shoots

Ad shoots are always a tense and intense time for people on sets. It is, typically, always made worse when there’s a client on set. There are many kinds of clients at shoots - meddlers and micromanagers, clueless control freaks and celebrity chasers, eager and meagre ones. One ad woman looks back not so fondly to the days when clients would come to shoots and stay all day when they knew celebrities would be around. Not much has changed though. When there’s a celebrity on shoot expect star-struck clients to arrive bright and early, selfie stick and family in tow. But, as the executive remembers, that’s better than the client who came to a shoot for a pain relief product and proceeded to rub the ointment on the saree-clad model’s bare back because he wanted to show the male model how it’s done. Now that’s a type of client all ad shoots could do without.

Not my flick

A recent meeting of top stakeholders from a hot sector with government officials left many scratching their heads. We hear that the authorities were not at all pleased with the explicit nature of some content aired on streamers. But certain stakeholders were confused as authorities repeatedly mentioned just one show and it didn’t belong to any of the desi platforms. Any guesses whose show it was?

You had me at Hello… and lunch

We all know advertising is a personality driven business. Big names and personal brands who have the power to make or break an agency’s fortunes. These men and some women have the power to swing even a losing pitch. A couple of rival agency heads can’t help but crib about the fact that certain clients tell them they have a strong chance to win a pitch and then there are two men who can just swoop in and take it all. For these creative czars, all it takes is a lunch with a client to retain or win the pitch. Wine, dine and win, while the rest are left eating grapes. We hope they aren’t too sour though.

No Ed-Tech meltdown?

A leading agency’s senior business head says that while most top startups in the education space are fire-fighting at the moment, there are plenty others that aren’t flushed with funds and have the potential for bringing credibility into the category. We hear his agency is speaking to several such institutions and is learning from their past mistakes of working with a celebrated unicorn from this sector.

These sneakers were made for talkin’...

And that's just what they'll do. A startup founder was getting a lot of attention from aspiring entrepreneurs at a recent event not just for his successful business but also for his personal style. While many newbies were trying to get his attention to pitch their startup idea, many just can't help but admire his shiny white luxury shoes and compliment his choice. The co-founder of a popular OTA platform was seen sporting self-embossed Louis Vuitton sneakers that retail for a few lakhs and being a sneakerhead the startup CXO has to get his hand on it. Sneaker fever has well and truly taken over the entrepreneur circle as well.