Column Archives - MediaCatalyst - News I Opinion I Analysis

Jun242021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

How the Coronavirus pandemic opened new avenues for hygiene brands

Column, Health

As the nation grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic, the hygiene market sees hope in reinventing itself to cater to a new basket of needs. The mindfulness of maintaining one’s health and hygiene has increased tenfold and it has become a priority in the lives of people across the globe. Owing to the heightened consciousness about cleanliness, new importance has been given to maintaining both personal and environmental hygiene. Preventive care is recognized as a way to reduce the chances of infection; therefore, consumers are investing more in hygiene products to ensure their safety. One’s hygiene often takes a backseat in everyday life as we tend to only pay attention to a health issue once it arises. However, maintaining personal hygiene daily is very important to keep the body clean and...

Apr132021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

How bad supply chain affects the hospitals and doctors performance

Column

It is imperative to understand that the healthcare sector is extremely critical and requires deeper attention, given the large interdependencies from every segment of the industry. Managing the healthcare supply chain is a rather complex and fragmented process. The Pandemic has enforced the need for conducive supply-chain strategies and management practices to optimize scarce resources, alleviate shortages, and expand capacity quickly. Although efficient management is not the solution or a substitute for dedicated and skilled medical personnel, improving broken supply chains is crucial to ensure that these professionals have the resources to perform their duties. This article aims to discuss the importance of SCM for healthcare givers and how inefficiencies directly affect the qua...

Apr122021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

How lucrative is the ‘elderly’ market in India?

Column

Today, senior citizens are roughly about 8% of India’s population and by 2050, they will account for 20% of the country’s population. This surge in TAM (total addressable market) will drive growth in the senior care market in the coming years. The current market size of senior care is estimated to be around USD 7 billion. According to a 2018 report by Agewell Foundation, senior citizens are emerging as an influential consumer segment as most senior citizens today continue to work past the retirement age. Therefore, they are no longer just dependent on pension and have great purchasing power. Healthcare constitutes 31% of their total spends. And therefore, there is tremendous potential specifically for health/lifestyle/wellness-driven businesses within the elderly care segment.&nb...

Mar242021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Returning from Maternity Leave To The New Normal

Column, Human Resource

Re-entering the workforce after a long break can be overwhelming. Returning to work after pregnancy and childbirth as a breastfeeding mother is more complicated than most people consider. The Coronavirus pandemic and the changes it brought forth have only made matters more complicated, especially for women coming back to work after maternity leave. Although, we may not know how far these changes have affected our lives, working mothers are bearing the brunt of this unusual global crisis. Returning to work – Before the pandemic Becoming a mother brings several changes to a woman’s life. Going back to work after maternity leave is never easy. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, only the second head of state to give birth while in office, said that she expected there would be ...

Mar232021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Reviving Education in India

Column, Education

Thomas Edison’s quip that, ‘A vision without execution is just hallucination’ resonates with India’s wish of getting to the 50% GER by 2030 from the current 26.3% in 2019 without a proper strategy and an execution plan. The rapid expansion of India’s higher education since 2001 resulted in a dramatic rise in the number of HEIs and a corresponding increase in the enrolments – at 51649 institutions and 37.6 Mn students, it is one of the largest higher education systems of the world. While the country is focused on massification of higher education, without finding creative solutions to a few important vectors – the quality of our institutions, employability of the graduates, and financing of higher education, achieving the GER targets of 50% by 2030 seems to be a distant dream. Chal...

Mar112021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Webinars are not virtual events – There is a world of difference.

Column

The concept of webinars has been around for quite some time, but the current situation has made it popular as a viable option to address the rising demand for digital communication. As remote working and collaboration have become the need of the hour, webinars have become an integral part of the digital marketing mix. But as brands began to deep dive into more elaborate strategies to redefine their business continuity plans, they realized that webinars come with some unique challenges and limitations as far as engagement and outreach are concerned. Though many brands continued with webinars to keep things in perspective, the smart ones adapted to new digital strategies with Virtual being the key ingredient. Now, when it comes to exploring virtual strategies, brands often get confu...

Feb112021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Pros & Cons of Social Media during The Pandemic

Column, Digital

2020 has been an eye-opener in many ways for the world. During these trying and unprecedented times, some turned to social media as a beacon of hope and entertainment, while some others took this opportunity to disconnect from the virtual world, relishing the beauty of the real world instead. While social media has made it very easy to keep up with the rest of the world, it is accompanied by an entirely different kind of social pressure.Even though everyone is at home, trying to spend some quality time with their families and their selves, there is a constant distraction in the form of mobile phones lighting up with new updates and messages every other minute. We look around ourselves and see an entire generation trying to find an escape from reality by living their lives through a fi...

Jan112021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Managing Unplanned Expenses with an Instant Loan App

Banking, Finance, Insurance, Column

In a rapidly evolving economy, expenditure patterns also evolve rapidly. Especially in today’s age, one that is increasingly dominated by millennial professionals. With the tremendous rise in the corporate culture (and rising costs of living) in all the metropolitans, unplanned and contingent expenses are off the roof. More than any time before, people want that dream vacation or the dream car or that spontaneous shopping plan or road trip. Millennials have been characteristized with that go-getter attitude - they need it all, sometimes without even having the saved up money for it. The need for money for unplanned expenses saw a further surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, where people suddenly saw unexpected medical expenses or even day-to-day expenses mounting up while the entire eco...

Jan52021 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Fintech Industry – Observations & Learnings from 2020 and Opportunities in 2021

Column

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a detrimental impact on most industries, but one sector that has fared comparatively better than most is fintech. According to a new study by The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF), the World Bank Group, and the World Economic Forum, the fintech industry continued to grow, with firms reporting growth in transaction numbers and volumes of 13% and 11% respectively. Data gathered from 1,385 fintech firms in 169 jurisdictions revealed that 12 out of 13 fintech sectors reported year-on-year growth for the first half of 2020, compared to the same period the previous year. While it is undeniable that COVID-19 had an impact on fintech deal activity in H1’20, global VC investment in fintech remained robust, accounting for US$20 billion globally ...

Dec282020 by MediaCatalystNo Comments

Event Management Industry Pivoting through The Ongoing Pandemic

Column

The industry outlook for the event management industry, an industry that is reliant on social gatherings, seemed undecided when the pandemic has led the world to a standstill. But the innovative and buoyant, outdoor entertainment has now started retooling for the future. With the industry starting to slowly adapt itself to the new normal, the educational institutions imparting event management courses have taken a step ahead in innovation to tide over the crisis. Event management organizations across the country are offering training practices as per the socially distant knowledge while guaranteeing to keep it at par with the physical classroom experience. Going by various studies shown, about 94% of companies in the event industries are aiming at discovering the segment of digita...