#canvas8

Ayushmann Khurrana, who started his journey as a reality show contestant, has several feathers to his cap - from an actor to a musician to UNICEF Ambassador.

A top London-based behavioural insights company, Canvas8, has conducted a case study on the impact of Brand Ayushmann Khurrana in India and amongst Indians. Titled ‘How actor Ayushmann Khurrana brings advocacy to Bollywood’, this in-depth case study focusses on how the actor resonates with his countrymen, how he is a relatable and woke Indian personality.

The case study hat-tips Ayushmann’s impact saying, “In an industry known for formulaic films, Khurrana’s journey to Bollywood stardom has beAyAyushen nothing short of remarkable. An important aspect of Khurrana’s journey is his choice to do ‘risky’ films. He played a cross-gender actor in the Dream Girl films, a male gynaecologist student in Doctor G, and a regular sperm donor in Vicky Donor … saying yes to films which others were probably rejecting or not even considering.”

The case study appreciates Ayushmann for projecting India’s ‘Growing Influence through Grassroots representation’. The citation reads, “Khuranna's renown has been growing steadily, being named by Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2020. His child rights activism for UNICEF also gained him the Time 100 Impact Award in 2023. On top of these are his numerous film accolades throughout his 11-year career, which he credits to his characters deeply rooted in society.”

The case study also highlights how Indians have shown a ‘Growing Taste for Social Realism in the mainstream’ due to Ayushmann Khurrana. The citation reads, “Indian audiences have become more receptive to characters who are somewhat unconventional. This has been shaking up Indian cinema, with mainstream filmmakers believing this post-pandemic taste will only become clearer in the coming years. But a shift to more realistic and thought-provoking content can already be seen in the success of Khurrana's gender-crossing Dream Girl 2 in 2023, which successfully became part of the 100 'crore' club, an industry term for films that reach INR 1 billion (about $11.99 million) in the box office.”

In a world of hyper-busyness, stripped back interaction has become the norm – from the cultural phenomenon of emojis to the preference for texting over calling.  And through the launch of smartphone app Yo, yet another layer has been added to these minimal forms of communication. This is a social platform where users can say just one word: “Yo.” Yet with one million downloads so far, is it as stupid as critics suggest? When people message each other, they tend to text fewer people often. “Part of the reason the volume of text messaging is so high is because a lot of exchange is just, ‘This is what I’m doing, this is what I’m feeling’,” explains cultural anthropologist Mimi Ito. “This is transmitting the message: ‘I’m here with you, I’m connected to you’.”

It’s this desire to connect on even the smallest level that is drawing people to Yo – the same thing that drives the success of emojis. They enable people to establish a “virtual co-presence,” explains Huffington Post tech editor Bianca Bosker. “Using emojis, in a sense, is like a hangout online.” There’s now even an emoji-only social network. “At the zero level, below text, there is still significant communication possible,” adds Jaan Tallinn, co-founder of Skype. And a growing number of messaging apps and services are working at this zero level. Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski describes this type of interaction as ‘phatic expression'. It's communication that performs a social task rather than transmitting information. Perhaps this is the kind of interaction apps like Yo provide – a simple reminder that someone is thinking of them.

The internet is celebrated for empowering the individual, albeit spurring a culture of oversharing in the process. Yet while in the West this equates to documenting dinner on Instagram or one too many tweets about Game of Thrones, in Mexico, young cartel members are harnessing social media to intimidate targets and post selfies with AK-47s. Last week, Mexican Kim Kardashian lookalike and suspected cartel queen Claudia Ochoa Felix was outed in the media for affiliations with the infamous Sinaloa cartel. From reclining amongst a gang of masked gunmen with a red-lipped pout, to posing cross-legged in a skin-tight mini dress balancing an M16 across her knees, her Instagram account – from which her photos have now been deleted – was unapologetically incriminating.

But while she – and many of the young people involved in cartels – seem to be using social media to document the highlights of their lives, there are more sinister uses for it, too. From sending messages to rival cartels (like the Facebook beheading video posted to scare the Gulf Cartel in late 2013) to keeping locals in line, social media has become so integrated into daily life that many see it as no less subtle than carrying out criminal acts in the flesh. Look no further than the 'weed4sale' and 'purpledrank' hashtags American drug dealers use on Instagram, or the fact that the Yakuza's most notorious family has launched a PR campaign complete with a recruitment website. But the social media presence of Mexican cartels is the product of a unique set of factors, not least of which is the rapid adoption of online – there are now 35 million Mexicans using the internet regularly. “You've seen an increase in this kind of thing as Mexico has become more wired,” explains Shannon O’Neil, senior fellow in Latin American studies for the Council on Foreign Relations. “The members of the drug cartels are younger. It’s a demographic very comfortable being online.” And with a notoriously lax law enforcement (police officers are paid just $9,000 annually), subtlety isn't seen as a requirement for lawbreakers – online or offline. As O'Neil aptly notes, "if they can drive around Ciudad Juarez with an AK-47 hanging on their door, why should they worry about posting on Twitter?"

Nick Morris of CANVAS8 gave us a quick rundown of some currently emerging trends in Europe at the World Future Trends Summit. Some of these were:

Experience Hunters: consumers are looking for a social currency, seeking out experiences that are immersive, unique and share-able. MeatLiquor and the You Me Bum Bum Train theater company are examples of this.

Dark & Dirty: a rise of masked balls is one example of this, another is Brew Dog beer. Seedy is cool.

As a devoted believer in making creative ideas happen, I wouldn't have missed this event for the world.

Canvas8 invited Scott Belsky, CEO of Behance Network, which is one of my key inspiration for my research in facilitating creative collaboration online as well as WHY! Create platform, along with two other great producers - John Miles, Executive Producer at Electronic Arts & Pete Chambers, Executive Producer at Mad Cow Films to share their experience in productive creative projects.

Having read Scott's book - Making Ideas Happen, it was quite wonderful to listening to him talk about the action methods in person where you really can feel his enthusiasm in the subject. As a creative manager, I'm almost over-excited with the idea of implementing these methods in an actual creative projects to see the difference they can make.

'non-stimulating time' is another thing I personally must work on, with the vast knowledge in the digital world and gadgets surrounding our lives, it has become quite difficult - but shower is definitely still THE place, can't agree more with Scott!

I specially love the way Scott is 'obsessed' with actions and the idea that management should be empowering and motivating for creativity rather than creating negative restraints.

One thing I found in common among the three panelists is that they seem to constantly reflect on the process of developing creative projects and consider how they can make it better and better each time to deliver the best work in the end rather than adopting routines or habits. I hope I never lose that ability to reflect, to learn, and eventually to inspire - like Scott, John and Pete have done tonight.