Latest news with #Dayama
Time of India
11-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
ETBWS 2025: From Urbanic to Savana: Rahul Dayama's playbook for D2C Growth
Addressing the spotlight session at the ETBrandEquity's Brand World Summit 2025 , Rahul Dayama , founding partner at Urbanic , shared invaluable, impromptu insights into building and scaling D2C brands in today's dynamic digital landscape. With Urbanic and the newer Savana under his belt, Dayama's expertise comes from navigating the intricate relationship between brands, platforms and consumers. The shifting sands of social media control Dayama opened with a fundamental question: Who truly controls social media – influencers, platforms, or consumers? His initial instinct as a brand founder leaned towards platforms, given the advertising spend. However, a deeper reflection revealed a more nuanced reality. "There is no control with anyone," he concluded, emphasising the symbiotic relationship where platforms rely entirely on consumers and content creators, and brands, in turn, depend on platforms to reach those consumers. This intricate dance necessitates a thorough understanding of a platform's "product psychology" to build an effective strategy. Dayama offered a practical example: he invests more on YouTube because its search-based nature allows content to remain relevant for a year, unlike Instagram's fleeting 48-hour window. Instagram, for him, is more of a "discovery-led platform than conversion," influencing his spending and engagement tactics. Strategic tech investment The second crucial pillar for D2C success, according to Dayama, is technology – but with a caveat. Many companies, when adopting tech, attempt to solve every problem at once. Dayama advocates for a focused approach. At Urbanic, a strict policy dictates: "If the GMB [Gross Merchandise Value] is not affecting at least by five per cent by the particular thing, then we will not invest anything on tech till then." He highlighted the significant role of influencer marketing for Urbanic, with over 35,000 influencers across both brands and millions of pieces of content generated (more than four million for Urbanic and more than a million for Savana). This experience underscores the importance of prioritising tech investments to tackle the most impactful problems first. "My biggest takeaway from that is prioritising tech and then building on it," he summarised. The first step Dayama frequently fields questions about the initial steps of launching a brand. His advice is deceptively simple but profoundly effective: "First, just figure out your niche or the channel, where your audience is." He stressed that understanding your audience goes beyond demographics; it's about observing their behavior. He recounted a personal epiphany while his tech team was meticulously defining Urbanic's target audience based on age and city. That same night, he observed a party promoter creating a guest list filled with women who "pull the crowd" and noted that Urbanic's party collection perfectly suited them. This led to a guerrilla marketing tactic: distributing free clothes to these influential club-goers. This provided immediate access to content and a highly receptive "100 per cent conversion rate" audience that might have been missed by conventional ad targeting. "I think the first step is to figure out who your audience is, understand them, find the first channel and then you can go aggressive on it," he advised. Building community for amplified growth Once the initial channel is mastered, the focus shifts to building a community. Dayama pointed to Savana's growth as a testament to this. While Urbanic garnered two million mentions in six years, Savana achieved a million mentions in a much shorter span, largely by leveraging Urbanic's established community infrastructure. He cited a campaign for Savana where they utilised a community of at least 1,000 known-performing influencers. This allowed them to execute a "one to one impact" campaign that propelled the brand above Facebook and Instagram in just three days, completing the entire initiative within a week. Their preparedness, including robust customer service (CST) for consumer feedback, further amplified the success. In conclusion, Dayama's framework for D2C success boils down to: using social media wisely by understanding platform psychology, prioritising tech investments for maximum impact and starting by identifying your niche and truly understanding your audience's behavior to build a strong community.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Woman shares blood clot diagnosis, recovery journey
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — It was just weeks until her son's high school graduation; Melanie Bolkema couldn't wait to see her son walk across the stage. 'I had to jump into mom mode,' Bolkema said. But by late April last year, Bolkema could hardly walk around her own house. She was also having severe back pain. Emergency responders get life-saving equipment grants 'I went to the chiropractor, and that seemed to have helped a little bit. It was on Monday that I started not being able to breathe very well,' Bolkema said. 'I could only say small sentences without taking a breath.' That next day things only got worse. A friend of hers came over and immediately took her to get help. 'She walked into my room, and she goes, 'oh my gosh, you're going to the emergency room,'' Bolkema said. 'So, we got into the car, and we went to the emergency room.' At Sanford Hospital, doctors found Bolkema's oxygen levels dangerously low. It prompted a CT scan, which revealed a life-threatening condition: a bilateral blood clot in her lungs. 'Blood clots normally start in the leg, and it's called DVT: Deep Venous Thrombosis,' Dr. Anand Dayama, a vascular surgeon with Sanford Hospital, said. 'Then it gets loose and travels through the heart and into the lungs. The lungs usually are the final destination for blood clots. If there's a large burden of it, it can completely plug the lungs.' 'It wasn't until when Dr. Dayama came to see me that he told me that my left main bronchial was 100% obstructed,' Bolkema said. 'That's when I actually got a little bit scared.' Dr. Anand Dayama said 900,000 Americans are diagnosed with blood clots each year, but 100,000 don't survive. To save Bolkema's life, doctors would need to perform a mechanical thrombectomy. 'We put a large IV in the vein inside the groin. And through that IV, we are able to snake a wire through the heart into the lung arteries,' Dr. Dayama said. To Bolkema's surprise, she was released from the hospital the next day. 'The recovery was really fast,' Bolkema said. 'I actually went back to my hot yoga and walking right away. So, it was easy to get back into the routine.' But had she waited any longer, doctors said things may have looked different. 'Most people, the heart can pump against a clot and overcome that stress,' Dr. Dayama said. 'But after a day or so, it can give up.' It's why Bolkema is sharing her story- hoping others won't ignore the warning signs. 'Blood clots in the lung are serious and dangerous. So, make sure if you start getting short of breath, it's something to consider,' Bolkema said. SD Hall of Fame awards 6 recipients for acts of excellence Because for her, the thought of missing life's moments- like her son's graduation- was never an option. 'Sitting at graduation and thinking… I could possibly… haven't been there,' Bolkema said. It's a gift that Bolkema will treasure forever, thanks to the quick action and care from her doctors. Symptoms of a blood clot can vary, but some of the most common ones include chest pain, shortness of breath and feeling very weak. To learn more about the signs and treatments, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
