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When California enacted landmark criminal justice reforms several years ago, inmates and their families saw a chance at freedom.

Aaron Spolin saw a business opportunity.

After the laws went into effect in 2019, the then-33-year-old attorney incorporated a law firm in West Los Angeles and began marketing legal services to the incarcerated and their loved ones.

Spolin, a Princeton-educated former McKinsey consultant, bought up online search terms so that people googling the laws saw ads touting the firms expertise. He mailed pitch letters directly to some of the states 100,000 prisoners introducing himself as a former prosecutor now in the top 1% among California criminal lawyers and informing them they might be eligible for sentence shortening under various new laws.

Nearly 2,000 individuals signed on with Spolin, according to the online resume of a former office manager. He became a celebrity inside prisons, his name passed around in exercise yards from Folsom to Calipatria, and in Facebook support groups for wives and children. Families of limited means borrowed against their homes, took out high-interest loans, dipped into 401(k)s, worked double shifts, ran public fundraisers and amassed credit card debt to pay Spolin fees that could run north of $40,000.

A Times investigation found that Spolin built a booming enterprise by fanning false hopes in some families desperate to get their loved ones home. He encouraged people to spring for pricey legal services that he knew or should have known had little or no chance of success, the newspaper found.

He told families of men incarcerated for murder and other violent crimes that progressive L.A. Dist. Atty. George Gascn could move to free them in less than a year under one new resentencing law. None of Spolins attempts, for which families paid about $10,000 each, appear to have been successful, and Gascns office told The Times it generally does not consider such offenders to be good candidates for resentencing.

Attorney Aaron Spolin has denied exploiting inmates and their families.

(Aaron Spolin)

In another example, Spolin presented a commutation from the governor, which experts say is a long shot for even the most rehabilitated of candidates, as a very real possibility for all types of inmates. Hundreds paid up to $14,000 for him to submit applications. None has been granted, The Times found, and some were patently unsuitable. One inmate he proposed for commutation this year had pleaded guilty in May 2022 to running a drug ring from his cell at Corcoran State Prison.

The Times found that Spolins firm relied on the work of some low-paid contract lawyers who were not licensed in California and had little or no experience in criminal appeals. Among those helping draft legal memos and court filings were lawyers from the Philippines and other developing countries making about $10 an hour.

Spolin denied exploiting inmates and their families and blamed district attorneys offices and others who he says have taken too narrow a view of which individuals should be freed.

Stephanie Charles, an actor whose brother, Wesner, has been behind bars since 2002 for robbery and attempted carjacking, said she now worries the $19,000 she and other loved ones scraped together to pay Spolin for a commutation and other services was wasted. A lot of us dont know the law, a lot of us are vulnerable, she said. We just want someone to help us solve the problem and not take advantage of us.

Stephanie Charles, whose brother, Wesner, was incarcerated in 2002, questioned Spolin Laws efforts to help her brother after relatives scraped together $19,000 to pay the L.A. law firm, with no results to show for it. We just want someone to help us solve the problem and not take advantage of us, she said.

(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)

Supporters of the states criminal justice reforms are among Spolins biggest critics.

This guy is getting rich off the most vulnerable people and [giving] them false hope that could really hurt them. It needs to stop now, Karen Nash, a deputy L.A. public defender who represents prisoners seeking resentencing under the reforms, wrote in a January email to the State Bar of California.

The new laws are designed so that prisoners who qualify get free legal representation.

It wasnt contemplated that this would become ambulance chasers who would see this as a way to make money off the backs of people who are in prison, said Hillary Blout, a former San Francisco prosecutor who helped write one of the reform measures.

Spolin acknowledged to The Times that he had given some people assessments that turned out to be overly optimistic.

We are different than other lawyers in that we fight for the way the law should be, Spolin said. During a three-hour interview, he predicted that courts and law enforcement would step up their use of resentencing laws in coming years, leading to the eventual release of many of the inmates he represents.

I am so confident that history will prove me right. All these clients who feel like theyve been hoodwinked, and then theyre gonna win. And theyre gonna say, Oh, wow. You know, Mr. Spolin was right.

Since at least 2009, when a panel of three federal judges ordered California to reduce its dangerously overcrowded prisons, the Golden State has been trying to reform its criminal justice system. Those efforts have picked up speed in recent years as mass incarceration has come to be viewed increasingly as a moral wrong that disproportionately hurts Black and Latino communities, the poor and the mentally ill.

Some reforms that the state passed concerned future prosecutions and did not apply to people already incarcerated. A pair of 2019 laws, however, did affect prisoners by allowing judges to consider inmates for resentencing and release, either on the recommendation of county district attorneys or because of changes to the murder statute that invalidated the convictions of some homicide defendants who had not carried out the actual killing. The statutes could be difficult to understand and did not apply to most people, so advocates visited prisons early on to explain the laws to groups of inmates.

A point they emphasized was that inmates didnt need to hire attorneys.

We were concerned because incarcerated people and their families will pay whatever is asked of them for just some hope at freedom, said Blout, who drafted the law that allowed prosecutors to recommend resentencing.

We are different than other lawyers in that we fight for the way the law should be. I am so confident that history will prove me right.

Aaron Spolin

Not everyone attended the prison briefings on the reforms, and when an inmate was released through the laws or there was even a rumor that someone might word raced through the prisons. Inmates wondering whether they too had a chance shared those hopes with relatives, and before long, many ended up phoning Spolins firm.

The attorney provided The Times with lists of clients and relatives he suggested would tell a reporter they were happy with the job he did. Some did not return calls or messages. Two said they felt a public defender would have done a better job, and they were confused about why Spolin would have provided their names to The Times.

Others enthusiastically endorsed the firm.

Its been a magical experience, said Darrell Tittle Jr., who was released in March after two decades in prison. He was convicted of manslaughter for participating in a deadly 2003 fight in which a rival San Diego gang member was shot to death. Tittle did not fire a weapon and was eligible for resentencing under the homicide reform law.

Though the law provides free legal representation for qualified inmates seeking resentencing, Tittle said he wanted a private lawyer and believed Spolin and his colleagues took his case more seriously. I felt the public defender had already let me down through my initial trial.

A smattering of other firms, including one started by a former Spolin attorney, have advertised similar services to inmates and families. Spolins firm was the first and appears to be by far the largest in California, according to interviews with government officials and advocates.

Spolin has expanded his firm to represent inmates in appeals and other proceedings in Texas, New York and Michigan, and said he plans to add clients in Pennsylvania shortly.

I want to be known throughout the country, he told The Times.

Ramon Valencia Pineda contacted Spolins firm last year desperate to find something good for his brother, Luis, a convicted murderer serving a sentence of life without parole.

In a phone call, Spolin recommended the family seek his release through the new law that allows prosecutors to recommend resentencing and said that for $18,500 his firm would pursue that route and a governors commutation, according to Valencia and a firm memo prepared for the family.

The money was daunting for Valencia, who works at a Home Depot in Stockton, and his sister, a department manager at Target. But their dealings with the law firm had filled them with hope. Spolin was bright and spoke authoritatively about their brothers prospects. In a conference call, he said, the attorney assured the family, You have a good case.

Hearing about the smart lawyer ready to fight for their incarcerated relative, cousins, aunts and uncles pitched in, $500 here and $1,000 there.

It was only recently, more than a year after they had paid Spolin, that they learned Luis Valencia never had a chance of being resentenced. In a terse Feb. 1 letter to Spolin, a Merced County deputy district attorney said anyone sentenced to life without parole was disqualified under the offices guidelines.

I did not know that was the policy of the D.A.s office, Spolin acknowledged to The Times after being asked about the letter. He said Luis Valencia struck him as a good candidate and defended his ignorance of the criteria, saying of prosecutors offices in general, It is very, very, very hard to get a call back.

Reached on her office line one recent afternoon, the Merced prosecutor who oversees resentencing, Misty Compton, said she was available to provide information about the offices resentencing policies to anyone seeking it but did not recall ever getting a call from Spolins firm.

The Valencia case was not the only time that Spolin urged families to hire his firm to pursue resentencing in a county where the incarcerated person did not meet the offices criteria. His firm charged the family of Alex Ivey, also serving life without parole for murder, last year to pursue resentencing through the Alameda County D.A. A prosecutor wrote back that Ivey would not be considered because the law currently does not permit resentencing on special circumstances cases like his.

Spolin said a prosecutor in the office had previously told his firm inmates like Ivey were eligible.

In Santa Clara County, Spolin charged the families of at least two men convicted of murder to seek resentencing through the D.A.s office there, according to interviews and firm memos. David Angel, the assistant district attorney overseeing resentencing, said the office is focused on inmates convicted of robbery, burglary and other less serious crimes and has never used the new law to recommend someone convicted of murder be released.

I did not know that information, Spolin acknowledged to The Times.

Ramon Valencia said he feels humiliated in front of relatives who gave from their meager savings and wronged by Spolin and his firm.

Isnt that their job to look into it? he said recently. It doesnt make any sense to me that he didnt know.

By the time the Valencias paid, Spolin Law was a high-volume operation.

At Solano State Prison in Vacaville, one firm client, who is serving 80 years to life for murder, said that when he goes to collect his legal mail, the registry shows inmate after inmate receiving letters from Spolin Law.

Another client at the same facility offered a reporter the names and prison numbers of nine other inmates in a phone call, saying they were lined up nearby and wanted a chance to describe their own problems with the attorney.

Asked how many clients he had, Spolin said, I dont know the exact number. Like a lot. He later estimated he had a couple hundred clients with active cases. He declined to provide the total number his firm has represented.

Questioned about different cases, Spolin was not familiar with the details or even the names of clients. Families interviewed by The Times said they had never met him in person, and most said they spoke to him just once at the start of his representation. Some inmates said they had never talked to Spolin. Nearly all inmates reported difficulties in reaching him or his four staff attorneys, saying that calls with lawyers took weeks or months to schedule and that they were forced to relay information through assistants, paralegals or case managers.

If you call in, you will never get the same person, said Emma Alford, who helped pay $30,000 to Spolin to represent her husband, Justin. Its a little disheartening.

Spolin said the firm is upfront about the fact that many people will work on cases: We tell clients its a team effort in terms of doing their work.

Case managers dealt frequently with families on the cost of various services and the options for paying in installments. Some relatives strapped for cash said they felt pressured to come up with money for Spolins fees.

Case managers do have a financial incentive to convince families to sign up for legal services, Spolin confirmed, saying their pay is related to the fees they deliver.

They get bonuses based on how hard they work, he said. He said the arrangement did not amount to a commission system, which State Bar rules prohibit.

Spolin denied that he pushed relatives to spend beyond their means.

There have been circumstances where people have said, This is all I have. And Ive said, You probably dont want to do this if this is all you have, he said.

Spolin grew up in Palo Alto, went to UC Berkeley Law, and took a job as an assistant district attorney in the Bronx. There, he worked fraud and other financial crimes cases and, according to Spolin, sat second chair on a murder prosecution.

Aaron Spolin attends the arraignment of a client in Los Angeles in 2017. Spolin has since focused on criminal justice reform cases and built a high-volume business by marketing legal services to the incarcerated and their loved ones.

(Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)

When he moved to L.A. in 2016, he switched to the defense side.

He didnt have an office when we hired him. It was just him, recalled one of his first clients, a then-17-year-old who asked to be identified by her initials, A.B. At the time, she was accused of double murder in the killing of a pregnant woman.

His rates were very reasonable, her mother, Mary Medina, recalled.

Spolin fought off a prosecution attempt to move the case to adult court, where the charges carried the possibility of decades in prison. Medinas daughter ultimately served six years in a juvenile facility and was released last year.

He did an amazing job, and there was a lot going against me, A.B. said.

In 2018, as Sacramento legislators were passing the new criminal justice reforms, Spolin started remaking himself as an appeals specialist. He said the timing was kind of a coincidence and that he found post-conviction work a better fit for his personality than trials.

Im a very introverted person. I dont like conflict, he said.

To prepare, he said, he read a textbook about California appellate law and attended a training conducted by judges. He registered Spolin Law as a business in March 2019 using the address of a co-working space on Olympic Boulevard. Employees work remotely from locations all over the country and world.

That decision and others about how to run the firm were influenced by a year and a half Spolin worked at McKinsey after getting an undergraduate degree from Princeton, he said. His time analyzing how different companies could expand to be successful led him to embrace new techniques at his firm.

I want to take what works and discard what doesnt, he said.

Aggressive internet advertising was one of the things that seemed to have worked. Spolin hired a digital marketing specialist from Ohio with expertise in Google ads and a goal, stated on his website, to make my clients phone ring and help them scale their service business. His other clients included carpet cleaning franchises in suburban Columbus.

Inmates searching for options under the reform laws were presented with paid posts about Spolin. His website featured long articles about the new reform laws, photos of Spolin smiling confidently, and big claims about his reputation and skills.

Though few in L.A.s legal establishment had ever heard of him, Spolin marketed himself as a widely regarded expert with a firm in the top 0.4% of criminal firms nationally. Multiple independent rating agencies ranked his firm at the top of its field, he told inmates in letters.

The designation actually came from for-profit outfits that offered Spolin and other lawyers the chance to buy a package, currently priced at $395, that included a wall plaque and permission to advertise their rankings. Spolin said the companies approached him and that he no longer pursues such rankings, which he called the poor mans Super Lawyers, a reference to the glossy legal magazines in which many high-end lawyers advertise.

Amanda Allen, whose then-husband, Johnte, was serving life without parole for murder, was impressed by Spolin Laws promotional material. It was just the whole headline, she recalled. He said he was the top attorney.

(Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Whatever its basis, Spolins promotional material impressed people like Amanda Allen, whose then-husband, Johnte, was serving life without parole for a 2006 murder in Bakersfield.

It was just the whole headline, she recalled. He said he was the top attorney.

When she called the firm, she learned of what Spolin described as another McKinsey-inspired innovation: the $3,000 case review.

Before inmates or families talked to Spolin, they had to pony up a retainer that they were told would be used to research their case and evaluate their options. If they wanted to pursue one of those options, the $3,000 would be applied to the bill. If they didnt, the firm kept it.

Veteran appellate attorneys in California said free or low-cost initial consultations were the norm in the field.

$3,000? To just look at the case, which probably takes five minutes, said Paul J. Cohen, a Van Nuys appellate attorney who represents both paying and indigent clients. I dont charge more than $500 for a consultation where I actually go to the jail, and usually I dont charge anything.

Spolin defended the practice, saying his firms approach was more rigorous and valuable. Other lawyers, he said, might give an off-the-cuff remark, but theyre not getting records, and looking at records and then giving a detailed analysis and a detailed report.

Coming up with $3,000 was a challenge for Amanda Allen, an administrator at a group home who said she lives paycheck to paycheck, but the hope of getting her husbands sentence reduced was a strong motivation to scrimp and save.

After she paid, she received a memo outlining the options. Spolin reiterated them in a telephone conference. Johnte Allen, listening from prison, was not impressed.

He was supposed to look over my transcripts, but he didnt know anything at all, he said in an interview from Kern Valley State Prison.

Spolin recommended a $20,000 package that included seeking resentencing through the local D.A.s office. The suggestion struck Allen as absurd. His crime was notorious in extremely conservative Kern County. Just two years earlier, a D.A. candidate had bragged about convicting Allen. Now, Spolin wanted to charge his family to ask the same office for a break?

There was no way possible. I wasnt even incarcerated long enough or rehabilitated enough at that time to even be thought of for that specific deal, he said.

The memos Spolins firm prepares for families who pay $3,000 normally run about 14 to 20 pages and are based on a template. A Times review of more than a dozen prepared for families across the state showed that though they do include specific details from inmates cases, most of the memo is boilerplate explanations of the various legal avenues available to inmates. Even some of the information that appears to be specific to an inmate is canned.

We were pleased to learn that Mr. [inmate] has strong family support to help him integrate into society upon his release from prison, read portions of memos prepared for a half-dozen different families. This will ensure that Mr. [inmate] will not be destitute on the street and will have a place to stay and facilitate the resumption of a normal life.

Spolin said the memos had value to families who need a primer on the law and an understanding of what opportunities there were for their loved one: We are not saying we are giving them anything else.

Drafting these memos was sometimes delegated to contract lawyers hired through sites like Indeed. One attorney from a developing country said he was paid about $10 an hour to fill out the templates using records and questionnaires answered by inmates. The recommendations he made in the memo were passed up to a licensed California lawyer working at the firm, and he had no direct dealings with families.

There was nothing to lose. That was the justification. These were already incarcerated people.

Attorney from a developing world country who stopped working at the firm last year

The developing world attorney, who stopped working at the firm last year and spoke on the condition of anonymity to preserve his job prospects, said he met Spolin over a videoconference once during the job interview. Spolin, he said, remarked that the pay was at least twice as much as the average Philippine legal salary.

Spolin said in an interview that the firm had used foreign lawyers to carry out paralegal duties in the past, but stopped because the international attorneys English level was not good enough in terms of research and looking at cases and that kind of thing.

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A California lawyer cashed in on criminal justice reform by fanning ... - Los Angeles Times

The COO of IndiaMART shares the companys market expansion strategies, advertising campaigns and growth plans

by Tanya Dwivedi Published - Apr 21, 2023 3:52 PM | 5 min read

Indias tier 2 and tier 3 markets are driving the economy owing to better utilisation of government schemes, enhancementof customer acquisition and monetisation. This is effectively supporting the growth of Indias B2B sector, says Dinesh Gulati, COO, IndiaMART.

Nearly 35 per cent of the B2B traffic comes from Metros and the rest is from far-flung areas, Gulati shared in a conversation with e4m. He also spoke on the companys market expansion strategies, advertising campaigns and growth plans.

Excerpts:

What major investments are boosting the overall growth of the company?

We started expanding our network of acquisitions 18 to 24 months back. Earlier we used to have only an in-house team and then we started expanding through our channel partners in large cities as well because of the change in traffic patterns, which is coming almost 65 per cent from tier two, three, and four towns. Our revenues are increasing because we have a steady growth in the number of customers.

Our net customer addition is between 8,000 to 10,000 per quarter. Having said that, there is a lot of work happening on the platform itself so that we can improve our experience for our buyers and suppliers.

As per recent reports, IndiaMART looks to add a credit facilitation offering on its platform to help small businesses. What is the aim behind offering credit facilities?

We were able to enhance our access to the markets by enriching our platform through good categories and good content. Besides facing other problems, SMEs are bereft of financial resources to continue their businesses. Thanks to the technology that we have, we can monitor their behaviour. Hence, we decided we should also look at providing access to funding finance to these businesses. We are trying to build a sustainable and effective system on the IndiaMART platform to reduce credit borrowing complications and high-interest rates.

Recently, IndiaMART has announced market expansion across India. Besides opening four new branches in Tamil Nadu, the company plans expansion across Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Kerala. How does the company plan to connect larger sellers to local buyers?

With businesses adopting digitisation rapidly, buying patterns have changed explicitly. To keep pace with the GDP contribution from the South, we had to move much faster so that we would be always in sync with the South. Two to three years back we realised buyers from smaller towns were not very well-versed in English. They either use voice search or their vernacular language. We implemented these interventions on our platform and today our buyers can search through voice in nine languages.

Clear detailing of products on the website, flexible marketing approach, and strong SEO and AI-driven marketing algorithm help IndiaMART stand out in the clutter of B2B business. Also, we have been trying to make this platform as relevant for our suppliers and buyers and as functional as it needs to be, rather than throwing money on above-the-line media marketing, and channel marketing. Today we have almost 16 crore-plus buyers. We have more than 10% of India's population registered on a B2B platform like IndiaMART and our repeat traffic is almost 53%. Furthermore, with the adoption of AI, we aim to cross demographic barriers and make match-making happen across geographies and every aspect of buyer and supplier. Presently, we have almost 400 plus brands that are large enterprises and present on the IndiaMART platform, whether it is Toshiba carrier, Aircon, Tata Motors, or Tata Steel.

IndiaMART launched its campaign during the IPL season. How does IndiaMART plan its quarterly advertising spend?

Our entire investment has been in creating more content. We have 74 lakh suppliers on the platform and keep enriching their catalogues. On another side, we keep doing these videos and we do almost one video a month.Which sector does IndiaMart plan to focus on in the following fiscal year?We have 56 industries on our platform and a very horizontal marketplace. Having said that, we cannot push any particular category or industry sector. But these things keep changing. We started focusing on one category during the Covid times when the entire nation was in the need of medical products, facial masks and concentrators. We had the entire team working on only the pharma and medical category.What are the challenges for Indias B2B sector and whats the way to tackle them?

In China, internet adoption amongst businesses is close to around 80% or so. Whereas in India we are still less than 50%. So, there is headroom for B2B businesses to improve. Having said that, in the last few years, thanks to UPI, GST, and e-way bills a lot of things have simplified businesses across all demographics. Thanks to the credit guarantee scheme, the government of India has offered a sizable chunk of loans that are given collateral free.

There are small teething issues where we have scope to improve things. But the biggest challenge is to make finance and funding available for businesses.

I'm very bullish about the way things are going to help our B two B micro and medium enterprises to a great extent. However, headwinds are there because of various global factors. We saw raw material prices going up, and inflation going up. But despite that, we continue to grow primarily because of some ease of policies. We are strengthening our manufacturing processes in the country. I'm sure we will see a lot of improvement for our B two B businesses.

Read more news about (marketing news, latest marketing news,internet marketing,marketing India, digital marketing India, media marketing India, advertising news)

Tags Dinesh gulati Indiamart B2b Internet advertising Internet advertising India Marketing Internet Marketing Marketing campaign Marketing ad internet Internet ad internet news marketing advertising India marketing India

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With the adoption of AI, we aim to cross demographic barriers: Dinesh Gulati, IndiaMART - Exchange4Media

Rahil Virani, Co-founder& CMO ofMYFITNESStalks to us about how their media and marketing strategies are evolving to keep pace with the brands growing offline footprint.

Can you shed some light on your brand journey and how it has strengthened over the years? The journey began 14 years ago with my father who came up with the plan to start manufacturing peanut butter. He started off with a very small sized factory, and his main objective was to get into export, because back then the awareness and the demand for peanut butter, as a product, was not so much among Indian consumers. It was in such a scenario that he set up his export business, and it was also doing quite well. This was because the peanuts that are grown in India, in parts of Gujarat, are one of the best - very flavourful, aromatic, and of very good quality. So, there was good demand internationally for the product that was being generated from India for the last many years. But four years ago, we felt that the trend is changing and theres also growing awareness among consumers; people had started asking about peanut butter. They were requesting their friends and family members who were coming from the US and the UK to get it for them. Fitness enthusiasts who were regular at the gym had also become aware of its benefits; peanut butter was an essential part of their diet now. More and more people were increasingly switching to healthier foods.

And thats when we, my brother-in-law and I- the next generation in the business after my father- decided to take a step ahead and broaden our scope by starting our own in-house brand for the Indian market. We already had the manufacturing part sorted, which is the first thing that anyone who starts a new business has to figure out. For us, that became an advantage because by then, we were already making it for about 10-11 years. The year was 2018. Online marketplaces likeAmazon and Flipkart were doing very well, and so we were also quite clear on how and where we want to sell our products. It was primarily these online channels where we decided to sell as well as scale up. So, that is how MYFitness started.

Initially, the objective was to target people who are fitness enthusiasts, hence the name MyFitness, which resonates with someone who wants to eat healthy. That was our initial TG, but slowly, of course, as a brand, we started targeting children, adults, and the elderly also. However, TG and the majority audience today are the 18 to 35-year-old males. That being said, we are also looking to expand this bracket now.

What are some of the innovative marketing strategies you use to reach out to the masses?At the time when we started out, Saffola and FunFood were already established in the market. Being traditional, conventional brands with lakhs and lakhs of touchpoints, it was very easy for them to reach the customers by being present on the supermarket shelves. So, we understood, quite early on, that this is not the route we would take. Online was the way for us, and we pursued it aggressively. We signed up on Amazon. Flipkart and PayTM. PayTM used to have e-commerce channels back then. Initially, we used to receive 5 or 10 orders a day. Then slowly it grew to 100- 200. Today we're shipping almost 14,000 orders a day of which about 65% comes through the e-commerce channels. At number one is Flipkart, then comes Amazon and at number three is our own website. As the brand grew, we were able to pull a lot of customers online.

This was also due to the fact that we invested a lot in marketing our product during the subsequent four-year period. We had brand ambassadors such as Hardik Pandya, the cricketer, actor Kriti Sanon from Bollywood, and from the South Industry we had Samantha and Dulquer Salman. And with that, slowly, the offline channel also grew. One great thing that happened as the business grew, and our brand MyFitness began to get recognised was that the store owners started asking for our products. It was not the case before. Initially, when we used to go to the stores, they used to ask us for high listing fees, high shelves fees, and everything else. That had changed.

Which medium do you generally use to grow your brand visibility and why? We had realized in the first three months of launching the brand that we need to reach out to a larger set of audiences. So, we onboarded Sahil Khan- heis someone who is very popular in the fitness and bodybuilding industries, and a lot of gym-going people follow him on social media. We took him on as a brand ambassador. The promotional campaigns with him resulted in the initial growth. As we were not a conventional brand, and were operating largely in the new-age, D2C space, we opted for Instagram and YouTube as our medium of choice. How it worked was, first Sahil Khan would promote the brand on his Instagram and YouTube channels, and later we would run the same content as an ad on our Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.After the early growth, of course, we onboarded many more ambassadors like Hardik Pandya, Samantha, Kriti Sanon, and Dulquer Salman.

TV news is a very popular medium of communication due to its reach and loyal viewers. Do you think brands should advertise more on TV as compared to other media platforms?

Yes. If I speak for our brand, in the coming years, we are going to make a nominal shift from being a pure play digital and social media brand to being a conventional brand for the masses. Going ahead, we intend to do campaigns on TV. We have both TV shows and sports properties such as IPL on the radar. We will be exploring a lot more TV in the near future.

When we started out, it was only reasonable for us to go with social media and digital/ online branding because we were not available offline. But now that we are also growing our offline footprint, the strategy also changes for us. Now we will begin to spend on TVCs and other traditional media channels. Needless to say, the media mix will keep varying and evolving based on how the revenue is spreading out. In the near future, you'll also see us on billboards on the highways. Basically, as we grow offline, our media strategy and communication will also evolve to include more conventional mediums.

What is the marketing mix of your brand campaigns? We usually stick to the basics. It helps us to keep things simple and uncomplicated. Our current channel mix for sales is 65% online and 35% offline, and therefore, our marketing mix and spends also follow the same equation. 65% of our spending is online, which includes Facebook ads, Google ads, and YouTube ads. The remaining 35% spends are on those media channels from where the offline sales come, i.e., TVCs and outdoor ads. And, that is also what we will continue to follow in the future.

Do you think brand messaging and propositions in India have changed post the pandemic?Yes. When the virus hit us, initially we had to face a lot of logistical and operational problems, even though the demand was always there. But during the later days of the, pandemic, we witnessed a growth in demand, instead of de-growth. So, as soon as the logistics and operations resumed, we were at once able to start fulfilling the orders again. The pandemic has given us a spike, as during that period people were always looking for healthier options. Everyone wanted to live healthy and eat healthy.

From the marketing perspective as well, we never felt there was a slowdown. We continued to do what we were doing. We continued to market how we were marketing. As the brand was growing, and the sales was growing, the profit was also growing. We always kept utilizing that profit to market and advertise. We kept reinvesting it in building the brand. There was no slowdown on the front for us. As the brand grew, the marketing spends grew, and overall, we kept growing.

Another significant development that took place during that time was that we came up with an innovation to address consumers concerns. We noticed that in other peanut butter brands, there was always an oil separation taking place. So, we felt the need to come up with a product which could address this issue. We leveraged our collaboration with an Israeli food agency to come up with a peanut-based stabilizer which ensured that there was no oil separation happening. That became one of the USPs of our brand.

Do you advertise on news channels? Can you share some insights on how you plan to market your brand on TV?Honestly, not so far. Whether we will? It is too soon to make a decision on that. That decision-making will happen at a later date, once the production of our new campaign has begun. We never look that far in the future, we always live in the present. We only think of what we are going to do in the next three months. Once those things are achieved, we plan for the next three months. So, I don't have an answer for what I'm going to do in the coming years. But in the coming months, what we are going to do is discuss and decide on what the next campaign should be for MyFitness to start becoming a household brand. I can only say that it will be a mix of both digital and offline, including TV.

Is TV news included in the marketing mix specifically during slowdowns? What are your views on this?

I think it will always vary depending on the kind of brand that you want to build and the kind of brand that you have built so far. So, a Rolex or a Rolls-Roycewill never advertise on TV, they have customers in different places interacting in different ways. Whereas someone like a Nescafe, they're always there on TV. So, there is never a standard answer for this. It'll all depend on the kind of brand and where its customers are.

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Elliot Grainge runs 10K Projects, a record label that counts hip-hop sensation Ice Spice among its recent successes.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Last summer, over sushi at Nobu in Malibu, Elliot Grainge convinced the hottest rapper in the world to go into business with him.

Grainge, a 29-year-old Brit whose plummy accent belies the half of his life hes spent in the U.S., runs 10K Projects, an independent record label he founded fresh out of Northeastern University using a couple hundred grand hed made flipping an apartment in Boston.

The rapper was Ice Spice.

We spoke to her very honestly and said, Listen, we see what youre doing here, and we would like to pour gas on this flame, Grainge says now of the dinner with Ice Spice, whose song Munch (Feelin U) a deadpan kiss-off set to a minimal Bronx drill beat had just exploded on TikTok. The songs viral success had drawn interest from bigger, more established record companies, according to Grainge, including Interscope, Columbia and Republic, as well as Drakes OVO Sound. But I felt as though it wouldnt have been as cool for her at the time to sign to a huge major label, Grainge says.

His pro-indie spiel is a familiar one. In Grainges view, a major is a conveyor belt with 100 other priorities at any given moment; its slow to react and saddled with mediocre-at-best product-management departments, as he puts it. An indie, on the other hand, moves nimbly and with utmost respect for an artists vision. His pitch to Ice Spice, similar to ones made by countless earlier indie labels to countless earlier next-big-things: Youre the boss.

What distinguishes Grainges critique of the major-label system is that its coming from inside the house: Grainges father is Universal Music Group Chairman and Chief Executive Lucian Grainge, whose role leading the worlds largest record company has put him atop Billboards annual Power 100 list a record seven times.

In 2021, Lucian Grainge steered UMG whose slate of talent includes Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Billie Eilish, Rihanna, Morgan Wallen, Lady Gaga, Blackpink and the Beatles toward becoming a publicly traded company; last month, after reporting 2022 revenues of more than $10 billion, the firm announced that it had extended the 63-year-old CEOs contract to 2028 with a one-time transition equity award of $100 million.

Yet the way Elliot Grainge sees it, In the last few years, the power of the major label has been completely decimated.

Grainge acknowledges that the majors UMG, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, each with a variety of subsidiaries have enviably deep pockets to fund their acts endeavors. So essentially theyre a bank, he says on a recent afternoon at the sleek Beverly Grove home of Zach Friedman, 10Ks co-president along with Tony Talamo. But other than an upfront check and costs covered, I dont think an artist wants to sign to a major anymore, unless they want to be on the same roster as their icons, which is still a huge pull.

Discounting acts with what he calls built-in audience the Disney Channel veteran Olivia Rodrigo, for instance, or Harry Styles, who found fame as a member of the boy band One Direction Grainge says he struggles to think of a single new artist signed, developed and marketed from scratch to huge fanfare by a major label in the last three years.

He sits for a moment, his eyes staring out from behind his stylish designer glasses. Not one example, he says.

One dinner guest Grainge doesnt mention in recounting the evening at Nobu is Michelle Jubelirer, chair and CEO of UMGs Capitol Music Group, which provides distribution services to Grainges label and teamed directly with 10K to sign Ice Spice.

He didnt say that Capitol was at the dinner?! Jubelirer asks with a laugh when told this. That is fing amazing.

Like a real-life version of Kendall Roy on HBOs Succession, Grainge knows that his perception as a nepo baby to use the term popularized last year in a widely shared New York magazine feature about the children of celebrities who trade on their parents connections and fame to pursue similar careers obliges him to some extent to trash his fathers business. (In 2016, Lucian Grainge was knighted by Prince William, which means technically hes Sir Lucian.) How else to make a name for himself as something more than a rich kid engaged to be married to another rich kid in 24-year-old Sofia Richie, the model and influencer whos the youngest of Lionel Richies three children?

Even his dad gets it.

Its a very Elliot thing to say, Lucian Grainge writes in an email, responding to his sons take on the supposed decline of the major label. In fact, it sounds like something I would have said when I was his age. I guess according to [Elliots] logic, its a good thing weve got as many icons as we have and consistently attract more.

Sofia Richie, Elliot Grainge, Caroline Grainge and Lucian Grainge attend the celebration of the Queens Platinum Jubilee at the British Consulate in Los Angeles in June 2022.

(Lester Cohen / Getty Images for British Consulate Los Angeles and Universal Music Group)

Elliots brashness isnt unfounded. In just seven years, Los Angeles-based 10K has released more than 30 singles that have been certified platinum, including Internet Moneys sing-songy trap hit Lemonade, which has more than a billion plays on Spotify, and Sunday Best by the breezy pop duo Surfaces, who count Elton John as a fan. Rapper Trippie Redd, one of the labels first signings, has scored seven Top 5 LPs and mixtapes. And not long after Munch took off, 23-year-old Ice Spice outdid that song with her appearance on Boys a Liar Pt. 2, a sprightly electro-pop tune by the British singer and producer PinkPantheress thats been hovering around the upper reaches of the Hot 100 for months. Last week, Ice Spice dropped a remix of her song Princess Diana featuring Nicki Minaj; the music video already has 15 million views on YouTube.

Those around Grainge say that 10Ks success is a testament to his shrewd use of data, his belief in the potency of social-media influencers and an old-fashioned ability to detect a hit before anyone else. Hes very smart, and he has great ears, says Jubelirer. Grainge himself would add that the wisest thing a record executive can do provided hes signed the right artist is to give the artist complete creative control.

I dont think theres ever gonna be a label exec or an A&R guy or a marketing guy who says, Go and sing this different, and pushes music forward, says Grainge, who rarely sits for interviews but spoke with The Times on several occasions over more than a year. No one was telling Picasso to paint the ear on the left-hand side.

That hands-off attitude along with what she said in her song Bikini Bottom was a $2-million check is part of what enticed Ice Spice to sign with 10K. (Both Grainge and Jubelirer decline to confirm what they paid the rapper.) Ive been pretty much doing whatever I want to do, Ice Spice says of her time so far on the label. I love that for me and for them too, because its been working.

Of course, the enormous commercial might of Wallens One Thing at a Time and SZAs SOS, to name the two biggest LPs of the year so far, suggests theres plenty of life left in the major-label approach. Ice Spices deal with 10K and Capitol gives the rapper access to the latters proven promotional expertise at Top 40 radio still a crucial engine, despite Grainges digital-first evangelizing, for the type of mainstream pop stardom no other 10K artist has achieved.

As much as I respect Elliots stance on the role of major labels, its not lost on me that weve recently begun a new era in the 10K and Capitol Music Group partnership, says Jubelirer. Ultimately, I think his criticisms of major labels are kind of a trope that every indie label has as part of their talking points and that they need to have as part of their talking points. I would too if I were running an indie.

Its theater, she adds of Grainges rhetoric. But clearly he knows the importance of a major label.

The last few years have seen something of a feeding frenzy among large music companies eager to snatch up buzzy indies known for creating viral hits. In February, the Atlanta rap label Quality Control, which launched the careers of Migos and Lil Baby, was acquired by Scooter Brauns Hybe America for an estimated $300 million; before that, Warner reportedly paid $400 million for 300 Entertainment, with a roster that includes Young Thug and Megan Thee Stallion, while Sony took a majority stake in Alamo Records, home to Lil Durk and Rod Wave, for an estimated $200 million.

Fred Davis, a partner at the financial advisory Raine Group who focuses on digital media and was involved in the sale of Quality Control, says theres no question that these kinds of deals will continue in the next five to 10 years thanks to the overall growth of the record business brought on by streaming. Its not hard to imagine that Grainge is trying to show potential buyers that, for all his tough talk, hes capable of operating within the major-label model hes been observing up close since he was young.

If Im playing devils advocate, I think there are a lot of positive things that the majors can do on an international basis in terms of plugging in their overseas infrastructure to help activate audiences for songs and for artists, Grainge says in a later interview, softening his initial chest-beating about indies versus majors. He adds that hes watched Warner Music with interest lately as the company has invested in so-called Web3 and other tech companies and allowed 300 to operate with the same fierce autonomy as they had before.

10K Projects Tony Talamo, Elliot Grainge and Zach Friedman.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Grainge grew up in the U.K. in comfortable but trying circumstances: As his mother, Samantha Berg, was giving birth to him, she entered a coma as a result of an embolism and never recovered. (Berg died in 2007.) He points to two maternal figures in his life his aunt Stephanie and his fathers second wife, Caroline, whom Lucian Grainge married when Elliot was 8 but says his bond with his dad was indelibly shaped by their shared pain.

Ive yet to meet someone in my life whos had a similar experience with their childhood, so its difficult to self-analyze, he says. But I can tell you that we have a very unique relationship.

Says Lucian Grainge: Considering what weve been through together personally, in some ways hes like the twin brother I never had.

An awkward-looking British kid, per his own description, Elliot fell in love with Eminem at around age 10 (though the U.K. boy band Take That performed at his bar mitzvah); his fascination with American hip-hop an obsession he says he shares with every single English-speaking person who grew up in the 90s and 2000s made it easier to get on board when Lucian, soon to be appointed to the top spot at UMG, moved the family, including Elliots two half-sisters, to the U.S. in 2009.

Then again, I didnt drive at first, which was tough in Los Angeles pre-Uber if you wanted any form of social life outside of class, he says with a laugh. Yet not long after Grainge got to Northeastern, where he studied sociology and economics, he was wheeling and dealing on Bostons music scene, promoting shows by Berklee College of Music students at clubs around town under the name Strainge Sessions.

Eventually that became a label he called Strainge Entertainment until he was sued by the veteran rap artist Tech N9ne, who claimed Grainge was infringing on the trademark of his label, Strange Music. Unable to afford a legal fight, he says, Grainge settled with Tech N9ne and renamed his business 10K a nod to Malcolm Gladwells endlessly quoted adage about the number of hours required to achieve expertise in a given field.

We also worked out that 10,000 degrees is the maximum temperature that you can measure being as close to the sun as possible, Grainge says.

Back in L.A. after graduating, Grainge found early traction with songs by Iann Dior, who later hit No. 1 with his and 24kGoldns emo-rap Mood, and Tekashi 6ix9ine, the rapper and social-media fire-starter who in 2018 was sentenced to two years in prison after cooperating with federal prosecutors in a case involving his association with a violent street gang. (Grainge declines to say whether hes currently in business with 6ix9ine, who crashed back into headlines last month when he was attacked by several people in a South Florida gym.)

From the get-go, Grainge says, the idea for 10K was to use fine-grain data collected online to identify new artists with small but fervent audiences that could be quickly scaled up.

We could tell you about our research department, but then wed have to kill you, he says.

The explosion of TikTok at the beginning of the pandemic confirmed what Grainge and his co-presidents, Friedman and Talamo whose influencer-management company, Homemade Projects, became a part of 10K last year say they already knew by then: that the most efficient way to reach coveted Gen Z consumers was through influencers promoting songs in short-form videos.

We were doing this before anyone else, says Friedman, recalling their client Jacob Sartorius role in breaking DRAMs 2016 hip-hop hit Broccoli on the lip-sync app Musical.ly, which its owner, ByteDance, later rebranded as TikTok. Back then the major labels all thought it was stupid.

Fast forward a few years, Talamo adds, and its the only thing people spend money on.

Friedman, who calls 10K a digital marketing company inside a record label, echoes Grainges line about staying out of artists way: None of us play instruments. None of us produce. What we do is give artists the tools to take their platform and put it on steroids.

Were the best marketers in music, he adds matter-of-factly.

Yet the company also relies on a certain gut instinct for what songs will connect with millions of listeners. Taz Taylor of Internet Money says Grainge had to convince him that Lemonade would be a hit. And though Grainge immediately loved Arizona Zervas Roxanne the 2019 pop-rap smash he says Zervas played him in a meeting with 10K prior to Zervas signing with Sonys Columbia Records for a reported $10 million he decided to pass on the rapper after hearing more of his material, none of which has made a commercial dent.

That was the wrong deal for us, Grainge says. Writing a check to buy market share is not what we do. But it made 100% sense for them to do it.

Elliot Grainge and Sofia Richie attend the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in 2022.

(Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

10K has about 30 employees headquartered in Brentwood and no outside investors, according to Grainge. Remembering her first sit-down with the founder last year at Nobu, Ice Spice says she was impressed by the lack of red tape in Grainges decision-making, though Jubelirers presence at the dinner was also key. I love that Michelle is a woman, and a very powerful woman at that, she says. That attracted me because I never usually see women in her position.

Asked whether its reasonable to be amused by the ways in which hes tried to distinguish 10K from the sprawling worldwide company his father runs, Grainge says you have to consider the full picture of his familys history in music. His grandfather owned a record store; his uncle, Nigel Grainge, founded the indie label Ensign and discovered Sinead OConnor; his cousin, Nick Shymansky, managed Amy Winehouse early in her career. Before he took over at UMG, Lucian Grainge worked in A&R and music publishing.

So theres a true map of all the different sectors of the industry, he says, which Ive been fortunate enough to soak up the history of.

Grainge is aware that those family ties only deepen his music-biz nepo-baby reputation the latest in a line of successful second-generation execs that also includes Harry Styles and U2 manager Jeffrey Azoff, whose father Irving helped shepherd the Eagles to fame; Michael Ostin, son of the late Warner Bros. Records honcho Mo Ostin; and the Raine Groups Davis, whose father is the Arista Records founder Clive Davis.

Ive dealt with people in music who come from situations like Elliots, Taz Taylor says, and to a lot of them, this is just like racquetball on Wednesday.

Does the nepo-baby discourse get Grainge down?

Does the nepo-baby discourse get me down? he repeats slowly, then pauses. I try not to think about it, to be honest with you. But Ill take the bait: I understand that because of my name theres a target on my back. If we do well, its because of the connections. And if we dont do well if we fail then you could go, Well, theyre not as good as so-and-so.

But weve not done this once or twice as a company, he says, meaning make a hit record or get an artists career off the ground. Weve done it a dozen-plus times. Our hit rate is really good, and you cant fake that in business. The repeated success should dispel any notion that weve only been successful because of this reason.

Its an uncharacteristic moment of bravado for Grainge, who will happily dish about others but is more reserved when discussing himself; indeed, his general aversion to the oversharing endemic to social media Grainges verified Twitter account boasts exactly one tweet is a funny trait for someone preparing to marry a woman whose job is to narrativize her life.

You cant help who you fall in love with, he says with a shrug of Richie, whom hes known since he was young. (Count Lionel Richie as a proud member of the UMG family.) This month Sofia told her 8 million Instagram followers that shed converted to Judaism ahead of her and Grainges wedding, which to judge by photos shes posted appears set for this weekend in Europe. I really try and keep the profile as low as possible, Grainge says.

My happy place is with my girl on the couch binging a TV series where we argue about which episode were on, he says of nights at home with Richie, with whom he was reported last year to have spent $27 million on an estate in Brentwood. Grainge tallies a very limited number of very close friends, as he puts it, though his dads pal Allen Grubman, the powerful entertainment lawyer, says Elliots emotional intelligence was off the charts even as a kid.

And what of his long-term plans as an executive? Fred Davis says that, given the consistency of A&R success, Grainge could expect healthy bidding from all the major labels if he were to sell all or part of 10K.

Grainge says hes keeping his options open, whether we stay on and grow the label and keep it for decades or whether a partner comes in and helps us take it to the next level.

One person he wont be seeking advice from is his father, with whom he talks about everything Englands Arsenal soccer team, their favorite old records except the specifics of each of their two companies.

We separate it like church and state, Grainge says. Otherwise wed be agreeing or disagreeing on too much. Well talk about where the market is but never anything in detail of his business or my business. Weve never crossed that line.

Continued here:
Elliot Grainge is ready to step out from his father's shadow - Los Angeles Times

If youre considering starting a business or looking for ways to increase your income, finding a profitable niche is key. In this article, youll discover a list of the 21 most profitable niches to help you start or grow online businesses. Lets begin!

The most profitable niche to make money online is the weight loss and weight management diet market, which is projected to reach $295.3 billion by 2027 with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.0% from 2021 to 2027. Three ways to make money in this niche are through related affiliate marketing niches, creating and selling digital products about weight loss and management, and blogging expert advice on weight loss techniques. Researching how to make money blogging can help with that last one.

If youre looking for evergreen niches in a huge market that can help you make money online through an affiliate program or other means, then check out our list of niche ideas below to find your next profitable venture.

The making money online niche is always in demand. Google Trends scores it 76 out of 100 with it bottoming out at 63 and maxing out at 100 over the last year.

The personal finance niche is another great niche to get into and has ranged between 52 and 100 over the last 12 months.

While the fitness niche might be a saturated niche, its quite popular and evergreen with it ranging between 56 and 100 in the last year.

With people always looking to better themselves, the personal development niche is always in demand. It has ranged between 48 and 100 over the last year.

Dating and relationships can be hit more or miss with Google Trends currently scoring it at 78, but its on a downtrend.

Ranging over the last year between 78 and 100, pet owners are always in search of ways to make their pets life better.

People are always looking for the latest and greatest technology. This past year, the technology niche has ranged between 46 and 100.

As people become more health conscious, the food and recipes niche has been on a steady rise with it rising recently from 65 to 92.

The travel niche is always popular with people wanting to get away from it all. This niche currently has a good score of 83.

If youre considering getting into the lifestyle niche, you might not want to start a blog. Since September 2022, lifestyle blogs have had a score of 14 or lower even though the niche itself has a decent score of 64.

Heres another evergreen niche that has been going strong for many years. Real estate is currently at a Google Trends score of 88 and rising.

Green energy has been getting more and more attention over the last year with its current score being 83.

If you know a lot about gaming, then this may be the niche for you. It has had a score of 56 to 100 over the last 12 months.

People are always looking for entertainment and a high Google Trends score of 95 proves it.

The global beauty market is worth over $500 billion and has an impressive GT score of 89. While this is a competitive niche, theres still plenty of money to be made within this broad niche.

Most profitable vending machines are in high demand as they require minimal maintenance and generate high profits. This niche is sizzling hot with a score of 93.

Both home decor and home improvement are great, in-demand niches to get into with scores of 83 and 79 respectively.

Some of the most profitable blog niches like food bloggers and travel bloggers are very popular. However, blogging in general has a pretty disappointing score of 42.

Sub-niches Internet marketing, SEO, and social media marketing have been booming in recent years which explains why digital marketing scored 100 as recently as January 2023. Each sub-niche scores pretty well also.

With more and more people going online to learn, the online education niche is one to consider. Its currently sitting at a score of 76.

Whats more important than family? This evergreen niche has held steady over the last 12 months with scores ranging between 74 and 100.

Finding a profitable niche can be challenging, especially if you dont know where to start.Here are some practical steps to help you identify a profitable niche:

Use Google Trends to identify profitable niches by showing you the search volume and popularity of different topics.

Join groups or communities related to your interests on social media platforms to see what people are talking about and what topics are getting a lot of engagement.

Use Amazon Bestsellers to get an idea of what products are in demand and what niches are popular.

Identify profitable niches by looking for gaps in the market where competitors are not meeting the needs of their customers or underserving a particular market.

The most successful niches are health, wealth, and relationships. These three areas consistently attract high demand among consumers seeking solutions to their problems. Individuals are willing to invest in products or services that help them improve their physical and mental well-being, increase their income, or establish meaningful connections with others. If you want to cash in, then promote quality products with an affiliate link.

The niches that are expected to grow in 2023 include virtual events, e-commerce, and online education. These industries have seen a significant increase in demand due to the pandemic and are projected to continue their upward trajectory. With the shift towards remote work and digital communication, these niches are likely to become even more essential in the coming years.

The most profitable YouTube niches include gaming, beauty, technology, health and fitness, and personal finance. These niches offer a large audience and the potential for high revenue through sponsorships, brand deals, and ad revenue. To succeed, creators must produce high-quality content, build a loyal following, and engage with their audience.

The most profitable Instagram niche market is dependent on several factors, such as the target audience, engagement rate, and monetization strategy. However, popular niches such as fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and fitness tend to generate high earnings due to their broad appeal and opportunities for sponsored content and affiliate marketing.

Image: Envato Elements

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The 21 Most Profitable Niches to Get Into - Small Business Trends