Starcom's January 2024 trend report: A glimpse into dynamic cultural currents

Starcom has unveiled its Trend Report for January 2024. The report offers a deep dive into various areas, from sports and entertainment to the world of reels and beyond, capturing the essence of modern culture. 
Starcom uses advanced NLP techniques like Topic Modelling in interpreting the data for the report. 
Publicis Trends forecasting tool named ”BUZ” has helped in a lot of the trends reporting.
The report covers trends across 4 major platforms –

• Google and X 

1. Cricket 
2. Movies, Music and Entertainment
3. General 

• Spotify

• Instagram

1. Reels
2. Memes

• Google and X 

Cricket and sports dominated conversations yet again, and while cricket had the lion’s share of discourse the Asian Cup under the Asian Football Federation also garnered chatter, as did matches from the EPL. With both harvest festivals and the Republic Day falling in the month, netizens celebrated the occasions to the hilt through posts and messages. Under the general/miscellaneous category the Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha ceremony led the chatter on social media with 2750000 searches on Google. 

The first test match between visitors England and hosts India was also heavily discussed as the 4 day play went through twists and turns from the first to the second innings. While India seemed to dominate in the first half with youngster Yashaswi Jaiswal scoring a tonne, the second innings was all about Tom Hartley’s exploits with the ball during his first outing as an international test player. The India-Afghanistan T20 matches however got maximum searches in the month, owing to the performances of the players, and the rare occurrence of 2 super overs in a single match on January 17.

Football dominated conversations around non-cricket sports with the Asian Cup in progress. Match ups between India and countries like Syria and Uzbekistan were highly discussed. Syria made history with its first ever qualification into the final stages of the tournament by beating India 1-0 with a goal in the last fifteen minutes. Uzbekistan on the other hand faced a thumping 3-0 defeat at the hands of India.

The 75th Republic Day resulted in maximum google searches with people googling images of the parade held at India Gate in the national capital. The harvest festivals across the north, west and south regions of the country also were talked about, as was Guru Gobind Singh Jayanti in mid-January. 

The excitement around Bigg Boss reached a crescendo as the reality show reached its finale. The most searched item in relation to the show was its winner. Other entertainment properties that found chatter were the movie releases of the month. Bollywood title Fighter, Mahesh Babu starrer Guntur Kaaram, and Dhanush’s Captain Miller were all released in the month. 

It was no surprise that the topic of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was the most searched theme on google in January as the Pran Pratishtha ceremony took place on the 22nd of January in the attendance of many personalities from across walks of life. The Lakshadweep and Maldives topic was also popular among netizens as were topics like Shoaib Malik whose divorce from tennis star Sania Mirza and subsequent marriage to Pakistani actress Sana Javed came to light in the month. HDFC Bank’s share price was also among the top searches as the bank’s stock ebbed and flowed in months. 

For our major platforms- Google and Twitter, the trends could be divided into 3 major buckets:

Cricket 

While the ICC announced the awardees for the 2023 awards, it was Mahindra and Mahindra top man Anand Mahindra’s wittily worded tweet about the way Indians take cricket to another level when he saw a group of people playing the game on a mountain slope was the most discussed topic. Virat Kohli’s crowning as the ODI cricketer of the year also dominated conversations with phrases like “extraordinary batter awarded” and “batter awarded cricketer” being popular when tweeting.   

Virat Kohli winning yet another ICC ODI cricketer of the year made him one of the most mentioned personalities on social media along with wordfs like “greatest”, ‘history”, and “award” being popular as well. Mahindra’s tweet also meant the word “level” was mentioned multiple times, as was his own name. The India versus Afghanistan T20 series which saw a rare super over on super over occurrence also was mentioned numerous times.  

Movies, Music, and Entertainment: Blockbusters and Celebrations

After the fanfare of Dunki and Salaar in December, in January it was the Pongal releases that were at the top of the charts of social chatter. Prominent among them were Mahesh Babu starrer Guntur Karaam and Dhanush’s Captain Miller. Captain Miller was in fact among the most discussed topics within entertainment with its overseas release announcement making waves as well. Telugu language film HanuMan, which also released around Pongal made waves at the box office, and was much talked about on X and Google. 

The top word clusters by mentions include the movie Captain Miller as the Dhanush starrer hit the screens. Along with the actor, people spoke about Lyca Productions taking the movie overseas for distribution. Another Pongal release – Guntur Kaaram was also a hot topic for discussion as was its cast and performance at the box office.  

On television, Bigg Boss continued to rule the charts with mentions and searches around its contestants and the events of the house dominating conversations. The 17th season of the reality show showed no signs of viewer fatigue even as the finale approached as conversations flowed through the month. 

“Bigg Boss house”, “Iconic winner Munawar” were top two word combinations mentioned on X (formerly known as X) regarding the 17th season of the reality show as Munawar Faruqui took home the trophy and prize money. There was also support for contestant Abhishek Kumar as people tweeted about him being the more deserving candidate with phrases like “trophy belongs Abhishek” being popular.

Within the theme of Bigg Boss, the winner of this season dominated conversations on X with the more than 8000 mentions of Munawar Faruqui. The show itself has 2000 plus mentions as it aired its finale in the month of January. 

Along with the Hindi version of the show, the Kannada variant also held the finale of its latest season. While the winner was Karthik Mahesh, X was ablaze with overwhelming support for contestant Sangeetha Sringeri – actress and model. From wishing her luck in the run up to the finale with phrases like “Vijayibhava Sangeetha Sringeri” to rallying support after she lost out on the title with word combinations like “Trophy belongs Sangeetha” netizens were vocal in their support of her. 

1.3 Others: Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha, Republic Day Celebrations, and more 

Undoubtedly the most talked about topic in the second half of the month was the Ram Mandir Pran Prathishta ceremony which took place on January 22. Seeing attendance from the who’s who of the business and entertainment world, the ceremony was telecast live across the Doordharshan channel network and on government channels on YouTube. The hours long ceremony resulted in chatter about the temple itself, the city of Ayodhya and the prospects for its economy, the idol installed in the temple, and the various dignitaries and celebrities in attendance. 

The ceremony was talked about at length with the temple itself being a hot topic of discussion along with the city of Ayodhya – hailed as the birth place of Lord Ram, and the site of the temple. In all, the topic found mentions not only for the ceremony and temple structure, but also because of the attendees at the event which includes the who’s who from the world of business, entertainment, and politics. 

The most used word combination was “Mandir Pran Pratishtha”. People also appreciated the architecture of the temple using word combinations like “Astounding Architecture Impress” and “Mandir Ayodhya Astounding” to express their appreciation.

 

Following the pomp and fanfare of the Ram Mandir ceremony, the country came together to celebrate the country’s 75th Republic Day on January 26th. From the air shows to the palanquins and floats in the R-Day parade, netizens spoke about the revelries of the day and occasion on social media. The occasion also saw the release of the solo big ticket Hindi language film – Fighter starring Hrithik Roshan and Deepika Padukone. While the film did not make waves as expected but its release date meant it also saw some mentions along with the conversation about Republics Day celebrations.   

After the revelry of Diwali in November and Christmas and New Year in December, Janaury was the time when people came out to celebrate harvest festivals across the length and breadth of the country. From Makarsankranti/Uttarayan in the West to Lodi in the North to Pongal in down South the country’s citizens celebrated the coming of harvest season in their traditional ways and sent out wishes and more on social media. 

Weather woes 

As winter continued to grip parts of the country, the weather and its resulting impact was also extensively discussed on social media. Apart from reporting on the temperatures and daily weather on various days, netizens also discussed factors like AQI and visibility when discussing the weather. 

Visibility and weather conditions specifically found mentions when people expressed their discontent at a slew of flight delays, especially calling out a particular airline that prides itself on its “on-time performance”. Things came to a head when a disgruntled passenger slapped the co-pilot of one such delayed flight, and the incident became a trending topic on X. Additionally, many celebrities took to complain and call out airlines for humungous delays, especially when people were left stranded on the aero-bridge between the aircraft and the boarding area at the airport terminal. From Richa Chadha to Kapil Sharma, everyone called out the airline for not keeping to the scheduled arrivals and departure timings even as the airline cited weather and resulting operational conditions as the reason for delays.  

Visibility was not only mentioned in relation to airline delays, but also air quality is major cities of the country. While the North is known to have deteriorating air quality around winters to smoke and fog, cities like Mumbai also were discussed for the same reason, with many comparing the AQI in both cities. Many netizens tweeted pics of smog laden cityscapes to drive home their point.  

Netizens also participated in conversations around the political developments in the country with elected heads of states resigning and changing parties and more. The pre-election buzz is gathering steam as the nation awaits the dates for the General Assembly Elections in the coming months. 

The debate around Maldives and Lakshadweep as a fallout of comments made by a Maldivian minister was super charged with many netizens comparing the two island tourist destinations. The comment snowballed into a full-blown debate on the relations between the two countries and eventually, people started comparing the island nation which is a popular tourist destination for Indian vacationers to the Indian island on the south west coast of the country. 

People also expressed their disappointment at the development calling it “disheartening” and filled with “negativity”.  Popular word combinations during conversations on X included “Indians Maldives Lakshadweep”, and “Lakshadweep beautiful Maldives”.

Another island country in the news was Japan as it braved a massive earthquake followed by a tsunami at the start of the start, and became the fifth nation to land an unmanned vehicle on the moon later in the month. 

In other international news, the Barbenheimer phenomena was revived on X when the nominations for this year’s Oscars were announced. Particularly mentioned were the snubs to Barbie actor Margot Robbie and its director Greta Gerwig. 

In the world of finance and markets, the initial public offerings (IPO) of BLS E-services, Jyoti CNC Automation, and Nova Agritech were popular topics of discussion. In light of the quarterly financial results declared by various corporates, companies like HDFC Bank, and IRFC (Indian Railways Finance Corporation) were prominently discussed for their performance on the balance sheet and the stock market.

2. Spotify

The soundtrack from Ranbir Kapoor starrer Animal continued its hold on listeners with 5 of the top 10 played songs on Spotify coming from the film’s album. "Pehle Bhi Main” retained the top spot with the highest number of plays followed. Husn took second spot  while Dunki’s “O Mahi” was retained its place in the top ten list. Other songs in the top ten included One Love, Chaleya, Ankhiya Gulaab and Heeriye.                                                  

Local hits were heard in cities of Punjab (Chandigarh and Ludhiana) and Delhi, though the popular songs in the two markets differed greatly. In cities like Mumbai. Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru, top local hits constituted a mix of film, and non-film music. Songs from the Telugu version of Animal were popular in Hyderabad, as were those from Salaar, in addition to songs from films like Ghost and Kaatera.

3.Instagram: Reels and Memes Trend

The conversation around Maldives and Lakshadweep not only garnered comments and tweets on X, but also gave fodder to a plethora of memes on Instagram. In a lighter tone, the memes included a commentary on the ongoing situation which people taking digs at plans to visit Maldives, and how people in Lakshadweep may be preparing for impending boom in tourism. The geo-political developments between India and the Maldives also gave rise to reels where people hypothsized scenarios arising from the situation, again in a lighter vein. 

Another topic that caught the Instagram users’ attention and resulted in a lot of memes were the political developments in the country with the resignation of a chief minister and his departure from his party.  

Indian Instagram was also inspired by songs which then quickly led to a barrage of reels to those songs. One such track was Khwab by Iqlipse Nova and Aditya A. The song’s chorus signifies the bond between two people. Reels on the songs were around the same theme – the bond between two people. While some took the personal route making content with the person they share a special bond with, others took iconic pairs – cricketers Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, Joey and Chandler (popular characters from the sitcom Friends), or popular couples from Bollywood movies.  

Another song that was used to create a reel trend was Sunday by Aditya Sirsa. The song’s lyrics include the words “Main zindagi ki window seat pe…” (I am on the window seat in (this journey called) life…). People used this song as a vehicle to post reels about their travel adventures. While some reels had a montage of the posters’ vacation trips or scenes from a particular destination, others used it to post serene vistas of the sea-face, mountains and more.  

Last but not least, the platform was flooded with jokes and observations about the new year and how nothing has changed. A lot of memes were posted around how slow January feels after the revelries at the end of December while other memes lamented the fact that the new year starts on a Monday, often the most hated day of the week. 

About the Starcom Culture Report 

As the internet buzzes with a constant flow of information, understanding these nuances is the key to unlocking valuable insights. By delving into what captures their attention across social media platforms and search engines, the report captures the audience’s interests.
Ready to revolutionize your brand’s online presence? It’s time to connect with us. Let’s embark on a journey where audience insights drive innovation and engagement. Reach out to rajiv.gopinath@publicismedia.com, rudra.sen@publicisgroupe.com or urvi.malvania@publicisgroupe.com .  

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