YouTuber Gaurav Taneja questions Shark Tank India's branding power

Taneja expressed his skepticism regarding Shark Tank India's capacity to significantly boost brand traffic and sales

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New Delhi: Gaurav Taneja, known by his YouTube alias 'Flying Beast,' has publicly questioned the branding effectiveness of the reality show Shark Tank India following his recent appearance on the program.

Taneja, who pitched his fitness brand BeastLife during the fourth season of the show, which aired on SonyLIV, aimed to secure investment by showcasing his brand's impressive sales figures, including a claim of Rs 1 crore in sales within an hour of launch. 

Despite his substantial social media influence, with 9.27 million subscribers on YouTube and 3.6 million followers on Instagram, Taneja did not secure a deal from the Sharks, leading to reflections on the show's impact on brand visibility and sales.

In a LinkedIn post and subsequent discussions, Taneja expressed his scepticism regarding Shark Tank India's capacity to significantly boost brand traffic and sales. He contrasted the traffic generated on BeastLife's launch day with the numbers following the airing of his Shark Tank episode, stating, "Traffic on BeastLife launch day was 238K, while after the episode aired, it dropped to just 22K. Surprisingly, the traffic from Shark Tank was even lower than the push from our own Instagram Stories!" 

This revelation has sparked a debate on the effectiveness of reality TV shows as branding tools, especially when compared to direct social media marketing efforts by influencers.

Taneja acknowledged the show's initial appeal but suggested that its effectiveness might be waning, possibly due to the shift to a paywall model on SonyLIV for Season 4, which limited its audience to subscribers only. 

He hypothesized that the absence of traditional TV broadcasts might have diluted the show's outreach: "The show may gain traction once episodes are uploaded to YouTube, making it free to watch for a larger audience. Skipping a TV broadcast for Season 4 was a strategic misstep."

The Sharks, including Vineeta Singh of SUGAR Cosmetics, Aman Gupta of boAt Lifestyle, and Anupam Mittal of People Group, had mixed reactions to Taneja's pitch. While initially impressed by his sales figures, they raised concerns about his divided focus and commitment to BeastLife, leading to no investment deal.

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