The lack of Indian medal success at Olympic level has been blamed on a variety of factors – lack of an inherent sporting culture among them. But that may be about to change. With a record haul of six medals at the London 2012 Games and a biggest ever contingent of 118 athletes in Rio, the brand value of athletes from outside cricket is on the rise with private sports management companies backing promising competitors across a range of sports.

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Serving Up Medals

At just 21, P V Sandhu looks to have a bright future, having taken silver in the women’s badminton final, the youngest Indian medallist ever and first woman. Sakshi Malik picked up a bronze in the 58kg women’s wrestling category following on from her male compatriot Yogeshwar Dutt, who took a medal in London in 2012.

Aditi Ashock put in a strong performance in the women’s golf, just 6 months after the 18 year old turned professional and Thanackal Gopi and Kheta Ram both clocked personal bests to finish 25th and 26th in a strong men’s marathon field.

Sports on the Rise

Sports authorities in India are beginning to identify and develop young talent and, despite their limited budget, are seeing a huge growth in sports, especially basketball. Initiatives like the Goal project are using sport to empower young women through netball netball – an initiative hugely helped by the availability of online coaching tools, where girls can watch a netball drill video like those available at https://www.sportplan.net/drills/Netball/ then practice their skills. These are the stars of the future, for whom commercial opportunities look bright.

Winning Contracts

India’s medallists are becoming ever more high profile with wrestler Sushil Kumar and woman boxer M.C. Mary Kom both taking up ambassador roles with a leading car manufacturer, a role once reserved for Bollywood and cricket stars. IOS Sports & Entertainment signed badminton star Saina Nehwal for a reported $3.72 million and signed a two year commercial and marketing deal, the first of its kind, with the Indian Olympic Committee in January. Reliance Industries are in the process of developing a new sports business in collaboration with Reliance Jio Infocomm, providers of 4G services.

For India’s new breed of sports stars, and sports businesses eager to capitalise on their success, Rio may be just the beginning.

For businesses to truly thrive in today’s digitally focused society, a compellingly designed website is essential. A number of studies have shown that a well-designed site with a clear focus will generate a greater amount of traffic and subsequently an increase in custom. With this in mind, what qualities should a website possess in order to be considered a success and are those qualities different to those from a couple of years ago back in 2014?

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Perhaps the biggest change has been in the way people get online. In recent years, the huge increase in the number of ways people can access the internet has given rise to a need for responsive web sites. A responsive site provides the optimal viewing experience for a wide range of devices, from desktop computers and laptops, to smartphones and tablets. The BBC News site is one such organisation which has embraced the idea of responsive websites.

While The Telegraph recently revealed some of the worst web designs currently in existence, here are just a few examples of the very best from 2014, many of them embracing the need for responsive capabilities.

Time Magazine

One of the world’s foremost publications, Time Magazine has a tremendous amount of content to fit on to its official site. This makes the clear, uncluttered feel of the site even more remarkable and impressive. The designers of the Time website have not been afraid to use plenty of white space in order to create an uncluttered and professional aesthetic.

Harvard University

Much like many modern designers, such as the Manchester web design agency https://www.bamboosolutions.co.uk, Harvard University has embraced the responsive revolution with gusto. The responsive features of the official Harvard University site prove that the centuries-old institution is willing to move with the times.

Starbucks

Initially, the official site of the coffee mega-chain may seem a little simplistic but this belies the true power which lies within. The site scores very high marks for its user-friendliness, the various search features being an absolute joy to manoeuvre through. The simple design also proves that the old adage ‘less is more’ still rings true today.

Mashable

One of the key unique selling points of Mashable is the continuously updated content available to visitors. For a lesser-designed site, this continual stream of new content could prove problematic in aesthetical terms. However, the Mashable site manages to maintain a clean and clear look, while making it easy for visitors to find all of the brand new content they desire.

BBC

As already mentioned, the BBC have been quick to embrace responsive design traits for their official website. What makes their site stand apart from others is their clever use of photographic content. Anyone using the site is immediately drawn to the various photos, set as they are against a stark white background. This very clever design tactic ensures that each link or story receives a great deal more hits than would be achieved through text alone.