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Category: News Headline

  • Converse and Golf Wang slip into style with nature-inspired collection

    Converse and Golf Wang slip into style with nature-inspired collection

    MUMBAI: When fashion and skate culture collide, the result is anything but flat-footed. Converse and Golf Wang have dropped a fresh spin on their long-running collaboration with the debut of the one star CC slip pro, a slip-on skate silhouette that’s as textured as it is stylish.

    It’s a first for the partnership, drawing on Converse’s 1960s Deck Star Gore and Sea Star Gore designs, while also nodding to the brand’s 1970s One Star heritage. Tyler, The Creator, known for raiding Converse’s archives, gives the One Star formula a Golf Wang twist turning history into something boldly irreverent and unmistakably current.

    The collection is served up in three earthy iterations, each named and shaded after natural landscapes:

    ●   Forget Me Not (Concrete), a muted blue suede recalling soft, cloudy skies.

    ●   Forest Elf (Grass), lush green suede that feels like walking on a forest floor.

    ●   Black Beauty (Dirt), rich, dark suede mirroring fertile soil.

    Every pair features a two-tone hairy suede upper, egret foxing tape with a varnished finish, and a co-branded sock liner stamped with landscape-inspired artwork. Underfoot, skaters get practical perks: ConS traction rubber for grip and board feel, and CX foam cushioning for comfort that lasts from tricks to hangouts.

    Priced at Rs 6,999, the Converse x Golf Wang one star CC slip pro is available now on converse.in and select retail partners. For sneakerheads and skaters alike, it’s a design that proves slipping on can still mean standing out.

  • Vigor Media wins PR mandate to power up Joint Solar’s clean energy push

    Vigor Media wins PR mandate to power up Joint Solar’s clean energy push

    MUMBAI: Talk about a bright idea! Joint Solar has plugged into Vigor Media Worldwide to supercharge its communications.

    The global media agency has bagged the prestigious PR mandate for Joint Solar, one of India’s most trusted producers of solar PV modules. The win will see Vigor Media Worldwide steer the company’s PR and digital strategy, from building a sharper brand narrative to boosting visibility across traditional and online platforms.

    Joint Solar, a veteran in India’s solar manufacturing sector, has spent 18 years producing over 200,000 panels for domestic, commercial and industrial use. Known for its durable, energy-efficient and eco-friendly products, the brand is now looking to scale its voice in the fast-rising renewable energy space.

    Joint Solar, director, Vinod Sharma called the tie-up “a timely move” as the company ramps up its mission of delivering clean, affordable and efficient power solutions to more people. “[Vigor Media’s] experience in PR and digital communications will help us convey our vision effectively and engage with stakeholders across the renewable energy industry,” Sharma added.  

    Echoing the sentiment, Vigor Media Worldwide, founder, Nikhil Singhal added, “We’re delighted to partner with a brand that’s synonymous with quality and credibility in solar production. Our strategy will focus on amplifying their visibility, reinforcing their thought leadership and delivering tangible impact in both media and digital spaces.”

    The collaboration comes as India’s demand for renewable energy solutions soars, with Joint Solar positioning itself firmly at the heart of the country’s clean energy transition.

    With a track record spanning sectors such as real estate, education, FMCG, healthcare, technology and lifestyle, Vigor Media Worldwide already works with several top-tier brands. The Joint Solar win strengthens its presence in the renewable energy arena and puts it in charge of shaping a narrative that’s not just about panels, but about powering India’s greener future.

  • Incred backs kabaddi with Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Giants tie-up

    Incred backs kabaddi with Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Giants tie-up

    MUMBAI: Credit where it’s due, kabaddi just got a fresh financial backer. Incred Financial Services Limited (Incred Finance), the tech-led NBFC known for its risk-analytics edge, has partnered with Jaipur Pink Panthers and Gujarat Giants as Associate Partner for the 2025 Pro Kabaddi League (PKL), starting 29 August.

    The move marks Incred’s push beyond cricket where cricketer Shreyas Iyer is already its brand face and into a sport that’s as desi as it gets. With kabaddi boasting more than 3 crore viewers and popularity stretching from metros to Tier 2, Tier 3 and rural markets, the partnership aligns neatly with Incred’s mission to extend credit access to aspirational India.

    The NBFC, with 140 plus branches and 2,500 plus employees, serves individuals and MSMEs with products spanning personal, education, MSME business, loan against property, and digital merchant loans. By associating with kabaddi, Incred hopes to amplify its reach in the underserved segments it champions.

    “InCred has always stood for resilience and ambition qualities that kabaddi reflects beautifully,” said Incred Finance founder & CEO Bhupinder Singh noting the sport’s deep grassroots connect. Incred Finance group head of marketing Radhika Zingade added that kabaddi’s energy and ethos mirror the brand’s own, calling the association with two powerhouse teams “a natural step.”

    And powerhouse is no exaggeration. Jaipur Pink Panthers, owned by Abhishek Bachchan, are two-time PKL champions with a consistent record of title runs. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants made headlines this season by signing Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh for Rs 2.23 crore, the highest-ever bid in PKL history.

    With 12 teams battling it out across Vizag, Jaipur, Chennai, and Delhi, PKL Season 12 promises fierce tackles and fresh storylines. For Incred, it’s not just a game of sport, it’s a high-stakes play to connect with India’s heartland, where both credit and kabaddi matter most.

  • Peter England raps up Onam with Imbachi’s festive hip hop anthem

    Peter England raps up Onam with Imbachi’s festive hip hop anthem

    MUMBAI: Move over mundu monotony, this Onam has a hip hop twist. Peter England, the brand that’s long stitched confidence into Indian wardrobes, is remixing tradition with Gen Z swagger through a fresh campaign featuring Kerala’s own rapper, The Imbachi.

    At the heart of the drop is an anthem that feels more like a vibe than an ad, a mashup where the pulse of the Chendamelam meets the bounce of hip hop, turning Onam’s rhythms into something modern, vibrant, and impossible to scroll past.

    “This isn’t about scripted ads anymore; it’s about co-creating with the voices youth resonate with,” said Peter England chief business officer Anil S Kumar. He revealed that Imbachi not only performed but also wrote and composed the track, while the brand’s garments played backup as visual cues for festive style.

    For Imbachi, the collab was personal: “Onam is more than a festival, it’s a wave of memories. Waiting for new outfits was always the highlight, and fashion is still central to how we celebrate. This anthem captures that energy festive, stylish, and totally in tune with Kerala’s youth. Ee Onam, Scene Onam!”

    The track part celebration, part style statement marks Peter England’s first big step into Gen Z culture. By weaving in the authenticity of homegrown talent with fashion that goes beyond just festive rules, the campaign positions Onam as an occasion to own the moment rather than follow tradition blindly.

    “Less brand message, more cultural expression” was how Ogilvy Bangalore CCO Puneet Kapoor described the creative approach. With its beats, style, and swagger, the film doesn’t just sell clothes, it sets the stage for a new wave of brand–youth collaborations.

    And while the anthem plays loud, the message is even louder: when culture meets cool, tradition doesn’t just survive, it thrives, remixed and reimagined for a new generation.

  • PR story comes full circle as veteran pens India’s five-decade journey

    PR story comes full circle as veteran pens India’s five-decade journey

    MUMBAI: From press releases to power moves, Public Relations in India has been on quite the rollercoaster and now its story has been bound between covers. Communication veteran Ganapathy Viswanathan, who has spent over 30 years shaping brands at Ogilvy, Lintas, Mudra and Publicis, has launched a new book chronicling PR’s dramatic transformation across five decades.

    What began in the 1970s as a little-understood function has now grown into a strategic juggernaut that drives reputation, navigates crises, and even influences elections and sport. Viswanathan’s book captures this arc with real-world anecdotes and practical insights that make it both a guide for the young and a mirror for industry stalwarts.

    “PR today is about building trust, telling authentic stories, and engaging meaningfully with audiences across platforms. This book is my tribute to a profession that has the power to shape perceptions, influence decisions, and create lasting impact,” said Viswanathan at the launch.

    The chapters don’t shy away from today’s burning questions either: the talent crunch, the shifting roles of influencers and journalists, and how empathy has become as critical as strategy.

    For students, it’s a crash course in a craft that’s moved beyond “spin.” For professionals, it’s a reminder that PR is now central to boardrooms, not just newsrooms. And for India’s communication industry at large, it’s a milestone marker charting how far PR has come, and how much further it could go.

  • RedBeryl shines bright with Iconic Luxury Card win in just two years

    RedBeryl shines bright with Iconic Luxury Card win in just two years

    MUMBAI: Luxury got a glittering upgrade this week as Redberyl Lifestyle Services Ltd. pocketed the iconic luxury lifestyle card honour at the 7th edition of the Iconic Awards by TV9 Network. What makes the win sparkle brighter? The brand achieved the feat in just two years since launch, a meteoric rise in the rarefied world of luxury lifestyle services. The award was handed over by Suman Billa, IAS, additional secretary & director general, ministry of tourism, at a grand ceremony that saluted pioneers reshaping luxury, travel, and allied industries.

    “This accolade, earned in just two years since our inception, is a testament to our team’s dedication to curating extraordinary and exclusive experiences,” said Redberyl founder & CEO Manoj Adlakha adding that the win inspires them to keep pushing the boundaries of luxury.

    The event wasn’t just about trophies but also about big conversations. A panel on ‘Experience is Luxury: Redefining Luxury Tourism’ brought together heavyweights including Jyotsna Suri, CMD of Lalit Hospitality Group, Ishika Taneja, miss world tourism India 2018, and Sandeep Marwah, chancellor of Asian Academy of Film & TV, with Suman Billa joining the dialogue.

    The session was graced by Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and G20 Sherpa, who delivered the keynote as guest of honour. The broader awards programme, packed with global leaders and industry icons, celebrated individuals and brands setting new standards of excellence and inspiration.

    For Redberyl, this win marks more than recognition, it cements the company’s ambition of making India a hub for globally benchmarked, members-only luxury experiences. With innovation stitched into its DNA, the brand is already proving that exclusivity doesn’t need decades to be iconic sometimes, just two years is enough.

  • Vida unveils agentic AI-powered media factory at IBC 2025

    Vida unveils agentic AI-powered media factory at IBC 2025

    LONDON:  Vida, the London- and Los Angeles-based cloud-native media management outfit, has launched Media Factory, an agentic AI-powered workflow automation engine set to debut at IBC 2025.

    Billed as a “smarter, faster way” to run the digital media supply chain, Media Factory integrates directly into Vida’s content OS and ships with more than 300 pre-built connectors, from AI tagging and transcription to compliance checks and delivery to fast channels, YouTube and social platforms. What once took weeks of bespoke software coding can now be built, tested and deployed in hours.

    “Media Factory is about giving teams the tools to connect content, configure any workflow, and integrate with any business system. The possibilities are mind-blowing,” said Vida managing director Symon Roue.

    The tool uses a visual drag-and-drop interface to let both humans and AI models orchestrate ingest, metadata packaging, age-appropriateness flagging, analytics integration, and trigger-based delivery. Workflows can be fired by events, webhooks, asset changes or file activity. Unlike legacy systems demanding top-tier software engineers, Media Factory is pitched at operations and technology teams asked to do more with less.

    Vida’s customers already manage over 43m assets and 26 petabytes of content on its platform. The new engine will be available to enterprise clients and partners from September 2025. Demonstrations will run at IBC 2025 in Hall 5, stand 5.D50.

  • Mastercard clinches naming rights to McLaren Formula 1 team from 2026

    Mastercard clinches naming rights to McLaren Formula 1 team from 2026

    AMSTERDAM: Mastercard has signed a landmark naming-rights deal with McLaren Racing, under which the team will compete from 2026 as the McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 team. The partnership is valued by industry observers at more than $100 million over several years, putting it among the top tier of F1 sponsorship agreements.

    The announcement was made in Amsterdam by Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s chief marketing and communications officer and founding president of its healthcare business, alongside McLaren chief executive Zak Brown and drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.

    Rajamannar said the tie-up rested on shared values of innovation, performance and fan engagement. “McLaren is the number one team, and this partnership allows us to connect fans to the sport in ways never seen before,” he said.

    As part of the deal, Mastercard unveiled Team Priceless, a global fan programme aimed at bringing supporters closer to the action through behind-the-scenes access, immersive digital activations and exclusive experiences with the drivers.

    The timing is strategic. Formula 1’s popularity has surged since Liberty Media acquired the sport in 2017 for $8 billion. Global TV audiences now exceed 500 million per year, with more than 45 per cent of viewers under 35 — a demographic highly prized by brands. Social media engagement grew 23 per cent year-on-year in 2024, making F1 the fastest-growing sports property online.

    McLaren, meanwhile, has staged a revival, finishing fourth in the constructors’ championship last season and securing eight podiums. New technical regulations in 2026, including hybrid power units with 50 per cent electrical output, are expected to level the playing field — an opportunity McLaren intends to seize with fresh investment.

    For Mastercard, the move reinforces a sponsorship strategy that already spans the UEFA Champions League, the Rugby World Cup and the Australian Open. Sports partnerships account for a significant portion of its global marketing spend, estimated at over $1.7 billion annually. By attaching its name directly to an F1 team, the company is betting that the sport’s glamour and youthful audience will deliver long-term brand dividends.

  • PKL raids new turf with 8 languages and referee cam for Season 12

    PKL raids new turf with 8 languages and referee cam for Season 12

    MUMBAI: Kabaddi is no longer just heard in a single tongue, it’s shouting from the rooftops in eight. As the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) Season 12 kicks off on 29 August, fans can expect a whole new playbook of innovation, from fresh formats and referee cams to commentary in eight languages.

    For the first time, the league goes truly multilingual. Alongside English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Marathi, viewers can now hear raids in Haryanvi and Bhojpuri a move that takes kabaddi deeper into its northern heartlands. Bhojpuri has already been a smash hit with cricket audiences, while Haryanvi adds a hyperlocal connect.

    And the voices leading the charge are just as starry. Ravi Kishan headlines the Bhojpuri feed, while Srinivas Reddy takes Telugu. Champions K. Prapanjan (Tamil), Mohit Chhillar (Haryanvi), Vishal Mane (Marathi), former India women’s captain Mamatha Poojary (Kannada) and raider Rishank Devadiga add insider flair. Add to that the likes of Sunil Taneja, Vrajesh Hirjee, Padamjeet Sehrawat, NC Kaushik and Chaitanya Sant, and the mat suddenly sounds richer than ever.

    The tech side gets a glow-up too. Fans can now experience two dugout views, a split screen revival tracker, and the big debut, the ‘Referee Cam’, which flips between live play and a bodycam perspective, plunging viewers into the heart of a raid.

    “Season 12 is about making the game more accessible and more engaging than ever,” said JioStar head of audience engagement Siddharth Sharma,  at . “By presenting the league in eight languages and adding immersive tools like referee cam, we’re creating a richer, more inclusive kabaddi story.”

    On the mat, the action is just as fierce. Tie-breakers will now settle drawn matches in the league phase, ensuring no game ends flat. A brand-new play-in phase has been added: the top two teams sail straight into the playoffs, 3rd and 4th contest a mini-qualifier, while 5th to 8th fight it out for the remaining slots.

    With every raid live on Star Sports Network and JioHotstar, Season 12 promises to be kabaddi like never before faster, louder, and more local, with the referee’s whistle now literally in your ear.

  • Lovnish Bhatia joins Worldwide Media as vice president – digital product

    Lovnish Bhatia joins Worldwide Media as vice president – digital product

    MUMBAI: Worldwide Media, a subsidiary of the Times Group, has named Lovnish Bhatia as vice president – digital product. Based in Mumbai, he will spearhead the publisher’s digital strategy, mobile platforms and product innovation.

    Bhatia brings more than 20 years of experience across digital media, operations and business development. He was most recently head of operations at Wify Technologies, after a brief stint as a new business development consultant.

    Earlier, he served as chief operating officer at Timesaverz, led services at Hettich India, and drove business development for video advertising firm Vdopia, where he was instrumental in securing the ICC World Cup 2011 digital sales mandate for Star India.

    His media career began at Sony Entertainment Television in 2000, followed by digital sales leadership roles at NDTV Media and Viacom18, where he introduced digital syndication and online-only monetisation models.

    With a career spanning technology, advertising, consumer services and media, Bhatia is expected to play a key role in accelerating Worldwide Media’s digital transformation.