Brands
Brands eye live sports events for promotions: Procam International
KOLKATA: With improved sentiments in the economy and companies exploring alternative ways to generate brand recognition, the concept of sponsoring sports events, though at nascent stage, has become popular in Kolkata too. And an example of this is Tata Steel becoming the title sponsor for India’s premiere 25K run event to be held in Kolkata.
Joining the steel maker, are brands like Oberoi Grand as hospitality partner, Reebok as sportswear and training partner, Himalayan as water partner, Nestle as food and beverage partner and Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM as radio partner among others.
Procam International, a sports management company involved in the promotion of national and international sporting events, sports consultancy and live television programming, which is also organising the first edition of the Tata Steel Kolkata 25K on 28 December 2014, feels that the company has good sponsorship from both sports and non-sports companies.
The city will run as one under the following race categories – the 25K (elite and amateurs), Open 10K (amateurs), Ananda Run (6 km), Sr. Citizens’ Run (4 km), and Champions with Disability (4 km).
“Sports events have become an important element for some businesses to promote their campaigns in other regions of India. It is common to see non-sport brands taking strategic decisions to sponsor sporting events,” said Procam International CEO Dilip Jayaram.
In 1988, with a vision to provide a more holistic spend to the advertising rupee and a burning desire to ameliorate the prevailing professional standards for sportsmen, Anil and Vivek B. Singh created Procam International. The organisation has based its corporate philosophy on an open culture, with an emphasis on values and integrity. Procam International has promoted and conducted over 45 world events, which have elicited player participation of the highest caliber, as well as huge public interest.
The Tata Steel Kolkata 25K event will give thousands of individuals a new opportunity to celebrate the birth of a sporting event that salutes perseverance and self-belief and makes lives brighter and better. “Kolkata’s runners can now lace up and join the running revolution that is not just engulfing India’s towns and cities but attracting the attention of the world’s finest runners,” said Jayaram.
“We aim to ink a number of new sponsorship deals with other brands also. We are looking for a medical partner,” he said adding that for this event, Radio Mirchi will run 18-20 promos every day.
Talking about below-the-line (BTL) activities, he said that Procam International has put up 37 hoardings and 30 bus shelters.
About 15,000 people are expected to participate in the five events to be organised through the day. The route for TSK 25K is in the process of being finalised under the guidelines set by the West Bengal Athletic Association and Kolkata Traffic Police.
Film actor, producer and television presenter Jeet, well known for his passion for fitness, will be TSK 25K’s ‘Face of the Event’.
In its first edition, the event will recognise the efforts of participants by offering total prize money of Rs 21,54,000. The top ten Elite athletes (men and women) in the 25K category stand to win attractive prizes. While the winner will receive Rs 2,50,000, Rs 1,75,000 is up for grabs for second place while third place finishers will receive Rs 1,00,000. Dividing amateur runners into six segments based on their age – 18 to under 30, 30 to under 40, 40 to under 50, 50 to under 60, 60 to under 70, and 70 and above – TSK Kolkata 25K will also award the top three amateur runners (men and women) in each of the above segments with prizes of Rs 12,000, 10,000 and 5,000 respectively.
“We urge people of Kolkata and beyond to come and experience the joy of running this December,” Jayaram said.
According to a city based marketing expert, sports as a property will attract major interest from corporates looking at increasing their marketing spends in Kolkata. “The value of these sponsorship deals is generally high,” the expert concluded.
Brands
Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board
Gurugram: Delhivery’s boardroom is being reset. Deepak Kapoor, chairman and independent director, has resigned with effect from April 1 as part of a planned board reconstitution, the logistics company said in an exchange filing. Saugata Gupta, managing director and chief executive of FMCG major Marico and an independent director on Delhivery’s board, has also stepped down.
Kapoor exits after an eight-year stint that included steering the company through its 2022 stock-market debut, a period that saw Delhivery transform from a venture-backed upstart into one of India’s most visible logistics platforms. Gupta, who joined the board in 2021, departs alongside him, marking a simultaneous clearing of two senior independent seats.
“Deepak and Saugata have been instrumental in our process of recognising the need for and enabling the reconstitution of the board of directors in line with our ambitious next phase of growth,” said Sahil Barua, managing director and chief executive, Delhivery. The statement frames the exits less as departures and more as deliberate succession, a boardroom shuffle timed to the company’s evolving scale and strategy.
The resignations arrive amid broader governance recalibration. In 2025, Delhivery appointed Emcure Pharmaceuticals whole-time director Namita Thapar, PB Fintech founder and chairman Yashish Dahiya, and IIM Bangalore faculty member Padmini Srinivasan as independent directors, signalling a tilt towards consumer, fintech and academic expertise at the board level.
Kapoor’s tenure spanned Delhivery’s most defining years, rapid network expansion, public listing and the push towards profitability in a bruising logistics market. Gupta’s presence brought FMCG and brand-scale perspective during a period when ecommerce volumes and last-mile delivery economics were being rewritten.
The twin exits, effective from the new financial year, underscore a familiar corporate rhythm: founders consolidate, veterans rotate out, and fresh voices are ushered in to script the next chapter. In India’s hyper-competitive logistics race, even the boardroom does not stand still.
Brands
Brnd.me enters Europe as haircare brands power global expansion
Bengaluru: Brnd.me, the global consumer brands company formerly known as Mensa Brands, has entered the European market following strong momentum across the Middle East, the United States and Canada.
The company has launched across the UK, Germany, France and Spain, with plans to expand into Italy, the Netherlands and Poland over the next year. The push is being led by its haircare and aromatherapy brands, Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure, marking Brnd.me’s first structured expansion into Europe.
The European beauty market represents a total addressable opportunity of over $4 billion across haircare and aromatherapy, supported by high digital adoption and demand for accessible, performance-led products.
Brnd.me’s hair care and aromatherapy business currently operates at an annual run rate of around $6 million, with Botanic Hearth and Majestic Pure delivering roughly 10 per cent month-on-month growth, driven by expansion and rising repeat demand.
To support regional growth, the company has appointed a general manager based in Germany and is evaluating investments in warehousing and local team expansion.
Early traction has been strong. Within weeks of launch, Botanic Hearth’s rosemary hair oil ranked among the top five hair oils in Germany, signalling strong consumer pull in a competitive market.
Brnd.me founder and chief executive officer Ananth Narayanan, said Europe represents the next phase of the company’s international strategy. He added that the European business is expected to scale to a $10 million annual run rate by the end of 2026, with long-term ambitions to reach $60 million over the next six years.
The company’s Europe strategy centres on digital-first distribution, repeat demand and TikTok-led discovery, alongside direct-to-consumer expansion to strengthen brand equity and margins.
The move also aligns with growing EU–India trade engagement, supporting long-term sourcing and cross-border supply chains.
Brands
TechnoSport taps quick commerce with launch on Slikk’s 60-minute platform
NATIONAL: TechnoSport has launched on Slikk, the ultra-fast fashion app offering 60-minute delivery, as the activewear brand accelerates its push into quick commerce to capture Gen Z and young millennial shoppers.
The debut brings more than 150 high-performance styles to Slikk’s platform, with an average selling price of Rs 450, expanding TechnoSport’s reach across over 80 pin codes.
The partnership follows strong momentum for TechnoSport across Q-commerce channels, where the brand has recorded around 60 per cent volume growth over the past six months. The company expects quick commerce to contribute nearly 20 per cent of its revenue in the coming years as hyperlocal delivery gains scale.
Slikk, which recently raised $3.2 million in seed funding led by Lightspeed, has rapidly gained popularity among youth consumers seeking speed, trend relevance and impulse-led shopping experiences.
Activewear remains one of Slikk’s fastest-growing categories, driven by shoppers increasingly treating fitness-led fashion as an everyday essential. The platform has reported a 30-fold year-on-year increase in items sold, reflecting rising demand for performance wear that blends comfort with style.
TechnoSport chief executive officer Puspen Maity, said the collaboration would help the brand engage more closely with young consumers whose fashion choices are shaped by instant needs and lifestyle aspirations. He added that rapid delivery bridges the gap between intent and purchase, allowing shoppers to access activewear exactly when they want it.
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