Brands

KKR and e-commerce sites win IPL 7

Published

12 years ago

June 2, 2014

MUMBAI: As fans chanted Korbo Lorbo Jitbo (We will do, we will fight, we will win ), Manish Pandey’s 94 off 50 balls not only ensured Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) putting up a brave fight, it saw them seize the IPL cup from Kings XI Punjab in a nail-biting finish.

However, this IPL not only brought smiles to the Knight Riders but also to broadcasters Multi Screen Media-owned Sony Max and Sony Six that aired the tournament.

Before the seventh edition started, naysayers said not many advertisers would be interested in the property since India was going through the mother of all elections. To make things worse, the first phase of IPL was held outside India. And when Sony Entertainment Television president Rohit Gupta said that the broadcaster would charge Rs 4.9-5 lakh for a 10-second slot, a 20 per cent jump from last year’s Rs 4.25 lakh, eyebrows were raised.

However, the story went in the other direction. Despite the T20 tourney being played in the UAE and the ninth phase of the polls coinciding with the matches back home, the popularity of the tournament wasn’t affected and the broadcaster charged as much as Rs18-20 lakh for a 10 seconder for the final match. “Last year, we had charged around Rs 15 lakh for the final match. So, the ad revenue has only gone up. One must understand that IPL is a mature property and shouldn’t talk about not attracting advertisers,” says Gupta.

He went on to say, “Take a look at the English Premier League (EPL); it has been on for more than 20 years and it still attracts audiences and advertisers. Wonder why in India, people don’t understand that IPL is a yearly phenomenon and is here to stay for a long period.”

The television viewership too went up by five per cent for the first 54 matches, from 175 million during IPL-6 to 184 million this year.

“There is no risk to any advertiser,” said Gupta, while highlighting the fact that a big chunk of broadcasters’ revenues would be contributed by e-commerce companies.

Apart from the big advertisers – Vodafone, Karbonn, Havells, Perfetti and Marico – this year saw many e-commerce companies, especially Amazon, which launched its first TVC during IPL and others like Flipkart, Myntra, Quikr and Snapdeal piggybacked on the tournament.

Says GroupM ESP national director – Entertainment, Sports & Live Events Vinit Karnik, “A lot of e-commerce sites associated themselves with various teams. Also, there were a lot of on ground and on air activations so it won’t be wrong to say that this time one product category did leverage the league.”

The reason behind the phenomenon is the intense competition in the online retail segment. And as every player tries to pitch something different be it in terms of product line or delivery model, the mass media property – IPL – becomes the perfect battle ground.

“The IPL has got the reach and so it has delivered eyeballs to the brands. And the result has been achieved. With sites fighting tooth and nail what will be a better platform than IPL to reach out to as many as people?” says MEC national planning director Zubin Tatna.

Havas Media India MD Mohit Joshi agrees on the fact that with booming online retail sector competition is only going to increase. “IPL as a format doesn’t let one innovate much but the brands always get what they want from it, if used appropriately.”

“E commerce sites did dominate the advertisements this time as well as offline enough buzz was created. So, one shouldn’t be surprised if around 40 per cent of the revenue comes from this category,” he adds.

However, Tatna feels otherwise. “You see a Quikr or an OLX ad on television anyhow so I wouldn’t agree with the fact e-commerce sites dominated only IPL.”

The nerve-wrenching battle

The tourney’s star cricketer this year, Glen Maxwell, along with his Punjab teammates David Miller, Virendar Sehwag and George Bailey managed to score a paltry nine runs between the four in an edge-of-the-seat finale. For KKR, it’s been smooth sailing with the final being their ninth win a row. This puts them in the league of Chennai Super Kings (whom they had defeated in the final two years ago) as multiple IPL winners.

However, to their credit, Punjab were neck and neck with KKR so much so it could have been anyone’s match till the very end. Wriddihan Saha’s innings was a fitting precursor to the well fought finish.

Apart from Maxwell’s disappointing performance, this season’s highest run scorer Robin Utthappa too did not match expectations as Piyush Chawla was left to win the game for KKR. But Utthappa did win the Orange Cap. Man of the match Pandey said that winning the IPL was like the “icing on the cake” after winning the Ranji trophy, Irani trophy and Vijay Hazare trophy.

KKR captain Gautam Gambhir said they never thought they would win this IPL. He also went on to add that winning at the Chinnaswamy Stadium was what the team fancied, considering the fact that it is a small ground. Incidentally, the stadium also hosted the very first IPL game in 2008. Gambhir told indiatoday.in, “This is a ground where it is very difficult to defend. We wanted to get it down to five overs, 50 or 60 to get. Manish played a fantastic innings.” Finally, Punjab’s late strikes could not dither KKR from taking the trophy home a second time with 200 runs.

As for KKR, Kolkata Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated the team on Facebook. A post she put up on the social networking site said: “Congratulations…. KKR….Congratulations…Sharukh.” She also congratulated Saha for his “brilliant performance.”

In 2012, the Banerjee government had come under sharp criticism for showering expensive gold chains and gold medals as part of the grand felicitation programme held in honour of KKR’s IPL win. But this time around, as Eden Gardens prepares for another such programme, it will be interesting to see what ‘Didi’ has to offer the boys in purple.

Up Next

Shekhar Gupta quits Indian Express after 25 years in two stints

Don't Miss

Reporting news the ‘Prudent’ way!

Click to comment

Brands

Delhivery chairman Deepak Kapoor, independent director Saugata Gupta quit board

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

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

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

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

Published

1 week ago

January 31, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

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.