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Skechers Walkathon 2024 unites thousands for fitness and sports growth
Mumbai: On 18 November 2024, Skechers concluded the fifth edition of its highly anticipated ‘Skechers Walkathon’ at Inorbit Mall, Malad, Mumbai. This year’s event brought together thousands of fitness enthusiasts and reinforced Skechers’ dedication to sports advancement by donating a portion of registration proceeds to the GoSports Foundation, supporting young Indian athletes.
Bollywood star Ananya Panday and football legend Sunil Chhetri joined the event, alongside influencers like actress-veejay Gaelyn Mendonca and content creators Viraj Ghelani and Karan Sonwane. Their presence energised participants and underscored the spirit of community and fitness.
Skechers South Asia Pvt. Ltd., CEO, Rahul Vira stated, “The Skechers Walkathon is not just an event; it’s a celebration of health, wellness, and community. This year’s incredible turnout highlights the growing enthusiasm for an active lifestyle. Partnering with GoSports Foundation, we are proud to support young athletes and contribute to the future of Indian sports. This initiative perfectly aligns with our vision of a fitter and more active India.”
Chhetri shared his experience: “It was truly inspiring to see such a huge turnout of fitness enthusiasts at the Skechers Walkathon. Being part of this event made me feel the incredible energy and passion people have for health and community. Skechers’ promise to encourage the next generation of athletes through initiatives like this is truly commendable, and I am glad to be a part of this journey to make fitness a way of life for more people in India.”
Panday added, “Joining the Skechers Walkathon this year was a beautiful experience. Seeing people of all ages come together for a day of fitness, fun, and purpose was both uplifting and motivating. Skechers has created a unique platform that not only promotes active lifestyles but also supports emerging athletes, which is something I am proud to be part of. It was a day filled with positivity, community spirit, and a strong sense of togetherness.”
The event, in collaboration with GoSports Foundation, reaffirms Skechers’ commitment to nurturing India’s sports talent. GoSports Foundation, CEO, Deepthi Bopaiah commented, “Our partnership with Skechers plays a vital role in our mission to empower young athletes. This sustained support ensures that aspiring athletes receive the guidance and resources they need to pursue their dreams on an international stage.”
The Skechers Walkathon featured three fitness categories: the 10 km-timed walk for seasoned participants, a five km-timed walk for those new to the sport, and a three km fun walk for families. The scenic route around Inorbit Mall included entertainment zones, enhancing the event’s atmosphere. Since its inception, the Skechers Walkathon has engaged an expanding community of fitness enthusiasts, cementing its place as a landmark event for health and community spirit in India, and promoting sportsmanship and empowerment for future athletes.
NATIONAL: Amazon Ads has laid out a sharply tech-led vision for the advertising industry in 2026, arguing that artificial intelligence, streaming TV and creator partnerships will combine to turn brand building into a more precise, performance-driven business.
At the heart of the shift, the company says, is the fusion of AI with Amazon’s vast trove of shopping, browsing and streaming signals, allowing advertisers to move beyond blunt reach metrics to campaigns designed around real customer behaviour.
“The future of advertising is not about reaching more people, but the right people with messages that resonate,” said Amazon Ads India head and vice president Girish Prabhu. “By combining AI with deep customer insights, we help brands move from broadcasting campaigns to having meaningful conversations wherever audiences spend their time.”
One of the biggest changes, according to Amazon Ads, will be the collapse of the wall between media planning and creative development. Retail media, powered by first-party data, is increasingly shaping everything from brand discovery to final purchase, pushing marketers to design campaigns around audience insight rather than internal instinct.
AI is also moving from a support tool to a creative engine. Agentic AI, which automates and accelerates production, is expected to make high-quality creative accessible even to small businesses, compressing weeks of work into hours and giving challengers the ability to compete with larger brands on speed and scale.
Behind the scenes, AI-driven analytics will take on a bigger role in campaign optimisation, identifying patterns, spotting opportunities and recommending actions that would previously have required teams of analysts.
Streaming TV is another big battleground. With India’s video streaming audience now above 600 million and connected TV users at 129.2 million in 2025, advertisers are set to treat streaming not just as a branding channel but as a performance engine, measured increasingly by sales, sign-ups and bookings rather than just reach.
Finally, Amazon Ads sees creators and contextual advertising reshaping how brands tell stories. Creators will act less like influencers and more like long-term partners, while scene-aware ads on streaming platforms will allow brands to insert hyper-relevant offers into the flow of what viewers are watching.
Taken together, Amazon Ads argues, these shifts mark a move towards advertising that is both more human and more measurable, where AI handles the complexity, and creativity does the persuading.
