Brands
IPL 2025 ads give FMCG brands a measurable sales lift: JioStar study
MUMBAI: Advertising during the Tata IPL 2025 delivered hard sales, not just eyeballs, according to a new JioStar-backed study that puts numbers to cricket’s commercial muscle.
The analysis, conducted by US-based Aintu Inc, tracked offline sales across more than 4,400 retail stores, covering 40-plus brands in 15 FMCG categories. Brands that advertised on JioStar during the tournament posted an average 5.7 per cent uplift in sales value, with gains recorded in both volume and revenue.
The biggest winners were those that spread their bets. Advertisers running campaigns across television and digital screens clocked a 6.3 per cent uplift, compared with 5.3 per cent for single-screen activity. Heavy spend also paid off: brands investing over Rs 10 crore saw an 8.4 per cent sales jump, nearly double the 4.9 per cent uplift delivered by lighter budgets.
Format mattered too. Campaigns combining video and display advertising generated a 7.2 per cent uplift, comfortably ahead of 5.5 per cent for video-only efforts — a reminder that creative mix, not just airtime, drives returns.
“Sports is no longer just about reach. It is about impact,” said JioStar head of sports sales Aakash Govindan. “Brands that partnered with us during IPL 2025 turned mass attention into measurable business outcomes.”
Parle Products vice-president Mayank Shah, said the tournament created a perfect storm of emotion and consumption. “From wafers to Marie, the season converted cultural excitement into real movement in brand preference and sales,” he said.
Hamilton Sciences managing director Saurabh Gupta, which advertised its Denver brand during the IPL, called the results “proof that sports-led advertising shifts behaviour, not just awareness”.
Brands
Faber-Castell India appoints Sunaina Haldar as director – marketing
With stints at Tata, SleepyCat and ADF Foods under her belt, Haldar is primed to redraw Faber-Castell’s brand story
MUMBAI: Faber-Castell India has poached Sunaina Haldar from ADF Foods, appointing her director – marketing as the German stationery brand looks to muscle up in a category that is rapidly reinventing itself around creativity and self-expression.
Haldar hit the ground running. “My first couple of weeks have been incredibly energising, understanding consumers, visiting markets, engaging with retailers and immersing myself into the world of Faber-Castell Group,” she said.
She arrives with considerable firepower. At ADF Foods, Haldar ran marketing across India and international markets for a portfolio spanning Ashoka, Aeroplane, Camel and ADF Soul. Before that, she was vice-president – marketing at direct-to-consumer mattress brand SleepyCat, where she helmed brand, content and performance marketing. Her résumé also includes a stint leading marketing, new product development and CRM for Tata SmartFoodz at Tata Consumer Products, no small proving ground.
Between corporate roles, Haldar also operated as a fractional CMO for early-stage startups, building marketing strategy and operational structures from scratch, a signal that she knows how to move fast with limited resources.
With 18 years straddling FMCG, D2C and the startup world, Haldar now takes the reins at a brand that has long owned the classroom but is clearly hungry for the living room. In a stationery market where the pencil has become a lifestyle statement, Faber-Castell has picked someone who knows exactly how to sell that story.
