Brands
Ixigo flips the script on April Fools’ with a sky-high refund surprise
MUMBAI: April Fools’ Day just got upgraded from pranks to plane tickets. While brands scrambled to pull legs, ixigo pulled wallets—but in the best way possible. The travel platform turned its cheeky April Full Refund Sale into a straight-up jackpot for 100 lucky flyers. Yes, you read that right.
Free.
Flights.
On 1 April 2025, between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m., ixigo dropped a deal that had the internet scratching its head. Was it a scam? A spoof? A sly social stunt? Nope. It was as real as the 100 per cent flight refunds it dished out. Every hour, 10 travellers who booked domestic or international flights on the app were randomly chosen to get their full ticket value back as ixigo money. The reward? Fully redeemable within 90 days.
The buzz began on 31 March with a loony little teaser starring ixigo co-founders Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar in comically outlandish avatars. The video leaned into the absurd, but the payoff was dead serious: a campaign that blended chaos with cashback.
Winners were revealed via hourly Instagram Reels, building suspense and fuelling travel envy across social feeds. Some folks nearly cried at the generosity. Others just booked another trip.
Take Zubair, who flew from Bangalore to Singapore and bagged a Rs 39,950 refund. Or Jitendra, who got Rs 13,622 back for flying from Muscat to Ayodhya. Aishwarya’s refund for Mumbai to Kolkata? A neat Rs 8,325. One traveller even scored Rs 18,483 back for a Dubai-Mumbai flight. Not too shabby for a ‘joke’.
“What started as an April Fool’s prank turned into a real treat for travel lovers – proving that sometimes, the joke can be on scepticism!” said the campaign team. This year, ixigo didn’t just flirt with fun—it made 1 April an actual day of reward, pushing the envelope for interactive and meaningful marketing.
If this is what fooling looks like, more brands should take notes. Or better yet, take off.
Brands
Komerz acquires Glassbox to launch creative commerce model in India
Brand storytelling meets AI-driven distribution as Komerz targets $345bn digital market
MUMBAI: London-headquartered commerce platform Komerz has acquired brand and marketing consultancy Glassbox, creating a single integrated system that blends creativity, distribution, and measurable sales.
The move introduces a new “creative commerce” model, combining AI-powered infrastructure, brand strategy, and performance measurement within one platform. By connecting upper-funnel brand building with lower-funnel conversion and repeat purchases, the combined entity aims to provide brands with a seamless growth engine.
Komerz Global CEO Ramesh Krishnamurthy said, “Creative commerce must operate across the funnel. Contextual content, data-led activation and distribution must function as one accountable growth engine.”
Komerz global COO Siddharth Shankar added, “Creative without distribution is theatre. Distribution without brand equity is discounting. Bringing both together lets brands build equity while driving measurable growth.”
Glassbox, founded in 2021 by Geetanjali Bhattacharji and Anil Nair, works across brand strategy, marketing transformation, and integrated communications. Bhattacharji said the integration reflects how “brand building must evolve from episodic campaigns to always-on, data-informed commerce frameworks.”
Komerz, valued around $330 million, operates across the UK, Europe, Asia, and North America. The acquisition will help multinational corporations manage complex global portfolios while enabling challenger and D2C brands to scale across India’s digital commerce market, projected to reach $345 billion by 2030.
With this deal, Komerz is strengthening its global “creative commerce” footprint, following its recent acquisition of US retail measurement firm Pathformance, and positioning itself at the intersection of creativity, commerce, and technology.
