Brands
After viral campaign, brands take on Cred with ‘bread’ & ‘bed’ points
MUMBAI: Credit card payments app Cred has been grabbing a lot of eyeballs for its latest series of ads coming against the backdrop of the Indian Premier League, featuring actor Jim Sarbh and a host of other celebrities – from cricketer Rahul Dravid, to actor Jackie Shroff and playback singer Kumar Sanu. The Dravid one, of course, hit the ball out of the park with the memorable ‘Indiranagar ka gunda’ quip, sparking a great deal of buzz and meme fests.
But while the ads were a superhit, the brand itself came in for some nit-picking and fault-finding from a section of netizens over the usage of the app, with folks cribbing about not knowing what to do with their accumulated Cred points. Soon, other brands piled on too.
Piggybacking on the visibility earned by the Cred ad and riding on the ambiguity element surrounding its “Cred points”, rival brands Magicpin and CashKaro have now released ads, lampooning it with their “bread” and “bed” point metaphors. The message is unambiguous: users want to earn asli (real) savings and actual money – “not just collect Coins or Points” and wonder “what’s the point?!”
“We’ve all watched Rahul Dravid, a distinguished, well-loved celebrity, lose his mind on TV. We love it too. But do we know how this much-touted rewards program even works, or what the reward “coins” are even worth? One insight we encountered was that most Cred users have lakhs of points, but don’t seem to know how or where to use them,” online business discovery and rewards platform Magicpin said in a press statement.
Magicpin has collaborated with actor Vijay Raaz known for his down-to-earth, plainspoken and dry persona for their ad. And contrasted it with the polished tone and tenor of Jim Sarbh in the Cred ad. With this, the brand hopes to position its own rewards program as the straight-talking, ‘Asli Savings’ option for everyone.
It released another ad in the series, which directly takes a dig on Cred’s hit creative featuring Rahul Dravid in an angry avatar, by having Vijay Raaz talk about coming to the point without even getting angry.
Homegrown cashback and coupons site CashKaro has also rolled out an ad film about “The Magic of #CashOverCoins”. The video, featuring no known faces or celebrities, talks about how we all want to “earn MORE Money & not just collect Coins or Points that we can’t easily use”. It also claims that CashKaro gives its users actual cashback & money on each transaction made via the site.
Conceptualised in-house, the film takes a dig at Cred’s ads featuring celebrities and, in a way, is also a cheeky dig on Magicpin’s ad. The campaign consists of a film which is shot on a set similar to Cred, just like the Magicpin ad.
Created on a lighter note, both these ads give a humorous spin to celebrity endorsements by conveying tongue-in-cheek that you don’t need to resort to gimmicks or big celebrities if your product is genuine. While it’s entertaining for the consumer, it remains to be seen which brand gets the most mileage from these amusing brand wars.
Brands
Tata Sons defers decision on chairman N Chandrasekaran’s third term
Term runs till 2027, but board differences are stalling extension talks
MUMBAI: Tata Sons has deferred a decision on whether to extend the tenure of its chairman, N Chandrasekaran, injecting fresh uncertainty into the leadership timeline of India’s largest conglomerate.
The board had last year cleared a third executive term for Chandrasekaran running until February 2027, when he turned 65. However, deliberations on any further extension were put on hold this week after differences emerged during a board meeting, CNBC-TV18 reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
The pause underscores internal strains as the group pushes through an aggressive investment cycle while grappling with uneven financial returns. The Economic Times reported that Chandrasekaran himself asked for discussions on his reappointment to be deferred after some directors raised concerns about mounting losses at several newer businesses.
Those concerns were led by Tata Trusts chairman Noel Tata, the principal shareholder of Tata Sons. Other board members countered that losses were expected in early-stage, capital-intensive ventures designed to secure the group’s long-term position.
Since taking charge in 2017, following the ouster of Cyrus Mistry, Chandrasekaran has driven a phase of expansion and consolidation. Over the past five years, the tata group has nearly doubled revenue and more than tripled net profit and market capitalisation, while committing about Rs 5.5 lakh crore to investments aimed at making the conglomerate “future fit”, according to its latest annual report.
Recent numbers, however, present a more mixed picture. Tata Sons reported a 24 per cent rise in revenue to Rs 5.92 lakh crore in fiscal 2025, while net profit fell 17 per cent to Rs 28,898 crore.
In its annual report, the company said the year opened with expectations of macroeconomic stability and easing inflation. That optimism faded as uncertainty over global trade policy intensified, complicating the operating environment.
For now, the question of leadership continuity at the apex of the Tata Group remains unresolved and closely watched by investors assessing the cost and conviction behind the conglomerate’s long-term bets.
