Brands
Disney India’s Captain America rings in 70 brands; raises Rs 150 crore
MUMBAI: You know you are doing something right when you beat your own record and that is exactly what Disney India has done for their chef d’oeuvre — Captain America: Civil War, which is produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. The studio has gone ahead and signed media and merchandising deals with 70 brands, one upping their previous record of 50 brand associations each for Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
“For the India market, we have a record number of 70 brands collaborating for Captain America: Civil War, which is a testament to its growing popularity. This is by far the highest for any Hollywood or Bollywood movie,” asserted Disney India, consumer products VP and head Abhishek Maheshwari.
Disney India’s consumer product business has associated with a wide variety of brands in categories such as apparel, toys, FMCG, ecommerce, accessories, finance and more. To make the most of these partnerships, the brands too are leaving no stone unturned in promoting the film.
When asked why brand association with a movie like Captain America is a good opportunity for an eCommerce brand, Amazon.in category management VP Samir Kumar replied, “In the past, we have experienced the excitement from fans who flock to the Amazon.in marketplace and love to shop for their favourite movie merchandise as the movie readies for release. Disney movies has ardent fans, so we look forwards to making their shopping experience delightful this time too.”
As per a source close to the development, around Rs 150 crore have been raised through these associations, with Rs 35-40 crore coming from ATL and BTL promotions (across five brands, Lifebuoy, Axe, Nearbuy, Dell and Audi) and Rs 100-110 crore through retail sales value.
Disney India claims that it is the growing popularity of superhero based Hollywood blockbusters in the country that is attracting brands to pump in huge amount of ATL & BTL spends. The Jungle Book’shumongous success in the Indian box office has also solidified the brands’ faith in the popularity of international movies.
“Over the years, the Hindi audience for Marvel’s movies has grown rapidly and we are doing a lot of promotions for Marvel fans also,” shared Disney India studios VP Amrita Pandey, adding that to make the movie more relatable to the Indian audience Varun Dhawan was the voice actor for Captain America in the movie.
“We build our franchises through our content across Films, Television and Digital. We have a long term vision for our franchises and in the case of Marvel, we have our movie slate chalked out for the next five years, which our partners value,” Maheshwari added.
Some of these innovative associations include, Jack & Jones’ apparel range inspired by ‘Civil War’, ICICI Bank’s co-branded Civil War Expression debit cards, Funskool’s latest range of action figures, playsets, board games and role-play items of Marvel Super Heroes.
“Captain America: Civil War is the most anticipated movie of this year, packed with Super Heroes, making it a visual delight for fans. With the immensely strong affinity for Marvel Super Heroes, toy lines across key categories such as collectibles, role-play and construction will be the main drivers to get the excitement going. We have launched a wide range of Hasbro products including figurines and role-play sets, Lego construction sets, as well as board games for kids and young adults”, Funskool sales and marketing SVP R Jeswant quipped on their association with Disney India.
Apart from this Lifebuoy has released 46 lakhs packs inspired by Captain America: Civil War & Iron Man movie art. Axe too is promoting their variants of Champion and Maverick with Captain America and Iron Man respectively, while Lanmart is carrying out a massive in store promotion for brand Captain America.
While Marvel fans eagerly await 6 May for the movie’s India release to enjoy their favourite superheroes or to flock the theaters for the stellar starcast — Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, and many more — brands ride high on the ‘Civil War’ wave.
Brands
Reliance Retail FY26 revenue rises 11.8 Per Cent to Rs 3.7 lakh crore
Q4 revenue up 11.1 Per Cent, hyperlocal orders surge 4x, PAT steady
MUMBAI: Reliance Retail isn’t just ringing up sales, it’s ringing doorbells faster than ever. Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) reported a steady FY26 performance, with growth powered by store expansion, a sharp surge in hyperlocal commerce, and consistent traction across grocery, fashion and jewellery. For the full year, revenue rose 11.8 per cent year-on-year to Rs 3,70,026 crore. In the January–March quarter, revenue from operations climbed 11.1 per cent to Rs 87,344 crore, up from Rs 78,622 crore a year earlier.
Operating performance remained stable, with Q4 EBITDA inching up 3.1 per cent YoY to Rs 6,921 crore from Rs 6,711 crore. However, quarterly profit after tax held steady at Rs 3,563 crore. For the full fiscal, PAT grew 11.7 per cent to Rs 13,842 crore.
Expansion remained a key lever. RRVL added 1,564 new stores during FY26, while simultaneously scaling its digital and hyperlocal commerce play. The latter emerged as a standout, with daily orders surging more than fourfold year-on-year in Q4, underlining a clear shift towards faster, localised fulfilment.
In grocery, large-format stores maintained momentum, aided by festive demand and the expansion of Smart Bazaar, which crossed 1,000 stores. Promotional campaigns such as ‘Full Paisa Vasool’ delivered record results, with sales rising 26 per cent YoY.
Digital commerce also picked up pace. JioMart added 5.8 million new users in Q4, nearly doubling its registered base year-on-year. Hyperlocal orders grew 29 per cent sequentially and over 300 per cent annually during the quarter.
Fashion and lifestyle saw steady traction. Ajio recorded a 23 per cent YoY rise in average bill value, while fast-fashion platform Shein crossed 11 million app installs, scaling rapidly with expanding product lines.
The jewellery business added further shine, with average bill value jumping 53 per cent YoY, largely driven by rising gold prices and sustained consumer demand.
Commenting on the shift, RRVL executive director Isha Ambani said hyperlocal commerce has become a structural growth driver, with orders rising more than fourfold over the year.
Looking ahead to FY27, the company is betting on technology to deepen engagement. The focus, Ambani noted, will be on AI-led merchandising, sharper pricing strategies and disciplined execution turning scale into sustained customer value.
In short, the carts are fuller, the clicks are quicker, and the next phase looks less about reach and more about precision.
