MAM
Ex-cricketer Farooq Engineer is Cobra Beer’s brand ambassador
MUMBAI: The beer Britain loves! Now in India! Premium brand Cobra Beer has announced that it has appointed former cricketer Farooq Engineer as its brand ambassador.
While Cobra Beer has been available for the past three years now it has started brewing in India. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com last evening, Cobra Beer international marketing manager Santosh Cherian said, “Farooq Engineer is young at heart. That is what our brand stands for. He is a close friend of the company’s founder Karan Bilimoria. In the past Engineer had worked with us in England and we decided to extend our association with him.”
“He will help us get branding in Mumbai’s clubs and Gymkhanas. Besides Mumbai, the other key Indian markets for us include Pune and Delhi. We hope to capture a five per cent share of the beer market,” he added.
Cherian added that Lowe Lintas has been appointed as the company’s creative agency. The company is looking to do a don’t drink and drive campaign. This will be done in bars and pubs through posters and beer mats. In fact the back of the beer mats that Lowe has designed gives a background of the company. Right now though the priority is to improve the distribution channels.
“While we are planning to get involved with events like concerts and charity events as we do in the UK, we want to ensure that our product is first available. We already have a tie up with nine major outlets where we have scratch card promotions where the consumer can win gifts. Some outlets also have a two for one offer. The 330 ml bottle is priced at Rs 30 while the 650 ml bottle is priced at Rs 50. We are looking to cultivate a niche consumer base. Of course Indians are not heavy beer drinkers. Indians consume less than one litre in a year compared with 20 litres for a Chinese person. In terms of beer consumption, India is where China was 20 years ago. Mumbai, Cape Town and New York are the three cities where we are focussing on growing the business,” he said.
In the UK Cobra Beer sponsors movies on ITV. It recently launched CobraVision – a competition that will showcase literally hundreds of short films made by the British public.
Every month the company chooses 20 actors’ films to be aired on national television during its sponsorship of ITV2 and ITV3 movies. In addition, every film shown on television will be automatically entered into the CobraVision awards in 2006, where the best of the best will win cash prizes, trips to India, and, of course, lots of Cobra Beer.
Brands
Wipro hires 7,500 freshers, withholds FY27 hiring outlook
Profit rises to Rs 3,522 crore, Rs 15,000 crore buyback announced.
MUMBAI- Hiring may be on, but visibility is off, Wipro is adding talent even as it pauses the crystal ball. The company hired 7,500 freshers in FY26 but stopped short of offering any hiring outlook for FY27, underscoring the uncertainty gripping the IT services sector as it pivots towards an AI-led operating model.
The disclosure came alongside its fourth-quarter earnings, where management flagged volatile demand conditions and refrained from committing to future workforce expansion. Chief human resources officer Saurabh Govil noted that over 3,000 of the total hires were onboarded in the March quarter alone, signalling continued intake despite a lack of clarity on deployment pipelines.
This divergence active hiring without forward guidance reflects a broader industry pattern where talent acquisition continues even as deal conversions remain uneven and client spending cycles stretch. Wipro expects its IT services revenue for the June quarter to range between a decline of 2 per cent and flat growth sequentially in constant currency terms, reinforcing near-term caution.
Chief executive officer Srini Pallia pointed to artificial intelligence as both a disruptor and an opportunity. He said evolving client priorities are pushing the company towards outcome-driven engagements, with Wipro increasingly focusing on a services-as-software model through its AI Native Business and Platforms unit. The shift marks a structural change from traditional headcount-led growth to AI-enabled delivery frameworks.
The company has already committed over $1 billion to its AI ecosystem, with investors closely watching how these investments translate into revenue. For now, the numbers present a mixed picture. Net profit rose sequentially to Rs 3,522 crore, while revenue grew 3 per cent to Rs 24,236 crore. However, core IT services performance remained under pressure, with full-year revenue declining 0.3 per cent in dollar terms and 1.6 per cent in constant currency.
Large deal bookings offered a counterpoint, rising 45.4 per cent year-on-year to $7.8 billion, highlighting a widening gap between deal wins and actual revenue realisation. On a quarterly basis, IT services revenue slipped 1.2 per cent sequentially, signalling continued softness in execution.
Margins, however, told a more optimistic story. Operating margins expanded to 17.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, up from 14.8 per cent in the previous quarter, reflecting improved cost discipline. That said, the company cautioned that upcoming wage hikes and the ramp-up of large deals could exert pressure going forward.
Attrition stood at 13.8 per cent in the March quarter, indicating stabilisation after periods of elevated churn. Alongside its earnings, Wipro also announced a Rs 15,000 crore share buyback, reinforcing its focus on shareholder returns, with a payout ratio of 88 per cent over the past three years.
Taken together, the numbers capture a company in transition investing in AI, maintaining hiring momentum, but navigating a demand environment where growth is uneven and visibility remains limited.
