MAM
Fabindia’s association with IPL helped the brand record 40-50% growth
MUMBAI: While retailers across the country have been facing a decreased footfall in the stores, Fabindia’s partnership with the Indian Premier League this year helped it record a growth of up to 50 per cent. For a brand, that had never advertised on television before, this association with the big-ticket event, which was aired on Star’s sports channels, across 8 languages, proved out to be a fine first move.
As style partner for the exciting season of cricket, Fabindia styled more than 100 on air cricket experts in over 1000 designs from their menswear collection, as they discussed the game on air. This activity not only gave them 229 hours of brand exposure but also a 96 per cent increase in sponsorship awareness.
Fabindia CMO Karan Kumar said, “Post-IPL, we had an increase in footfalls and conversions in the menswear range. We recorded a growth of 40-50 per cent over the same period last year.”
The activity also helped the brand gain a 22 per cent uplift in Google searches.
Brand-nomics’ Viren Razdan noted that IPL is an attractive destination but a crowded space with its own rules of play. However, Fabindia’s tactical approach did good for the brand in aiding its awareness of men’s occasion wear, which had been fairly low before the association, despite it being a powerful brand.
He said, “FabIndia is a powerful brand but its association/awareness of men’s occasion wear has been fairly low, so a partnership gives them a cut through the clutter IPL’s eyeball strength is very high"
While sponsorships like these might come out as a costly proposition, the return on investment has been spectacular for Fabindia, which got widespread popularity among the masses with strategic placement of brand visibility during the game.
Karan Kumar added, “We cracked a concept that was both innovative and cost-effective to showcase our comprehensive indo-western men’s range with the help of cricket.”
Brands
MS Dhoni joins Cars24’s Crashfree India as Goodwill Ambassador
Cricketing legend lends his voice to the fight against road fatalities in India.
MUMBAI: MS Dhoni has traded his cricket whites for a new kind of captaincy, one that aims to save lives on India’s roads. The former India captain has been appointed Goodwill Ambassador for Crashfree India, Cars24’s national road safety initiative. The move brings one of the country’s most trusted and disciplined public figures to a cause that desperately needs both credibility and urgency.
India continues to record the highest number of traffic fatalities globally. In 2024 alone, 1,80,000 people lost their lives on Indian roads, one every three minutes. The country has roughly 1% of the world’s vehicles but accounts for 11 per cent of global road deaths. Shockingly, 66 per cent of those killed were between 18 and 34 years old, the most productive age group, and nearly 10,000 were school students. Seven in ten fatalities were linked to overspeeding.
Dhoni, known for his calm judgment under pressure, did not mince words when speaking about the issue. “A vehicle gives you freedom, but it also gives you responsibility,” he said. “On our roads, too many people still see safety as a rule to follow only when someone is watching. That mindset has cost us far too much.”
He added: “We already know what is going wrong. We know how many lives are being lost. What we need now is not more excuses. We need more responsibility, more discipline, and more respect for life.”
For Cars24, the association goes beyond a celebrity endorsement. Founder and CEO Vikram Chopra described Dhoni’s involvement as a game-changer: “His understanding of Indian roads is grounded in lived experience. He holds us to a higher standard and his involvement challenges us to push this mission further.”
Crashfree India aims to shift the national conversation on road safety from reaction to prevention, from accepting deaths as routine to treating them as the urgent failure they are. With Dhoni on board, the initiative gains a powerful, trusted voice that transcends statistics and connects directly with millions of Indians.
In a country where dangerous driving is too often mistaken for confidence, Dhoni’s message is refreshingly clear: true strength lies in control, discipline, and respect for life. When one of India’s most respected captains decides to lead this fight, the conversation suddenly becomes much harder to ignore.
The roads just got a new captain. And this time, the goal is not to win a trophy but to save lives.
