MAM
Idea to sponsor Deccan Chargers
MUMBAI: Telecom company Idea Cellular has announced a multi-year sponsorship agreement with the current Indian Premier League (IPL) Champions, The Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad.
Idea Cellular, the pan-India mobile operator, will be the Principal Partner of Deccan Chargers, starting with the third edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 Cricket Tournament, scheduled to start from March 2010.
Idea claims to have over six million subscribers in the state of Andhra Pradesh. During the upcoming IPL 3 T-20 Tournament, all 27 players of team Deccan Chargers, along with the coach and support staff, will be seen sporting the Idea logo on the front of their jersey and trousers.
Team captain Adam Gilchrist, ace batsmen Andrew Symonds and Rohit Sharma, pace bowler Chaminda Vaas, and several other leading international players such as Ryan Harris, Dwyane Smith, Scott Styris, Kemar Roach and Fidel Edwards will wear Brand IDEA during all their sporting action during the forthcoming T20 championship.
Idea Cellular CMO Pradeep Shrivastava said, “The Cricket fever is rising and IPL 3 will only add more excitement to it, further electrifying the cricket frenzy nation. Going with our essential brand promise of bringing champion ideas through the power of mobility, we have partnered with the Champions of IPL, to offer cricket entertainment by the Deccan Chargers to our 60 million subscribers across the country.”
Idea will launch a range of value added services on Voice, SMS and WAP portal, for 60 million subscribers, across the country to bring them closer to the Deccan Chargers. Idea subscribers will get a chance to win tickets for the matches, autographed merchandise, participate in Meet & Greet with the players, download special player messages and many more interactions with Team Deccan Chargers.
Deccan Chargers Sporting Ventures COO Dinesh Wadhwa said, “IPL is the most followed sporting event in the country. The success of Deccan Chargers in the last tournament has further increased the fan-following of the team. Our partnership with Idea Cellular will take the team to a higher plane of reach and visibility by connecting with millions of mobile consumers in the country. We hope to have a long-term, mutually beneficial association with Idea.”
Donning the Idea logo, Team Deccan Chargers will make its first outing at the opening match of IPL T20 tournament in Mumbai against Kolkata Knight Riders on 12 March at 8 pm.
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
