Brands
Vivo ropes in Virat Kohli as brand ambassador
MUMBAI: Over the years, Vivo's association with the Indian Premier League (IPL) has indisputably helped the smartphone-maker connect with its consumers. To further cement its bond with the game, Vivo has named sports icon Virat Kohli, also the captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, as its brand ambassador. With the association, the brand aims to reach the millennials and technologically driven consumers.
A 360-degree marketing approach will characterise Vivo's partnership with Kohli. The cricketer will be seen spreading awareness and promoting the launch of the Chinese smartphone major’s upcoming products series in the pipeline. The association will include all ATL and BTL activities, including the brand’s forthcoming TV campaigns and print, outdoor, social media, and events.
Vivo India director-brand strategy Nipun Marya said, "We are thrilled to have Virat Kohli on board. Collaborating with someone as effervescent as Virat is a great way to better connect with our young consumers. Along with Aamir Khan and Sara Ali Khan, we wish to widen our brand reach, and we are confident that associating with a sports figure will help us in reaching a wider audience."
Kohli said, "As a sportsperson, I understand the importance of consistency and commitment in the game. Vivo, as a brand, has established itself as one of the leading players in the Indian smartphone market with its consistency towards delivering innovative technology. The way Vivo has brought joy to its customers' lives through simplified technology, and advancements in mobile photography are game-winning."
Vivo, which competes with players like Xiaomi and Samsung in the Indian market, is also the title sponsor of the 2021 edition of the IPL. This has helped the brand establish a connect with young Indian users, along with expanding its pan India presence. As part of its commitment to 'Make in India', all Vivo smartphone series are manufactured at the Greater Noida facility.
Brands
Rakesh Menon joins Paytm as avp – lending
Fintech product leader takes on new role after building digital lending, payments and credit products across fintech ecosystem
MUMBAI: Rakesh Menon has joined Paytm as assistant vice president – lending, taking on a new role focused on strengthening the company’s lending and credit products.
Prior to this, Menon worked at Profectus Capital Pvt Ltd as chief manager – payments based financing and digital lending.
At Profectus, he designed and launched digital credit products for merchants with variable cash flows, including overdraft-linked and revenue-share lending models. He led end-to-end LOS–LMS API integrations with payment partners and aggregators, enabling real-time underwriting, disbursal and repayment workflows.
He also worked on funnel optimisation initiatives using journey analytics, improving onboarding, KYC and disbursal conversion by 35 per cent. He developed ecosystem partnerships for transaction-data-based credit assessment and automated settlement systems, and collaborated with credit and data science teams to strengthen risk models and early delinquency detection.
Menon standardised partner onboarding and API frameworks, reducing go-live timelines by 40 per cent and improving digital scalability.
Before Profectus Capital, he worked at PayU as senior manager – presales lead – enterprise business from August 2022 to August 2023. He set up a national presales function for fintech and digital commerce clients, aligning solutions such as EMI, BNPL, BBPS and offer engines to merchant requirements.
He also helped improve conversion rates by around 15 per cent through merchant persona mapping, demo frameworks and structured sales playbooks, working closely with product and go-to-market teams.
From April 2019 to July 2022, Menon served as business unit head – SMB – direct acquisitions at Worldline, where he built the SMB online payments vertical from scratch. The business scaled to Rs 2,500 crore in annual transaction volume, growing at 45 per cent year-on-year.
During this period, he introduced paperless onboarding processes including eKYC and eSign, developed partner dashboards and CRM automation systems, and integrated platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce and Tally to expand merchant adoption.
Across roles, Menon has worked across digital lending, payments and merchant financing, with experience in product development, ecosystem partnerships, API integrations and fintech-led growth strategies.
At Paytm, he will focus on scaling lending products and strengthening digital credit infrastructure within the company’s financial services ecosystem.
His appointment comes as fintech firms continue to expand their lending and embedded finance offerings in a competitive market.
