CRED made Rahul Dravid the Indiranagar ka gunda, then had to explain the bill

The case

CRED, the Bengaluru fintech founded by Kunal Shah, rewards members for paying credit card bills on time. Its target is a narrow, creditworthy slice of India. Yet in September 2020 it signed one of the country's most mass-market media properties, becoming an official partner of the Indian Premier League for the 2020 to 2022 seasons. The Ken reported that the deal was worth about Rs 120 crore over three seasons, and estimated CRED's total IPL outlay, including incentives for users, at $12 million to $15 million a year, almost 10 percent of the money it had raised. It asked the obvious question: why would a company targeting India's 25 million richest consumers advertise on one of the country's most mass-market channels? CRED did not confirm the figures.

Its 2020 IPL films featured Anil Kapoor, Madhuri Dixit Nene and Bappi Lahiri under the line "Not everyone gets it." On 9 April 2021 it released the first film of its second season. In 23 seconds, Rahul Dravid, known throughout his career for his calm, loses his temper in a Bengaluru traffic jam and shouts that he is "Indiranagar ka gunda", the thug of Indiranagar. The decision on trial is broader than one ad: should a loss-making start-up pour this much money into celebrity-led brand advertising on the IPL?

The evidence

The creative idea

According to Social Samosa, the IPL 2021 campaign was called "Great for the Good" and comprised six films released through the tournament. It was conceived and written by Tanmay Bhat, Devaiah Bopanna, Puneet Chadha, Nupur Pai and Vishal Dayama, produced by Early Man Film and executed with DDB Mudra and 22Feet Tribal Worldwide. Jim Sarbh, CRED's regular presenter, opens by explaining that members earn CRED coins for paying bills. Kunal Shah said CRED was happy to continue its association with the IPL for a second year and described the aim as rewarding good financial behaviour. The joke depends on casting against type: the more trustworthy the celebrity, the funnier the outburst, and the closer the link to a brand built on trust.

The attention it earned

The response was immediate. exchange4media gathered praise from advertising veterans on release day. The best measured signal comes from a media agency with no stake in CRED's work: Business Insider reported that Wavemaker India's MESH social listening tool ranked the Dravid film as the most viral ad of IPL 2021 across a season with more than 80 million social mentions. exchange4media also reported, without naming its source, that CRED's 2020 IPL campaign had driven a six to sevenfold rise in daily sign-ups. CRED has not published a figure that ties the Dravid ad to members or revenue.

What it cost

The Dravid ad ran in April 2021, the first month of CRED's 2021 to 2022 financial year. That year, YourStory reported, CRED spent about Rs 976 crore on marketing and promotions, more than 60 percent of its total expenses, against revenue from operations of about Rs 394 crore. Its loss rose to about Rs 1,280 crore from about Rs 524 crore the year before, when revenue from operations was only about Rs 89 crore. Put simply, CRED spent roughly Rs 2.50 on marketing for every rupee of operating revenue. Shah defended the approach in an interview quoted by YourStory, saying the company would make a conscious choice to invest in building the brand and community.

What happened next

The spending did not last at that level. In FY23, according to Business Standard, marketing and business promotion fell 26.8 percent to Rs 713.4 crore while total income rose about 3.5 times to Rs 1,484.6 crore. The loss still widened slightly, to about Rs 1,350 crore; the article gives two slightly different figures. In FY24 Business Standard reported a further 36 percent cut in marketing, revenue of Rs 2,473 crore and an operating loss of Rs 609 crore. For FY25, a company statement carried by PTI and The Week put revenue at Rs 2,735 crore and the operating loss at Rs 298 crore, though total losses were still Rs 1,457 crore. More than 90 percent of revenue now comes from lending, payments and insurance. Shah's defence, quoted by Business Standard in 2024, was that the company had built a brand and invested upfront in it.

The verdict

MIXED. As advertising, the Dravid film is a clear success. It was distinctive, it played on the trust that both the cricketer and the brand wanted to own, and it became the most discussed ad of a crowded IPL season. It gave CRED a level of fame that few fintechs at its stage could buy any other way.

As a business decision, the case is unresolved. CRED spent more on marketing than it earned in revenue several times over, and it has not shown how much of its later revenue growth came from that brand building rather than from new lending and payments products. Revenue has grown sharply since marketing was cut, which can be read two ways: the early brand investment created the base that later products monetised, or the spending was larger than it needed to be. Five years on, the company still reports losses. Until CRED shows a path to profit that clearly traces back to its brand, the spend remains a bet, not a proven return. It is also worth remembering what the best evidence for the ad actually measures. Wavemaker's ranking counts conversation, not conversion, and CRED has never published how many members or how much revenue the IPL seasons delivered.

What Indian brands can take from it

• Cast against type. The surprise of a calm hero losing his temper did more work than any product claim.
• Match the medium to the customer. The IPL reaches everyone; a premium, selective product has to justify paying for the people it does not want.
• Set the payback test before the spend. Decide which metric, members, activation or revenue per member, will prove the brand investment worked.
• Plan the step down. CRED cut marketing hard after FY22. Brands should know in advance how they will move from fame to monetisation.

Our brand strategy team helps founders decide how much to invest in fame and how to measure it. For the budgeting side, read our guide to marketing budget allocation in India.