IPL marketing push lifts Ixigo’s Q1 FY26 ad spends 73% YoY to Rs 29 cr

Online travel platform Ixigo has ramped up its branding and marketing investments in the quarter ended June 30, 2025 (Q1FY26), as part of a long-term strategy to build brand trust, drive conversion, and expand user engagement, particularly across its bus and train verticals.

Advertising and branding expenses for the quarter stood at Rs 29.08 crore, marking a 73% increase year-on-year from Rs 16.79 crore in Q1FY25. The company also recorded a 73.2% sequential jump in these costs compared to Q4FY25, reflecting the intensity of its IPL-linked and regional sports sponsorship campaigns.

Total revenue from operations for the quarter rose to Rs 314.47 crore, registering a 73% increase YoY from Rs 181.8 crore in Q1 FY25. Net profit for the quarter stood at Rs 18.94 crore, up 27% sequentially and 27.5% YoY.

In the earnings call, Aloke Bajpai, Chairman, Managing Director & Group CEO, offered context behind the rise in branding costs and explained, “For the first decade of our existence, our entire growth story was organic, and we spent almost nothing on brand and performance marketing. It was only in 2023 that we began making deliberate, long-term investments in the brand once we had more confidence in the superiority of our product and customer experience.”

He mentioned that these investments are focused on building top-of-mind recall, brand affinity, and trust particularly in the bus and train categories.

On the train side, Ixigo entered into a brand partnership with Rohit Sharma for its Ixigo Trains offering, helping to drive adoption of its Travel Guarantee feature. Meanwhile, its bus vertical made strategic tie-ups: AbhiBus with Chennai Super Kings and the Tamil Nadu Premier League, and ConfirmTkt with Royal Challengers Bengaluru, coinciding with the franchise’s iconic title win.

“The RCB partnership gave us nationwide visibility, especially during their iconic 18th-year title win, an emotional, high-recall moment that coincided with Ixigo’s 18th anniversary as a company,” Bajpai noted.

He also highlighted the integration of AI into marketing workflows, stating that tools for creative ideation, personalisation, A/B testing, and deployment at scale were used to execute campaigns like the Ixigo Anniversary Sale and Flash Sales for flights.

“We don’t evaluate brand spend only by top-of-funnel impressions or reach. Instead, we focus on measurable outcomes: stickiness, repeat behaviour, and improved conversion rates. While some impacts may be long-term, early results are already showing uplift,” he added.

Group CFO Saurabh Devendra Singh echoed this sentiment, noting that ad spends are not evenly distributed across quarters but aligned with seasonal opportunities and business objectives:

“In this particular quarter, we saw more branding expenses due to IPL-related campaigns driven by our train and bus verticals. Branding, performance marketing, and customer inducement together are expected to remain centred around 3.5% of our overall cost structure, though there may be quarterly fluctuations.”