For India’s challenger brands, winning shoppers may be less about waiting for loyalty to build and more about earning trust before the next purchase decision. Google, WPP Media and Elevation Capital have launched 'The Disruptor's Toolkit: The O to ₹500 Crore Playbook for Challenger Brands' that finds 55% of challenger brand buyers move from discovery to purchase within a couple of days, while more than 70% question a brand’s legitimacy if it cannot be found on Google Search or YouTube.
The report examines how emerging consumer businesses can turn early momentum into sustained growth. It draws on a primary study of 1,200 challenger brand shoppers conducted with Kantar, alongside portfolio analysis and founder interviews.
According to industry estimates cited in the report, challenger brands are growing two to three times faster than their broader categories by addressing specific everyday needs, bringing products to market faster and building on digital platforms where consumers spend their time. Some are reaching ₹100 crore in annual revenue within just two to four years.
The findings point to a growing appetite for experimentation, with 62% of shoppers eager to adopt new brands at launch and 64% willing to try a new brand even if it falls short of expectations. However, discovery alone does not guarantee conversion. Consumers still look for proof before committing to a purchase.
“Indian shoppers are eager to try new brands, but curiosity always comes with a verification step. With new AI experiences on Google Search, that research runs even deeper as people ask richer questions before purchasing, while turning to YouTube creators for authentic reviews—where shopping watch time is up 55% year-over-year. In partnering with brands—from category pioneers to fast-scaling emerging brands—our focus is helping them turn digital presence into undeniable credibility across our ecosystem to win trust from discovery to decision and turn curiosity into sustained growth,” said Satya Raghavan, Director, Marketing Partners, Google India.
The search for credibility continues through the purchase journey. Half of direct-to-consumer (DTC) buyers choose official brand websites to ensure authenticity, while premium materials and unboxing experiences act as signals of quality.
For Ashwin Padmanabhan, COO, WPP Media South Asia, the challenge lies in turning initial traction into a sustainable business. “Building a challenger brand is one thing; building it into a lasting business is another. The real challenge is turning early momentum into sustained growth, understanding where demand is emerging, earning consumer trust and converting that demand into sales. This requires brands to move beyond isolated marketing interventions and build a connected growth engine across data, media, technology and commerce. At WPP Media, we help brands do exactly that, leveraging WPP Open to translate intelligence into action and marketing investments into measurable business outcomes. The ambition is not just to build the next breakout brand, but to create the conditions for it to scale from ₹0 to ₹500 crore and beyond.”
Chirag Chadha, Partner, Elevation Capital, said the pace at which brands are scaling has changed considerably. “Having backed Challenger Brands at Elevation Capital for years, we have watched new-age brands come to dominate consumer mindshare and capture the lion's share of incremental market growth. Journeys to ₹100 crore that once took two decades now take two to four years, and the brands pulling ahead are those that own a sharp consumer need before earning the right to go wider. The Disruptor's Toolkit distills what we have learnt from the best entrepreneurs building India's most recognisable brands into a playbook a founder can act on at every stage from ₹0 to ₹500 crore. India's Challenger decade has already begun, and this report is a map for the founders who are keen to define it.”
