Jockey taps GenZ with trend-first styling; ups spends on digital and Q-Comm

Innerwear and athleisure brand Jockey has launched JKY Groove collection to target India’s Gen Z and younger fashion-forward consumers with a foray into athleisure and trend-first styling. “JKY Groove is built for the younger consumer as it reflects their lifestyle and aspirations. Our USP continues to be the best in terms of comfort and quality. We’ve layered trend on top of it,” said Nihal Rajan, Chief Marketing Officer, Jockey India.

With 3 to 3.5% of net revenue allocated to marketing, the brand opts for flexible, objective-led budget deployment rather than a fixed media mix. Mass categories continue to leverage outdoor and digital. For JKY Groove, the brand is rolling out a digital-first campaign, led by influencers across social platforms. “This is a digitally native consumer, so the campaign is digital-first. We don’t start by saying we’ll spend X% on a channel. We begin with the objective. Our influencers reflect brand philosophy and brand authenticity,” Rajan said.

Visual merchandising in stores, including eye-catching window displays and dedicated VM units, will complement the online blitz. The creative idea, developed by agency Fundamentals, hinges on the theme “Fit Check? Checked.”

The innerwear market in India is expected to reach a projected revenue of $20,478.1 million by 2030 with a compound annual growth rate of 7.6% from 2024 to 2030, as per a report by Grand View Research. Victoria's Secret & Co, Amazon.com Inc, Hanesbrands Inc and Jockey International being the market leader.

In Q4 FY25, Jockey reported a sales volume growth of 8.5% year-on-year. While revenue for the quarter stood at Rs. 1,098 crore, marking a 10.6% YoY increase. The profit after tax (PAT) rose 51.6% YoY to Rs. 164 crore. For the full fiscal year FY25, the company recorded revenue of Rs. 4,934 crore, reflecting 8.0% YoY growth and PAT growing 28.1% to Rs. 729 crore.

Q-Comm gathers pace!

Despite being a traditionally offline-led category, Jockey is seeing solid traction on quick commerce platforms like Blinkit and Instamart, especially for essentials like innerwear, tees, shorts and towels. “We’ve seen good traction even for a category like ours that’s usually store-driven. We view it as a long-term opportunity as dark store networks and urban pin-code coverage expand. These are still early days… as quick commerce matures, the market and business will evolve,” he added.

Across channels, e-commerce delivered double-digit growth in the past year, with Myntra and Amazon emerging as key drivers. While retail and distribution remain strong, the brand maintains an omnichannel balance. “We wouldn’t compromise one for the sake of growth of another. Expansion in tier 2, 3 and 4 towns through exclusive brand outlets and multi-brand formats is also fueling wider accessibility."

The core men’s innerwear category continues to dominate sales, followed by women’s innerwear and athleisure. “We still are dominated by innerwear, which really is our market leadership position.”

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