How NEWME is making MTV Splitsvilla fashion instantly shoppable on JioHotstar

In a world driven by speed and instant gratification, access often matters more than need. MTV’s Splitsvilla, now in its 16th season, sits at the intersection of youth culture, relationships and fashion – frequently prompting viewers to wonder if they could get contestants’ outfits.

Fashion brand NEWME is making this wish come true by doubling down on content-led commerce with an expanded partnership with JioStar. The collaboration enables viewers to shop outfits worn on the show while watching episodes on the platform.

Marking its second consecutive year of collaboration with the reality show, Sumit Jasoria, co-founder and CEO of NEWME, reveals that the decision to continue with Splitsvilla was driven by the strong brand impact witnessed during the first year of the association.

“Last year’s partnership delivered a massive lift in brand love and recall. Splitsvilla naturally aligns with NEWME because it brings together fashion, relationships and drama—three things that strongly resonate with young, modern women in India,” he says.

Jasoria points out that few Indian shows integrate fashion and youth culture as seamlessly as Splitsvilla, making it a natural fit for NEWME’s brand persona.

“Every year, the idea is to take this partnership to the next level. Our shared vision with the JioStar team is to build one of the most exciting collaborations in Indian reality television, where fashion and technology merge seamlessly.”

From visibility to commerce

While last year’s association focused largely on content visibility and brand discovery, the 2025 season marks a shift towards deeper integration of content and commerce. Jasoria describes the current partnership as nearly three times more involved than the previous one.

“This year, it's not just about presence. It’s about building content, commerce and the brand together,” he says, adding that the collaboration aligns with NEWME’s long-term ambition of becoming India’s “leading Gen Z fashion brand”.

A key feature of the partnership is the “Shop the Look” integration, available exclusively on the JioStar mobile app across iOS and Android. Viewers can instantly shop for outfits worn by contestants while watching episodes.

The feature is mobile-first, reflecting changing consumption habits. “Nearly 98% of viewers in India consume content on mobile screens today,” Jasoria explains.

Besides this, NEWME has also launched a dedicated Splitsvilla-inspired merchandise line built around the show’s themes, blending fashion, technology and design aesthetics. It focuses on categories such as athleisure, casual wear, party outfits and date-night styles.
Additionally, the brand’s rapid delivery service, NEWME ZIP, currently offers up to 2,000 styles available for 60-minute delivery in Bengaluru and Delhi.

Jasoria maintains that evaluating such partnerships solely based on short-term ROI is not appropriate, but the initial signs are promising.

“Within the first three days, we saw nearly 50,000 unique first-time users from Splitsvilla land on the NEWME app,” he says. “This is just the first episode. As the season progresses, the potential scale is much larger.”

Targeting Gen Z, online-first growth

NEWME’s core audience comprises Gen Z women aged between 16 and 28, across metros and smaller cities, who view fashion as a form of self-expression. The brand continues to remain largely digital-first, with online sales accounting for nearly 77% of revenue.

Offline retail, however, is expanding steadily. Currently, NEWME operates 21 stores across 12 cities, with plans to increase offline contribution to nearly 30% by the end of the year.

The brand uses online demand data to decide store locations, focusing on high-performing pin codes. Over time, the fashion brand plans to rely primarily on physical stores for hyperlocal deliveries as its retail footprint expands. For now, NEWME has physical stores and separate dark stores.

Marketing mix: digital-first with selective offline presence

NEWME’s marketing strategy remains largely digital-led. The brand actively markets across platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and its own website, while also investing selectively in outdoor advertising.

“We do billboards in certain cities and engage with cafés and local spaces for on-ground activations,” Jasoria reveals. “It’s mostly digital and OOH right now. We haven’t done print, and television is very selective.”

TV advertising, according to him, is limited to specific digital and OTT environments rather than mass broadcast.

“We advertise on platforms such as YouTube, JioStar, and sometimes Amazon Prime, but we aren’t bombarding general entertainment TV channels.”

Beyond Splitsvilla, NEWME has not collaborated with other OTT shows or films.
“We run ads on OTT platforms, but we don’t do content collaborations unless the fit is perfect. I haven’t found another show in India that matches Splitsvilla’s relevance and longevity with Gen Z,” Jasoria says, pointing to the show’s ability to stay culturally relevant even in its 16th year.

Content, community and contextual commerce

Beyond commerce, the brand is experimenting with experiential retail. It recently opened a new store in Jaipur featuring a dedicated, free-to-use setup for creating Instagram content for customers.

“Any young woman can walk in, create content and leave. She doesn’t need to buy or tag us,” Jasoria says. “It’s about enabling self-expression.”

The Jaipur store is the first to test this concept, with further expansion depending on consumer response.

NEWME ZIP was officially branded and launched in July last year, following earlier pilots. The company plans to expand the service to Pune, Hyderabad and Mumbai in 2026.
At the core of NEWME's strategy are content and community. Alongside large creators, the brand works with college ambassadors—young women with smaller but highly engaged followings—across cities.

The brand also hosts frequent on-ground events, including college activations, fitness sessions and meet-ups.

“We believe every young woman is a brand ambassador,” Jasoria says. “Fashion empowers her to express herself, and that belief drives everything we do.”

Though the brand operates under the domain newme.asia, Jasoria clarifies that NEWME currently does not export internationally, which might be expected from the name.

“The brand is NEWME. The domain reflects our ambition to build a global brand in India,” he says, adding that international perception has often worked in the brand’s favour.

“Some consumers assume we’re a Korean or European brand—and are surprised when they learn we’re Indian. For us, that’s a good sign. It shows Indian fashion brands can compete globally on experience and design.”

Looking ahead, Jasoria sees contextual commerce—where content and shopping converge—as a permanent pillar of Newme’s growth strategy.

“If this works at scale, it can be a defining moment for how fashion, entertainment and commerce come together in India,” he said.