Rado Names Smriti Mandhana as Friend of the Brand — And the Fit Is Flawless

Introduction

When a Swiss luxury watchmaker known for reinventing materials chooses its brand partners, it is not looking for celebrity — it is looking for character. Rado's decision to name Smriti Mandhana as its newest Friend of the Brand is not simply a smart marketing move. It is a statement about what the brand believes defines modern excellence: discipline that looks effortless, ambition worn lightly, and a relentless drive to surpass what came before. For Indian brands watching the luxury-sports partnership space evolve, this alliance offers a masterclass in alignment.

The Big Announcement

Swiss watchmaker Rado has officially appointed Indian cricket star Smriti Mandhana as a Friend of the Brand, extending its growing portfolio of cricket-linked partnerships and deepening its connection to one of the world's most followed sports.

Mandhana travelled to Switzerland as part of Rado's 40-year celebrations dedicated to high-tech ceramic — a milestone material innovation that has defined the brand's identity in contemporary watchmaking. During the visit, she was seen wearing the Rado True Square Open Heart, a timepiece distinguished by its open-worked dial, sculptural geometry, and ceramic case construction. The watch will serve as a defining symbol throughout the partnership.

She joins a cricket-connected line-up that already includes South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada, recently elevated to Global Brand Ambassador, and Australian all-rounder Cameron Green — positioning Rado as the watchmaker that has most deliberately aligned itself with the world game of cricket.

What This Means for Your Brand

The Rado-Mandhana partnership is a case study in what brand alignment looks like when it goes beyond reach and follower counts.

For Indian marketers, three strategic lessons stand out. First, women's cricket is no longer a niche sponsorship play — it is a mainstream brand vehicle. Mandhana captained Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women's Premier League title in the just-concluded 2026 season, building on their 2024 win. She is vice-captain of the Indian women's national team and was the highest scorer at the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2025. The audience she commands is large, loyal, and growing at a pace that most male cricket franchises would envy.

Second, the Friend of the Brand designation is a deliberate positioning choice. It signals an ongoing creative and cultural relationship rather than a transactional endorsement — the kind of long-form partnership that builds genuine brand equity rather than borrowed visibility.

Third, Rado's use of a product moment — the True Square Open Heart worn in Switzerland — to anchor the partnership launch is smart brand storytelling. The watch is not an accessory in the announcement; it is the narrative centre. Indian luxury and lifestyle brands could learn from this discipline.

The contrarian note: as women's cricket attracts more premium brand attention, the risk of partnership clutter grows. Brands entering this space now should move quickly to establish genuine creative depth before the category becomes crowded.

Expert Take

Smriti Mandhana's commercial profile is built on an extraordinary sporting foundation. She holds the record for the fastest century by an Indian batter in Women's One Day Internationals and became both the fastest and youngest player to reach 10,000 runs in women's international cricket. She was named ICC ODI Cricketer of the Year in 2024 and has previously won ICC Women's Cricketer of the Year twice — in 2018 and 2021 — making her one of the most decorated players in the modern era of women's cricket.

Off the field, her cultural footprint spans Indian editions of Vogue, Forbes, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar — a crossover between sport and high fashion that is rare for Indian athletes and directly relevant to a luxury watch brand's audience. Rado CEO Adrian Bosshard described her as a dynamic modern Indian icon whose influence extends well beyond cricket and whose drive and ambition mirror the brand's own values. For a watchmaker building its identity around material innovation and forward-thinking design, associating with an athlete who rewrites record books in real time is a coherent and compelling choice.

The brands.in Perspective

Rado has been one of the more thoughtful luxury brands in how it has approached cricket — not as a mass-reach shortcut, but as a values platform built around precision, resilience, and the courage to innovate. Adding Smriti Mandhana to that framework is the brand's sharpest move yet. She is not just a cricketer with endorsement appeal. She is one of the few Indian athletes who genuinely straddles sporting excellence and cultural iconography with equal credibility. For Indian brands still debating whether women's sports is a serious brand investment, Rado — a Swiss watchmaker — just answered that question from the outside. That should prompt some reflection.

Key Takeaways for Marketers

• Women's cricket is now a premium brand investment, not a CSR gesture — Rado's Mandhana appointment confirms this
• Friend of the Brand partnerships signal long-term creative alignment over transactional celebrity endorsement
• Anchoring a partnership launch to a specific product moment creates deeper brand narrative than press releases alone
• Mandhana's cross-platform cultural presence — sport, fashion, media — makes her one of India's most versatile brand assets
• Luxury brands entering Indian cricket partnerships must establish creative depth early as the space grows more competitive

FAQ

What does Rado's Friend of the Brand title mean for Smriti Mandhana? It is an ongoing brand partnership where Mandhana represents Rado's values and aesthetic across creative campaigns and brand moments — a deeper association than a standard endorsement, focused on long-term cultural alignment rather than a single campaign cycle.

Which Rado watch is associated with Smriti Mandhana's partnership? The Rado True Square Open Heart — a timepiece featuring an open-worked dial, sculptural design, and high-tech ceramic case — was worn by Mandhana during Rado's 40-year ceramic anniversary celebrations in Switzerland and will remain central to the partnership.

Who else from cricket is associated with Rado? Rado's cricket connections include South African fast bowler Kagiso Rabada as a Global Brand Ambassador and Australian all-rounder Cameron Green, alongside Smriti Mandhana's newly announced Friend of the Brand role.

Closing

Rado has quietly built one of the most coherent cricket-linked brand portfolios in luxury watchmaking — and naming Smriti Mandhana takes that strategy to a new level of cultural relevance for India. As women's cricket continues its remarkable rise, the brands that invested early in genuine partnerships will own the equity that late movers will spend years trying to buy. Is your brand still watching from the boundary? Share your perspective below, and follow brands.in every day for the brand intelligence that keeps Indian marketers ahead of the game.