The Souled Store's Community-Led Brand Strategy
Industry & Competitive Context
The Souled Store (TSS) was founded in 2013 by Vedang Patel, Aditya Sharma, Rohin Samtaney and Harsh Lal (Business Today, Nov 2023; Inc42, Apr 2026). Inc42 describes India's pop-culture merchandise market at the time of founding as largely unorganised, with most products either unlicensed or of poor quality, leaving fans with few authentic options. Patel told Inc42 the opportunity was to combine authentic licensed fandom with high-quality apparel people could wear every day.
The licensing context matters. A LIMA report cited by afaqs (Oct 2024) sized India's domestic licensing industry at about ₹4,000 crore, of which 80% was characters and entertainment. The same article records Patel's expectation that OTT platforms such as Netflix would grow fandom for global shows in India over the following five to six years. That is a founder's forecast, not a verified market outcome.
Public filings-based reporting places TSS alongside other Indian D2C apparel players. Entrackr (using Registrar of Companies filings) reported FY25 revenue of ₹173 crore for Bewakoof and ₹223 crore for Wrogn, against ₹492 crore for TSS. Entrackr also named Rare Rabbit as a competitor in a wider fashion set.
Analytical reading. The documented context points to a market where the scarce asset was authenticity, meaning licences and credible design, rather than distribution alone. A brand that organises fans around licensed properties competes on a different axis from generic fast fashion, a distinction Inc42's 2026 BrandLabs feature also draws.
Brand Situation Prior to the Community Push
TSS began as an online merchandise brand. YourStory (Oct 2017) reported a target audience of 16 to 30 years, mostly middle class, and quoted Patel on a customer acquisition cost of about ₹100, many times lower than the e-commerce norm. That figure is a 2017 company statement and is not a current metric. In a 2015 YourStory profile, Patel described a design discipline: the company does not make designs just because they might sell, and avoids crass humour.
Inc42 reported that Patel's FY22 growth push favoured customer acquisition over retention, and that the brand lost many repeat customers as a result. Inc42 reports that the company turned profitable in FY24. Reported filings-based figures show operating revenue of ₹360.2 crore in FY24 (Entrackr; Inc42). FY23 revenue is reported as about ₹235 crore by the company (Inc42; afaqs) and ₹233.5 crore in filings-based reporting. The company raised its first funding of $3 million in November 2018 (Inc42).
One third-party site claims a 200% annual repeat rate and a community of over five million customers. Those claims are not traced to a primary source, so this case does not use them.
Strategic Objective
TSS has not published a single formal "community strategy" document. The objective has to be read from public statements. Patel told afaqs that the brand aims to be a platform for fans to express their passion through fashion, and that its social handles are about building a community and being part of the culture. On the 2025 Super Screenings, Patel said fans are not just customers but a community. In the Feb 2025 Fandom Festival announcement, TSS presented the festival as a way for fans to engage, shop and connect across app, website and stores.
The commercial objectives are also on record, each as a company statement. Patel told afaqs in Oct 2024 that the brand targeted 40 stores by December 2024, planned to use stores as fulfilment points for faster delivery, and intended to list an IPO once revenue reached ₹1,000 crore. Mint's May 2025 reporting, as summarised in a secondary source, cited plans to roughly triple store square footage. The original Mint article was not retrieved for this case, so that point is flagged as secondary.
Campaign Architecture & Execution
There is no single named "campaign". The documented strategy is a set of connected community mechanisms.
Licensed fandom as the product base. Inc42 (Apr 2026, a BrandLabs sponsored feature) states TSS has more than 200 licensed collaborations, citing One Piece, Naruto and Marvel. afaqs (Oct 2024) lists Marvel, DC Studios and popular sitcoms as references on products. TSS acquired the pop-culture merchandise brand Redwolf in April 2025; financial terms were not disclosed (Inc42; exchange4media).
Fan events tied to releases. TSS hosted a first-day screening of Deadpool & Wolverine at Chitra Cinema, Mumbai. A company statement relayed by Music Unplugged says that event drew over 3.5 million Instagram views. For Joker: Folie à Deux, TSS hosted a screening on 2 October 2024 at Orion Theatre, Santacruz, with 110+ influencers and 70+ customers, per Tellychakkar; Local Samosa had earlier reported that lucky customers would be selected to attend. In July 2025, MediaInfoline reported Super Screenings for Fantastic Four, Superman and Jurassic World across three weekends with over 1,200 fans. TSS also ran a ticketed Brooklyn Nine-Nine festival at its office and pop-ups in cities including Rajkot and Delhi (Impact, Feb 2025).
Commerce-linked fan mechanics. Business Insider India reported that for Avengers: Endgame in 2019, TSS asked Marvel fans to buy merchandise before they became eligible for a contest to win screening tickets, and that Marvel merchandise sellers including TSS saw sales rise a month before release.
Membership. TSS offers a membership at ₹199 a year or ₹99 a month. Patel told afaqs that over 50% of revenue comes from the membership programme, and that 80% of members recoup the fee on their first purchase. Both are company-stated, not independently verified. Entrackr-based reporting indicates that membership fees are a small share of operating revenue itself, which means the "over 50%" claim refers to sales by members, not fee income. This distinction is an analytical reading of the two reports.
Physical stores. Inc42 reports that stores began as a marketing tactic: a billboard cost ₹1 to 2 lakh a month against ₹3 to 4 lakh in store rent, with the added benefit of sales and feedback. Patel claims stores were profitable from day one with revenue per square foot four to five times industry standards. These are founder claims. afaqs reported the 30th store opened in Ahmedabad in October 2024, and Inc42 (Apr 2026) reports 70+ stores.
Ambassadors and sport. afaqs reports Hardik Pandya as brand ambassador and Sara Ali Khan as an investor, and quotes Patel saying the association with Pandya was organic. Exchange4media quotes Rohin Samtaney saying TSS is an official merchandise partner for MI, CSK, RR and KKR in the IPL. The retrieved copy of that interview carried no date.
Positioning & Consumer Insight
Patel's documented insight is that fans of global franchises lacked a stylish, high-quality, locally available option. Inc42 (Apr 2026) records the product philosophy as design with subtle references and storytelling rather than just placing characters or logos on merchandise. Patel told Inc42 the aim is designs that are culturally relevant and wearable as everyday fashion.
The positioning is wider than the licensed product. afaqs reports that 60% of FY23-era revenue came from non-licensed products such as solid shirts and quirky t-shirts, and that t-shirts were under 20% of revenue. Patel said the most popular offerings were solid products with quality fabric at competitive prices. The brand has also expanded into shirts, denims, footwear, women's wear and accessories (Inc42, Apr 2026).
Analytical reading. These facts suggest that "community" works as the brand's identity layer, while a large part of sales comes from everyday product the licensed fandom helps to sell. The public record does not establish how much of the non-licensed revenue is caused by community engagement.
Media & Channel Strategy
afaqs (Oct 2024) reported the FY23 revenue split as 60% website and app, 25% offline stores and 15% marketplaces including Flipkart, Amazon and Myntra, with TSS planning to add quick-commerce listings. A secondary site, citing an earlier Inc42 report, gives 64%, 21% and 15%. The two reports differ, so this case uses the afaqs figures and flags the discrepancy.
On social media, afaqs reported 1.4 million Instagram followers in October 2024 and quoted Patel saying social handles are both an engagement channel and a source of return on investment. The Super Screenings reports indicate events are amplified through influencers and social sharing. In 2024 Inc42 reported a reduction in order processing time from 24 to 12 hours, and Inc42 (Apr 2026) credits logistics partner Shadowfax with enabling faster fulfilment and a 2% reduction in return-to-origin rates, per the brand's partner feature.
Business & Brand Outcomes
The documented financial record, based on filings reported by Entrackr and Inc42, is as follows. Operating revenue rose from ₹360.2 crore in FY24 to ₹492.4 crore in FY25, a 37% increase. Net profit fell about 38%, from ₹17.7 crore to ₹11 crore. Inc42 attributes the fall to the absence of a tax credit booked in FY24, while other outlets pointed to higher employee and marketing costs. Profit before tax rose to ₹12.8 crore from ₹10.1 crore, per reporting from afaqs-affiliated coverage via Startuppedia. Product sales were about 98.5% of operating revenue.
Management statements go further, though they are not results. Patel told Inc42 in April 2026 that TSS was on track to close FY26 with revenue of nearly ₹700 crore, helped by category expansion, deeper licensing and a growing omnichannel presence. No verified public filing-based FY26 figure was located for this case. Inc42 also reports that TSS has raised more than $24 million from investors including Elevation Capital and RPSG Capital Ventures.
Strategic Implications
Community is an asset only when it is tied to a commercial structure. The documented pattern pairs fan events with purchase mechanics (the Endgame contest), membership and stores. Public sources do not isolate which element drives revenue, so any claim that events cause growth would exceed the evidence.
Licensing creates both authenticity and dependency. More than 200 licences, per Inc42, give TSS credibility with fans. The same fact means that the supply of themes sits partly with rights holders. The public record contains no information on licence terms or renewal risk.
Diversification may dilute or extend the fan identity. With non-licensed product forming a majority of revenue in the afaqs-reported period, TSS is already operating as a broader lifestyle brand. Sharma told Inc42 that establishing its identity as a fashion-forward casual wear and lifestyle brand was the main challenge ahead. How this balance plays out is not yet documented.
Growth pressures profitability. FY25 revenue grew faster than net profit, and management has talked about doubling down on stores, international expansion and q-commerce. Whether community spend scales efficiently is an open question that public data cannot answer.
Discussion Questions
The public record separates TSS's community activity from its product mix, where most revenue comes from non-licensed items. What evidence would you need to decide whether community drives that revenue or merely accompanies it?
The Endgame contest required a purchase before entry. How does gating fan access behind a purchase change the meaning of "community", and what risks does it carry?
TSS reports that stores began as marketing and later became a revenue channel. Evaluate the argument for treating physical retail as a community asset rather than a distribution cost.
More than 50% of revenue is stated to come from members at a ₹99 to ₹199 fee. Discuss what this implies about the purpose of membership: loyalty, data capture or price positioning?
If TSS moves toward a broader lifestyle identity, which community mechanisms should it preserve, and what metrics would you track (noting that none are publicly disclosed today)?
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