Brand Ambassador of iQOO Mobile in India

iQOO — which stands for “I Quest On and On” — entered India in February 2020 as Vivo’s performance-focused sub-brand and quickly carved out a distinct identity in the hyper-competitive Indian smartphone market. Built around the pillars of speed, power, and gaming, iQOO has always targeted a specific type of consumer: young, tech-savvy, performance-hungry individuals who demand the best from their devices. To build brand credibility from day one, iQOO has invested in high-profile brand ambassador relationships that mirror this performance-first identity.

From cricket superstar Virat Kohli establishing its initial premium credentials to Bollywood celebrities endorsing its Z-series, and now India’s top esports gamers co-creating its very devices — the iQOO brand ambassador journey in India is a fascinating study in strategic, audience-driven marketing. This article covers all the key ambassadors, campaigns, and the evolving philosophy behind iQOO’s endorsement strategy in India.

Who Are the Current Brand Ambassadors of iQOO in India?

As of 2026, iQOO India has moved towards a community-driven, gaming-first ambassador model. The brand’s most prominent current associations are with three of India’s biggest gaming creators — Mortal, Scout, and Payal Gaming — under a groundbreaking product co-creation initiative announced in March 2025 alongside its ongoing campaign partnerships with Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan.

Current iQOO Brand Ambassadors & Key Endorsers in India:

• Mortal (Naman Mathur) — Gaming Creator & Product Co-Creator
• Scout (Tanmay Singh) — Gaming Creator & Product Co-Creator
• PayalGaming (Payal Dhare) — Gaming Creator & Product Co-Creator
• Kartik Aaryan — Bollywood Actor (iQOO Z-Series Campaigns)

History of iQOO Brand Ambassadors in India

Since its India debut in 2020, iQOO has worked with several celebrity faces — each chosen to reflect a specific stage of the brand’s growth and the product it was promoting. Here is a timeline of the key ambassador partnerships.

• 2020: Virat Kohli — The Launch Ambassador: When iQOO entered India with its first product, the iQOO 3 5G, the brand made an immediate statement by signing cricket icon Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. Kohli’s association was deeply aligned with iQOO’s “Monster Inside” launch campaign, developed by Lowe Lintas. His image as an elite, high-performance athlete who constantly pushes boundaries was a natural fit for a brand built on speed and power.
• 2024: Kartik Aaryan — Bollywood’s Energy for the Z-Series: Bollywood’s most energetic young superstar, Kartik Aaryan, was brought in as the face of the iQOO Z9 5G and later the iQOO Z9s Pro. His campaigns highlighted the phones’ multitasking power and gaming capabilities, with taglines like ‘We are Megataskers’ that resonated with iQOO’s target audience.
• 2024: Pooja Hegde — iQOO Z9 5G: South Indian and Bollywood actress Pooja Hegde co-starred with Kartik Aaryan in the iQOO Z9 5G campaign, helping the brand reach a broader, more diverse demographic — particularly in southern India where Hegde commands a massive fan following.
• 2024–25: Samantha Ruth Prabhu & Bhuvan Bam — Campaign Collaborators: As part of its strategy to engage multiple consumer communities, iQOO collaborated with actress Samantha Ruth Prabhu and digital creator-turned-actor Bhuvan Bam for select product campaigns, broadening its reach across content genres and regional audiences.
• 2025: Mortal, Scout & PayalGaming — The Gaming Co-Creators: In the brand’s most transformative ambassador move yet, iQOO partnered with 8Bit Creatives in March 2025 to appoint India’s top three gaming creators as product co-creators and brand ambassadors — a role that goes beyond traditional endorsements into active product development.

Virat Kohli: The Brand Ambassador Who Built iQOO’s India Identity

The “Monster Inside” Campaign (2020)

When iQOO launched in India on February 25, 2020, it needed a face that instantly communicated elite performance to millions of Indian consumers. Virat Kohli — India’s most celebrated cricketer and a global icon of relentless self-improvement — was the perfect choice. Kohli became iQOO’s first brand ambassador in India, fronting the “Monster Inside” campaign developed by Lowe Lintas for the iQOO 3 5G launch.

Speaking at the time of the announcement, Gagan Arora, Director of Marketing at iQOO India, said the brand wanted to appeal to young, energetic people who respond to challenges with determination — and that Kohli was the most seamless fit for iQOO’s personality. Kohli himself described the association as natural, noting his belief in constantly pushing boundaries and raising performance standards — values that he found authentically reflected in iQOO’s products.

Kohli’s association with iQOO ran through 2020 to 2022, during which time the brand established its core identity as India’s go-to high-performance smartphone brand. His presence gave iQOO the mainstream credibility it needed as a new player entering a crowded premium smartphone market.

Kartik Aaryan & Pooja Hegde: Bollywood Power for the Z-Series

As iQOO evolved its product portfolio to address the mid-premium segment with its Z-series, the brand brought in Bollywood’s most bankable young star Kartik Aaryan alongside actress Pooja Hegde to front the iQOO Z9 5G campaign in 2024. The dual-celebrity campaign was a deliberate bid to reach both male and female youth audiences, with Aaryan’s fast-paced, energetic persona aligning perfectly with the Z9 5G’s performance messaging.

Kartik Aaryan went on to become the face of the iQOO Z9s Pro as well, endorsing its Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 processor-powered performance under the “Megataskers” campaign — a term iQOO coined to describe the new generation of users who simultaneously game, work, stream, and create without compromise.

Mortal, Scout & Payal Gaming: The Gaming Co-Creators

1. Mortal — Naman Mathur

India’s Most Iconic BGMI Creator & Co-Founder of S8UL

Naman Mathur, known universally as Mortal, is one of India’s most followed gaming personalities and a co-founder of S8UL Esports — the country’s biggest esports organisation. His partnership with iQOO, formalized in March 2025 through the 8Bit Creatives collaboration, goes well beyond traditional endorsement. Mortal actively provides real-time feedback on iQOO’s upcoming gaming devices, influencing design decisions, gaming feature development, and community-driven innovations. His deep credibility within the Indian gaming community makes his association with iQOO uniquely authentic and powerful.

2. Scout — Tanmay Singh

Elite BGMI Pro Player & Fan Favourite

Tanmay Singh, known as Scout or ScoutOP, is one of India’s most skilled and celebrated BGMI professional players. His inclusion in the iQOO gaming co-creation initiative brings the perspective of a competitive esports athlete into the product development process. Scout’s high-performance mindset, ability to identify latency and hardware issues under competitive conditions, and massive fan following make him a valuable product partner and brand voice for iQOO’s gaming-first positioning.

3. PayalGaming — Payal Dhare

India’s Top Female Gaming Creator

Payal Dhare, known as PayalGaming, is India’s most prominent female gaming content creator and a powerful symbol of the growing diversity within the Indian gaming community. Her involvement in iQOO’s co-creation initiative is both strategically and culturally significant — it signals iQOO’s acknowledgement that the Indian gaming audience is no longer a monolithic male demographic. With nearly 90% of Indian gamers on mobile platforms, Payal’s presence ensures iQOO’s products and messaging connect with female and casual gaming audiences alongside hardcore competitive players.

Quick Reference: iQOO Brand Ambassadors in India

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1. Who is the current brand ambassador of iQOO Mobile in India?

As of 2025, iQOO’s key brand ambassadors and co-creators in India are gaming creators Mortal (Naman Mathur), Scout (Tanmay Singh), and PayalGaming (Payal Dhare). Bollywood actor Kartik Aaryan continues to be associated with iQOO’s Z-series campaigns.

Q2. Who was the first brand ambassador of iQOO in India?

Virat Kohli was iQOO’s first and founding brand ambassador in India, announced in February 2020 alongside the launch of the iQOO 3 5G — the brand’s first product for the Indian market.

Q3. Why did iQOO shift from celebrity ambassadors to gaming creators?

iQOO’s core audience is performance-focused, tech-savvy consumers who are passionate about gaming and multitasking. Gaming creators like Mortal and Scout have deep, authentic credibility within this community — a level of trust that traditional Bollywood or cricket celebrities cannot replicate for a gaming-first brand.

Q4. What is the iQOO and 8Bit Creatives product co-creation initiative?

Announced in March 2025, this initiative sees Mortal, Scout, and PayalGaming go beyond traditional brand endorsements to actively participate in shaping the next generation of iQOO gaming devices — providing real-time feedback, influencing feature development, and helping build community-driven innovations.

Q5. What products has Kartik Aaryan endorsed for iQOO?

Kartik Aaryan has endorsed the iQOO Z9 5G (alongside Pooja Hegde) and the iQOO Z9s Pro, featuring in campaigns that highlight the phones’ multitasking prowess and gaming performance under the ‘Megataskers’ messaging.

Conclusion

iQOO’s brand ambassador story in India is one of the most dynamic in the smartphone industry. From leveraging Virat Kohli’s elite performance image to establish a premium foothold, to bringing in Bollywood energy for its mid-range Z-series, and ultimately building an industry-first product co-creation model with India’s top gaming creators — iQOO has consistently aligned its ambassador strategy with its evolving audience and product ambitions.

As India’s mobile gaming ecosystem continues to boom and iQOO expands its reach across price segments, the brand’s community-first ambassador philosophy, anchored by Mortal, Scout, and PayalGaming, positions it uniquely as a brand that is truly built for gamers, by gamers — a powerful and authentic differentiator in one of the world’s most competitive smartphone markets.