Founded in the year 2018, for a vast population of the country CRED exists as a rewards platform for credit card payments, specifically aimed at HNIs and UHNIs. However, for me as a ‘curator, writer, photographer’, CRED remained fairly oblivious till 2019, I was first introduced to them, through a friend who was co-creating unique experiences with them, at Sunburn Goa.
For the first time ever, I saw a digital platform, creating a series of micro affairs, within a larger event, to elevate the experience of their members online. Until then I had only seen American Express users have all the fun, have the most elusive experiences at their immediate disposal, without breaking a sweat. Well, CRED was trying to change that. The trust that it has built with its users over the last 4-5 years is the prime example of how a community is created, or several micro communities are harnessed in order to scale up any business in this digital age as ours. Communities that have access to both digital and physical offerings– CRED became one of the few available ‘fin-tech’ platforms where they were trying to offer benefits to people coming from various social backgrounds. All you needed was a credit card, and a sparkling credit score.
Cut to 2024, I was a part of CRED x Lollapalooza India invite only programming held in Mumbai, at the Mahalaxmi Race Course. After a long walk from the gates, to dragging myself to the concert grounds, I spotted the super exclusive ‘CRED Lounge’, nestled between the two prime performance stages.
As I was walking in, I thought to myself ‘Yes of course, if there’s anyone out there accredited enough to pull this kind of a partnership, it has to be Kunal Shah (Founder, CRED).’
Immediately upon entering I realised that the lounge was primarily catering to artists performing at the festival, it was similar to a green room. A green room, attached to the backstage, in partnership with the best F&B brands (Food by Masque, and Beverages by the Bombay Canteen) in Asia.
The super gracefully done up lounge had one of the best decor, and art pop-ups (powered by an indie gallery-Method India) I’ve experienced in a really long time. Other art fairs and music festivals must truly dig deeper and take notes from Shah and his team to get it right.
A very seamless and well curated amalgamation of art, and music, is what made CRED standout from other “lounges” at the festival.
As if all of this wasn’t enough, CRED was hosting secret gigs parallel to the festival’s program accessible through an invite only format, topping the exclusivity tangent.
As someone who’s been actively involved in community building and catering to niche audiences, I feel that CRED has arrived to the scene at a prime moment. With its several offerings on the roster— rewards on payments, access to their digital magazine, exclusive access to prolific international events, and access to a ‘club’ of like minded individuals, CRED makes a big difference on how clubs should operate and to an extent dictate how they must function as well.
Its heavy digital presence and uniquely positioned offline presence, makes everyone looking at their brand wonder ‘what is CRED, how do I get in, will they accept me?’
Besides, who doesn’t crave for some form of recognition/exclusivity? Who doesn’t want the best of experiences, a true value add?
Everyone.
Pictures and Videos by CRED.
Text by Shrey Sethi.
