The Indian Premier League, the biggest property of the country, is all set to regale audiences in its fifth year. For over two months, cricket will take over most discussion in the country and stadiums will be fuller than offices at some places.
To signify the country's obsession with the game and the impact it creates across the country, broadcaster Sony Max has come out with a new campaign called, 'Aisa Mauka Aur Kahan Milega'.
Stretching across a period of six weeks till the launch of the tournament, the DLF IPL campaign has had a complete 360 degree rollout across mass media. Starting with the films on television, the communication has been active on other mediums like print, radio, internet, outdoor, mobile, and out of home as well.
Talking about the campaign Gaurav Seth, Senior Vice President, Marketing & Communications, Max, said, "The IPL campaigns on Max have always been distinctive and path-breaking. This year, with the 'Aisa Mauka Aur Kahan Milega' campaign, we want to bring alive the obsession and passion for the IPL."
The ad campaign features four short films called Family Photo, Phupaji, Summer Vacation and Friends that signify the impact IPL has had over the past years in the country. It has been created by JWT and directed by Rajesh Sethi, the writer of Main Hoon Na. It has been shot by Ravi K Chandran with music by R Anandh while the lyrics have been penned by Manoj Yadav. "It was fun creating the communication campaign for IPL. While the smaller four films have been simple insights, the finale film is a earthy, India street film shot with a massive crowd," Seth said.
Seth said that the idea for the campaign this year was to be a tad mellower than previous years. "We did a survey across 35 cities in the country to see what role IPL has played in their lives. We asked them for anecdotes so that we could come up with something different," Seth said. Among the stories they came across, the four short films were created. An old woman in Nanded expressed the joy of sitting with her son and grandson and cheering for the Mumbai and Pune matches which became the basis for Family Photo. Another story featuring a call centre executive in Delhi where people bunk office or ask friends to update them about the score became Friends and so on. "We have always compared our campaigns with hyperbole such as Manoranjan Ka Baap and Bharat Bandh in previous years. This year, we decided to do something from the consumer's point of view. If you look at the four films, they are all based on real life opportunities caused by IPL," Seth said.
The larger part of branding IPL is the fact that there is actually nothing to brand. As Seth said, every Indian who owns a TV set has seen at least one IPL match once. In such a scenario, where the campaign must take backstage to the brand, it becomes difficult to put across the message to an audience already aware of every aspect of the tourney. "In our campaigns, we do not focus on the glamour aspect of IPL, cheerleaders, the games and their benefits etc. Our agenda is to tell the audience that like previous years, this year too IPL is back in a bigger and better way. However, creatively and effectively branding the tournament takes a lot of work. We spent over six months thinking about ideas and executing it. There were many glitches along the way but when you have a property like IPL with you, you can't afford to compromise on any aspect," Seth said.
According to him, the ads have received positive feedback. Word of mouth has been pretty strong over the Internet for the campaign too. Title sponsor DLF and other supporting sponsors are back this year and while there are still some issues to clear before IPL can truly be played in a hiccup-free atmosphere, Seth is confident that this year will be a memorable one for IPL and its fans.
Source Citation
"Cashing in on a craze." Screen 30 Mar. 2012. Communications and Mass Media Collection. Web. 30 Mar. 2012.
Document URL
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA284636603&v=2.1&u=22054_acld&it=r&p=PPCM&sw=w
Gale Document Number: GALE|A284636603
No comments:
Post a Comment