MxMIndia

Tag: T20 Cricket World Cup

  • The way the sport was growing about a decade ago, football should have been a clear No 2, writes Shailesh Kapoor. But… read on

    Whistle Up The World Cup

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorWe are moved from one World Cup into another. Within a week of the T20 Cricket World Cup final, the FIFA World Cup kicked off in Qatar. So far, it’s been a fairly engaging tournament, though punctuated by four goalless draws on the way. There have already been two big upsets in the first four days, with fancied Argentina and Germany losing to Saudi Arabia and Japan respectively.

     

    The popularity of the sport of football rose in India about 10-15 years ago, as international leagues started getting popular, and a loyal (though niche) fan base started building around specific teams and players. Over the last five years though, the sport seems to have hit some sort of stagnation. In Ormax’s ‘We, The Sports Fans of India’ report, released in April 2022, football has 23.4 million fans in India, and ranks no. 4, just behind kabaddi (28.5 mn) and WWE/ wrestling (26.5 Mn). Cricket, of course, is the dominant leader, at 124.2 Mn.

     

    The way the sport was growing about a decade ago, football should have been a clear No 2, with about 35-40 millions fans, at the very least. One of the impeding factors has been that Indian Super League (ISL), founded in 2013, has failed to fire. The league continues to exist and even get some viewership. But it has not generated fandom for the sport, beyond a handful of states like West Bengal, Goa and Kerala, where the sport has always been big anyway.

     

    In contrast, kabaddi has seen huge build-up of fanbase, starting from virtually nothing, on the back of a vibrant and thriving league. It’s not very difficult to understand why Pro Kabaddi League has been a bigger success than ISL. With exposure to the best of international football, the quality at display in ISL looks mediocre in comparison. And there is no room for mediocre content in a world where we are inundated with options.

     

    The sport one starts watching in one’s teens is often the main sport one watches through the rest of their lives. What one plays (the few who do!) may evolve over the years, but the first choice to watch invariably doesn’t. Football was making inroads on this front, till a few years ago. A new generation of kids in the metro cities would find cricket too slow, and international football became their go-to sport.

     

    Since then, these kids have grown up to be in their 20s, and IPL has grown stronger with each passing year. The gap between cricket and other sports may only be widening now, I suspect.

     

    But that’s a thing of the future. For now, we have another three weeks of what is arguably the biggest global sporting spectacle, and at very friendly India timings too. Relish!

     

  • With the strapline ‘We Are In The Making’ to highlight the power of self-exploration

    DDB Mudra partners Instagram on brand campaign

    By Our Staff

     

    Instagram has announced a new consumer marketing campaign aimed at encouraging young people to express and explore their personal stories, on the platform. The campaign, ‘We Are In the Making’, is Instagram’s first brand campaign in India, and will air on TV during the IPL and the upcoming T20 cricket World Cup, in addition to other broadcasters. the campaign has been visualised in partnership with DDB Mudra.

     

    Said Avinash Pant, Director – Marketing, Facebook India: “With Reels, we’ve seen the rise of a new cohort of short form video creators who’ve discovered their interests and found their voice, and attained national popularity in the process. The new campaign from Instagram brings these local insights together, with our global platform, and celebrates the multi-dimensional generation. While the young continue to shape their identity, we wanted to highlight the power of self-discovery for them through relatable and inspirational stories. We hope the campaign encourages young Indians to express and shape themselves on Instagram.”

     

    Added Pallavi Chakravarti, Creative Head – DDB Mudra West: “Experimentation is the name of the game. Or at least it was, an hour ago. That’s how quickly the world is changing in the Instaverse. A platform where a storm of creation is constantly brewing, self-expression is being permanently redefined and identities are being shaped and reshaped with every passing day. Nothing is set in stone here, it is culture-in-progress. To bring this reality to life through a campaign, we decided to keep it real. Hence the articulation: We Are In The Making.”

     

  • Dhoni resoundingly captures and brings alive the brand idea by pulling out a day in his life to a person who’s ascribing his success to luck

    MSD endorses benefits of Revital H in latest campaign

    By A Correspondent

     

    As part of Revital’s future growth plans, it has unveiled a new campaign featuring youth heartthrob and captain of the Indian cricket team Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

     

    For Revital H’s next leap, it was imperative to further enhance its relevance and be seen as a partner in good health offering not just physical energy but also mental agility. The need was for a persuasive and well differentiated messaging delivered through a brand endorser who strongly personifies both physical fitness and mental alertness. With that intention, the most successful Indian cricket captain MS Dhoni was roped in as Revital H’s brand ambassador.

     

    The integrated campaign, created by Lowe Lintas Delhi rests on the powerful and intrinsically Indian insight that often success is attributed to luck thereby diluting all the effort that goes behind the achievement. The campaign vividly attempts to correct this misnomer and pave way for the brand as a partner of success while embodying hard work and mental alertness. Dhoni resoundingly captures and brings alive this brand idea by pulling out a day in his life to a person who’s ascribing his success to luck.

     

    Naveen Gaur

    Commenting on the new campaign, Naveen Gaur, President, Lowe Lintas Delhi said, “The challenge for the agency was to take a really popular leader brand like Revital H to the next level of growth by creating a highly persuasive campaign. In its attempt to become a fast-evolving, achiever society there is a huge stress that’s laid on professional and personal success among individuals. The campaign attempts to position Revital H as a partner of success.”

     

    Arun Iyer

    Sharing his thoughts on the campaign approach, Arun Iyer, Chief Creative Officer, Lowe Lintas said, “The campaign stems from the interesting insight that many times the success achieved by others is ascribed to their luck and all the effort that goes behind gets diluted. We took a leap on this insight and created communication that most Indians would resonate with.”

     

     

    Subodh Marwah

    Adding his insight on the new campaign, Subodh Marwah, VP & Head, Sun Pharma Consumer Health Care said, “The goal now is to expand our reach and induce higher trials and we plan to do it in a way that will be well received by the consumers. In Mahendra Singh Dhoni, we have found a perfect ambassador who is not only a physically fit athlete but also boasts of extreme mental agility – attributes that define Revital H at its core.”

     

    Revital H is positioned as daily health supplement for overall health and wellbeing, with H connoting ‘Health’. It is a complete and balanced daily health supplement that contains vitamins, minerals and ginseng. Revital H is the flagship brand of Sun Pharma Global Consumer Healthcare.

     

    The campaign will go on air during the T20 Cricket World Cup and would span the offline and online mediums for maximum reach.