Cricket WC 2011: The Changing Game!

A glimpse into the ongoing ad campaigns and a bit of the commercial aspect of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011..

The ad campaigns are meant to strike a chord with the audience and the Pepsi ads are doing just that. First it was Mahi and his Helicopter shot and now KP and his ‘Alti Palti De Ghuma ke’ also known as the ‘Switch Hit’ all part of Pepsi’s World Cup strategy named ‘Change the Game’. The Pepsi ads with top players and their trademark shots are catching the eye. The most recent release of Billy Bowden’s ‘Tedi Ungal’ caught one in the back seat as it was a totally surprising move featuring a renowned ICC Umpire in it.

The idea of this innovative campaign is to present the players and their trade mark shots in a totally new manner that is sure to appeal to the larger youth segment.

The Campaign is conceptualized by Taproot India’s Agnello Dias and Santosh Padhi and directed by Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films.

Speaking about ‘Change the Game’, Indian Cricket Team Captain, MS Dhoni said, “Change the Game for me is not about what you achieve, but how you achieve it. It is about the confidence to take risks and the courage to take the road less traveled. On field, it is about playing innovative shots or making game changing decisions at critical junctures of the play. Pepsi’s Change the Game campaign captures this thought in an exciting and innovative manner and I am sure Youngistaanis will strongly identify with it”. Source: bestmediainfo.com

This Entire Ad Campaign is comprised of Virender Sehwag and his upper cut, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Helicopter shot, Harbhajan Singh’s Doosra, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s Dilscoop, Kevin Pietersen’s Switch Hit, Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina’s aggressive on-field spirit. A few surprise elements such as Billy Bowden’s ‘Tedi Ungal’ are also a part of this Innovative Campaign.

One could be rest assured that once the tournament commences, many other interesting Ad campaigns will surely impress the audience and some may even be surprising. The Surprise element plays a crucial role and the Ad agencies will definitely be aware of this and hence try and make the most out of it. Over the years these ads have only gotten more and more innovative and in a way interactive.

Moving on to the Official song of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011- ‘De Ghuma Ke’ composed by Shankar, Ehsaan and Loy which has been marketed by the very well known media house ‘Oglivy and Mather’.

The media coverage rights have been given to ESPN and Star Sports for a price of around US$ 2 Billion. The tournament would be broadcasted live in about 220 Countries. Source: Wikipedia

The winning team will go home with a whopping US$ 3 Million and the runner ups will be given a sum of US$ 1.5 Million. Over the years the game has only been more and more commercialized and one would eventually agree that this tournament poses itself more like a commercial event rather than a sporting event!

After all who would not want to improvise on the huge Commercial Opening this US$ 120Mn Tournament presents itself with?