Ogilvy & Mather has developed a TV spot urging Indians to get involved with the Hero Indian Super League with an official TV campaign called “C'mon India, Let's Football!” The TV spot forms the basis of an extensive, 36-day, 360 degree marketing campaign, which kicked off with a panoramic, 100 second film that strives to capture the "Hopes of 1.2 billion people to live their dream of building a footballing nation." The campaign will continue to air in the run-up to the football tournament's inaugural game on the 12th of October.
The TV spot forms the basis of an extensive, 36-day, 360 degree marketing campaign, which kicked off with a panoramic, 100 second film
The spot (below) is soundtracked by Amit Trivedi, a noted Bollywood composer, and attempts to harness the spirit of the hundreds of millions of football fans across the country. The press release states that "Be it the fishermen of Kerala, the dancers from Rajasthan, or the monks in the northeast, everybody is gripped with the football fever. The combined effort, passion and power of Indian fans eventually takes shape of a unique and panoramic human stadium.” This human stadium is just that, a literal human stadium. It's an incredibly ambitious idea brought together with warm sentiment and a thumping soundtrack.
Hero Indian Super League 2014
The film, which climaxes with a crowd of wide-eyed children gazing up at a sky full of footballs, was something of a magnum-opus project for Ogilvy & Mather, with shoots taking place across more than 20 locations in the country by Manoj Pillai of ThinkPot films. It was first launched during last Sunday's cricket match between India and England and was followed by a dense promotional blitz across the Star Network, which is one of the countries leading entertainment channels. To help back up the film (and the event itself) there will also be significant engagement throughout social media.
The campaign was first launched during last Sunday's cricket match between India and England and was followed by a dense promotional blitz across the Star Network
Gayatri Yadav, the marketing head of Star India, said the simple brief given for the campaign was “The birth of a footballing nation,” and he feels the results are not only loyal to the initial mandate, but are “Loyal to the magnitude” of the project, which he feels “Brings alive the dreams, aspirations and talent that will ultimately see India take its rightful place in football world." Srinivvasan Gopalkrishnan, the assistant vice president of marketing at the Indian Super League, believes that the film “Showcases India's grand welcome to the beautiful game and with it, the passion and dreams of all Indians out there.” He hopes that the campaign manages to build anticipation for an event he feels will be a “Great sporting spectacle.” Piyush Pandey, executive chairman and creative director, South Asia, Ogilvy & Mather, adds, “India is a great nation which will excel in everything possible” and calls football (rather fittingly) the country's “Next goal.” He says both himself and the agency are “Extremely excited about the League” and the campaign.
Official Ogilvy & Mather Website
Official Hero Indian Super League Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK.
