As the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup got underway, the start of June saw Puma roll out a rap sung by musical super star Divine (who previously worked with Puma on Suede Gully) and featuring brand ambassador and India cricket captain Virat Kohli.
The anthem, called #SockThem, is amplified through a film revolving around how Kohli makes his ‘bat doing the talking’.
The film was inspired by Kohli’s hand gesture – when he scored a century last year against Australia – indicating that he ‘lets the bat do the talking’.
The pulsating soundtrack led campaign, which was conceptualised by agency Wunderman Thompson, is spearheaded by a video which also stars cameos from other Puma celebrity endorsers such as boxer Mary Kom, female cricketer Sushma Verma, and footballers Rahul Bheke and Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem.
The campaign is pitched as ‘One game. One anthem. Supported by a billion. Indian cricket fans, here’s the official Chakravyuh mein #SockThem anthem by Puma India’.
The initiative urges viewers to join the army of Indian Cricket fans led by Divine’s lyrics, composer Karan Kanchan, plus Mary Kom, Sushma Verma and Kings United as they take up Virat Kohli’s ‘SockThem’ gesture and make it their own.
It invites them to ‘gear up to cheer for the greatest batsman of our era and join him in silencing critiques – on and off the field’.
It is supported by various content pieces: including a lyrics-specific video amplified across the brand’s social channels.
Puma is aiming to rise the Kohli juggernaut to drive brand visibility around the World Cup across social and sales by attract not just cricket fans but all millennials with a campaign that also features emojis, GIFs and even a special edition range of socks.
“Cricket is one of the biggest cultural integrators in India. The ‘sockthem’ campaign celebrates cricket and the culture of the sport that unites our nation,” explained Puma India brand director Abhishek Ganguly.
“The anthem is a perfect way for fans to voice their support for Virat and cheer for team India. Divine and Virat together make this campaign widely-relatable in a manner that is daring, optimistic and inspiring.”
The campaign was also created by ADK Fortune, the spot was directed by Senthil Kumar, the director of photography was Zubin Mistry and the choreography was by Suresh Mukund (Kings United)
Comment:
When it comes to both Indian cricket and Indian marketing, Virat Kohli is king.
The Indian captain’s face is splattered across TV ads, billboards and print executions all across the country during the World Cup.
This initiative is a fine example of marketers diving deep into a marriage of sport, street culture, art and music.
This isn’t the only anthemic ad approach being used at the 2019 ICC ODI World Cup: others include American Tourister’s ‘Champions Anthem’ (see case study) and the official ‘Stand By’ tournament song by Loryn and Rudimental (see case study).
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Links:
Puma
https://www.youtube.com/user/puma
https://www.instagram.com/puma/
Wunderman Thompson
https://www.wundermanthompson.com/
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