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<ul><li>As part of a three-year deal, MPL Sports designed and manufactured jerseys will be worn by Men, Women and the Under-19 Indian cricket teams. </li><li>MPL Sports will also sell licensed Team India merchandise.</li></ul>The <keyword id="81008" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Board-of-Control-for-Cricket-in-India">Board of Control for Cricket in India</keyword> (BCCI) on Saturday announced its partnership with MPL Sports, the athleisure wear and sports merchandise brand from <keyword id="7087972" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword>, as the new kit sponsor and official merchandise partner for <keyword id="9389791" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-indian-cricket-team">the Indian Cricket Team</keyword>. Under the newly-inked the strategic partnership, MPL Sports has entered into a three-year agreement from November 2020 to December 2023. MPL Sports’ association with the BCCI begins with the upcoming India’s tour of Australia, 2020-21, which will see Team India sporting the new jerseys. The senior men and women and the Under-19 teams are also a part of the deal for the new kits. Apart from Team India jerseys, MPL Sports will also sell licensed Team India merchandise. MPL Sports will offer the jerseys and its wide range of team India merchandise to fans at affordable prices. Jay Shah, Honorary Secretary, BCCI said: “The partnership leads us to a new frontier for Team India and for sports merchandising in the country. We look forward to working with a young Indian brand like MPL Sports to tap the potential that this sphere holds. This partnership aims at facilitating access to high-quality Indian cricket fan merchandise, including the coveted Indian cricket team jersey for cricket fans not just in the country but globally.” <keyword id="6359039" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="sourav-ganguly">Sourav Ganguly</keyword>, President, BCCI said: “We are delighted to announce the dawn of a new era for Indian cricket with the appointment of MPL Sports as the kit sponsor for the Indian men’s and women’s national cricket team until 2023. We look forward to MPL Sports adding a new chapter to the team’s kit, and bring Official BCCI licensed merchandise within easy and convenient reach for the billion-plus fans who cheer for Team India.” Commenting on the partnership, Abhishek Madhavan, SVP, Growth and Marketing, MPL and MPL Sports, said: “India is a market with a billion cricket fans and we see a lot of potential in the underpenetrated merchandise market in India. We hope to partner closely with the BCCI and take all kinds of team India merchandise to the masses - with offline as well as online distribution at affordable prices. Associating with the Indian national cricket team is a matter of huge pride for us and we want every fan in the country to feel the same way and have access to the merchandise they can proudly flaunt.” MPL Sports offers a wide range of affordable products, from sports and athleisure wear to Cricket equipment, as well as other accessories such as masks, wrist bands, footwear and headgear, etc. The brand also plans to launch affordable high performance clothing and accessories dedicated to esports fans.

BCCI ropes in MPL Sports as Official Kit Sponsor for Team India

<ul><li>In an interview with Business Insider, co-founder of <keyword id="7087972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> Sai Srinivas Kiran G. talks about how they raked up 20 million users in just 7 months. </li><li>The platform has raised a series A funding from <keyword id="563136" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sequoia-India">Sequoia India</keyword>, Times Internet, and GoVentures, along with participation from existing investors. </li><li><keyword id="6354486" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli">Virat Kohli</keyword> is the brand ambassador of the platform.</li></ul>Mobile Premier League, the <keyword id="3351303" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gaming-startup">gaming startup</keyword>, has raised a series A funding of $35.5 million led by Sequoia India, Times Internet, and GoVentures. And what’s more, the just 7-month old startup also has Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador. In August 2017, Sai Srinivas Kiran G. and Shubham Malhotra started the gaming platform when they realised three things they call the “holy trinity of the internet” – the price of data today is almost zero, the price of a device is extremely cheap and the third but the biggest factor, people now have an accessible and very convenient method for payments. “That’s when we thought why can’t we build a platform where people come together, pick a game of their choice and compete in tournaments across the country and hopefully one day, across the world. That’s how the Mobile Premier League came about,” Sai told Business Insider. MPL is a horizontal mobile eSports platform where every day about 25-30 online gaming tournaments are held. Every day for some of their tournaments, 150,000 to 300,000 are competing to win, said Sai. While MPL doesn’t develop the games themselves, it works with third-party developers and then publishes the game on the platform. “The platform today is not mature enough to be open for all developers, but the eventual goal is to make it a platform where any developer can create and then publish a game for all users,” said Sai. However, it also has a large competitor in the fantasy gaming space – Dream11, the gaming unicorn which already has MS Dhoni as its ambassador. Dream11 has over 50 million users and aims to have 100 million by the end of the<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/dream11-is-eyeing-the-unicorn-tag-riding-on-ipl-and-cricket-world-cup-in-2019/articleshow/68458528.cms"> year.</a> And Sai, too, rightfully credits Dream11 to have built the fantasy gaming industry in India. But, the horizontal Indian online gaming industry today has over 200 million users and the numbers are expected to grow to 50 million by 2022. MPL too hopes to have a piece of that cake. “In just 7 months, we have had great traction as we already have about 25 million users,” he said. Helping them in their quest for growth, is Virat Kohli. Kohli’s appointment as a brand ambassador was strategic – to help introduce the brand to the millions of people who know and follow the cricketer. While Kohli too saw potential in the product to sign it up, Sai said “there was a little bit of luck mixed into the whole thing.” When it comes to funding, Sai and Malhotra are actually one of Sequoia’s favourites. Their previous startup was Creo, which built the streaming media dongles called Teewee, was also funded by Sequoia. Creo was acquired by Hike last year. Their current funding will help them grow faster by hiring the right talent to build out their product infrastructure and build not just an India centric product but a global one. They are currently making revenue from paid tournaments, sponsored tournaments, and advertising. However, Sai says that being so new in the gamef, their focus remains on user growth. See Also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/mobile-premier-league-signs-virat-kohli-as-brand-ambassador/articleshow/68266803.cms">It’s Virat Kohli Vs MS Dhoni in the Indian e-gaming space</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/dream11-enters-the-unicorn-club-brings-on-board-steadview-capital/articleshow/68788418.cms">Dream11 becomes India’s first gaming unicorn</a>

This 7-month old startup has $35.5 million funding from Sequoia and Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador

<ul><li><keyword id="7087972" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> will be the principal sponsor for both the Knight Riders Franchises in IPL &amp; CPL - <keyword id="6354467" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kolkata-Knight-Riders">Kolkata Knight Riders</keyword> (KKR) and <keyword id="3240868" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Trinbago-Knight-Riders">Trinbago Knight Riders</keyword> (TKR).</li><li>While CPL is scheduled to start on August 18, 2020 and conclude on September 10, 2020 in Trinidad, IPL will start on September 19, 2020 in UAE and conclude on Nov 10, 2020.</li></ul> The Knight Riders and Mobile Premier League (MPL) has announced that MPL will be the principal sponsor for both the Knight Riders Franchises in IPL &amp; CPL - Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR). <keyword id="433176" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Venky-Mysore">Venky Mysore</keyword>, CEO &amp; MD, Knight Riders said, “We are very excited to partner with MPL, which is a vibrant Indian start-up company promoted and run by a group of young and innovative people, in Esports and Gaming, that is bound to grow significantly. Our partnership across KKR in IPL and TKR in CPL, will create new opportunities to socialise and activate our partnership. <keyword id="6176095" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Madhavan">Abhishek Madhavan</keyword>, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL, said, “We are excited to be the principal sponsors for Kolkata Knight Riders. The team has been a household name right from the start and have won the prestigious IPL championship twice. They have some stellar players and the team competes to win, which is what MPL is all about as well, so it is the perfect marriage that will help us take our brand to more users. With Trinbago Knight Riders, one of the strongest teams, having won the CPL Championship three times, as its sister franchise, this association will help us take MPL to the international sports arena.” CPL is scheduled to start on August 18, 2020 and conclude on September 10, 2020 in Trinidad, which will feature three-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and five other teams. IPL is scheduled to start on September 19, 2020 in UAE and conclude on Nov 10, 2020, which will feature two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and seven other teams.

Mobile Premier League is the principal sponsor for KKR and TKR for IPL and CPL

A couple of hours after its launch, the <keyword id="9753" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="new-jersey" source="Orion">new jersey</keyword> of the Indian cricket team was showcased in a scintillating light show on <keyword id="92239" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="burj-khalifa" source="Orion">Burj Khalifa</keyword>, the worlds tallest building, in Dubai. MPL Sports, the official kit sponsor for the Indian cricket team, posted the video of the light show at the Burj Khalifa with the new jersey late on Wednesday night. "For the first time ever, a <keyword id="4169" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="team-india" source="Orion">Team India</keyword> Jersey lit up the @BurjKhalifa. The #BillionCheersJersey inspired by the cheers of a billion fans reached new heights, quite literally. Are you ready to #ShowYourGame and back Team <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>?" tweeted the MPL Sports on Thursday. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also shared the video on its Twitter handle, reading as "The Team India World Cup jersey unveil gets bigger and better with a projection on the iconic Burj Khalifa. Watch the historic moment here!" The new jersey, unveiled ahead of the men's T20 World Cup in the UAE and Oman, features soundwaves designs inspired from the cheers of the fans. During the show, larger-than-life renditions of captain <keyword id="6354486" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="virat-kohli" source="Orion">Virat Kohli</keyword>, vice-captain <keyword id="13937" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rohit-sharma" source="Orion">Rohit Sharma</keyword>, <keyword id="6355454" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kl-rahul" source="Orion">KL Rahul</keyword>, <keyword id="3142448" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="rishabh-pant" source="Orion">Rishabh Pant</keyword>, <keyword id="6359948" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ravindra-jadeja" source="Orion">Ravindra Jadeja</keyword> and Jasprit Bumrah in the new jersey. India will kick off their men's T20 World Cup campaign against Pakistan in a Group 2 match of Super 12 on October 24 in the Dubai International Stadium. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/billion-cheers-jersey-checkout-indias-new-t20-world-cup-jersey-unveiled-by-bcci/slidelist/86990151.cms">‘Billion Cheers Jersey’: Checkout India’s new T20 World Cup jersey unveiled by BCCI</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sports/news/these-are-the-top-10-players-with-maximum-sixes-in-ipl-2021-season-so-far/slidelist/87015038.cms">These are the top 10 players with maximum sixes in IPL 2021 season so far</a>

Indian team's new T20 World Cup jersey gets showcased at Burj Khalifa

<ul><li><keyword id="6422069" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-gaming">Online gaming</keyword> is growing in India by leaps and bounds. The pandemic has given the industry a further boost.</li><li>During the past few months, many homegrown gaming platforms have seen unprecedented growth.</li><li>Founded in 2018, <keyword id="7087972" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-premier-league">Mobile Premier League</keyword> has also witnessed a good growth, with many of its users coming from Tier II and Tier III cities.</li><li><keyword id="6176095" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhishek-Madhavan">Abhishek Madhavan</keyword>, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL tells us about the platform's journey so far and how its plans to grow its presence further.</li></ul> The online gaming industry in India is booming. Even before the pandemic hit, and people took to online games, the Indian gaming industry was growing at a healthy speed. <keyword id="906162" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="mobile-gaming">Mobile gaming</keyword> in India has been growing at a rapid rate due to development as well as smartphones becoming more affordable. According to Statista, the market value of mobile gaming in India was estimated to reach about $405 million by 2022. The number of mobile phone gamers was anticipated to be around 628 million by 2020 according to the forecast. Another report by investment bank Maple Capital Advisors titled Gaming – India Story stated that by 2024, the overall gaming industry in India is set to be valued at $3,750 million. The lockdown, while hitting most industries hard, has come as a boost for the Indian gaming industry. In the past few months, we have seen people not just take to offline games to spend time with family, a lot of them are enjoying their me-time playing different kinds of online games. Made-in-India games like Ludo King have witnessed an unprecedented growth, not just in India but even outside India. One such gaming platform that has witnessed an unprecedented growth during these last few months is Mobile Premier League (MPL). Not only is MPL sponsoring teams in leagues like IPL, it recently made news when it announced that it will be the presenting sponsor for <keyword id="8654765" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bigg-boss-2020">Bigg Boss 2020</keyword>. The platform is also witnessing a huge demand from smaller cities. Currently, it has over 40 million registered users in India and around 3 million registered users in Indonesia. Having Sequoia, Go Ventures, Times Internet, RTP Global, BeeNext, Venture Highway as its investors, the startup has raised a total of $40.5 million till date. We recently caught up Abhishek Madhavan, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL to understand the factors that have led to his growth and their plans for the future. Excerpts: Q) The lockdown has come as a blessing in disguise for the gaming industry. What kind of growth has MPL witnessed in the last few months? We witnessed 3-4x overall growth over this period. Number of games played per day for some of our popular titles like WCC increased by 400%. We also saw that new users coming onto our platform played 3-4 different games on average. Q) There has been an overall increase in people taking up gaming from smaller cities. What kind of growth have you witnessed coming in from smaller cities and what are the factors that have accelerated this growth? MPL has always had a substantial presence in Tier II and Tier III cities across the country. A lot of the growth of gaming in smaller cities can be attributed to 4G data and smartphones easily available to more people. We also foresee more growth in this regard as internet and smartphone penetration increases across the country. One of our first digital sports scholars, VS Rathanvel is from Coimbatore and he won the first Chess Mahayudhorganised by MPL in July 2019. The runner-up in the same competition was Ankit Rajpara, who is from Mehsana in Gujarat. Q) What is your revenue model right now? What kind of increase have you seen in in-app purchases in recent months? Are you witnessing people from smaller cities also spend money on gaming? MPL is a gaming platform and we charge a platform fee for paid contests/tournaments. All our games are also available for free. We have seen an increase in our users participating in paid contests and tournaments. Q) How have you been marketing your platform? We just partnered with Kolkata Knight Riders and its sister franchise in the Caribbean- Trinbago Knight Riders - as their principal sponsor. Recently, we even sponsored the Irish Men’s Cricket team for the ODI series against England. These are some of our current marquee brand marketing activities. We also command a good presence in television and digital advertisements and we ensure that the messaging is simple, honest and that it resonates with our audience. Q) Where do you think the next phase of growth for MPL will come from? We are a platform, with a variety of games and content cutting across categories. We will look to add more games from various game developers. Our live-streaming feature for audio and video has also picked up so we are excited about that as well. Q) Where does India rank when it comes to growth in online gaming? Esports has taken off in the country and we have even won a Bronze medal in the Asian Games 2018, where they had esports for the first time. We have a lot of talent in gaming and esports and with the industry becoming mainstream, we can hope to do better on the world stage. Q) What is your vision for MPL? We aim to become a one-stop shop platform for gamers and game developers. We already have 50+ games on our app and have over 15 gaming studios as our developer partners. We want to work with more and more indigenous game developers and give them a platform to showcase their games to our user base. The more the number of quality games, the more our users will have a great experience on the platform.

Mobile Premier League wants to give a boost to indigenous game developers by showcasing their games to its wide set of audience

<ul><li><keyword id="26022" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="bigg-boss">Bigg Boss</keyword> on <keyword id="3113913" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="VOOT">Voot</keyword> has garnered 1.5 billion minutes of watch time in its opening week.</li><li>This season, the show has 11 digital sponsors and brand partners. </li><li>The show on Voot has witnessed over 40% growth in watch-time and an increased contribution of 35% in viewership from Tier 2 towns as compared to the past 3 seasons</li></ul>Bigg Boss has garnered 1.5 billion minutes of watch time in its opening week. This season, the show has 11 digital sponsors and brand partners and an immersive, digital-only, exclusive content slate on Voot. Speaking about the show’s eminence on digital, <keyword id="260775" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Gourav-Rakshit">Gourav Rakshit</keyword>, COO, <keyword id="2947361" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Viacom18-Digital-Ventures">Viacom18 Digital Ventures</keyword> said, “Our objective on Voot has always been to provide content experiences to our viewers that is immersive and engaging. Bigg Boss is a show with a massive and loyal fan base and the show on Voot this year has once again created many milestones like a 40%+ growth in watch-time and an increased contribution of 35% in viewership from Tier 2 towns as compared to the past 3 seasons. We are sure that the specially curated immersive experiences surrounding content on digital have added significant value to our users as well as partner experiences.” The show has also garnered support from leading brands who have come on board the digital bandwagon and partnered with Voot to bring to life engaging interactivities for the #Aslifans. While MPL and Samsung have partnered with the show as digital sponsors and have also sponsored properties like Fantasy League, Voting and Bigg Buzz, Flipkart Video has partnered with the platform for a special interactive segment titled the Bigg Buzz Challenge, crafted around the iconic show. Apart from this, brands like PhonePe, Mama Earth, Magic Moments Music Studio, Swiggy, Durex, Lotus Herbals (Beauty), JBL, Philips have also come on board for the Bigg Boss experience on Voot, through fun curated segments. Some of the marquee digital properties built exclusively by Voot for the #AsliFans of Bigg Boss include - Fantasy League presented by MPL (Mobile Premier League): Fantasy League is an interactive offering from Voot for the #AsliFans of Bigg Boss. Bigg Boss viewers are close observers and build strong fan camps to root for their favorite contestants. Fantasy League is fans’ one-stop destination to choose their teams and win prizes throughout the season. The league will see #AsliFans join by selecting contestants with a pre-assigned credit score. Points are scored basis the contestant’s performance in the show with longer the selected contestant stays in the game, the more points will be scored by the participant. There will be daily multipliers if the selected contestant stays longer in the game. A leaderboard will track the top scorers regularly and the top users will be gratified. Every day 10 winners will be gratified by MPL. Official Voting Partner Samsung: - In addition to being the official voting partner on VOOT, Samsung is integrated on Bigg Buzz via a series of fun and customized integrations which highlight the Samsung Galaxy A71/A51 series. Bigg Buzz Season 4 presented by Flipkart Video: This season, Voot’s popular magazine show is presented by Flipkart Video. Hosted by popular actor <keyword id="167555" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Karan-Wahi">Karan Wahi</keyword>, the show will have weekly episodes every Monday. As part of this association we have created a special interactive segment titled The Bigg Buzz Challenge which is co-hosted on Flipkart Video that provides viewers an opportunity to answer intriguing questions based on the current and past seasons of Bigg Boss. BB Extra Masala- The unseen drama, unedited fights, and unabridged content from the house will be available to the viewers. BB Catch up - A weekly round-up of the drama and action from the house for the viewers to catch-up everything they might have missed during the week.

Bigg Boss 14 on Voot witnesses a 40% increase in viewership over last year, garners 1.5 billion minutes of watch time in the launch week

<ul><li>Since the beginning of sporting events like India’s tour of Sri Lanka in mid-July and the ongoing Olympics, <keyword id="3163762" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="SonyLIV">SonyLIV</keyword> registered an increase of 3X in viewership.</li><li>SonyLIV has roped in 100+ advertisers for India’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.</li></ul>Riding high on the success of Euro 2020, SonyLIV once again recorded landmark numbers with the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and India’s tour of Sri Lanka. Since the beginning of sporting events like India’s tour of Sri Lanka in mid-July and the ongoing Olympics, SonyLIV registered an increase of 3X in viewership. Pioneers in the industry, the platform offered highlights, player compilations, and specials of India’s tour of Sri Lanka in four languages - English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu. With unprecedented coverage with 20 LIVE streams, SonyLIV emerged as the one-stop destination for all the action from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The platform tied up with Google for their Organised Search Results Page (OSRP) to enhance consumer engagement on the platform. With this collaboration, users searched and watched their favourite team or athlete’s medal-winning performances, world record clips, medal event highlights, comprehensive day-wise India highlights, and more on Google OneBox in the form of SonyLIV VODs. SonyLIV has roped in 100+ advertisers for India’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The list of multiple sponsors comprised brands like Maruti Suzuki, LIC, JSW (Jindal Steel), WazirX, Vimal, Swiggy Betway, Fresh to Home and MPL. The platform cleared 99% of the total advertising inventory, on the back of continued support from some of the most prominent brands across various sectors - AMFI, Apple, Tata Motors, RBI, Hindustan Unilever Ltd, Amazon, Herbalife, Visa, Amul, TVS Eurogrip Tyres, NPCI, Accenture, Acer, Dafanews, CoinDCX, Abbott, Cars24, Medibuddy, Bridgestone, Raymond, Yamaha, Fastrack and GoDigit. SonyLIV is also the streaming partner for India’s tour of England, comprising five test matches that began on 04th August 2021. <keyword id="11456071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ranjana-Mangla">Ranjana Mangla</keyword>, Sr. VP &amp; Head of Ad Revenue, <keyword id="6358540" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sony">Sony</keyword> LIV said, "We are enthralled with the overwhelming response from advertisers that helped clear 99% of our total inventory for India’s tour of Sri Lanka and the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. While majority of the Euro 2020 advertisers continued their association, we onboarded more than 100 advertisers. We are grateful to our partners who continue to extend support to all our sporting events. With sports consumption on the rise, we are confident of onboarding new brands for the India-England series." Parth Jindal, Managing Director, JSW Cement, JSW Paints and Founder JSW Sports and IIS said, "The association with Sony and SonyLIV has been truly outstanding - working with a team that is as passionate as JSW with regards to the Olympics has truly been a pleasure and is something we at the JSW Group hope to do again in the very near future." Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director, Maruti Suzuki Ltd said, "Our association with SonyLIV as the Co Presenting Sponsor for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has been very fruitful as it enabled us to connect with sports enthusiasts across the country. For the first time in India, SonyLIV’ s coverage with 20 LIVE streams, has given the viewers a chance to watch their favourite sport and not miss any action. India has already won multiple medals and our association with ‘Tokyo 2020, India’s Top Moments’ and ‘Top Athletes’ segments helped achieve the desired engagement for the brand. We look forward to the forthcoming sporting events on the platform." Nischal Shetty, CEO, WazirX, said, "Our partnership with <keyword id="9550787" type="AGENCY" weightage="20" keywordseo="sonyliv-india">SonyLIV India</keyword> to co-present for the Euro 2020 and India Vs Sri Lanka cricket series through our #IndiakaBitcoinExchange campaign not only helped us land the right knowledge on crypto but also bust the misconceptions around crypto investments. It helped us stay true to our vision to make crypto mainstream in India."

SonyLIV witnesses 3X increase in viewership with its recent sporting events

<ul><li>IPL finally made its comeback a little later than the usual schedule, causing a storm within the sponsors, fans and players. </li><li>Even though the pandemic has seen a direct impact on the <keyword id="10091989" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="sports-sponsorship-market">sports sponsorship market</keyword>, IPL continues to carve a niche for itself in India while also keeping its fans engaged. </li><li><keyword id="7463791" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="ipl-2020">IPL 2020</keyword> has showcased that it is pandemic-proof with the number of brands coming on board for sponsorship. </li></ul> ESP Properties, the entertainment and sports division of <keyword id="177241" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="GroupM">GroupM</keyword>, cited that the IPL 2020 sponsorship crossed the ₹500 crore mark this season. IPL finally made its comeback a little later than the usual schedule, causing a storm within the sponsors, fans and players. Even though the pandemic has seen a direct impact on the sports sponsorship market, IPL continues to carve a niche for itself in India while also keeping its fans engaged. The current position at which IPL stands is quite strong considering how the pandemic has taken a toll in India. This year ESP properties, being at the forefront, helped multiple brands in different categories close deals for IPL, some of them include; Paytm, Colgate, Myntra, Lifebuoy, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Clear Shampoo, Acko Insurance, MPL, Center Fruit and Tata Tea – Chakra Gold amongst others. IPL 2020 has showcased that it is pandemic-proof with the number of brands coming on board for sponsorship. <keyword id="345370" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Vinit-Karnik">Vinit Karnik</keyword>, Business Head, <keyword id="9208643" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="groupm-esp-properties">GroupM ESP Properties</keyword> said, “Sport is a universal language that connects everyone. While Cricket in the country returned with IPL – India welcomed it with a tremendous fervour despite the games being delayed and in a ‘no-live audience’ scenario. GroupM played a pivotal role in closing central and team sponsorships deals this year which goes to show that in a pandemic like this, brands have leveraged IPL to communicate their brand stories in the best way possible. With the heartfelt connection that our country has with the IPL phenomena, the fans made sure that they loyally and virtually welcome the games making sure that COVID-19 does not impact their vibe.” Despite the slowdown, backed by its growing presence IPL continues to attract strong consideration from advertisers and add to the year on year growth of the sports business industry.

IPL team sponsorship crosses ₹500 crore mark this year: GroupM’s ESP Properties

<ul><li>After international sporting events saw a long hiatus, <keyword id="395647" type="SPORT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tokyo-Olympics">Tokyo Olympics</keyword> began on July 23. However, with it came Covid scare. Last week, the number of positive cases breached the 100-mark.</li><li>Owing to the influx of participants from around the world, Tokyo Olympics could turn into a Covid-19 superspreader event and many are calling for the games to be cancelled amid safety concerns. During such volatile times, brands who advertise might face backlash for supporting the games that could be a threat to many lives.</li><li><keyword id="6374528" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="toyota">Toyota</keyword>, for instance, has already pulled the plug on advertising and Coca-Cola said that it wouldn't be deploying any physical Olympic activations in Japan.</li><li>So, with subdued interest in the Olympics, is it best for brands to conserve the marketing spends till consumers spend and sentiment picks up? Is there a chance of their sponsorship backfiring and coming across as insensitive and tone deaf? We speak to brand experts to find out.</li></ul>After a year’s delay, the once-in-four-years summer sporting event Olympics, finally began on July 23, sans spectators. However, COVID-19 infections in Tokyo also continue to rise. According to PTI, it breached the 100-mark on Friday, with 19 more participants testing positive for the infection. The Czech contingent seemed among the worst hit after a fourth athlete Road Cyclist, Michal Schlegel tested positive for the virus. Apart from that, three athletes, 10 Games-concerned personnel, three media persons and contractors associated with the event have been found positive. Consumers have expressed mixed feelings of terror and hope. Due to the influx of participants from around the world, Tokyo Olympics could turn into a Covid-19 superspreader event and many are calling for the games to be cancelled amid safety concerns. During such volatile times, brands who advertise might face backlash for supporting the games that could be a serious threat to many lives. For the same reason, international auto brand Toyota has already pulled the plug on its Olymoc association and Coca-Cola has said that it won't be deploying any physical Olympic activations in Japan. If the number of athletes testing positive goes up, like Indian Premier League, the games might be called off. At the same time, the NBA had 48 positive cases within one week of testing before the season, but the league still went ahead. However, with the Olympics, there is a lot at stake. According to The New York Times, these are said to be the most expensive Olympics in history, and the year-long delay has only added to the budget, $15.4 billion to be precise. If the event is cancelled, IOC may have to refund around $4 billion. Despite the trepidation, brands remain unshaken. In India, we have one of the largest contingents this time with 120 athletes from 85 disciplines and brands are going all out to support them. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has signed Edelweiss, INOX Group and Nippon Paint as national sponsors. Amul, Raymond and JSW Group are game partners. Raymond has come onboard as the official styling partner. According to media reports, MPL Sports Foundation became the principal sponsor after signing a deal for Rs 80 million that covers the Tokyo Olympics and Asian and Commonwealth Games next year. Oakley, Mia by Tanishq, Visa India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Puma India and sponsors JSW, Omega, BridgeStone and Rin have already launched ads to celebrate athletes representing our country at an international stage. “A big question that stresses brands sponsoring the Olympics is whether their continuance may come across as being insensitive to the havoc that Covid has caused and continues to do so,” said Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and former Asia-Pacific Marketing head of HP. “Many people around the world feel that the IOC’s decision to continue holding the Games is inappropriate and seems tone deaf to the reality on the ground. Brands that are associating with the Olympics must stay watchful in their communication and ensure that their brand stays empathetic to the devastating impact that the pandemic has caused, while celebrating sporting excellence. Also, supporting the Indian contingent is always a worthy cause,” added Mathias. But will they get the best bang for their buck? N. Chandramouli, CEO, TRA Research said, “There is a lot of controversy regarding the hosting of the games now. Many think it would have been appropriate to postpone the Olympics by a year, but the cascading impact on the organizers and host country would have been financially devastating to force this decision. It's being called the $20 Billion bust for Japan as the money spent on the stadia will largely go unused. Hosting the Olympics in the middle of the pandemic will leave many sponsoring brands in a quandary if they will get ROI for the money spent. When the host-country Japanese brands are pulling back from advertising, including the Olympic title sponsor, Indian brands will likely do no different. The key mantra to survive Covid as a business is to keep the marketing powder dry, so as to be able to use it at the time when it is likely to give the maximum returns. With subdued interest in the Olympics it is best brands conserve the marketing spends till consumer spends pick up.” Chandramouli said that brands should support a few players/games, in which the likelihood of India winning is high. This once-in-four-years sporting event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. It brings an opportunity for Indian brands to be present on a global platform supporting Indian athletes that elicits feelings of national pride and togetherness. Albeit, low or no spectator events and a lower advertiser interest is likely to have a lower revenue for the games and casual watchers might opt-out. “Viewers have been deprived of quality live sport for much of 2020, though the last few months have been good. Also, many brands are looking at the next few months to ramp up their marketing given that the Covid second wave is behind us and hopefully the third wave will not be as severe. Also, with the festive season fast approaching this makes for a great TV property,” said Mathias. For brands that have associated with the summer games, Harish Bijoor, Founder, Harish Bijoor Consult advised to stay clear of on-ground activations. Bijoor said, “I do believe the Tokyo Olympics should have been scrapped altogether at the altar of the Pandemic. Sadly, that is not to be. My advice to brands would be to use the event as a pure digital property and avoid all on-ground activation. No brand wants to be associated with the image of a superspreader sponsor. Brands must therefore stay cautious. Yes, brands want to get viral, but Covid is not the virus to ride!” Overall, brand experts advise brands to be careful of their messaging, be more active on digital mediums to reach out to global sports fans and only associate with clear-winning games.

With rising COVID-19 cases associated with the Olympic Games, will brands get the most bang for their buck?

<ul><li>Sony Sports has played a key role in bringing non-cricket sports to India.</li><li>This year, Sony Sports is the official broadcaster of the once-in-a-four-year global sports event, Tokyo Olympics.</li><li>Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India tells us how the broadcaster is trying to popularize other sports in India, its plans to immerse consumers with innovative marketing and more.</li></ul>With the lockdown being enforced, subsequent stoppage of play on the field and IPL getting postponed, advertisers have been starved of a good sporting tournament. After the pandemic, many sports properties have either been cancelled or postponed, directly affecting India’s ad revenue and sponsorship pie. While India’s most worshipped sport, cricket, still dominates viewership and sponsorship, <keyword id="3132005" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sony-Pictures-Network">Sony Pictures Network</keyword> (SNP) has given its fans more choices between sporting events and SonyLiv has given them options in terms of what, when and how much to watch, leading to a rise in demand for subscription viewing in live sports. After a long, dry spell, millions of Indians are expected to tune into Tokyo Olympics this year. Sponsors and brands have also started seeing the Olympics as the one occasion to capitalise on the media and consumer attention. As a result, Sony Sports has seen an uptick in demand from sponsors and advertisers across categories for the summer games. To help its advertisers get the best bang for their buck, SPN launched an ‘innovative’ advertising format ‘Split-screen ads,’ which has <a href="https://twitter.com/Archit_0106/status/1418542834395729923">gained </a><a href="https://twitter.com/PrashantMUFC/status/1420988968238161920">mixed </a><a href="https://twitter.com/LifeIsAnElation/status/1418552243893116935">reviews </a>on social media. We caught up with Rajesh Kaul, Chief Revenue Officer, Distribution and Head – Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India to further understand what kind of response the broadcaster and streaming player has seen from advertisers and sponsors, how it is trying to increase non-sporting events’ viewership in india <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?" text="Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?">Q. This year, brands across categories have started to roll out campaigns celebrating the inspirational journey of athletes. This wasn't the case a few years ago. More and more advertisers are exploring international sports that represent India. Are advertisers open to exploring sports beyond cricket now?</cmsannotation> Indians have always been extremely supportive of the Indian athletes when they compete at a global stage. Their performances are celebrated as it is a huge thing to even get to participate, let alone winning a medal at Olympics. More and more business houses/organizations/brands have started promoting various athletes and or Indian contingent. Sports in India is growing dramatically as an entertainment option beyond just cricket. This year. Sony Sports has embarked on a mission to popularize the athletes participating in the <keyword id="7932992" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="olympic-games-tokyo-2020">Olympic Games Tokyo 2020</keyword> and to make them household names. Sony Sports launched the grandest ever campaign in the history of Indian Olympics, Hum Honge Kamyab to galvanize the whole nation to cheer for the India contingent. From the honorable Prime minister of India himself to the sports minister as well as industrialists, sports personalities, philanthropists, Bollywood Superstars, Youtube influencers joined us in our endeavor. Sony Sports has collaborated with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as well as eminent personalities and joining the brigade are Union Minister for I&amp;B and Youth Affairs &amp; Sports, Shri Anurag Thakur, General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Defence Staff and Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee and Mr. N.P. Singh, MD &amp; CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India, along with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Anupam Kher, Sajjan Jindal, Sudha Murty, Nita Ambani, Gautam Adani, Rana Daggubati, Yuvraj Singh, Anjali Bhagwat, Parth Jindal, Boman Irani, Farhan Akhtar, Sonakshi Sinha, Johnny Lever, Ali Fazal, Adille Sumariwala, Arshad Warsi, Pullela Gopichand, Vijender Singh, Anjali Bhagwat, Harsha Bhogle, Shankar Mahadevan, Anurag Basu, and many more to catalyze the Olympic momentum in the nation for the landmark event. This was unprecedented and Sony Sports’ efforts have pumped up the volume of Olympics in India and the #Olympicsjosh decibels have gone up to another level. <div type="Youtube" id="-bnwo0ezgQE" title="Watch PV Sindhu, Manu Bhaker, Mary Kom, Deepak Kumar, Hockey (M) &amp; others LIVE, TOM, July 25 on Sony" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/-bnwo0ezgQE/mqdefault.jpg"></div> <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?" text="Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?">Q. Can you tell us what kind of interest you have seen from advertisers and brands?</cmsannotation> We have received a phenomenal response from advertisers and we have got sponsors on board across categories like beverages, FMCG, education, automobiles, banking, finance, gaming, sports foundations amongst others. The sponsors are Coca-Cola India Pvt. Ltd., LIC, JSW, MPL, Hero MotoCorp, Amul, Reserve Bank of India, AMFI and other advertisers include Visa, Byju’s, Adani Group, Herbalife Nutrition &amp; Lenovo and more. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?" text="Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?">Q. This once-in-a-four-year sports event attracts eyeballs from across the world hosting sports such as shooting, wrestling, long jump, and hockey. Which sport do you think will perform the best in India in terms of viewership?</cmsannotation> We expect great Sports like Wrestling, Shooting, Archery and Hockey, which have also done extremely well on TV in the past, due to the medal winning performances by Indian Athletes. Additionally, there has been high interest to watch Athletics and Gymnastics, owing to the visually engaging nature of the sports. During the 2016 Rio Olympics, Badminton had the highest viewership owing to PV Sindhu winning a silver medal. The final match between PV Sindhu and Carolina Marin was watched by 42 million viewers across the country. This year, we have our largest contingent ever of 127 athletes travelling to Tokyo and the whole nation will want to support and watch our athletes in the various sports disciplines they are competing in like boxing, wrestling, tennis, athletics, badminton, hockey, shooting, archery, weightlifting, Equestrian, Table tennis and more. Some of the athletes that the audiences are already looking out for are Manu Bhaker and Saurabh Chaudhary in shooting, Vinesh Phogat and Bajrang Punia in wrestling, Amit Panghal and Mary Kom in boxing, Deepika Kumari and Atanu Das, PV Sindu in badminton and more. Also, for the first time, we will see participation in fencing with Bhavani Devi and Fouaad Mirza making it to the equestrian event which will also attract audiences. Additionally, to reach out to a wider audience and engage viewers across India, Sony Sports will have a Live wraparound studio show called SPORTS EXTRAAA with a distinguished panel that comprising former Olympians and legendary Indian athletes like Vijender Singh, Gagan Narang, Karnam Malleswari, Anjali Bhagwat, Anju Bobby George, Sakshi Malik, Viren Rasquinha, Somdev Devvarman, Trupti Murgunde, Rahul Banerjee, Kripa Shankar and Satish Shivalingam. We will also have the world-renowned Sprinter and four-time Olympic medalist, Yohan Blake, considered to be the second fastest man after Usain Bolt as a marquee expert on the show. The comprehensive coverage for the global event will be broadcast LIVE in four languages: SONY TEN 2 and SONY SIX channels in English, SONY TEN 3 channels in Hindi and in Tamil &amp; Telugu on the newly launched SONY TEN 4 channels. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?" text="Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?">Q. How do brands get to benefit from advertising on Olympics through Sony this year? What is your advice to brands who are advertising? How can they get the best bang for their buck?</cmsannotation> The Olympic Games is an extremely premium global sporting event, the greatest show on earth with 200+ countries, 11000+ athletes across 339 events in 33 different sports, encompassing a total of 50 disciplines. As I mentioned earlier, this year, we have rolled out the grandest campaign for this showcase event involving 30+ luminaries across the country. The sheer association to the Olympics for any brand will create and drive great brand perception and awareness value. We have offered value-based propositions to our clients and have ensured that we amplify their associations with athletes in the Indian contingent which they might be sponsoring. The brands have also been given the opportunity to ride on the back of the amazing build- up programming which we have locally produced adding to the brands association and visibility. Series like “Torch bearers” are resonating well with our audiences. We are also excited to offer a new breakthrough innovation “Split Screen” advertisement opportunity during the live broadcast. This will help the brands break away from the clutter and amplifies the brand’s visibility manifold without intruding into the viewing experiences of our audiences. This new technology is a game changer and will surely get the best ROI for our key sponsors. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?" text="Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?">Q. How do you think sports marketing has changed in India in the last few years? Any interesting trends that you are expecting to see as we move forward?</cmsannotation> While Indian Cricket will dominate viewership and revenues, Sony Sports has been consistently making efforts to massify and popularize other sports. Sony Sports is a global multi-sporting arena and sports marketing here, is not only talks to the purists but also focuses on attracting fence-sitters and newer audiences to join the Sony Sports community. This has paid off and every year our viewership for sports like WWE, UFC, football properties like UEFA Champions League and non-India cricket is steadily growing. Even the recently concluded UEFA EURO 2020 on our sports channels has seen massive growth compared to the last edition in 2016 by almost 70% Sports as an entertainment quotient is only going to grow.

Sony Sports has embarked on a mission to popularize the athletes participating in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and to make them household names: Rajesh Kaul of SPN

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/magic-the-gathering" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Magic the Gathering</a> is one of the most popular collectible card games in the world, with more than 35 million players spread across 70 countries.</li><li>The game's parent companies, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, recently announced a $10 million esports program for tabletop and digital competitions in 2019.</li><li>The announcement follows the launch of "MTG Arena," a fully digital version of Magic the Gathering for PC.</li><li>The prize money will be divided between the Magic Pro League, supporting the 32 best players in the world, and Mystic Championships, which will allow any Magic player to qualify and compete.</li></ul>Magic the Gathering is one of the most celebrated card games ever created, reaching more than 35 million players around the world in 70 countries. The collectible card game will enter a new phase in its history in 2019 with a brand new esports program announced by Magic's parent companies Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast during <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/new-video-games-introduced-at-annual-game-awards-2018-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Game Awards</a> on December 6th.Launching in 2019, the new esports program introduces a $10 million prize pool split between traditional tabletop tournaments and digital competitions using the new "MTG Arena" video game.Magic the Gathering has a long history of competitive play, with the first Magic Pro Tour dating back to 1996. The decision to introduce a larger scale esports program alongside "MTG Arena" will help introduce a wide range of new players to the game. "MTG Arena" is still in beta, but is free to download. The game is the first fully-digital representation of "Magic the Gathering" and offers learning tools for new players.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-the-power-nine-magic-the-gathering-cards-costs-so-much-trading-game-2018-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">These 9 Magic: The Gathering cards are worth a staggering $27,000 - here's why</a>"Today is an extremely important day for Magic: The Gathering as we announce our commitment to esports and our Magic players by evolving our tournament structure to include a $10 million prize pool," Wizards of the Coast President Chris Cocks said in a statement. "We are fully embracing esports and affirming Magic as a leader in the collectible card game category while providing lucrative opportunities for pros, players, sponsors, and esports partners."The esports program will be divided into two types of competitions: The Magic Pro League (MPL) will be focused on premier events between 32 of the top-ranked Magic the Gathering players in the world; Mythic Championships will let players from around the world compete in "MTG Arena" online to qualify for a chance to play against the stars of the MPL.Official tabletop tournaments will be considered Mythic Championships as well, and each in-person event will award $500 in prize money.The Magic Pro League will focus on developing the top level of professional Magic the Gathering competition, with the top 32 players earning contracts worth $75,000 each. Those top players will face-off against each other each week, with the matchups building toward new Mythic Championship events.To kick off the 2019 esports season, Magic the Gathering is hosting a special $1 Million Mythic Invitational at PAX East 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts this March. Details on qualifying for the event will be revealed in early 2019. The first Mythic Championships for tabletop players will be held in Cleveland (February 22 to 24th), London (April 26 to 28th), Barcelona (July 26 to 28th) and Richmond (November 8 to 10th)."The past 25 years of Magic competition has led us to design this comprehensive esports program that would support Magic: The Gathering Arena, while increasing our investment in tabletop Magic," Elaine Chase, Vice President of Esports at Wizards of the Coast said in a press release. "Our investment in esports will catapult the game to new heights while providing support to the players by giving them the platform to build their brand and bring Magic to a broader audience."For more details on the new Magic the Gathering esports program or to play Magic the Gathering Arena for free, <a href="https://magic.wizards.com/en/competitive-magic" target="_blank" rel="noopener">visit the official website.</a><div></div> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cooked-entire-thanksgiving-dinner-using-google-home-hub-2018-11">I tried cooking an entire Thanksgiving dinner using Google Home Hub and found there are two major flaws with it</a></h3> <div> </div> </div></hr></hr>

With more than 35 million players worldwide, Magic the Gathering is giving back to its community with a brand new game and $10 million in esports prize money

<ul><li>Brands in India are desperate to associate with budding sports stars and ready to jump onto any opportunity that helps them stay relevant.</li><li>However, when it comes to celebrating our athlete’s wins, brands often take the focus away from the champion and make it all about themselves.</li><li>The issue of brands dominating social media moments and making it about themselves isn’t new and the answer is in the question itself -- simply avoid making moments about yourself but a lot of brands don't seem to get it right. </li><li>Advertising folks tell us how to get your moment marketing right without taking away the focus from the trend.</li></ul>It is day 6 of <keyword id="395647" type="SPORT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Tokyo-Olympics">Tokyo Olympics</keyword> 2020 and the Indian contingent has bagged one silver medal in weightlifting so far. A month before the Tokyo Olympics began, from Mia to Omega, brands in India launched an array of campaigns to cheer our champions. Afterall, we have one of the largest contingents this time with 120 athletes from 85 disciplines and brands have followed suit by ensuring that they leave no stone unturned to support their athletes. The once-in-a-four-year summer tournament has attracted sponsorships from across categories. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) has signed Edelweiss, INOX Group, Nippon Paint, Amul, Raymond, JSW Group, MPL Sports Foundation and Raymond as sponsors. Oakley, Mia by Tanishq, Visa India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Puma India and sponsors JSW, Omega, BridgeStone and Rin have launched ads to celebrate the journeys of different athletes. After Mirabai Chanu won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, according to her management company IOS Sports &amp; Entertainment, quite a few brands rushed to get her onboard. She created history by becoming the first Indian weightlifter to win the silver medal at the Olympic Games. Chanu also became the first Indian to win an Olympic medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games in the Women's 49 kg category. As per media reports, brands across categories like nutrition, sports brands, personal care, beverage and regional brands wanted to onboard the 26-year-old weightlifter as their brand ambassador for campaigns and long-term digital associations. So far, Chanu has partnered with Adidas and Mobil oil. After another silver feather in her cap, her endorsement fee is also expected to double. Shortly after her win, she was also offered free pizza for life by Domino's and the brand garnered a lot of attention from the press and the internet for this gesture. <div type="twitter" handle="dominos_india" handlename="dominos_india" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1074660192883621888/XRjWNq8A_normal.jpg" favoritecount="544" retweetcount="82" status="@gitartha_k Aapne kaha, aur humne sunn liya 🙏 We never want @mirabai_chanu to wait to eat 🍕 again so we’re treatin… https://t.co/PMvPfCa9NP" createdat="1627135343000" id="1418934590950027269"></div> This reflects how brands in India are desperate to associate with budding sports stars and are ready to jump on any opportunity that helps them stay relevant. However, the situation was a little different on social media. Brands of all kinds and sizes did celebrate her win but the focus was on their products and services and not on Chanu’s feat. A few internet users called out the brands that made Chanu’s win all about themselves. <div type="twitter" handle="hoopdoge" handlename="sluggy⁷ˎˊ˗ ᴮᴱ" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1411314545159643138/LdQljHq3_normal.jpg" favoritecount="1" retweetcount="0" status="In other words, here’s about a bunch of brands made the occasion all about themselves 🤙 https://t.co/1QkRxDpM45" createdat="1627207615000" id="1419237720539295751"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="manishkalghatgi" handlename="Manish Kalghatgi" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1134699965853437952/QChverfJ_normal.jpg" favoritecount="0" retweetcount="0" status="Do any of these capture your imagination? Are the brands inserting themselves into the moment with any impact? https://t.co/Vz7SXEvrq3" createdat="1627207149000" id="1419235766954123272"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="narayananh" handlename="Narayanan Hariharan" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/755719421860065281/a6WLbNYx_normal.jpg" favoritecount="8" retweetcount="1" status="Did they really celebrate #MirabaiChanu's victory? Doesn't appear so.It was all about their respective brands. https://t.co/HWzyti1v0D" createdat="1627206944000" id="1419234908057194496"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="aniketchitnawis" handlename="Aniket" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1253988807331901445/Dx-Hh7Yf_normal.jpg" favoritecount="67" retweetcount="11" status="aka they totally made it about themselves https://t.co/w0ZjrBNXCw" createdat="1627204097000" id="1419222966215213061"></div> Comedian Varun Nair also uploaded an Instagram Reel showcasing how some brands leveraged Mirabai Chanu's win with poor moment-marketing skills. His caption read, “It seems that Athlete ka achievement celebrate karna aur khudka dhandha should go hand in hand.” <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Video"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> Albeit, there were a few brands like Dunzo and Amul, who have mastered the art of moment marketing, that kept champion Chanu’s victory first and gained a lot of appreciation from their consumers. <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> <div type="javascript" title="Instagram" contenttype="Image"><cdata><![CDATA[ ]]></cdata></div> When it comes to moment marketing, the most important factor is time. It is crucial for brands to churn out their creative before the trend dies. However, in order to meet deadlines and be a part of a trend, if they somehow forget to include the subject of the trend, they might as well stay mum. When it comes to Indian Premier League, the focus in brand campaigns and social media creatives is on Virat Kohli’s sixers or Mumbai Indian’s win. So, why are we not following the same rules for Tokyo Olympics? Advertising folks shared their thoughts on how to find the right balance between being a part of a social media moment and not making it all about yourself. Here’s what they had to say: <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Suveer Bajaj, Co-founder of Zoo Media &amp; FoxyMoron:" text="Suveer Bajaj, Co-founder of Zoo Media &amp; FoxyMoron:">Suveer Bajaj, Co-founder of Zoo Media &amp; FoxyMoron:</cmsannotation> It is great to see that brands are recognizing and appreciating sports beyond cricket. However, the focus needs to be on celebrating the athlete and the sport in question, as opposed to exploring yet another window of opportunity for product placement. Integrating a product into generic occasions such as Mother’s Day or Diwali is expected since the objective is to showcase how a particular brand of sweet or confectionery item can further uplift personal celebration. But in the case of special and specific events such as the Olympics, the larger narrative leans towards commemorating a shared national success, bringing the country together. Brands who are looking to capitalize on these fluid moments, are aiming to be a part of a trending conversation in the country. In addition to solidifying their support for the athletes, they want to gain visibility, build relevance with the audience, and create top of mind recall for themselves. It is a mark of upstanding creativity on the part of the brand when they can seamlessly integrate themselves into these conversations. Certain brands like <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRtRwQ9J9iN/" target="_blank">OBL Tiles</a> and <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CRt0ADFisa-/" target="_blank">Real Juices</a> have paid homage to Mirabai Chanu in an admirable way, by leveraging moment marketing smartly instead of simply looking at ways to superimpose the product in the post. Collectively, brands and creative agencies need to focus on celebrating the spirit of India and what it means for us as a country as opposed to the brand. When the association is slightly more refined and thoughtful, it will resonate with the audience and build engagement. In India, cricket is a religion. Thus automatically, the awareness about the sport, and its subsequent reach and engagement is very high. When brands associate themselves with Cricket and its players, they are hoping to piggy-back not only on the credibility of the players but also on the prestige that the sport enjoys in our country. While other sports such as weightlifting, badminton, archery are gaining momentum and popularity, it is still a far cry from Cricket. Thus, if brands want to adopt this narrative, they will have to create heroes in order to do so. For Olympic sports, the objective then transforms to uplifting the athletes and the sport. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Dentsu Webchutney's P.G Aditya, Pragya Sarin, Stuti Sudha, Benedict Gershom and Kushal Lalvani:" text="Dentsu Webchutney's P.G Aditya, Pragya Sarin, Stuti Sudha, Benedict Gershom and Kushal Lalvani:">Dentsu Webchutney's P.G Aditya, Pragya Sarin, Stuti Sudha, Benedict Gershom and Kushal Lalvani:</cmsannotation> The issue of ‘brands making moments about themselves’ isn’t new. In fact, when done tastefully and consistently, it’s even become part of culture (looking at you, Amul!). But it’s not scaled well on the internet. In the early 2010s, commenting on real-time events was novel, so even doing the bare minimum felt enough as long as you were capturing the moment. But latching onto trends, just to catch that inevitable spike in engagement, is still one of the most common false positives which brands that don’t have social/digital as a focus area tend to fall for. So, how do you not make it about yourself? By not making it about yourself. Simple. When you don’t use the athlete to talk about your brand, and instead, use the power and reach of your brand to hype the athlete/sport, the creative opportunities are endless: maybe change your DP to the athlete’s for a day, slide into their DM and congratulate them personally, or even more, remove the ‘end’ from the ‘trend’ and help sustain the conversation by supporting the sport altogether. One brand that’s led by example for this is OYO (their print ad that syncs your calendar to the games is only the latest in a series of campaigns where they’ve prioritized being a fan, before being a brand). But if you’re thinking “I’m not a sports brand. What legitimate value does endorsing/supporting a sport or an athlete add to my brand?”, there’s nothing criminal about that line of thinking too. Just don’t do the bare minimum creatively and congratulate yourself over false positives. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Rajeesh Rajagopalan, National Business Head- Grapes Digital:" text="Rajeesh Rajagopalan, National Business Head- Grapes Digital:">Rajeesh Rajagopalan, National Business Head- Grapes Digital: </cmsannotation> Some of the ads are interesting, and some seem to be riding the wave. When brands do moment marketing, the intent is to celebrate these athletes. Some of the brands get this right, but some got lost in the crowd. The key to any moment marketing campaign, be it sports or some other topic- is weaving a story with the brand values and not being in your face or doing a sales push. The brand that has been acting moment marketing is Amul, way before social media even existed. When we talk about an IPL team or a player from the cricket team acknowledged, we get to know a lot about the player, their personalities, their image, which becomes easier to draw a reference from their personality and weave it into a moment marketing post. Imagine doing that with an athlete about whom brands know nothing? The struggle in front of brands remains in what form the personality must represent in their brand value. So, most brands end up doing generic posts, which merely look like it is all about them and not about the athlete. I think brands need to do a lot more homework when they congratulate an athlete. Otherwise, a simple congratulations post would look better. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang:" text="Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang:">Akshara Vasavda, Creative Lead, Schbang:</cmsannotation> This is the lowest hanging fruit and a pick your battles situation. Brands do topicals for every single thing, and Olympics as a whole are considered moment marketing - whatever happens within Olympics, especially with Indian players, becomes a moment to capitalise. ‘Capitalise’ is the operating word. Very few brands actually manage to come up with something creative, seamless, and impactful enough to actually mean something when it comes to ‘topicals’. Just scroll past it, unless you see something that strikes you visually or creatively. As far as I know, IPL is treated the same way, except there’s way more audience awareness so there’s more opportunity to do layered communication and bank on the audience to ‘get it’. That’s just my personal understanding! <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="84678943" title="With rising COVID-19 cases associated with the Olympic Games, will brands get the most bang for their buck?" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div>

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