Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPN) launched a campaign, called ‘Love For Cricket Knows No Boundaries’, which tells the story of a blind Indian cricket fan’s fascination for iconic Australian spinner Shane Warne.
The work seeks to invoke the passion of the real cricket fans prepared to cross traditional taboos and boundaries to watch great cricket beyond India.
The campaign, which was conceptualised and created by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, is inspired by and based on the true story of cricket fan Charles Rao who lost his sight in 2001.
Led by a hero on-air promo which opens with Rao recalling the first time he saw Warne bowl back in 1995 and talking how this led to Australia becoming one of his favourite teams as he settles down in front of the television and puts on an Australian jersey as a match begins.
The campaign emerged from research carried out by the media giant which uncovered real sports stories from real people who ‘go beyond and do extraordinary things for the love of the game that is cricket’.
“We brought this proposition alive through this beautifully crafted campaign, ‘love for cricket knows no boundaries’ to promote the brilliant cricket coming up on our network – including the New Zealand tour of Australia, the England tour of South Africa and the Big Bash League,” explained Sony Pictures Networks Head of On-Air Sports Promotions Neville Bastawalla
“This is probably the first time that a shoot-based campaign portraying a real human story that invokes emotions has been launched for non-India cricket properties. Charles Rao, the protagonist of the film, is a real person and not just an actor who is enacting his own journey as a cricket lover,” Bastawalla added.
Raghu Bhat, Co-founder and Copywriter at Scarecrow M&C Saatchi said: “A fan’s connection with the game is sacred. His love for the game is pure. There are no agendas, no motives. We wanted to capture this purity and what better way to do it than by telling a real story of a real cricket fan. The brand idea ‘love for cricket knows no boundaries’ is a positive, powerful thought that will be brought alive through multiple human stories.”
The campaign was created for Sony Pictures Sports Network Agency by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi where the creative team was led by Neville Bastawalla, Raghu Bhat and Vaishakh Jhunjhunwala and the film was helmed by Shamik Sengupta.
Comment:
This heart-warming story not only follows on from an ongoing wave of cricket work from the brand,
but also is yet another example of SPN leading the way in Indian sports broadcaster creative: amongst our other favourites from the Asian media giant was its #MERIDOOSRICOUNTRY campaign from the 2018 FIFA World Cup (see case study).
It also continues the sports marketing trend for inventive and thoughtful approaches to ‘crossing borders’: a trend which includes campaigns such as sportswear brand Björn Borg’s ‘Tennis Across Borders’ (see case study) and FIFA’s ‘Soccer Without Borders’ (see case study).
Links:
Sony Pictures Sports Network Agency
https://www.sonypicturessportsnetwork.com/
https://www.facebook.com/SonyLiv
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_WKb6N9iTGc77hxwXLDrbA
Scarecrow M&C Saatchi
http://scarecrowmcsaatchi.com/
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