Cult.sport wants to fuel a sporting passion in every Indian heart

Cult.sport has rolled out a campaign 'sport every day', as it aims to change the perception of sports and athleticism in consumers' daily lives. 

Conceptualised by Wunderman Thompson, the campaign intends to inspire individuals across the country to channel their inner athletes as it envisions a healthier and more fulfilling society. 

The film draws on the insight that sportswear, especially sneakers, is intertwined with everyday life, proving that sports transcend professional boundaries, allowing ordinary people to showcase their athletic spirit during even daily tasks like running to catch a bus in Delhi, to dashing through Mumbai's railway stations or cycling through Bengaluru's bustling streets.

The campaign went live on 27 July and will be live for four months. The focus is on digital with 70% of the spends on the medium. 

Campaign India spoke with Shamik Sharma, general manager, cult.sport, board member, Cure.fit, to learn more about the campaign.

Edited excerpts: 

What is the overall brand philosophy cult.sport has envisioned for the launch of its new campaign? What was the brief given to the agency?

We intend to establish the cult.sport brand and celebrate sports in every Indian’s life. Cult the brand has already made a mark for itself and is largely associated with the fitness revolution that has taken place in India over the last couple of years. 

The overall mission is not fitness, but we aim to help Indians build a healthy lifestyle. Just as important as fitness is sports. 

The Indian interpretation of sports is different from that of the West. In the West, it is a solitary activity. In India, we try to celebrate community and different vignettes of everyday life. 

Our insight was based on everyday sporty activities such as catching a bus, jumping over a pothole, running away from a dog and managing to get on a local train. These activities are communal, outdoor and relate to people’s everyday lives. 

Could you share some key insights that led to the development of this campaign? 

While we are in many categories like workout equipment, treadmills and cycles, this particular campaign is centred around footwear. The reason we chose this category is that it tends to be the glitch pin of people’s interaction with sporting and active lifestyles. It also celebrates the kinds of lifestyles that Indians encounter in their daily lives. 

The everyday activities are best represented by looking at it from the perspective of a shoe. The entire campaign is focused on that aspect of what the shoes feel like when they are going through a common Indian’s everyday routine. 

The tagline is ‘sport every day’ to resonate with how the shoes make consumers feel sporty every day. 

The Indian market for sports apparel, especially sneakers, is growing rapidly. How does cult.sport position itself in this competitive landscape?

Awareness about sports and fitness and how they play a role in an Indian’s life is seeing a surge. India is buying more into the idea of fitness and sports but there is not a lot of marketing or awareness-related campaigns around this insight in the media. 

Especially celebrating the local interpretation of sports and fitness. We have borrowed a lot of Western concepts and we see some Western countries showcasing this message of athleticism. However, fewer campaigns imbibe this sporty lifestyle. This is why we planned to create a narrative around this lifestyle of integrating sports into everyday life. 

As we go on with the campaign, it's not about how much media spends or ROI we have garnered through this campaign but it is about encouraging sports and athleticism in everyday life. 

For this initiative, we have initiated marathon events and reached out to cohorts on the ground as well. We are helping people who are handling sports clubs. 

Apart from that, in around 26 cities in India, we organise cycling events where a lot of people participate, and a fan club has grown amongst these participants which in turn has churned out an affinity for the brand Cult. 

We have also launched sports facility centres in schools, where we offer swimming classes and the like to cultivate the potency of a healthy lifestyle. 

More than a marketing strategy, it is more than a grassroots level to encourage sports at the local level. It is also to highlight local celebrities like the Kabaddi champion of a particular school or the badminton winner of an apartment complex.

We aim to highlight the stories that come out locally, in regional languages, so that we make people feel that sports are not some remote activity who are extremely out of reach and accessible to all.