TBWA India builds on ‘power of a billion’ thought for IPL, season two

Sony MAX has launched a new TVC created by TBWA India which looks at building on the anticipation of IPL’s second season by highlighting the series as the big unifier across the country that will keep the nation hooked. 

Watch the TVC here:

The 60 second commercial is a montage of shots which shows different people from all over the country doing the same thing at the same time. Thus, we see a group of people sitting in a park, all reading the newspaper and turning the page at the same time; in another shot, cooks in a restaurant twirl rotis in the air at the same time.  In another shot, in a class room full of kids, all raise their little fingers to ask for permission to go to the bathroom at the same time. In yet another, people at Mumbai’s VT station are all shown hailing a taxi at the same time. A voice over asks: ‘Kabhi sau crore logon ko ek saath ek hi cheez karte dekha hain?’ This is followed by a montage of IPL shots and shots of people reacting to last year’s IPL in the same manner across the country.  And the final voice over says – ‘Ek desh ek junoon, DLF IPL sirf MAX par’ (one country one passion, DLF IPL only on Max).

The new TVC moves away from the 'Manoranjan ka Baap' positioning that IPL had used last year and has taken a new positioning of ‘Ek Desh, Ek Junoon,’ in an attempt at highlighting the scale in spirit and action that the IPL has come to signify. 

Gaurav Seth, VP - marketing, MAX, commented, “With the 2008 DLF IPL, which proved its entertainment quotient last year, there is absolutely no question about what’s going to be on India’s mind, come 10th April 2009. We have captured that obsession and passion with our campaign this year, which details how across this country irrespective of geography, ethnicity, religion, age or gender, people came together to celebrate and enjoy the sensation that is the DLF IPL. Last year, MAX kept its viewers thoroughly entertained thus creating a revolution in prime time viewing habits. This year again, season two of the DLF IPL only on MAX, guarantees that the entire country will say ‘Deewana bana diya’.”

Rahul Sengupta, national creative director, TBWA India added, “We wanted this year’s theme for the IPL to be fresh from anything in the past. 'Manoranjan ka Baap' was a big launch and we wanted to showcase the unprecedented success of the series as well as the anticipation of the second season. We wanted it to reflect on the success of last year, the scale of it.”

He further added, “The thought behind this year’s campaign was actually born out of the observation that occurred to us last year when the series was on. Suddenly, everyone was pretty much doing the same thing- watching TV at the same time, across the country. It was a collective passion.”

The film has been shot by Footcandles and directed by Ayyappa. MAX says it will promote the campaign in 150 towns through on-ground activities, which will involve contests, merchandising and other activities. Outdoor advertising, radio and the Internet will also form a crucial part of the promotional mix.

The creative team behind the campaign from TBWA India includes Rahul Sengupta, Rahul Ghosh (creative director) and Kimberly Flannigan (copywriter). The music track for the jingle has been created by Samiruddin.