Hyderabad SunRisers rise with a ‘chanthem’

The Sun Network-owned IPL franchise in Hyderabad, previously called Deccan Chargers, has been christened SunRisers Hyderabad. JWT India has created the first brand film for the team. The ‘SunRisers Rising’ film will air in atleast four South Indian languages according to the agency, indicating that it is likely to be promoted aggressively across the Sun Network. The campaign will extend to online media including social networks, cinema halls, and other touch points targeting cricket fans in South India.

The film features cricketers and cricket fans against the backdrop of the early morning sun, and an anthem created by the band Swarathma. It ends with a reveal of the new team logo, and the tagline ‘Rise Up To Every Challenge’.

On the idea, Senthil Kumar, national creative director, JWT India, said, “The idea was simple. The ‘Sun’ has risen over the IPL and everything is in silhouettes to celebrate the arrival of the SunRisers. A visual idea amplified by a rocking chant created by Swarathma The Band. If we had more time, the visuals would have been shot in Manirathnam's morning magic light hours only – i.e. shoot only when the sun is rising between 5 am and 7 am for a few days until we got the right shots. Since time was limited, we captured a combination of natural light and studio light and put this film together with some intense post production. It was a step up moment for the production team as well.”

It took a week from idea to finished film, according to Senthil Kumar. He added, “The budgets were limited and the time was too little but the entire team at the Sun network, JWT India and Hungama rose up to the challenge.”

JWT India has designed the team logo and identity, and will be working on the 360-degree communication for SunRisers Hyderabad. The team jersey is to be launched closer to the IPL season.

Unplugged moments

On the film’s anthem, Senthil Kumar said, “South Indian folk-rock band Swarathma has come into its own recently as India's leading folk rock act. They are great crowd-pullers and this chant has the potential to reach anthemic proportions. In fact, we're calling this ' The Sunrisers Chanthem # 01’. If early indications are to be believed, the rush of kaleidoscopic energy that a Swarathma live performance delivers appears to have been captured in this album. The plan is to create many more SunRisers Chanthems with several leading bands, musicians and even chorus groups.”

Credits:

Client: SunRisers Hyderabad, Sun Group
CEO: Shanmugham

Agency: JWT India
National Creative Director : Senthil Kumar
Senior Creative Director : Priya Shivakumar
Creative Team : Arthanari Shanmugavel, Abhijit Kundu, Sunil Antony, Joseph Pratap, Arjun Nalapat, Selvan Ross, Abhijit Mallick, Sameet Soni, Jeffrey Emmanuel and Nakul Talgeri
Account Planning: Navonil Chatterjee
Account Management : Raghavan ML, Arjun Sathish, Kripaakar Christopher

Production House: Rocket Science Lab
Directors: Rajesh Thomas, Vidya Sharma
Music: Swarathma The Band