Dentsu bags creative mandate for Delhi team of Indian Super League

Dentsu Creative Impact has won the creative duties of DEN Networks Ltd.’s Delhi Team in the ISL (Indian Super League). The account was bagged following a multi-agency pitch.

The Indian Super League (ISL) is the name of a new football league in India being spearheaded by IMG-Reliance (a joint venture of IMG and Reliance Industries) and the All India Football Federation. It is set to kick-off in October 2014 and finish its first season in December 2014. The league is expected to run along the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and Major League Soccer (MLS) of the United States.

The football league is expected to see participation from eight franchisees with each team featuring one marquee player and a mix of International and Indian players. Unlike IPL, there won't be any player auctions but franchisees will pick up players by "Draft System" modelled on the MLS Draft.

DEN has recently joined hands with ISL to satiate Delhi’s aspirations and to spearhead the cause of nurturing football across Delhi and become the champions of Indian football. With the new Delhi team coming into force from the DEN stable, the company wants to give every Delhiite reasons to love the sport and revel in the fanaticism, passion and intense craze that the sport is known for, globally.

Football is characteristically defined as a game that encapsulates the intensity of the gameplay, passionate players, the fervour, massive fan following and the football stars that are created along the way. Football is unfailingly the planets favourite game! The recently concluded FIFA World Cup garnered approximately 55 million eyeballs in India.

Over the last few years, football is beginning to score big in India with aggressive positioning of EPL and Champions League, global events like FIFA World Cup and other international sporting events like the Euro Cup. In fact, football is the new conversation starter for most, especially the ‘classes’ and is seen as the new ‘cool.’

On winning the account, Rohit Ohri, Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group and CEO, Dentsu APAC (South) said, “ISL will provide the much needed platform to build football as a sporting passion in India. We are delighted to partner DEN in building Delhi Dynamos. This is a great opportunity for us to leverage in India the rich heritage and expertise in sports marketing that Dentsu has in Japan. Sameer has an inspiring vision for the game and the team. We look forward to delivering that vision through a comprehensive integrated communication plan.”

Sameer Manchanda, Chairman and Managing Director, DEN Networks said, “India’s Football revolution is just starting. Football is on its way to becoming India’s second sport. We hope that our collaboration with Dentsu will create the magic around the Delhi Dynamos that instantly connects with passionate youth and football fans of Delhi and the region. Our dream is to make India a major force in the global soccer ecosystem.”

Indian Super League is the latest to join the emerging bandwagon of pan-India professional sporting leagues with the objective of improving the sporting and football fabric in our nation and create new fans of the sport, Sameer added.