Exclusive | CCL is cohesive, unifying platform: Push Integrated's Shrikumar

Push Integrated Communications adds another feather to its cap. Celebrity Cricket League has handed over the creative duties of the prestigious league for 2013 to Push Integrated Communication which includes creative development and execution across multiple media platforms. CCL is a 20-20 league cricket property involving superstars from the feature film fraternity. It is a seriously competitive league involving teams from Mumbai, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and West Bengal. Two new teams have been added from the Marathi region and Bhojpuri regions. Super stars including Mohan Lal, Sunil Shetty, Venkatesh, Vishal, Sudeep, Jeet, Ritesh Deshmukh and Manoj Tiwari make this league bridge the gap between sports and entertainment. What is interesting is the fact that this league has attracted women audiences to the game of cricket. This year CCL will be telecast on the Star network. Eight channels of Star will take this league in 8 languages to the audience. The league stretches from 19th February, 2013 to 10th March, 2013. CCL today is a Rs. 300 crore super league and the advertising spends is expected to be in the region of Rs.10 crores.

Vishnu Vardhan Induri, the founder and Managing Director of the league said, “CCL is truly larger than life with its popularity challenging even the IPL. Push Integrated has brought alive the Block Buster appeal of the competition. Their creative visualization and ability to dovetail the communication idea into different media platforms is truly noteworthy”.

The mandate for Push includes creative development and execution across multiple media platforms.

“We are charged and ready to package this product in a way that is going to set a new trend in the industry,” said Mr. Shrikumar with regard to this latest development.

Adgully spoke to VA Shrikumar Managing Director and CEO of Push Integrated to know more about their latest association with the prestigious league and the way forward with regard to their  plans and creative duties for the new property. Some excerpts from the conversation:

Celebrity Cricket League has handed over their creative duties of the prestigious league for 2013 to Push Integrated Communications. They have presented a larger than life interpretation of the game of cricket with stars from every region bringing it to celluloid, interacting with monuments. Star Wars is the creative theme of the campaign and India itself becomes the pitch on which the game is played. Mr.Shrikumar feels truly humbled to be bestowed with this honour. He considers CCL the net generation entertainment which will bring larger audiences to the field of entertainment and sports.

The 20:20 league cricket property involves superstars from the world of entertainment. Elaborating on how different this league would be from the IPL which involves sportsmen from the field of cricket Mr. Shrikumar said, “ Today, entertainment is cross-pollinating. Hybrid entertainment is going to lead the space of entertainment in the future. Cinema runs on a plot and a script. The element of surprise and reveal defines the success of a film. So also in sport, where the script is the rulebook and the outcome is always a surprise. This is the underlying thought that marries these two mass formats. But the fact remains that, in this hybrid format, competitiveness is the name of the game. Its not just stars lined up for a farcical show, which is catered through a call of ACTION and CUT. CCL is truly competitive. This is entertainment plus. This is sports plus. If 20-20 cricket redefined the way cricket is played and have taken it to newer audiences, CCL is the future.”

He is of the opinion that  only those stars passionate about the game of cricket and who have played the game at a competitive level through their career, participate. The drive to win and represent their state at a national level, with passionate supporters rooting for them defines the landscape.

When asked how this league will bridge the gap between sports and entertainment he said , “In reality, sports and entertainment have already bridged the gap. Any activity that provides entertainment should qualify for that badge. But CCL operates on a platform that takes the best of competitive sports into the realm of the best of celluloid glamour and larger than life appeal. What is constant however, is the competitiveness in which the game is played. CCL is not the bridge, it is more a marriage of heart, soul, game, spirit and all things that arouse the spectator’s interest.”

Of late it is seen that women too take great interest in this sport as an audience as well as a participant. This league too seems to  hold much interest for this gender. Elaborating on this and Mr. Shrikumar avers that this is actually the heart of the issue. He is of the opinion that women traditionally have little interest in the game of cricket. “In fact it is a tussle when a game goes on while a top sitcom is on telecast. This even results in marital discord. Sounds like strange stories, amazing facts! But it is the truth. The two previous editions of CCL have thrown in audience data that has attracted the interests of media planners and brands across the country. Women are leaving their favorite serials to watch CCL, and are seen passionately rooting for their stars and their teams. In effect, CCL is bringing in new audiences to the game of cricket, with an almost equal skew of men and women. Suddenly cosmetics, skin care, fashion, jewellery and other segments that cater to women are seeing exposure during CCL matches. Women love to follow their matinee idols and when they are involved in a real time competitive sport, their interest levels as well as loyalty increases multifold,” he says. 

Sharing the advertising spends with regard to the super league 2013 he said that it is impossible to quantify the spends as of now, as the league is a topic of great interest among brand stake holders. The very fact that the Star network is broadcasting it across 8 of their channels including Star Plus is testimony to the saleability of the property. In this regard he said “We can do a conservative estimation of 50 to 60 crores.”

The IPL has always grabbed eyeballs and been a hot favourite with television audiences . When asked if this league could pose  a challenge to the IPL he said, “ IPL has plateaued. TAM reports confirm it. The interest is there but so is the over exposure and the feeling that the game is being taken over by vested interests.  Its longevity depends heavily on extraordinary exploits by some players. It sure is popular and I myself watch the league, but as we all know, our interests are waning. Importantly, IPL is facing much opposition from the experts of the game.”

Push Integrated is setting a new trend in the industry post their association with the league cricket property. They see this league as a cohesive, unifying platform where brands can initiate and extend a conversation with an eclectic audience. The platform is robust and is populated by a captive audience. “Our role is two pronged. One is to create the magic of celluloid drama unfolding in the stadium viz. truly larger than life captures from the field of cinema and the game of cricket. The other is to bring in the best of brands into this format, through real time engagements. Our dream is to become the benchmark in provision of brand/ audience engagements with properties that build better traction with audiences across the country.”

Their aim is to taking Brand-Audience association beyond 30-second formats thus making it a truly integrated campaign that has innovative touch points aimed at engagement.