Star Re.Imagine Awards seeks to make ads during IPL as big as IPL itself: Gayatri Yadav

Star India is out to re-imagine how the country will experience the Vivo IPL 2018 by putting fans at the heart of the experience and leveraging the power of localisation and technology. Adding to the excitement of cricket, Star India has announced the Star Re.Imagine Awards, an award that will recognise creativity and innovation in the use of integrated media in advertising campaigns aired during the Vivo IPL 2018 on Star Sports and Hotstar. 

Partnering with Star India in this initiative are Sideways, Kyoorius and audit partner PWC. 

Every creative broadcast on Star Sports and streamed on Hotstar during the Vivo IPL 2018 will automatically be eligible for the Star Re.Imagine Awards. A high powered jury, including the likes of advertising legend Sir John Hegarty, one of the world’s most celebrated creative directors Piyush Pandey, acclaimed filmmaker Raju Hirani, marketing veteran Vibha Rishi, digital evangelist Rahul Welde and adman V Sunil will deliberate on the winners on May 26, and select two campaigns that they believe have excelled in terms of creativity and leveraging the platform. The awards will not only celebrate creativity but also recognise and appreciate teamwork. Two winning teams of 24 members each will be hosted for a premier global sporting event. 

Gayatri Yadav

Gayatri Yadav, Head Consumer Strategy & Innovation, Star India, elucidated, “Vivo IPL 2018 is poised to be one of the biggest sporting events ever and is the most powerful platform to connect with consumers and build brands. Star Re.imagine Awards is a first of its kind initiative that will celebrate and recognise creativity and the integrated use of media on the largest stage of any campaign. We are very excited to bring together a bespoke independent jury of some of the most eminent names across marketing, media and storytelling to celebrate two campaigns aired during this Vivo IPL 2018 on the Star Sports network and Hotstar which push the boundaries of creativity. Recognising that great campaigns are powered by great teamwork, the award will celebrate members of the integrated team across marketing, creative and media, who will be hosted for a premier global sporting event. We hope to make Star Re.imagine Awards the space where new legends will be born!” 

Speaking further on the Awards, Yadav clarified that this initiative was about celebrating all the advertising during the IPL. She added that no Star Sports and Hotstar campaigns would be eligible for the Awards. 

“It does not necessarily have to be cricket-related advertising, any brand’s ad will be celebrated. Vivo IPL is a great platform to build brands, therefore, we will celebrate creativity of any brand advertising during IPL. It could be a spot buy or a whole campaign for the whole season or sponsored ads,” she further said. 

For years, IPL has been a strong media platform for the advertising fraternity to reach out to people and this platform has tremendous creative potential and possibilities. “The question is what should we be doing to leverage the potential of this opportunity? We asked ourselves, can we make the advertising during IPL as big as the IPL itself? IPL is the biggest canvas to paint in and we are here to celebrate the legendary talent and have fun,” Yadav remarked. 

Adding further, she said, “The common link between sports and creativity is incredible passion. People are giving their lives for the game on the field, there is an incredible hyper engagement. You take that passion and multiply that reach and you get a platform of great engaged consumers. A nation stops when a sports tournament is on. So, that is an incredible potential to do something different. There is nothing that delivers higher passion than sports and that makes IPL one of the biggest platforms to show creativity.” 

Citing some global examples, Yadav recalled how the Apple Macintosh ad run during the Super Bowl in 1984 had created a platform and changed multiple industries forever. Some other ads that she mentioned included Oreo Dunk in the Dark campaign, the Under Armour-Stephen Curry campaign, and the All About Tide ad campaign, among others. 

Noting that this year 700 million viewers are expected to see the IPL, Yadav affirmed that this made the tournament much bigger than Super Bowl. She, in fact, called IPL a “Hyper Bowl”. “This is an incredible opportunity that aggregates multiple screens and 700 million people. This led us to reimagine IPL. This is a three-dimensional approach – First, we put in fans at the heart of IPL; second, Hotstar is going from Solo to Social; and third, it is about leveraging the power of multi-screens and making some disruption and magic at the same time,” she added. 

While IPL has grown each year since its inception, 2018 promises to be an inflection point in its history. For the first time, Vivo IPL 2018 proposes to connect with Indians in no less than six languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Bengali. 

By leveraging the combined reach of digital and television, the tournament will be broadcast, for the first time ever, on multiple TV channels and live streamed on Hotstar with an aim to reach out to 700 million fans across TV and digital in India. This will be one of the first few leagues in the world which proposes to use virtual reality and to bring live action from the stadium to fan homes. This immersive VR experience would make it possible for fans to come closer to the high-octane matches from the comfort of their homes. 

Along with dedicated language feeds, the network also proposes to have a Super Fan Feed available across cable, DTH and on Hotstar. This will be a curated feed for the intense fans who want more than just to watch the game. It may also include features like multiple camera angle options while viewing and data layers about the teams and players during the telecast. 

On the long-term plans, she said, “We are seeing IPL not as a two-month long event, but a six-month initiative starting in January with the retention event at the auction. For the first time, we are seeing the ‘Many Indias’, so IPL will be on 10 channels and in six languages. This is for the first time ever that any sports event will have a live VR on such a massive scale.” 

Summing up, Yadav noted, “There is a way to interact with the other ‘Indias’ that has never been done before on any IPL tournament. It is about recognising the legendary and young talent together.”

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