Star Sports launches ICC World Cup 2015 marketing blitz with the '#wontgiveitback' war cry

The 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup, the biggest sporting spectacle in the country, is set to captivate and drive the nation’s imagination. A new, young and aggressive Team India is all set to defend its World Title, the grandest prize in Cricket today, in Australia & New Zealand. And scores and scores of Indian cricket fans expect only one thing from their heroes- to win the cup again.

Star Sports, India's leading Sports broadcaster, today unveiled its youth-centric campaign titled, #wontgiveitback, for the upcoming ICC Cricket World 2015. The campaign, the second in a series to promote the ICC Cricket World Cup, will set the stage for an unparalleled marketing blitz that will be unleashed by Star Sports for the biggest ever sporting spectacle in the country.

The campaign, #wontgiveitback, pledged by Lowe Lintas + Partners, reflects the sentiment among the young India cricket fans and perfectly captures their mood as the Men in Blue prepare to fend off 13 other teams and defend their title with the war cry – ‘Won’t Give It Back’. It’s the fans’ rallying call to support Team India in their quest to give it their all Down Under in Australia and New Zealand. 

The film features the young Team India connecting with their fans on the World Cup. The fans expect them to “give it back” and answer all the challenges head on… the pressure, the aggression…but not the Cup…”won’t give it back”! 

A Star India spokesperson said, "The passion for Cricket in this country is second to none and we at STAR, are committed to make the 2015 ICC Cricket World Cup bigger and better than ever. We have a series of path-breaking initiatives in the pipeline ready to be launched in the build-up to the World Cup, across multiple platforms. #wontgiveitback sets the ball rolling and portrays the attitude of this new, young and bold Team India. The campaign connects with the youth in their language, reflecting their attitude and will get the young cricket fans excited about cricket’s biggest and grandest extravaganza.”

Commenting on the creative execution for the campaign, Arun Iyer, National Creative Director, Lowe Lintas + Partners, said, “We wanted to capture the aggressive attitude of the new Indian cricket team. They are team that gives it back. And given the fact that we are defending champions we felt won’t give it back was an interesting way to capture this attitude.”

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2015 will be broadcast on Star Sports network. India kicks off its title defense on February 15, when they face-off against arch-rivals Pakistan. The tournament will be broadcast in 6 languages (Hindi, English, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Bengali) allowing fans to watch sport’s greatest spectacle in a language of their choice. The games will be streamed on starsports.com allowing viewers to “carry the cup” and watch it on their own personal screen.

The campaign will be unleashed by a multi-media blitzkrieg across Star network supported by digital, print, radio and outdoor. The campaign will be supported by digital amplification and an extensive trophy-tour – with fans across the country sending their message “won’t give it back”.

Film run down

The TVC begins with close-up shots of prominent cricket players and subsequent questions from them pertaining to the game of cricket. With cricket being a highly competitive sport where emotions run high very frequently it takes a lot of guts and courage to fend off these unwarranted distractions and concentrate on playing the game of cricket. Sledging, mind-games, home crowd support, pressure etc all contribute to one losing focus and thereby giving away the game to their opponents. But that’s what team India would look to confront by ‘giving it back’ to those who deserve it more. But if there’s one thing that they ‘#wontgiveitback’, it is the Cricket World Cup.