NBA, SPN launch 'Swag Ka Khel' campaign for Hindi-speaking markets

NBA and Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) have launched campaign tiled ‘Swag Ka Khel’, targeting the Hindi-speaking audience. The campaign means ‘the sport with swagger’, and aims to reach out to and engage the audience whose primary language is Hindi.

The 360-degree marketing campaign rolled out across television, radio, outdoor, online and on-ground activation across 14 cities – Pune, Nagpur, Nasik, Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara, Lucknow and Kanpur. This campaign will amplify the opportunity of widening the popularity of the basketball league in the regional markets.

A result of increasing engagement levels recorded of the Hindi in-game commentary, launched during the playoffs NBA 2016-17 season, ‘Swag Ka Khel’ will comprise an on-ground experiential zone at prime locations to provide a peek into the world of NBA. The interactive zone is focused on growing participation in basketball by combining exciting competition with interactive virtual reality games as well as contests designed to engage the visitors and grow the NBA’s fan base. A local basketball trickster, an NBA legend, a dance team and mascot, will travel to select cities to engage with fans.

NBA’s campaign for the Indian market is focused on creating awareness and relevance to the audience who enjoy NBA Games in Hindi. There has been a significant rise in the viewership since the launch of the Hindi commentary, especially on prime-time Sundays. A total of 45 NBA matches have been telecast with live Hindi in-game commentary on the Sony Ten 3 channels so far.

The NBA games with Hindi commentary airs every weekend on Sony Ten 3 and Sony Ten 3 HD channels and the network will continue to broadcast daily and weekly NBA studio shows and integrate highlights as well as daily content from NBA TV, including team previews and recap shows.

All attempts to expand the viewership base through Hindi commentary has been successful with over 13 million viewers. We believe ‘Swag Ka Khel’ will drive in deeper engagement and awareness about the game in the regional markets.

Yannick Colaco, MD, NBA India, said, “Our market-specific campaign is focussed on creating awareness and relevance to our audience that enjoys NBA Games in Hindi. We have seen a significant rise in the viewership since the launch of the Hindi commentary, especially on prime-time Sundays. We will continue to cater to the demand for NBA, and engage with our audience across markets in India to grow the game of basketball.”

Rajesh Kaul

Rajesh Kaul, President Distribution and Sports Business, Sony Pictures Networks India, said, “As the popularity of NBA increases steadily over the years, the time is right to increase the reach. From insights we have gleaned, we know that NBA is building significant traction in the Hindi-speaking markets. So far, we have telecast a total of 45 NBA matches with live Hindi in-game commentary. Our attempt to expand the viewership base through Hindi commentary has been extremely successful with over 13 million viewers and to fuel this further we are launching our new campaign titled Swag ka Khel.”  

The complete schedule of the on-ground activations:

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