IPL brings motto to life with #GameBanayegaName

The 12th edition of the country’s most-awaited cricketing extravaganza, the Vivo Indian Premier League (IPL), kicked off on March 23 with last year’s champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) playing against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

The campaigns for IPL have been done by the brand’s creative Agency On Record (AOR) Taproot Dentsu.

Since its inception, the creative duties of brand IPL were handled by Ogilvy. This time, with Taproot Dentsu on board, although there is no dearth of cricket enthusiasts across agencies, the team at the agency hopes to bring in an equal amount of enthusiasm.

Pallavi Chakravarti

“IPL has equal appeal to cricket enthusiasts as well as housewives as there is the element of hard core play as well as the element of fun,” said Pallavi Chakravarti, Executive Creative Director, Taproot Dentsu.

This year’s campaign, #GameBanayegaName, is based on the theme, ‘Yatra Pratibha Avasara Prapnotihi’ (Where Talent Meets Opportunity) -- the IPL credo that is seen on the trophy.

Agnello Dias

Talking about the campaign insight, Agnello Dias, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Taproot Dentsu, mentioned, “We have brought IPL’s motto to life. This year the campaign has taken what is on their trophy, where talent meets opportunity, and converted that into the heart of the campaign. And hence #GameBanayegaName.”

Shashank Lanjekar

“Have you seen the movie 3 Idiots? There is a line in that -- Kaabil bano, kaamyaabi jhakk maarke peeche aayegi (be efficient, name and fame will have no choice but to follow you). That’s the insight of this year’s IPL campaign,” said Shashank Lanjekar, Head, Strategy Planning, Taproot Dentsu.

“And we agree, and so does Star Sports, that it is probably the only platform where absolute nobodies and newcomers share the same platform as legends,” said Chakravarti.

There is a film where you see newbies and legends fighting for screen space; that’s the launch of the anthem. But the entire campaign, whatever advertising that you see around the tournament, comes from this core thought of #GameBanayegaName.

“The positioning of the brand IPL this time around is such because this is the one tournament where, who you are doesn’t really matter; it is what you do that matters,” she added.

The campaign began with a series of short films, where a newcomer like Rishabh Pant or Jasprit Bumrah is having fun saying that he really enjoys taking on his seniors. Bumrah was talking about Kohli and Pant was talking about Dhoni. That was the first set, which was true to this thought. The second film is the one where the screen is being pushed by the newcomers and the seniors, which is where the agency launched the thought of #GameBanayegaName.

Second TVC:

The third campaign in the series was about the first match between CSK and RCB, where fans are shown hooting for Dhoni and Kohli.

Third TVC:

The fourth campaign is an even more all-encompassing film -- the Omkar Patwardhan film -- the little guy wants to make a name for himself. It’s a simple reality of gully cricket where kids idolise all the big legends, and there is one little guy who wants to be known for himself, he doesn’t want to be in somebody else’s shadow.

Fourth TVC:

“It’s taking the reality of the fact that today if you’ve got the talent, the name will follow, the fame will follow. IPL is the biggest proponent of that belief because you see it actually happen there,” said Chakravarti.

Lanjekar said, “If you see, the entire #GameBanayegaName thought has been populated across the first few films making different points, be it for the first match, be it for the entire anthemic launch of this campaign, and even individual player-based conversation.”

Lanjekar added, “The golden chance that this campaign has exploited is the line of the trophy ‘Yatra Pratibha Avasara Prapnotihi’, which means Where Talent Meets Opportunity. And surprisingly somehow this whole aspect of newcomers coming in and making a big name for themselves in the middle of legends, seniors, established players -- it’s a thought which we believe is so core to IPL yet not being done in its entirety, not being done in a two-manner specifically manifesting into when boys and men get together,” he said.

Chakravarti added, “There is a sense of competitiveness, and also at the same time it’s probably one of the campaigns that rings true to its idea. It also rings true of life. It’s a bigger thought than just a cricket thought. If you’ve got the talent, you will go ahead and shine, no matter what the field you are in. So #GameBanayegaName is true of IPL, but it is also very true of the same fire in the belly that youngsters have, to make a name for themselves even in other fields.”

When questioned about the client brief, Dias said the brief was to create a campaign that appeals both to cricket followers and also a larger peripheral that don’t follow cricket but are aware about it.

#GameBanayegaName lends itself to various contests and conversations. 10 days after the launch of the anthemic campaign, Star Sports started a contest on Twitter -- Guess The Name -- wherein people had to guess the name of the cricketer whose description was mentioned.

“They are driving on the same kind of message using different touch points. Newcomers making records, we could utilise that to create something as well,” said Chakravarti.

The #GameBanayegaName campaign and its versions will be aired on television, digital, radio and cinema.

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