Ahead of Cricket WC, Vicks Cough Drops unveils new cheer anthem #VicksKholIndiaBol

Known for its commitment to give India a khich khich free voice, Vicks Cough Drops has roped in cricket icon Yuvraj Singh for its new cheer anthem, #VicksKholIndiaBol, for the upcoming cricketing season.

Curated and conceptualised by Vicks India in partnership with L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, the anthem celebrates India’s boundless enthusiasm for cricket and the brand aims to enable 142 crore Voice champions to cheer for the Indian Cricket Team for cricket frenzy.

As per Sahil Sethi, Category Leader- Personal Healthcare, P&G India, the company aims to make its various brand platforms as much relevant for the consumers as possible and in the process, drive penetration, which is why with the new anthem launch, the thought really is to connect with the cricketing fans and make them the center of the campaign.

“Cheer is such an integral part of any fan viewing experience, be it on phone, television or even live in the stadium, but having said that, the loud voice becomes an integral part, especially when you're watching it with multiple people. That precisely is where we thought of coming with #VicksKholIndiaBol cheer anthem for the upcoming cricketing season and ensure that nothing stands in between the celebrations whilst making 142 crore voice champions of India,” he said.

He also went on to add that the power of cheer is such that it has the potential to turn around the situation even when the chips are down and that is the responsibility of the fans- to be the loudest when cheering for their team.

Resonating from this, the lyrics of the anthem have also been kept such that the hook lines of the cheer anthem go as, “Awaazon ki hai zimmedaari, Aawazein hai ye sab pe bhaari, Na hichkichaye, Na khich khichaien, ye Awaazon ki hissedaari, sab pe bhaari.”

The campaign film -

Speaking about the ideation of the anthem, Rohit Malkani, Jt. National Creative Director, L&K Saatchi & Saatchi, stated “For generations, Vicks Cough Drops has been getting rid of your khich-khich and soothing itchy throats. But this time around, the challenge to us was slightly different. With the cricket season around the corner, Vicks wanted to create noise (pun intended!) in an unconventional way. The cheering/voice connect to the brand was obvious. But how do we slice this one differently? How do we avoid getting lost in the slew of cricket anthems?”

“Multiple jamming sessions later, the team began the search for India’s ‘Voice Champions’, garnering support from 142 crore Indians through a rousing anthem that features the ‘six sixes’ man himself-Yuvraj Singh and over 220 cast members! It’s been a long and satisfying ride for us, partnering with Vicks team who have indulged and rooted for us all the way,” he added.

Although India is home to a remarkable 142 Crore cheers, approximately 6.3 Crore cheers remain unheard, and this significant fraction belongs to the hearing-impaired community, which is why the brand, for its new cheer anthem, has collaborated with India Signing Hands - an organisation dedicated to promoting Education, Awareness, and Accessibility for the Deaf Community in India- for a specially curated Indian sign language version featuring passionate fans from the community. It will be rolled out in the coming weeks.

“Towards ensuring that no cheer goes unheard, we have also partnered with India Signing Hands to create a fun-filled version of our new cheer anthem in Indian sign language for the estimated 6.3 crore strong hearing impaired community, who share the same passion and enthusiasm for the game. With this anthem, Vicks cough drops is celebrating the unity in diversity that defines our nation and its love for the game,” Sethi said.

Unveiling the new anthem, cricket icon, Yuvraj Singh, also shared, “There is nothing more motivating for a player than the encouraging cheers of our fans. I am thrilled to be a part of the #VicksKholIndiaBol anthem as we call on cricket lovers to become Voice champions and cheer out loud. The #VicksKholIndiaBol Cricket anthem not only promotes unity and inclusivity in cheering for India but serves as a powerful reminder that when we unite our voices, there is nothing we cannot achieve. I also enjoyed learning and performing the anthem in Indian sign language and thank Vicks and India Signing Hands for this opportunity to connect with this very special community of cricket fans.”

“As a deaf individual, I faced difficulties in acquiring news from channels or communicating with hearing people due to lack of accessibility tools such as interpreters and subtitles. Realising that many deaf persons would also be facing the same issues, a group of us came together to start India Signing Hands (ISH) with the goal of providing solutions to ‘Accessibility’ issues faced by deaf people in India. Vicks has been a household brand for many of us, and we were so excited to be approached by Vicks to create this one-of-its-kind fun anthem in Indian sign language to enable the deaf to also join in to cheer during this cricket season. The anthem will soon be released on our social channels reaching over 6 lakh members of the community. We applaud Vicks Cough Drops for this inclusive effort and thank Yuvraj for his enthusiastic support,” added Alok Kejriwal, Founder and CEO, India Signing Hands.

Commenting on the marketing objectives that the brand is eyeing to achieve with the new anthem launch, he pointed out that since the key objective of the campaign is to drive awareness during the cricketing season, Vicks Cough Drops will aim for attributes such as top of mind, relevance, involvement and engagement from the fans.

“Although from a relevance pov, literally everybody can be the voice champion for us, from the anthem perspective, we will be targeting the young audiences via our media mix for #VicksKholIndiaBol anthem which encompasses both digital and OTT platforms because they are the ones who are much more engaged on the social media and other digital channels,” he elaborated further.

Emphasising on why the brand will be amplifying the anthem only on digital and OTT platforms and not mainline mediums, Sethi stated that since the anthem is a long form video, he feels that the digital platforms would be the right fit as that is where people are more engaged and have the habit of consuming slightly longer form content versus the usual campaigns.

Upon being questioned as to how different it is to come up with an anthem as compared to an ad campaign, P&G’s Sethi replied, “Typically, short form campaigns are extremely branded, in fact, it is mostly to the point where one just delivers the product offering’s benefit. But in an anthem, the biggest challenge that one faces is how can he/she ensure that the relevance and the role of the brand is very clear.”

“In our case, we all loved the fact that the role of the brand is very organic in #VicksKholIndiaBol anthem because when fans are cheering for the team, having khich-khich is something that they don’t want and that is precisely where the role of the brand comes very naturally. Hence, rather than just saying it overtly, we have made it an integral part of the anthem with our lyrics,” he added.

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