Rahul Dravid steps into shoes of businessman with Salesforce

Delhi: Salesforce announced former Captain and Head Coach of the Indian cricket team, Rahul Dravid, as part of the company’s first ad campaign in India. 

Focused on showcasing real-life success stories from Indian businesses, the new brand campaign aims to position Salesforce as the digital partner for organisations to deliver customer experiences. 

The key message of the campaign is “We help Indian businesses grow” aimed at showcasing how Indian companies of all sizes use Salesforce to transform their sales, marketing, and customer service for increased growth. 

The campaign leverages a mix of traditional print, out-of-home advertising in major cities, tier-2 towns, and airports, and cutting-edge digital strategies across social and media platforms. 

The campaign was crafted in collaboration with McCann Worldgroup and Dravid’s agency, Meraki Sport and Entertainment. 

The campaign will see Dravid in two ad films. The second ad film will launch in October. 

The new campaign also shines a spotlight on real success stories of Salesforce customers in Manufacturing, Automobile, BFSI, Retail and Consumer Goods, and Healthcare. 

Dravid said, “I’ve always believed that strong values and a commitment to excellence are key to success, both in sports and in business. That’s why I’m excited about my association with Salesforce. Their focus on innovation, customer success, and giving back to the community aligns with the principles I hold dear. With platforms like Salesforce, Indian businesses have the tools to scale up, compete globally, and make a significant impact. I look forward to being part of this journey”

Nipun Sharma, Senior Director - Marketing, Salesforce India, said, “Our brand campaign resonates with ambitious business professionals—men and women from companies of all sizes with goals of driving customer excellence and high growth companies - similar to what Rahul Dravid did in cricket and when he led his team to victory in the T20 World Cup. Dravid embodies trust, making him the ideal choice for Salesforce in India. Just as he has inspired champions, Salesforce is a trusted partner that empowers businesses to transform their sales, service, and marketing functions, helping them achieve extraordinary success” 

Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head (North & South), McCann Worldgroup, said, “When Salesforce presented us with the brief, we knew we were in for something special. B2B communication conventionally has a more serious and straightforward approach, so we thought we could shake things up a bit, deliver a googly or two. And for a brand like Salesforce, a leader in its category, it’s mighty impressive that they were also game. Of course, getting Rahul Dravid on board was just the icing on the cake! The effort going in was to keep it fresh, quirky, and clean, and we believe we have delivered so. To quote Dravid from the films, this one is ‘ek dum stadium ke bahar!” 

Credits/ McCann Worldgroup:

Ashish Chakravarty, Executive Director & Head of Creative
Sambit Mohanty, Creative Head, McCann North & South
Vishal Ahluwalia, Executive Vice President & Head Advertising McCann South
Sharath Kuttikat, Executive Creative Director
Varghese John, Vice President – Account Management
Diwakar B, Associate Creative Director & Copywriter
Bharath Kulkarni, Copywriter
Unnikrishnan R, Creative Director – Art 
Gokul M, Associate Creative Director – Art 
Varsha Ajith, Creative Team Lead – Art 
Subhasree Bose, Senior Project Manager
Arshneet Bhumra, Films Head 

Credits/ Salesforce: 
Leandro Perez, SVP & CMO, APAC
Nipun Sharma, Senior Director - Marketing, India
Alanna Woodrow, Director, APAC Brand Campaigns
Kritika Srinivasan, Senior Lead, Customer Advocacy & Brand, India
Teira Humby, Corporate Marketing Senior Analyst
Laurie Macabasco, Senior Director - Creative, APAC
Naomi Young, Field Marketing Senior Lead, APAC

Credits/ Love and Faith Films: 
Production House: Love and Faith Films
Director: Milind Dhaimade
Producer: Vikram Turkhud & Manoj Singh
DOP : Harendra Singh
Production Designer : Shruti Agnihotri
Costume : Sania Momin
Editor : Nipun Gupta
Music : Gaurav Chatterjee
Sound engineer : Arun Castros