The Campaign

tThere is no one India. A hundred kilometres can change everything: cuisines, attires and languages, among other things. However, there is one constant… cricket. To be more specific, street cricket. It’s played in every nook and cranny across India. Though only eleven can play for the national team, this doesn’t deter a million others from crowding the narrow streets and pursuing their dreams. Often with minimal means. In fact, the only dream that could rightfully be called the collective dream of a billion people is this… to become a professional cricketer and play with their cricketing heroes. So, we decided to leverage this collective dream to demonstrate to millions of Indians that the Muthoot Pappachan Group can make dreams come true. We created the Muthoot Blue League of Dreams: India’s first-ever street cricket tournament, where street cricketers played alongside cricket legends, while being treated like superstars.

The Brief

Overall Budget - USD 2,80,000 Paid Media Budget - USD 56,00,000

Creative Execution

The whole campaign went from brief to finished execution in less than 120 days. Roping in international players We roped in a sports consultancy to initiate talks with international players. Finding passionate street cricket teams We launched a Call-for-Entry campaign on Facebook, YouTube, HotStar, regional publications and a select-few outdoor locations. Teams could register their entry on a custom-designed website. In less than 19 days, we received 1200+ entries! Featuring the most passionate street cricket teams We travelled across India to create features on teams whose stories touched a chord. In all, we created around 60+ videos for the campaign. Shortlisting the teams More than 6,00,000 fans cast their votes to shortlist the final four teams. Event The event was hosted at one of Mumbai’s iconic cricket venues, and the execution mirrored that of a professional league with customised team kits, team dug-outs, and even commentators.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The campaign resonated strongly with the Muthoot Pappachan Group’s target audience. As a result, footfalls across branches went up by an average of 11% during the campaign. In some centres, they went up by as much as 18%! The campaign also generated 13 million views, while attracting 1200+ entries and 6,00,000+ votes. The initiative helped the Muthoot Pappachan Group earn PR coverage worth 4.4 million. In fact, we realised how closely the campaign was being followed when the crashing of the website server for a few hours actually drove aspiring participants to our branches, in the hopes of registering their entries.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The Muthoot Blue League of Dreams and the subsequnt event successfully demonstrated to millions of not-so-affluent Indians and financial outcasts, that the brand can make their dreams come true. As a result, footfalls across branches went up by an average of 11%! In some centres, they increased by as much as 18%! The on-ground event gave 60 people a chance to realise their dream of being treated like cricket’s superstars while playing alongside cricket legends. More importantly, it made millions of potential customers believe their dreams could come true despite the lack of support from India’s formal banking system.

Since the target audience for the campaign were India’s not-so-affluent masses, the choice of cricket as a vehicle proved to be an ideal one. To reach out to this audience, we not only used the usual media like Facebook, OOH, print and YouTube, but also leveraged WhatsApp and in-store (branch) promotions. We positioned the Muthoot Blue League of Dreams as a grassroots initiative that would make millions of Indians believe that no dream is too big.