A TEAM FOR 3992 CITIES

TitleA TEAM FOR 3992 CITIES
BrandGENERAL MILLS
Product / ServicePILLSBURY COOKIE CAKE
CategoryB05. Excellence in Audience Targeting or Distribution Strategy
EntrantLEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Idea Creation LEO BURNETT INDIA Mumbai, INDIA
Production PRODIGIOUS INDIA Mumbai, INDIA

Credits

Name Company Position
Rajdeepak Das Leo Burnett India Chief Creative Officer and Managing Director
Saurabh Varma Leo Burnett India Chief Executive Officer
Dheeraj Sinha Leo Burnett India Chief Strategy Officer
Rakesh Hinduja Leo Burnett Mumbai Chief Operating Officer
Arjuna Gaur Leo Burnett India Executive Creative Director
Kumuda Rao Leo Burnett India Executive Creative Director
Manasvi Abrol Leo Burnett India Creative Director
Himanish Ashar Leo Burnett India Creative Director
Chandani Samdaria Leo Burnett India Creative Director
Vinod Perumbidi Leo Burnett India Art Director
Rohan Mirgal Leo Burnett India Editor
Brijnandani Jadeja Leo Burnett India Creative Designer
Amit Mitkar Leo Burnett India Art Director
Arzan Antia Leo Burnett India Copywriter
Abhimanyu Khedkar Leo Burnett India VP & Business Head
Vandana Pant Leo Burnett India Copywriter
Hamza Ahmad Leo Burnett India Copywriter
Deepak Bulchandani Leo Burnett India Brand Partner
Noor Samra Leo Burnett India Brand Strategy Partner
Ankit Dahiya Prodigious Director
Swarnim Singh Leo Burnett India Brand Strategy Associate
Kaizad G Prodigious Music Director
Akshay Multani Prodigious Senior Producer
Apratim Bhatnagar Prodigious Associate Producer
Jack Baca Freelancer Voice Actor
Gaurav Gandhi Prodigious Associate Producer
Ananya Pachauri Leo Burnett India Account Executive

Why is this work relevant for Entertainment?

The Indian Premier League, the Super Bowl of cricket - with over 411 million viewers in 2019 alone - we can be safe to say that India is a cricket crazy nation. But what we realised is that a cricket crazy nation, are only crazy over 8 teams - the 8 teams that represented 8 Indian cities - leaving the rest of the nation teamless. So, as sponsors of Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), we suggested to not just represent Bangalore city, but 3992 cities as well. And decided to finally give these teamless fans their own IPL team!

Background

To outshine 247+ sponsors during the IPL, we challenged the Status Quo with one insight: Why should only 8 cities have a stake in the IPL? Why not the rest of India's 3992 cities? We suggested RCB to not just represent Bangalore city, but 3992 cities as well. And decided to give millions of fans, who didn’t have any team to support, a team to call their own. At the same time giving RCB millions of new supporters. While every other sponsor made noise in just 8 cities, we were the only cookie cake spoken about in the other 3992. That's because we were all about FANS, while other sponsors focused on BRANDS. In the end - fans from 3992 cities got representation; RCB got millions of supporters; Pillsbury Cookie Cake became the no.1 recalled brand amongst cookie cakes.

Describe the creative idea

A TEAM FOR 3992 CITIES For the first time in the history of sports, we gave 3992 cities that no one cared about - a team to support and cheer for. And we didn't just choose to sponsor any team, but the only one that could garner support from the entire nation – The Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). Because RCB’s captain was India’s captain – Virat Kohli, the only man who could unite the 3992 cities. As IPL hit the stadiums, every other captain only asked his city to cheer, but Virat Kohli called out the rest of the nation to get on his side. And just like that, RCB’s new found support started pouring in from every corner of the country. We then went a step ahead and turned the fans’ cheers into televised content, giving these teamless fans a platform to demonstrate their support.

Describe the strategy

Through data we discovered a mammoth problem: 71% of interest in IPL comes from a handful of top cities. Based on Google trends, we realized that though the rest of India love cricket and the IPL, they don't participate in the conversations. We wanted to change this. Despite being a young Cookie Cake brand, we decided to take a Leadership stance: to represent the nation - by giving 3992 cities and millions of fans a team to support. Because India is a market of leader brands. Either you lead or you bleed. We made strategic choices when it came to selecting the team we would sponsor – RCB, whose captain is also the Indian Cricket Team’s captain Virat Kohli – a leader that India already believed in. While fans from 3992 cities got representation, RCB got millions of supporters and Pillsbury Cookie Cake became a household name across the country.

Describe the execution

We introduced our idea of "A Team For 3992 Cities" during the opening weekend of the IPL. The campaign was launched on all the sports channels, and channels airing IPL matches. We used RCB and India's team captain, Virat Kohli to bring the nation together in one TVC. And once these cheers poured in from every corner of India, we created televised fan content for our new RCB supporters along with our brand. With YouTube and Facebook sponsored ads, our TVCs was aired 6 times during every game, and will soon hit over a thousand advertising spots by the end of the IPL 2019 campaign. The spots were regionally distributed, unlike any other brand. While every other giant sponsor spoke about themselves, we focused on building a fanbase in 3992 cities not playing the IPL.

Describe the outcome

In the end, while every other sponsor focused on their Brands, Pillsbury Cookie Cake was all about Fans. 77% Increase in RCB Mentions Campaign Reach – 25 Million Pillsbury Cookie Cake became the No 1. Recalled brand amongst cookie cakes 200% Increase in Brand Awareness 51% Increase in purchase intent 8 Million cookie cakes sold in just one month With A Team for 3992 Cities, we put ‘INDIA' in the center of the Indian Premier League. And achieved something no other big brand has ever done. That’s a pretty big bite for a small cookie cake!