turning the nation’s cheers toward every athlete.

Brand Context

Cadbury Dairy Milk (CDM) is a market leader in the Indian chocolates industry.

Situation Context

India Premier Leagure (IPL) is the biggest cricket tournament, ranking second only to the English Premier League (EPL) in terms of global popularity based on viewership and fan engagement.

Given its magnum opus popularity within the country and globally, hundreds of brands levarage the event to augment their reach, and with $6.4B worth media rights in 2023, IPL was slated to be even bigger.

The Challenge

Stand out against IPL 2023's clutter and leverage the event to unlock the next phase of brand growth while

  • driving awareness,

  • driving sales.

The Insight

In India, cricket is a religion. However, when it comes to any other sport, the spotlight is dimmed, cheers are muted and faces are unfamiliar; these are athletes who represent India in other sports, often overshadowed by this behemoth- cricket.

With 1.4+ Billion fans following only cricket as a sport, CDM had to broaden the sporting spotlight, expanding audience focus to the diverse arena where Indian athletes compete.

The Strategy

While all eyes are on IPL, hijack cricket chatter and promote other sports and urge Indians to #CheerForAllSports.

The idea was not to shift the spotlight from cricket to the other sports but to leverage its immense fandom to bring about inclusivity and #CheerForAllSports.

The Media Innovation

Forget cookie-cutter TVCs; a whole virtual stadium was built - a bridge of digital cheers between the audience and the unsung heroes, and redefined what a sports campaign can be. This wasn't just raising awareness - it was a full-blown audience takeover.

Instead of gently suggesting what to do, cutting-edge technology was leveraged to immerse audiences in the action, in real-time, by creating a unique online platform where viewers could actively engage and bring the athletes across all sports face-to-face with their supporters while they championed their games - no matter the sport, no matter the time zone, no matter the distance.

The Execution

Strategic integrated media touchpoints like:

  • JioCinema (official streaming OTT) reaching a record-breaking 449M+ unique audience,

  • Connected-TV, with an ever-increasing userbase of 30+M viewers,

  • Traditional-TV including the official TV IPL broadcaster that witnessed (post-Covid) IPL's highest reach with 431M viewers tuning in,

  • Social media platforms Meta, YouTube, Twitter, Sharechat - all massive digital platforms that perfectly capture the excitement and action of IPL - to drive higher reach and traffic,

  • Content integration with the official broadcaster, repurposing bites from the same on digital channels in the form of tweets and stories.

  • The website involved the audience themselves through QnA with sportspersons to be a part of the behavioural change the campaign aimed to bring.

  • OOH billboards in proximity to cricket stadiums - for message reinforcement.

  • Concluded the campaign with print-ads, placed contextually along news celebrating wins of our non-cricket athletes, reaching millions of readers across the country.

#CheerForAllSports thrived on dynamism, embracing a test-and-learn approach, pivoting in real-time based on data. From timed push-notifications from sports apps, to amplified cheers through passionate fan pages, from match-synced laser-targeted Google Moment Marketing to influencer amplification, all were constantly refined by results. Every daring experiment reshaped the campaign, ensuring unsung heroes heard the roar of a nation.

The Results

  • Reach of over 80% of brand TG i.e. 160M+ consumers.

  • 25% sales growth.

  • Over 195M views across creatives leading to over 8.5M audience engagement on digital cheers through the live-stream.

  • 21% uplift on online ad awareness; 7pp on ad-recall, and 5.3% in purchase intent.

  • Meta and YouTube assets delivered VTRs higher by 9-13pp vs benchmark.

  • 97% positive sentiments towards the campaign, praising the unique initiative focused on development of other sports.

  • Earned media of 4.5M.

But most importantly, other sports finally got the spotlight they deserved all along. Other brands hopped on the wagon and used the hashtag for their social media posts. Other influential businessmen, politicians and sportspersons of the country also joined in celebrating the participation and victories of Indian athletes with #CheerForAllSports.

The Impact

  • Effie India - Best Sports Campaign

  • MMA SMARTIES - Diversity & Inclusion

  • EMVIES - Best Media Strategy (CPG)

  • EMVIES - Best Media Innovation - Digital

  • EMVIES - Best Media Innovation - Display

  • EMVIES - Best Media Innovation for Brand Building

  • FOM Asia - Best Use of Sport