MUMBAI: Soft drink conglomerate Pepsi has announced the launch of a media campaign for the upcoming Cricket World Cup featuring five Indian players – skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli.
The first of the television commercials featuring Indian cricket players will be launched on 15 January. Pepsi is an ICC partner.
This ICC Cricket World Cup, Pepsi celebrates the new unorthodox yet immensely popular face of modern cricket with its high decibel and path-breaking campaign – ‘Change The Game’. Through the metaphor of cricket, it also salutes the Youngistaanis who within themselves have found the power to defy tradition, and pave their own way by not breaking the rules but by changing them.
Pepsi says that Change the Game is not a notion but reality that is reflected in the way cricket is played, watched and enjoyed world-over and in India today. With this innovative campaign, Pepsi has become the official sponsor of everything that is unorthodox about the sport; whether it is Sehwag’s Upper Cut, Dhoni’s Helicopter shot, Singh’s Doosra, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s Dilscoop, Kevin Pietersen’s Switch Hit or Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina’s aggressive on-field spirit.
PepsiCo Beverages India marketing director Deepika Warrier said, “Pepsi has always been closely associated with youth platforms such as cricket; and ICC Cricket World Cup is the single biggest event that unifies millions of passionate Youngistaanis. Our Change The Game campaign celebrates the same passion and the new age mantra of cricket, which is irreverent, unorthodox, fun, challenging and unmistakably Pepsi.”
Featuring some of the cricketing world’s biggest superstars, the campaign includes a series of ad films that will showcase out-of-the-box moves that are not text-book and yet help achieve the ultimate goal. Irreverent and youthful in spirit, these films promise to bring alive the passion Youngistaanis share for the game, both on and off the field. The first film as part of the campaign revolves around Indian team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s famous game changing move – the Helicopter Shot.
PepsiCo India executive VP – marketing, Cola Sandeep Singh Arora said, “Change the Game is a big idea in the context of the game of cricket. With this campaign we will inspire the youth to ‘change the game’, be innovative, take risks, and do things differently even if it has not been done before. We are the official sponsors of the ICC World Cup, but with this campaign we also want to be the official sponsors of everything that is unorthodox, exciting, innovative about the game of cricket”.
Dhoni said, “Change the Game for me is not about what you achieve, but how you achieve it. It is about the confidence to take risks and the courage to take the road less traveled. On field, it is about playing innovative shots or making game changing decisions at critical junctures of the play. Pepsi’s Change the Game campaign captures this thought in an exciting and innovative manner and I am sure Youngistaanis will strongly identify with it”.
Supporting the on-air initiatives is the campaign with cricketers in a painted body look. The company adds that the new body painted look is youthful, fresh and symbolic of the individual player’s passion for the game. Covered only with a layer of colourful body paint, the cricketers’ images reflect their energetic and unique persona on the field. Each design and choice of colour palette has a story behind it which mirrors the athlete’s character.
Taproot India creative director Agnello Dias said, “Pepsi has always been the fearless voice of uninhibited youth. A belief that needed to be interpreted even as the official partner of the event. Only Pepsi could turn this official status on its head by standing up for the brave new, unorthodox face of the modern game. The unplugged, organic face of contemporary cricket that is a reflective of everything that the youth of today live by. That it‘s not the textbook that matters but the result at the end of the day. Because the game can always change.”
Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films who directed the TVCs said, “Change The Game is a powerful concept and we have tried to bring alive the same passion and excitement in the films as we would see during the World Cup. The idea was to communicate Pepsi’s celebration of cricketers’ innovative signature moves on the field in a never-seen-before manner. For instance, the first film presents an irreverent back story about Dhoni’s famous Helicopter shot to the thrill of him actually using it during the match.”
The campaign is being launched across various mediums and channels to ensure complete 3D activation across all verticals. It will be supported by a 360-degree approach including thematic ATL and outdoor, consumer engagement programmes, special edition packaging, in-stadia amplification and digital engagement programmes.
