Neo Sports' Asia Cup to up viewers' EQ

The channel is readying to launch a marketing campaign for the Asia Cup, which starts in mid June

The Asia Cup is slated to be telecast on Neo Sports from June 15 onwards. The channel has devised a campaign to get tune-ins for the ODI tournament, which is held once in two years.

With so many cricketing events being held round the year, the need to differentiate and position each as hot property is crucial. While 'the ODIs will always have their charm' phenomenon may be true, merely promoting the cricket property does not suffice.

Ashish Bahl, head, marketing and communication, Neo Sports, says that the campaign for Asia Cup is based on how opinionated and superstitious people tend to get with the game of cricket. "While every fan is opinionated about the game, every one has a unique belief or superstition that they associate with. For instance, somebody wears a particular hat every day when India is playing as it proved lucky sometime for the team," says Bahl about the premise of the campaign.

The marketing campaign comprises two television commercials, five print ads and Internet advertising. The Asia Cup is being touted, in the campaign, as Asia's biggest battle. The channel is reportedly spending Rs 4- 6 crore to promote this property.

One of the TVCs features a businessman, Mr. Sharma, who is informing everyone about the lock (TVC link here) combination of his safe because last December, burglars broke into his office and that was the day India broke its ODI record. The two TVCs, which have been made in both English and Hindi, will be aired across youth, lifestyle and news channels from June 1.

"We didn't want to go the regular way of promoting this tournament but wanted to strike an emotional chord with the viewer by portraying how a fan actually feels for the game," Bahl adds. There is a consumer contest called 'Bano India Ka Lucky Charm' based on the creative idea of the campaign. The contest invites entries from fans stating why they are India's lucky charm.

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