How Vicks is looking to make its anthem inclusive ahead of ICC CWC 2023

The Cricket World Cup always evokes vivid imagery of our beloved cricket team in action, with fans passionately rallying with full-throated cheers.  The fervent support of fans becomes an essential aspect of every game, often wielding the potential to influence the dynamics of play without setting foot on the field.

Vicks Cough Drops, a product under the portfolio of Vicks known for giving people khich khich free voice unveiled a campaign ahead of ICC World Cup 2023 with Yuvraj Singh. The campaign titled #VicksKholIndiaBol cheer anthem urges Indian fans to cheer loudest during the upcoming cricket season.

The lyrics of the anthem reveal how voices have the power to make the loudest cheer, how cheers can turn tables during a match and multifold the passion of cricket fans from every nook and corner of our country. 

Sahil Sethi, category leader - personal healthcare, P&G India said the idea behind this campaign, “ If anyone thinks about ‘Vicks cough drops’, it has always been enabling consumers with ‘khich-khich free’ voice. When we started brainstorming to drive relevance for the brand with our customers, especially during this cricketing season. We thought for our fans, that cheering is a vital part of watching, and Vicks Cough Drop can become a natural fit as at times while cheering fans could face some throat irritation. We don’t want fans to face this while cheering for our team. That was the main thought behind this anthem.”

The brand’s objective for this anthem is to drive awareness of the product, as the brand feels that the product is a natural fit with this cricketing season and it will eventually drive sales for them as well. 

Usually, we see brands make ad campaigns, but why did Vicks choose to create an anthem? Sethi answers, “We thought rather than making a small ad, how can we connect with fans? Then we thought one of the integral parts of cheering is music and dance. Even the lyrics of the anthem also resonate with our brand.”

The #VicksKholIndiaBol anthem aims to enable 1.4 billion Indians whom the brand’s named as ‘voice champions’ to cheer for their team.

During the World Cup, brands across categories are looking to create anthems, ICC Men’s Cricket World 2023 launched an official anthem featuring Ranveer Singh and music created by Pritam. Adidas launched its own anthem performed by rapper Raftaar, and there will be many more coming up. How is the brand looking to stand out in this anthem war? Sethi says, “Every brand has a different objective when they create an anthem. We wanted to win with fans. There is a direct connection, as we are talking about the power and responsibility of cheer. Secondly, we are a little inclusive with this anthem by partnering with India Signing Hands.”

The brand is set to release a special version  version of the anthem for the deaf community. There are approximately 6.3 crore cheers that remain unheard. For that, the brand has unveiled a one-minute version of the anthem featuring passionate fans from the community and Yuvraj Singh grooving to it. This version of the anthem will be released in the coming weeks.

The brand plans to leverage digital platforms, social media channels, OTT platforms, and traditional television. For the World Cup, the brand plans on promoting through both TV and OTT. “The digital will play a huge role in this campaign and will be rolled out in different phases for the next 2-3 months,” he highlights.  

For advertisement during the World Cup, the brand is looking to create a shorter duration of the anthem, that can fix the timeslot of the ads easily.

In terms of influencer marketing, the brand aims to partner with influencers who will bring their version of the anthem digitally. 

Vicks last made an anthem in 2012 which was a sporting anthem composed by Ranjit Barot. The campaign highlighted different sports from cricket to football, boxing to badminton and more. Why did the brand take too long to launch another anthem?

Sethi says, “Every year we plan for our marketing strategy in terms of how to take this brand forward. We look at the contexts where the consumer is interested, and secondly prioritization of ideas. In this season, we thought to bring up that anthem approach as the cricketing season is about to begin over a few months to leverage this anthem approach.”