OYO's new campaign turns IPL match predictions into free stays and prizes

People sometimes use the names of famous people to get special treatment, like getting into schools and colleges or enjoying fancy vacations. Hospitality chain OYO Rooms has come up with a new campaign showing people using the name of the company's founder and CEO, Ritesh Agarwal, to get free stays at their hotels.

In the commercial, curated and executed by Blank The Agency, people chat with their friends on various occasions, boasting about their connection with Agarwal and how they can stay at luxurious hotels for free. Some even call him 'bro' or 'friend'.

In a scene from the ad, a girl proudly claims that her father suggested Agarwal take part in Shark Tank. Meanwhile, another man is seen reminiscing about the good old days when he used to play cricket with Agarwal. The ad concludes by saying that only one’s ability to predict cricket and not who they know, will get them those free stays during the IPL 2024 games.

OYO’s Free Stays League campaign invites cricket fans to participate in a daily prediction challenge. Participants who correctly predict the winner of each match in the ongoing tournament will be entered into a daily draw. Every day, 100 individuals will be rewarded with a free stay at a premium OYO property of their choice, along with Amazon vouchers worth up to Rs 5,000.

Every correct prediction will get OYO Rupee worth Rs 100 which can be used towards their next booking with OYO. The participant with the most accurate predictions throughout the tournament will win the grand prize - an iPhone 15.

“Cricket holds a special place in the hearts of millions of Indians. As the nation celebrates another exciting cricket season, we wanted to offer a little treat to all the cricket enthusiasts out there and share the joy of the game. Our special offer not only adds excitement to the cricket matches but also underscores our commitment to providing unique experiences for our guests,” said Ritesh Agarwal, founder and group CEO, OYO Rooms.

Nikhil Chaudhary, founder and CEO, Blank The Agency, said, “Creating something special during one the world’s most watched cricket leagues can be a little tricky as all the brands out there want to capitalize on this and capture the audience’s attention. With Free Stays League, we knew we wanted to take it away from the typical cricket ad and make it about regular people. The insight that people never truly say that they got something for free, but rather brag about getting it in different ways, hit home for us. Following Shark Tank, there has been a huge buzz around Ritesh Agarwal’s name, and we knew we had to leverage this. We are thrilled that team OYO shared our vision and supported us throughout.”

Organising a contest and predicting which team will win is not something new that a brand has come out with. During IPL 2023, Noise and Zomato introduced games where users predicted match winners for a chance to win big prizes.

People choose their teams before the match starts. This year, Noise is doing it again with Noise Premier League (NPL), where fans support their teams to win rewards after the IPL ends.