Campaign: Bharat Bandh
Brand: DLF Indian Premier League (IPL)
Company : IPL
Agency: JWT India
The Campaign
SET MAX, the official broadcaster of the DLF IPL, has launched ‘Bharat Bandh’ campaign to create a buzz for the upcoming DLF IPL 2011 tournament. The positioning for this year’s campaign is “IPL on, toh Bharat Bandh”. The 360-degree campaign is on till the launch of the tournament. The campaign is conceptualized by JWT India. The commercials are directed by Shashank Ghosh and produced by Rajkumar Hirani.
Our Take
The campaign basically talks about how the country would be closed for 51 days, from April 8 to May 28, when the tournament is on. In this particular ‘Politician’ film, an angry politician (of Samaaj Sewa Party) demands to know who has declared a bandh (shutdown) in the country. He calls up politicians from all other parties and states but everyone denies the allegations. He ultimately gets extremely frustrated and then the voice-over announces that the country would be shut for 51 days as IPL will be on and no political party is involved in this bandh . ?51 din ke liye Bharat Bandh hoga. Kyunki DLF IPL aa raha hai MAX par,? it says.
The campaign uses the insight that almost everything in the country is on hold when cricket is on, to promote the tournament. It has adopted a humorous approach to bring home this point. The humour is subtle and the execution is refreshing. Overall, it is an interesting campaign which manages to convey the message well.
IPL seems to have got a positive boost from India’s World Cup victory. More advertisers are showing keen interest in being associated with it. So with the cricket fever still raging and the buzz that is being created with the launch campaign, IPL might manage to grab a huge number of eyeballs.
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