Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK’s) brand value was up 52% to US$ 122 million in 2024, making it the Indian Premier League’s most valuable team, according to a Brand Finance report earlier this month. As per the brand valuation consultancy, CSK’s growth has been driven “largely by the enduring appeal and influence of legend MS Dhoni.”
While that is undeniable, it may come as a revelation to some that the cricketer featured in very few of the team’s promos – certainly not in as many as some of his teammates. And while Dhoni remains the biggest star of CSK, his ‘Thala’ title was born from the team’s ‘Whistle Podu’ jingle.
If team CSK stands tall today, it is primarily because of the fans who have ‘owned’ the team, recounted S Chockalingam (Chocka), Co-founder and Director, OPN Advertising, delivering an #AdTalks lecture on ‘The WhistlePodu Story’ at the Advertising Club Madras, on December 18, 2024.
It also turned out to be a story of what happens when an agency is trusted by the client to steer a brand, fuelled by fans.
Born to Roar
Chocka was part of a three-member agency ‘Salt’ when a call from an old friend flying into Chennai drew the reluctant adlander away from a landmark annual school reunion. All he knew when meeting two executives from India Cements with the friend, was that it was about launching a cricket team from Chennai. (The team is now owned by Chennai Super Kings Cricket Limited.)
Chocka did not follow sports leagues and was not sure how the one-year-old shop would be trusted with the task. He and his then partner Jaju Krishnankutty and Bala Manian (who continues to partner him at OPN since 2010) had a weekend to prepare the approach.
“We presented on a Monday. They were convinced and gave us the work (or so we thought). A year later, they revealed that we got the work only because of my friend,” quipped the speaker.
While the brand is hugely popular today, it had modest beginnings and virtually non-existent marketing budgets. That made the team/s strive to think out of the box, explained Chocka.
“It was a very interesting brief from the client. They said, ‘We don’t want you to be our expense account. Don’t ask me for money. Figure out a way to spread the message.’ We also did not know the scale of the IPL then. We realised it when the auctions happened and Dhoni was picked up for Rs.6 cr. Self doubt also kicked in. Ogilvy was handling a team. There was Shah Rukh Khan and Red Chillies, Preity Zinta…And we had the Chennai team handled by an agency no one knew called Salt!” recalled Chocka.
The franchise set out to build a team that is “not owned by Mr.N Srinivasan or India Cements”, but one that belonged to the people of Tamil Nadu and Chennai. The first step towards that was to involve fans, starting with the name. While the expectation was about 300 entries, a contest got 50k in a week. Drawing on popular culture and a Rajinikant dialogue, the brief read, “Pera kettale adhuranum” (The mere name should cause a tremor).
When the Grass Seemed Yellow
The choice of colour and logo came next. Yellow was inspired by the brand of sport that the Brazilian soccer team and Australian cricket team played – spirited, highly competitive, entertaining and intensely loved. When Brazil played soccer, win or lose, the crowds came in to watch. CSK wanted to sell tickets too.
Another consideration was to stand out. They stayed away from blue as it was also associated with the Indian cricket team. One guessed that Mumbai backed by Reliance would likely pick blue, and that Bengaluru could go with red. Fearing that the Hyderabad team might pick yellow, a colour favoured by the Telugu-speaking states, CSK went ahead and announced its colour before anyone else. The choice of colour would prove a huge advantage soon after.
“Every team had a song and dance, some with big stars. We couldn’t do that. Everyone had a TV ad. We did not. One was the budget. Two, we thought why should we do a TV ad? Why should we be on TV during the ad break? What if we could take over the whole match?” explained the speaker.
CSK took over all the ground inventory possible at their home ground the MA Chidambaram stadium, from perimeter boards to pillars, and branded them in the (now) signature yellow during the India-South Africa test played at the end of March 2008. For context, the inaugural IPL kicked off on April 18 that year. From TV screens across the world to media that covered the match, there was no missing CSK even as Virender Sehwag scored 319 runs. Chocka recalled a commentator noting, possibly in frustration, that even the grass seemed yellow at the Chepauk stadium.
The message went out bright and loud: ‘Welcome to the den. Home of the Chennai Super Kings. Get ready to roar.’
The Whistle for Thala
The next edition of the IPL was moved to South Africa, much to the disappointment of Chocka and team. They were told to get ready to travel to South Africa and cheer the team. There wasn’t much else to be done. While the Chennai team was to train in South Africa, a few of them including Parthiv Patel, Mathew Hayden, Stephen Fleming and Suresh Raina were headed to Chennai prior.
“As fans, we wanted to be part of the action. We wanted to strengthen that connection with the fans. We wondered what we could do,” noted Chocka.
In the 15 to 20 minutes that the agency got with each player in Chennai for team promotion content, they wanted to create something that would click and stick. But they also had to do it without a budget. Inspired by the celebratory poses of Usain Bolt and Roger Milla, the team pondered over something ‘cheap and cheerful’. The thought came naturally. What is the one thing you hear on the first day of a Rajinikant film? They decided to own the whistle. It would take creating something visual, for the team to own the sound.
He explained, “We had the freedom because the client was not paying us the money (for the film). The one thing about CSK is that when they say you can do whatever you want, they mean it. Because of that, we could do a lot of things. We shot the players with a handycam.”
#WhistlePodu 2009
Initially it was friends from different offices who donned yellow for the love of CSK for the film. The intent was to keep it as local as possible and connect as deeply as possible with fans. The film wasn’t all the rage on day one. In a week, the video had garnered 25k views without it being promoted. Someone from Channel V reached out through the comments section, wanting to air the video. Broadcaster Sony too aired it three to four weeks into the tournament.
Between that season and the next one in India, about 250 videos had been made by fans for #WhistlePodu. Some of the fan content was far better in quality than their version, admitted Chocka. The team reached out to fans for their videos and created different edits. This became the official version of CSK, enthusing fans further.
#WhistlePodu 2010
Eventually, budgets were “created” with sponsor engagement and media leverage. The investment in #WhistlePodu continues, with telling effect when the team made a comeback in 2018.
Speaking with Harsha Bhogle at a post match presentation in 2019, Dhoni revealed the story behind ‘Thala’.
The Whistle Podu anthem found a fan in Dhoni as well. He insisted that the team retain the tune.
Voice of Fans
When fans are selected purely because they are fans, to go around the ground after a match in a parade with their players, the experience is indeed unmatched. Chocka revealed that other franchises had in fact made offers to CSK fans posting on social media in the past, to promote their teams. He emphasises that CSK’s fan base has been built without spending money on promotions, completely organically.
The body-painted ‘7’ fan being at all matches and drummer Sivamani were all extensions of the experience. While the ‘7’ fan was a warehouse manager that the team decided to embed into the fan experience, Sivamani was the first live act apart from the cheerleaders. Besides the excitement he built up with the drumming, he also offered more space for logos, quipped Chocka.
“Even when we handled social media, we were clear that we have to be the voice of the fan. Or actually be the number one CSK fan, be one among them. The official CSK handles showcased what fans put out. Nothing – no communication that you create – can match the passion of fans,” underlined the speaker.
While CSK engaged in promotions at pubs and restaurants initially, the momentum shifted and the outlets started doing it themselves thereafter. Where other franchises cited copyrights to curtail screenings and promos, Chocka and team encouraged their client to make the matches and team as accessible as possible.
“Now it’s a different story but in the beginning, we didn’t even go after the cheap, fake jerseys. It was free publicity and it helped grow the base,” he added.
The fans paid back with their loyalty when the team was out of contention for two years. The growth in followers on social channels was the highest for CSK in that period, noted Chocka.
He said, “When the team was officially making a comeback, we asked Dhoni (who was playing for the Pune team) to dress his daughter in yellow and send us a picture. We knew the fans would do the rest. A month later, he posted a picture of himself in a 7 jersey with the name ‘Thala’ on Instagram, with his dog. The fans did the rest.”
Source: Facebook.com/ MS Dhoni
The author is an independent journalist, marketing and content consultant. (Views expressed are the author’s own and not necessarily those of financialexpress.com)