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The Leader's Edge: Storyboard18 in conversation with leaders, decision makers and disruptors

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Storyboard18 x The English Nut: How to pronounce these 10 brand names

Experts' Take On Reinvention Of Ad Campaigns Through Technology

Experts Speak On Key Emerging Trends In Cannes Lions Entries

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In conversation with VMLY&R’s Hari Ramanathan

Truecaller and Wavemaker

GroupM-owned Wavemaker India bagged Swedish caller identification app Truecaller's business after a competitive multi-agency pitch. India is the largest market for Truecaller. With over 220 million active users, the country accounts for as much as 70 percent of Truecaller’s global active user base of 300 million. India also accounts for a large part of the company's workforce. Wavemaker in India has been on a roll. It added a total billing of Rs 1500 crore in the last two years. The agency, which counts Mindshare, MediaCom and Essence as media stablemates, also beat all competing agencies to bag ‘Agency Of The Year’ at the Emvies this year. 

Roposo and BBH India

Publicis Groupe’s BBH India has been roped in by Roposo, video-sharing social media service as the Agency On Record (AOR). The account was won following a multi-agency pitch. BBH India will now develop both consumer-focused and business-driven marketing campaigns. Together, Roposo and BBH will develop integrated creative and strategic communications. The partnership comes at a time when Roposo is enhancing its consumer experiences and expanding its marketing efforts for LIVE Shopping and entertainment. Recently, the agency appointed George Sebastian as the executive reactive director, and the agency’s former managing director Arvind Krishnan teamed up with Leo Burnett’s Prajato Guha, former national creative director, to launch a new agency Manja that aims to create full funnel answers to help power brands in the digital world.

Madhur Sagar and Big Trunk Communications

Sugar brand Madhur Sugar has awarded the digital mandate to Big Trunk Communications, a digital integrated marketing agency. Through this collaboration, the aim is to strategically drive and execute an effective 360 degree digital marketing campaign in order to create brand awareness for the company. In November, Big Trunk Communications won the SEO mandate for Aster Labs, national reference laboratory network following a multi agency pitch.

Tata 1mg and Dentsu

Media agency from Dentsu International India, Dentsu X won the media mandate for Tata 1mg, the digital healthcare platform. The account, which would be managed by the agency’s Gurugram office, as per the mandate, will oversee the brand’s planning and buying duties for traditional as well as digital media. Tata 1mg announced complimentary health checkups for more than 1,000 doctors across India.

Nikon India and Magnon eg+

Nikon India, a 100% subsidiary of Nikon Corporation, awarded its creative and digital mandate to magnon eg+---part of the magnon group—a leading marketing performance agency. The account was won after a multi-agency pitch and will be managed by the agency's Delhi NCR office.

magnon eg+ will be responsible for the creative strategy and execution across online and offline platforms. It also includes strategizing and executing influencer and creator-led content. Further, the agency’s focus will be to partner closely with the team at Nikon to further build and strengthen equity for the brand, and manage the entire portfolio of their imaging products.

Garden Vareli and Rediffusion

Garden Silk Mills owned Garden Vareli awarded its communication mandate consisting of creative, media and digital to independent full-service advertising agency Rediffusion. The account, which was won after a multi-agency pitch, will be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. Recently, Rediffusion appointed Rahul Vengalil as the executive director of Everest Brand Solutions.
 
Kohler India and Efficacy Worldwide 

Full-service marketing agency Efficacy Worldwide became the agency of record (AOR) for luxury sanitary brand Kohler India. The brand said the association would add fresh perspective to the brand’s advertising and marketing strategies.

PepsiCo and Publicis Media

Multinational food, snack and beverage corporation PepsiCo awarded its Rs 600 crore media mandate to Publicis Media, part of Publicis Groupe. The account was won following a multi agency pitch and with this move PepsiCo India has consolidated its media, creative and digital business with Publicis Groupe.

Yellow and Sephora India

Yellow, an integrated global creative agency, has announced the acquisition of global cosmetic retail giant, Sephora. The agency will be responsible for the brand's online and offline communications, including social media, celebrity campaigns and e-commerce. The agency will work on the brand's creative marketing and digital footprint provisions across the country. 

Infectious Advertising and Bayer

Infectious Advertising won the creative mandate of five brands of pharmaceutical company Bayer. The account, which was won after a competitive pitch, will see the agency strategise and deploy creative campaigns for the brands like Arize, Dekalb, Laudis, Native and Vayego. 

Madison Media Ultra and 88Guru.com

Madison Media Ultra became the media agency of record (AOR) of educational website 88Guru.com, where they handle traditional media and digital mandates. 88tuition is a Singapore-based firm that aims to provide students high quality learning experience. The company is set to launch in India under the brand name 88Guru.com.

The Glitch and OLX Auto

The Glitch has been appointed as the global car marketplace OLX Autos’ agency of record (AOR). Having won the account after a competitive pitch, it will be handled out of the agency’s Delhi office. 

Wunderman Thompson India and Cera

Wunderman Thompson India won the creative mandate for sanitaryware brand Cera after a multi-agency pitch. Its responsibility would be to help the sanitaryware brand come up with a new mission and outlook to help connect with the millennials.

Rediffusion and Tata Power 

Rediffusion won the digital, creative and media mandate of Tata Power. This includes all its business clusters including generation, transmission and distribution, renewables and new services including ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance - I think) and CSR domains. The mandate was won following a multi-agency pitch. Previously, Wunderman Thompson looked after the creative aspects of Tata Power, and the mandate of the media duties were fulfilled by GroupM’s m/SIX. Rediffusion also won the account of Garden Vareli, Tynor (largest manufacturer and exporter of orthotics) and Glucon-D (glucose powder brand). 

Havas Media Group India and Slurrp Farm

Havas Media Group won the integrated media mandate of Slurrp Farm, a millet-based children’s food brand. The mandate includes both offline and online media duties, and will be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. Earlier this summer, the brand launched its first-ever brand campaign, ‘Yes Ka Time Aa Gaya’ that featured investor and brand ambassador, actor Anushka Sharma. Two weeks ago, the advertising conglomerate launched Cake, an agency with its concentrations on sport, culture and entertainment.

iProspect India and Monster.com

Dentsu India’s iProspect India has won the digital mandate for the global employment website Monster.com. The account was won following a multi agency pitch and would be handled out of the agency’s Gurgaon office. The agency’s focus would be on performance marketing, and would manage the brand throughout India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. 
 
Gozoop Group and Spexmojo

Integrated marketing solutions agency Gozoop Group has won the social media mandate of Spexmojo, an online eyewear discovery platform. Having won the account after a multi-agency pitch, the brand would be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. The focus of the agency would be on the management of the brand, which includes monitoring, listening, responding to queries and reporting to users online. Further, the agency will also focus on creating content on Instagram, Facebook, and on Twitter.

Duroflex and Vector Brand Solutions

Brand and communications consultancy Vector Brand Solutions has won the brand and communications mandate of sleep solutions company Duroflex. The agency’s responsibility would include brand building and communication development across formats, platforms and channels for the company. Recently, Duroflex released an ad starring actor Alia Bhatt who was seen advocating to buy expert-approved mattresses. The TVC was created by Tilt Brand Solutions.

MullenLowe Lintas and Vadilal Ice Creams

Marketing communications company MullenLowe Lintas has been appointed as the creative agency for Vadilal Ice Creams, ice cream brand. The agency will be responsible for Vadilal Ice Creams’ creative mandate for international business.

WatConsult and OLX Autos

Digital marketing agency WatConsult bagged the online reputation management and social listening mandate for digital automotive solutions provider, OLX Autos. The account was won following a multi-agency pitch, and will be managed by the agency’s Mumbai office. As per the mandate, WATConsult will be in charge of response management of the brand, which includes monitoring, listening, responding to queries and reporting to users online.

Absolute Barbecues and Schbang

Barbecue buffet restaurant Absolute Barbecues has awarded its digital mandate to marketing solutions agency Schbang, to increase engagement with its repeat customers and potential customers. In January, Schbang had bagged the digital creative and media mandates for CavinKare's Spinz, Nyle and Chik. The accounts that were won following a multi-agency pitch. The agency’s mandate would be to handle the strategic content and design across all social media platforms as well as performance media for the brands. 

Tally Solutions and Social Panga

Enterprise resource planning company Tally Solutions has appointed digital marketing agency Social Panga as its social media marketing partner. The mandate involves fulfilling the brand’s objective of establishing greater connect and engagement across customer and segment profiles. In May, Social Panga—which had established its presence in Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR—completed one year of its operations in Mumbai.

upGrad Placements and Olevea

The placement arm of edtech major, upGrad has awarded the social and digital mandate to Olevea, a marketing and advertising agency. The agency’s mandate would include assisting upGrad Placements by strategising, conceptualizing, and managing their social and digital media presence.

RenewBuy and Maverick India

Maverick India, an integrated marketing communication creative advertising agency has bagged the digital and creative solutions mandate for RenewBuy, an online insurance distribution platform. Maverick India’s responsibility would include bringing a fresh set of ideas to achieve the brand’s objective of achieving better engagement across their B2B channels. Recently, RenewBuy appointed Nishant Mehta as the chief business officer where he would be responsible for driving new growth avenues for the firm's insurtech business model. And in February, RenewBuy acquired Bengaluru-based fintech start-up Artivatic.AI in order to scale up business and improve technology solutions.

Kingfisher Premium and Kingfisher Ultra, and Zoo Media Network

Kingfisher has given its creative and branded content duties for its flagship products Kingfisher Premium and Kingfisher Ultra to multiple agencies within the Zoo Media Network. The mandate was won by Foxymoron following a multi agency pitch. The business will be handled by the agency’s Gurgaon office. The branded content mandate was won by Rabbit Hole, a video content solutions agency that would be handled by the agency’s Mumbai headquarters.

Biz Moves: BBH, Rediffusion, Schbang, Publicis, Wavemaker, Social Panga & Dentsu win big accounts

Digital debt financing platform CredAvenue’s brand revamp as Yubi ties well with its goal of going beyond being a credit-only platform into its international expansion to markets such as West Asia and North Africa.

Founded in 2020, Yubi facilitates debt financing for companies by connecting lenders and investors with borrowers through an online marketplace. Its offerings include term lending and working capital solutions, co-lending partnerships for banks and NBFCs, bond issuance and investment for institutional and retail participants, trade financing solutions and end-to-end securitisation and portfolio buyouts.

The Chennai-based fintech startup entered the unicorn club in just 18 months after raising around $137 million in its Series B funding. Flush with funds, the company is looking to create awareness about availability of hassle-free credit and new verticals (investment/real estate) that it intends to launch.

In an exclusive conversation with Storyboard18, Karanpreet Bindra, Yubi’s chief marketing officer, breaks down the objective behind the brand revamp. According to him, the company is looking at a large global category that can’t be contained in CredAvenue, which was a functional name.

“Our intent or ambition is to be the invisible layer covering the entire credit and debt ecosystem in the world. CredAvenue is not going to do justice to our ambition because our goal is much wider than just providing credit,” he says.

Bindra says that Yubi aims to facilitate all sorts of credit transactions right from connecting a borrower and lender, which happens to be the marketplace side of things (and what CredAvenue sounds like), ensuring smooth digitised execution on the platform itself, monitoring the journey end-to-end, and enabling connections for that loan.

Why Yubi?

So, what does Yubi mean and how did the company arrive at the new name?

Yubi means being ubiquitous, Bindra tells us. It’s like water, air or even the internet, which is out there all around you and powering life. "We wish to be that ubiquitous layer that’s the origin of Yubi, which is short for ubiquity. I think the other one is that we have a strong fundamental belief in the power of humans in doing great things and that’s where the tagline comes from."

"We believe in the fundamental right of access to capital and the potential of humans. We stand for leveraging human potential – You be – so you be at your best, which is the other inspiration for the brand name,” he explains.

Many TGs and eleven marketing plans

Yubi works with various target audiences (TGs). In the marketplace model, the company has lenders (banks/NBFCs) and borrowers (enterprises, which can have as little as Rs 10 crore annual revenue / taking a loan against property, to a unicorn or Rs 10,000 crore listed organisation looking to raise debt).

“We cater to almost six TG sets within the borrower ecosystem and three segments around the lender ecosystem. We work with two broad categories: B2B and B2B2C. For instance it can be a firm like CRED or payment app Slice, which are our customers; although they are dealing with the end customers we are powering their transactions," Bindra says.

The company will soon build and launch a B2C vertical focussed on investment products.

"We are like a single mother brand catering to almost eight different sub-brands,” Bindra notes.

For each of these sub-brands, the company has an individual marketing budget and campaign as well as a marketing strategy.

“As a group CMO, I’m working on 11 marketing plans, including the mother brand," says Bindra. He draws a comparison to an iconic global brand: "With Yubi, we have done the umbrella or mother branding similar to what FedEx does."

But all of Yubi's sub-brands will also have individual marketing plans aimed at their respective TG. For instance, one of its product brands is 'Yubi Invest', so that’s a product about wealth and it targets wealth managers. The whole marketing campaign and strategy for this sub-product will be built independent of the mother brand.

Translating vision to a new identity

Yubi’s marketing goal in the next two years is to establish itself as a leader powering the entire debt ecosystem in India, West Asia and the North Africa region. On product lines, it is targeting a leadership position in six of the eight sub-brands.

Talking about the brand identity change, Alexa Hargreave, client partner, Venture3, says that the agency has developed a set of brand principles that underpin the way Yubi speaks, acts, looks and behaves to drive the experiences it creates.

These principles include ‘Freedom to collaborate’ (which focuses on breaking down barriers and discovering opportunities), ‘Power of transparency’ (inspired by integrity and honesty in the open exchange of ideas and capital) and ‘Equitable and fair’ (a belief in the public good and opportunity that capital creates).

The agency says that it has repositioned Yubi from a debt marketplace to a ‘possibility platform’.

Design and brand expert Shekhar Badve, founder-director, Lokusdesign, says that the identity looks young and has an interesting play of 2D and 3D effects. “It looks like a marketplace for young investors. (But) I feel the identity should have been a bit serious and build confidence just by looking at it,” he notes.

Bindra, however, is confident that the new brand identity effectively captures Yubi's reason to be and future direction.

Yubi CMO Karanpreet Bindra: Our umbrella branding is similar to what FedEx does

India’s ad watchdog on June 28 released its ‘Complaints and Insights 2021-2022' report, which revealed that the advertisements under the education category turned out to be the biggest violators of the ad code.

Emerging categories like crypto and gaming were among the top 5 categories that violated the advertising guidelines most in 2021-22. To put it in perspective, between January and May 2022, more 400 ads were flagged by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) that violated the guidelines.

Given the surge in demand for health & wellness products and services, healthcare and personal care also popped up in the list of the sectors that violated guidelines.

Digital platform torchbearer of misleading ads

The digital ecosystem took a center stage in the report released by the ASCI as the maximum number of objectionable ads (48 percent) were published on digital; Instagram claimed lion’s share of 43 percent, followed by YouTube 28 percent, Websites 18 percent, Twitter 6 percent and Facebook 3 percent. 

Influencers contributed to nearly 29% of all complaints taken up by ASCI.

Misleading ads featuring celebrities, that violated the code, jumped by 41 percent to 92 percent. As many as 94 percent of the overall ads processed demanded modifications. However, the overall voluntary compliance rate stood at 94 percent and the compliance on print and television was as high as 98 percent.

The Growth

The Indian advertising industry reached a size of Rs. 70,715 crores in 2021, registering 18.6 percent growth from 2020. The industry is expected to reach Rs 93,119 crores by the end of 2023, a projected CAGR of 14.75 percent. The digital advertising industry has reached a market size of Rs 21,353 crore in 2021 from Rs 15,782 crore in 2020, recording a 35.3 percent growth, owing to the accelerated business and consumer shift towards digital. Digital media is expected to reach a market size of Rs 35,809 crore by 2023.

ASCI Chief Speaks

ASCI chief Manisha Kapoor opines that the guidelines are fairly detailed and exhaustive. Sharing her views on why they are not being adhered to, Kapoor said "If a new guideline comes in place, it serves two purposes. One it tells the industry what is okay and what is not. It tells that if a disclaimer is read fast, it is not okay. Any new guideline that comes in place, I think, the industry takes some time to internalise, understand and then start to fully comply. We make our findings transparent. The industries also need to introspect, and if they don't behave in a responsible way, then that invites greater scrutiny from all kinds of regulators, and self-regulators."

Kapoor believes that the guidelines are fairly new and we should wait for a few months before they begin to be adopted. These guidelines are subject to review based on the evolution of the consumer, the market, or other factors., she added.

Regarding influencer guidelines, Kapoor says, "we have seen a lot of people who have started to follow, and ASCI is pulling up the people who are not following. It is a matter of the industry also coming together and saying that by being honest, it will be good for us where consumers can trust those who are honest."

Education category largest violator of advertising code in 2021-22: ASCI Report

Five years ago, when Indian creative directors came home from the Oscars of advertising they had a bag full of inspiration on how to crack the digital code. Cut to 2022. They are returning with a suitcase full of Lions for their cutting-edge tech-driven work.

Dentsu Webchutney created history by winning three Grand Prix in a single year at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for Vice Media’s campaign ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’. The agency also grabbed a much-coveted Titanium Lion, a category that celebrates game-changing work. The campaign has also become India's highest-ever awarded work in Cannes Lions' history.

Dentsu Creative India also won the prestigious Agency of the Year title.

Storyboard18 asked Ajay Gahlaut, group chief creative officer, Dentsu Creative, what makes ‘The Unfiltered History Tour’ a winning campaign. He believes the way the campaign has used creativity and tech to question history has got people interested. Also, its subversive nature has added to its appeal. “The fact that one is bypassing the ‘official’ narrative of the British Museum and accessing an alternate view through technology is very exciting. The campaign has started a conversation all over the world about the evils of colonisation,” he added.

On winning the Agency of the Year, he said: it's "an emotion I cannot even begin to describe. When I used to watch other agencies win the title I often wondered if I ever would get that same honour." He added, "Not just me I think no one in the entire Indian ad industry has been part of such a huge haul of Lions ever before...I doff my hat to the entire team responsible for the Unfiltered History Tours. Those who are with us now and those who have moved on. Congratulations all.”

What is the Unfiltered History Tour?

The campaign is a guided tour for visitors at the British Museum, which houses some of the world’s most disputed artefacts. Through The Unfiltered Tour, visitors to the museum could scan the artefacts using Instagram filters and unlock an augmented reality (AR) experience that visually teleport the objects back to their homeland. Taking this further, The Unfiltered History Tour also extends into a ten-part podcast series featuring experts from the countries where the artefact was taken from and not from where it’s currently housed. This was done to provide a broader education on the artefacts, as well as the history and ongoing impact of colonialism.

The germ of the campaign idea came up during a casual conversation between the agency’s former chief creative officer PG Aditiya and former CEO Gautam Reghunath. The campaign took about 18 months to come together. Once the campaign took off, Aditiya, Reghunath, and a few others who worked on it, quit to set up a new creative hot shop called Talented.

Credit culture took the spotlight

Dentsu Webchutney has been entering the campaign for awards and has been bringing shiny metals home from across the globe. Every time a few trophies are added to the agency’s shelves, they tag Aditiya, Reghunath, and a few others on social posts giving them due credit and respect. So much so that Gurbaksh Singh, chief innovation officer, Dentsu Creative India, couriered a replica of the Grand Prix trophy to Reghunath before he flew to Cannes and asked him to unbox it when they win. Singh had a gut feeling that the campaign will win big.

The team spirit of Dentsu Webchutney and Talented is setting the right example for the ad industry. It says a lot about how the Indian creative community is becoming more mature when it comes to sharing credit.

When creativity meets data and business transformation

Ogilvy India and Wavemaker made history, too, by winning a Titanium Lion. The agency got it for its Cadbury Celebrations’ ‘Shah Rukh Khan - My Ad’. In 2020, as a part of the brand’s ‘Iss Diwali Aap #KiseKhushKarenge?’ campaign, Mondelez India’s ‘Not Just A Cadbury Ad’ leveraged artificial intelligence to create hyper-personalised spots for local businesses in and around 260 pin codes. It married creativity and tech with a purpose: to promote local businesses at a time when they were worst hit by the pandemic and lockdowns. The campaign tied in with Cadbury's global brand positioning centred on genuine acts of kindness and generosity.

In 2021, in addition to the hyper-personalised brand films that reached the end-consumers, local retailers got a chance to make a version of these ads for their stores, using the AI-powered technology developed by Rephrase.ai. Small businesses that are pinned on Google maps could share their custom-made ad featuring Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan through WhatsApp. In these ads, Khan was seen nudging consumers to shop from various local stores. Wavemaker India was the media agency behind the campaign.

The agency also won Gold Lions in categories like Creative Data and Direct.

The other Grand Prix winner

The other Grand Prix this year went to VMLY&R India's 'The Killer Pack' campaign for Maxx Flash in the Health & Wellness Lions. In India, garbage collection points act as major breeding grounds for diseases like dengue and malaria, while mosquito repellent coils are only used to fight mosquitoes inside homes, Maxx Flash decided to change that practice. The mosquito repellent brand introduced The Killer Pack, a 100% biodegradable, innovative packaging lined with 5% Active Probiotic Bacillus thuringiensis, which kills mosquito larvae when disposed of in garbage dumps, dustbins, and stagnant water, helping to break the vicious cycle.

The campaign also won Lions in categories like Creative Commerce and Creative Business Transformation. The agency’s campaign ‘Smart Fill’ for Unilever picked up a Silver Lion in the Sustainable Development Goals category.

These campaigns indicate that at the core of technology-driven work is creativity and data that pushes the envelope and powers marketing strategies.

Purpose-driven narratives win big and a Grand Prix 

Historically, India is known for winning big advertising awards for campaigns that are purpose-led. This year, too, a bunch of purposeful campaigns roared at Cannes Lions.

Leo Burnett India’s campaign ‘The Missing Chapter’ for P&G India’s Whisper got India’s first Grand Prix for Sustainable Development Goals Lions. It’s a category that celebrates creative problem solving, solutions, or other initiatives that harness creativity and seek to positively impact the world.

Leo Burnett India’s film titled ‘The Missing Chapter’ is a part of the brand’s #KeepGirlsInSchool movement. It was designed to illustrate how a girl’s lack of period education contributes to her missing school days, a situation exacerbated by the glaring absence of period education in Indian textbooks. The same campaign won a Silver Lion in the category Health & Wellness.

Dheeraj Sinha, CEO Leo Burnett, South Asia & Chairman BBH India, tells Storyboard18 that what makes this an award-winning campaign "is perhaps both that fact that it balances creativity and purpose while also helping the brand scale up and meet its business objectives. It is an impactful campaign that makes a real difference to both consumers and the business itself."

He further indicated, "one of the biggest problems holding girls back is a lack of period education. 23 million girls fall out of the education system because they don’t understand what’s happening to them. The missing chapter is another initiative towards keeping girls in school. It's real in its impact."

Rajdeepak Das, CEO and chief creative officer, South Asia, Leo Burnett, tells us that the campaign also took a granular approach. "We decided that if the girls don’t have access to the chapter on period education, we will take the chapter to them. Thus evolved the idea of using one of India’s oldest communication forms – ‘wall-art’ to spread period education by taking this chapter to India’s smallest towns and villages," he explains.

After identifying 28 art styles specific to the geography of each state, the agency worked with local artists to create custom hand-drawn paintings centred around ‘The Missing Chapter’ on periods. Hyper-localized in 28 different languages, slogans with catchy lines were crafted to bust period myths along with a 3-step visual aid on how to use a pad. These paintings have been put up on school and village walls – a place no girl can miss seeing these.

Indian Lions roar on the global stage

FCB India is the other Indian agency that got home Lions. FCB India and Kinnect a bunch of Lions for SOS Children’s Village India’s ‘Chatpat’ campaign. In the Film category, which was announced on the last day at Cannes Lions, the campaign got a Silver and Bronze Lion each. DDB Mudra’s ‘Machine-Gun Mouth’ spot for Battle Battlegrounds Mobile India promoted responsible gaming. Made by Early Man Films this ad picked a Bronze Film Lion.

VMLY&R India’s campaign ‘Adeli’ done for Unipads was India’s only winner in Glass Lions. The agency picked up a Bronze Lion.

From period talk to addressing the ongoing impact of colonialism, Indian agencies took on several purposeful subjects and married data, tech and creativity to create impactful work for clients and at the same time make history at the Cannes Lions.

2022 was India’s historic year at Cannes Lions. Here’s why

Even as content is making a major digital switch, esports is moving to linear TV in India to target the ‘media dark’ audience. Will the booming industry finally get the ‘mainstream’ tag is the big question everyone is asking.

The coming together of Star Sports and NODWIN Gaming to broadcast the BGMI Masters Series tournament live on Star Sports 2, the same channel that also airs IPL, for three long weeks is a step taken towards esports’ journey to prime-time television.

While NODWIN Gaming, a part of Nazara Technologies (BSE: NAZARA) could not give out details of the media rights price or brands associated with the tournament, the series that will see India’s top 24 BGMI squads battling it out has already seen a doubling of partner brands and 350% increase in revenue.

The credit for the exponential growth in numbers goes to the fact that this season’s BGMI Masters Series would be on TV, said MD and Co-Founder, NODWIN Gaming Akshat Rathee.

“TV changes the conversation with partners. So far, esports has always been associated with live streaming on digital platforms. Through this collaboration with a mainstream sports channel, we hope to break that mould. We have a huge media dark advertiser pool that will now be interested to associate themselves with esports,” Rathee told Storyboard18.

“Our advertisers on digital complain about the huge chunk of the audience that is not there on digital and then there are ad blockers too. With television we will be beyond these roadblocks,” he added.

According to him, if the TV works out and the trend of televising esports events continues, the total size of the esports in the country has the potential to grow anywhere between 200% and 300% in the next 12-24 months.

A recent EY report says, as esports grows popular amongst youth and the affluent, advertisers and agencies are expected to increasingly use esports tournament viewership to gain reach and engagement with the audience, growing over 4x to Rs 6.5 billion by FY25. Tournament sponsorship and syndication revenue would also likely quadruple with media broadcasting rights and advertisement sponsorship revenue together constituting this segment.

Coming back to the BGMI Masters Series tournament, just like any other sport each and every segment of the games has been monetized. There are a total of 15 sub-segments in the three hours of content that would be televised.

How it works 

Explaining how it works for brands and advertisers Rathee said, “Just like cricket where there is a wickets package, a sixes package, a man of the match, etc we have similar options in our ecosystem. For example, you have the player of the day than a team of the day, the fastest score for the day etc that we have created for brands and partners.”

Not just partner brands, even Star is looking at recruiting new audiences with this series. In an official statement, Sanjog Gupta, Head – of Sports, Disney Star said, “As the preferred destination for sports fandom, Star Sports is always looking for opportunities to engage fans, galvanise communities and recruit new audiences. Our partnership with Nodwin Gaming seeks to shape the future of eSports in India by introducing high quality competition and prominent players to millions of TV viewers around the country. It will hopefully fuel fandom for eSports amongst gamers and elevate aspiration amongst athletes.”

Esports ready for prime-time on Indian TV

The banned campaign of Layer’r Shot, the deodorant brand from Adjavis Venture Limited, created a virtual stir for its sexist and triggering tone. The 30-second spot features a bunch of teenagers walking into a room where a young couple was there. They make suggestive sexual remarks which imply scoring sexual favours from the woman in question.
After severe backlash and the I&amp;B ministry asking YouTube and Twitter to take down the ad, Layer’r Shot on June 6 took to Twitter to issue a statement.

“We, the brand Layer’r SHOT would like to inform one and all that only after due and mandatory approvals, we have aired the advertisements, wherein, we never intended to hurt anyone’s sentiments of feelings or outrage any women’s modesty or promote any sort of culture, as wrongly perceived by some. However, we sincerely apologise for the advertisements that consequentially caused rage amongst individuals &amp; several communities and beg their pardon,” the brand states.

The brand also says that they have asked their broadcasting partners to stop airing the ads from June 4 with immediate effect.

However, the campaign in question has already triggered people who called it out for being disrespectful towards women and reigniting the debate about what can be passed in the name of creativity. Advertising and branding experts that Storyboard18 spoke to unanimously agreed that the campaign is a reflection of a new trend of advertising agencies being sidelined and creative process being taken for granted by an increasing number of advertisers.

Don’t compromise creative process

Brand expert Anisha Motwani highlights that there is a new trend emerging where brands are saving money and going directly to production houses, compromising on the creative process.

“We have been experiencing this trend a lot in the new age startup space. The traditional ways of clients having agencies that understand and do a scientific job of how a brand should be positioned, defining core values, brand personality and the core human insights on which a brand is basing its communication is being ignored. We used to go through the entire facet of the brand before arriving on a brief. It used to be a very scientific process of understanding TG, their beliefs, value systems,” she adds.

Motwani notes that if the client (Layer’r Shot) has done this exercise and read the brief backwards for a communication like this they would have realised that there’s something off about the communication.

“Brands want to take shortcuts and not do the hard work. This trend of advertisers going to creative shops and production houses offering these services, I’m not saying all their work is bad but there are many that just don’t understand the science of brand building and they evaluate a piece of creative basis whether it cuts the clutter or not. Under that disguise a lot of this kind of work gets approved,” she says.

Motwani also adds that young adults that form a massive consumer base in India are far more aware and conscious about brands and their core values. Their loyalty cannot be bought on the basis of any callous communication.

Be cool not crass

Using attraction as a ploy to market personal care products is not new in advertising. Experts believe that from toothpaste and skin care to perfumes and deodorant, multiple brands have leveraged this proposition of an attractive woman to create interest among its target audience but what Layer’r campaign lacks is boundary and dignity.

Consumer behaviour and brand strategy enthusiast Mythili Chandrasekar thinks that every aspect of this Layer’r Shot ad, the set-up, multiple men, language and casualness of delivery makes it callous and dangerous.
“Use a product and attract or win over the girl or guy has been a proposition for decades. At its core, many categories use this proposition but it’s crucial to do it with dignity and grace, and stay strictly within boundaries and have multiple checkpoints in the process of ideation to release,” she emphasises.

Own up

What’s worse about making an obscene ad is not owning up and apologising, says Naresh Gupta, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Bang In The Middle.

According to him, the brand has been nothing short of insensitive and crass.

"The apology is a joke. This is like saying we did nothing wrong and the world is unfair. But someone said say sorry so we said sorry. If the brand was genuinely regretful of the ad they made, they would have said it clearly. By doing verbal jugglery they are not saying sorry at all. That’s really not a good thing to do from a reputation perspective," he concludes.

Why agencies matter: Lessons from Layer’r deo ad disaster

Every sport-sponsoring brand works hard with the intent to expand the passion and excited enthusiasm fans have for their favorite sport to also include the sponsoring brand. The fact that the typical sponsorship comes with a spectrum of activation opportunities, the magnetic pull of live events, B2B hospitality opportunities and global reach – makes for a sweet deal.

With the convergence of physical and digital in the world of sports, and the growing popularity of hyper-reality experiences, it’s even more of a blast to be a sports fan, and, of course, a sports sponsor. Having said that, in the same way marketers are inextricably focused on consumers and their evolving needs, sports-sponsoring brands have their sights set on fans – whether in the real world or virtual.

If sports fans will be more spontaneous, more conscientious or more adventurous, then brands seeking to win mind space with them must create avenues for their passion and purpose – and technology is but a means to this end.

Here are some broad strokes of the evolution I believe sports fans are moving towards, and some ideas for how sport-sponsoring brands can keep up:

Some things won’t change, how we respond to it will.


For example, beyond star athletes and state-of-the-art stadiums, spectators have and will always immensely value something far more basic: that cliff-hanger game and the suspense of not knowing who will walk away with the prize.

Research corroborates this timeless truth. But today, what we can do with breakthroughs in data analytics, AI and digital is put stats and insights in the hands of fans, in deeply immersive ways, that can make the nail-biting journey to the finish, an experience to cherish.

I’ll never forget how fans were thrilled when Nadal defied the AI win predictor’s 4% odds to win the Australian Open 2022 and beat AI, Medvedev and his demons to win the coveted 21st Slam. Or more recently in the Champions League semi-finals when Real-Madrid overturned a 1-goal deficit to Manchester City again defying the 99% win predictor in the 89th minute!

Sports in the digital world will mean more space to play to the fan gallery.


Digital real-estate for sports – like all digital real-estate – means more space for sponsorships and endorsements but also economies driven with cryptos and trading platforms for NFTs. A much talked about move last spring was how cryptocurrency marketplace FTX was named the exclusive cryptocurrency exchange partner of the NBA Favorite Miami Heat.

With the metaverse touted as an annual trillion dollar industry to be, a market consolidation where NFT collectibles, crypto, ticketing, betting, OTT and fantasy players coming together seems somewhat inevitable. Bundling fan packages, offers and experiences will become the order of the day.

In India, for example, while the IPL is on, almost everyone enjoys creating a tactical team on Dream11 to try their fortune and at the same time view the match on Hotstar. There may be an opportunity here to consolidate OTT viewing with Fantasy league, link it with special ticketing offers, develop NFTs and craft a custom experience for a loyal fanbase. I believe that might play out rather interestingly!

Esports will offer alternate means to engage with alternate fans on their own turf.


Competitive esports watched by spectators is growing in popularity – publicly announced esports sponsorship deals have grown from just over 450 in 2016 to 2000+ in 2021. With a fan demography ranging from 18 to 34 years old and encompasses nearly 30% women and 70% men, it’s a great way to reach an otherwise somewhat elusive audience: digital, high-income, passionate young people - who are more likely to reward brands that show support for their preferred esports league or player. F1, tennis, football and basketball – the opportunity is clearly ubiquitous.

Growing demand for deeper content-driven human connect.


Fans are lapping up the story behind the sport and its teams and athletes. This could lead to unbundling live and non-live content sponsorships to drive visibility on platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar and the like. For example, ESPN is enjoying increasing ratings since it took over broadcasting F1 in 2018 moving from an average viewership of 554,000 that year to 927,000 in 2021, yearly rises tallying with the growth in popularity of each subsequent series of Drive to Survive.

Learning from their success, the entire tennis community including the 4 Grand Slams, ITF, WTA and ATP have come together and are launching a new Netflix series on tennis in 2023. This is emerging as one of those new-age growth drivers for sports organizations and only a matter of time before it becomes a norm to bundle sponsorship play with story-telling.

Making societal impact will make a difference.


Humanity has seen some truly testing times these past many months and now more than ever fans look up to the sports ecosystem to come together purposefully - impact the well-being of athletes, the community, the planet and simply do good. A telling example is how early last year, The Premier League launched its No Room For Racism Action Plan, outlining a series of commitments aimed at creating greater access to opportunities and career progression for Black, Asian and other minority ethnic groups in football, and actions to eradicate racial prejudice. Fans appreciate more of that, and smart brands won’t miss the opportunity to respond.

Quite clearly, the world of competitive sports is evolving. Dimensions such as the rising viewership in women’s sports, increased interest in college level sports leagues especially in the US and growing demand in the sports betting market as it bats for legalization will continue to be trends to keep an eye on. And yet, traditional ways of sponsorship marketing will continue to hold sway - whether through digital signboards on broadcast TV, advertisements, player endorsements, or live match viewing experiences and sponsorships. For sports fans and sponsoring brands - it’ll continue to be a team sport.

QUANTUMBRIEF