Defending champions, the Rajasthan Royals, which is owned by Emerging Media, is undertaking a 360-degree campaign revolving around the ‘Halla Bol Phir Se’ peg.
The team will be launching five different types of content in Rajasthan, targeting kids and elderly fans as well as young fans. The plan is to explore every medium possible although the focus will largely be on outdoor activities, which will be centred in Rajasthan for now. The franchisee’s on-ground activities include contests wherein people can apply through forms available throughout retail outlets in the state. Mobile hoardings will be put up in Jaipur and there will also be SMS and mobile campaigns. A special float will travel across Rajasthan, talking to the fans and encouraging them to take part in the contest.
The creative agency of the Rajasthan Royals continues to be Ogilvy & Mather.
Utkarsh Singh, Head Business – Development, Rajasthan Royals, gave more details on the campaign, “We will be shooting a new video with Shilpa Shetty, which will be ready for launch around the middle of March. We will be partnering with television channels around Rajasthan Royals, besides launching our DVD on March 7, 2009. We are also rolling out CSR initiatives under the RR umbrella. Our memberships and our plan is to ensure that the opening ceremony in Jaipur is a sell-out. Hence, we are campaigning heavily for that in and around Jaipur.”
“We have got a full-fledged media plan right now and other mediums are also being explored. We are on Facebook, Orkut and even on SMS Gupshup. For the mobile viral campaign, we have tied up with SMS Gupshup. We will be also partnering with Mauj mobile for content,” Singh added.
Singh dismissed the possibility of drastic change in the marketing strategies, explaining “However, this time there will be more emphasis on on-ground activities, which was not the case last year. In fact, in 2008, the team had relied mostly on mass media because of the short time given, nevertheless this time it would be a 360-degree campaign”.
Singh commented on the slowdown, “There is no impact of slowdown here and neither have we cut down on our spendings. Our sponsor interest is at all time high, and while the number of people interested may be slightly lesser, we certainly have more engagement with potential sponsors this year than what we had last year.”