MUMBAI: Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN), the official broadcasters of the FIFA World Cup 2018 in the country has unveiled the #MeriDoosriCountry campaign in the lead-up to the world’s biggest quadrennial sporting event.
With 30 days to go for the event, the campaign was launched in the presence of Indian football legend, BhaichungBhutia. Bhutia will be associated with the channel as a television pundit as well during the tournament at a press conference on Tuesday in the city.
The #MeriDoosriCountry campaign has been conceptualized by Sony alongside agency Culture Machine, keeping in mind the undying passion of Indian fans who adopt their favourite football team once every four years during arguably the biggest sporting event in the world.
Snapshots of fans cheering and flaunting their support for their teams by wearing their jerseys, waving their flags and even painting their faces with team colours can be seen in the commercials.
Out of the four commercials, three would be of 45 seconds each reflecting the roots behind the loyalty of an Indian fan towards a foreign team. So a Goan can be seen supporting Portugal in one of them.
The thought behind the commercials also lies within the fact that Sony will be telecasting the World Cup in four languages this time – English, Hindi, Bengali and Malayalam.
Rajesh Kaul, president, Sports & Distribution, Sony Pictures Networks India confirmed these developments, highlighting the importance of the passionate Indian football fan in the company’s broadcasting strategies. With Sony being the ‘home of football’ in the Indian subcontinent since the last four years starting from the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil, he opines that the sport has come a long way in terms of being followed and is the fastest growing in a cricket-crazy country like India.
“2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is one of the most prestigious sporting events worldwide and we are extremely proud to bring it to the football fans across the Indian subcontinent. We have tried to reflect the mood of the nation in our campaign. With our multiple language feeds and unique programming initiatives, we are committed to giving our audiences a truly holistic 2018 FIFA World Cup experience,” Kaul said.
He further added that the #MeriDoosriCountry campaign will be broadcast across the 31 channels of SPN. The campaign is expected to expand across different mediums apart from television, within a week and plans are being made to go digital with it as well. Expressing optimism, Kaul was confident that the World Cup in Russia will be an outstanding success due to 47 million viewers being a part of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup last year in India, which were unprecedented numbers. The FIFA World Cup reach will easily cross 100 million. Not to forget, that the matches in Russia will be held at India’s prime time slots as compared to the last tournament in Brazil.
To enhance the viewer experience, SPN has sent a team to Russia as a part of their unique programming initiatives to provide a comprehensive coverage of fan parks and out of the stadium experiences. While their studios are augmented reality (AR) oriented.
According to Kaul, the thought behind their strategies is to bring Russia closer to home for the Indian fan, delivering a comprehensive stadium-like atmosphere to make them feel more a part of the action.
Kedar Teny, senior vice-president, Marketing & OAP, Sports for SPN, revealed that the campaign took five months to be completed. Factors such as viewership data and social media conversations in the past about FIFA events were considered while conceptualizing and planning it. He opined that despite India’s national team not being a part of the World Cup, it is the second most popular sport in the country. As a result, people have a sense of ownership for a period of 30 days for a team which features their favourite stars. In his view, there is a huge gulf between football fans and FIFA fans since the excitement levels for the World Cup go up a notch because it transcends age, genders, interest, class, race and so on.
Bhutia was all praise for the campaign and felt that while Indian fans can be divided with their opinions on teams, the growing football culture in the country would get a further boost courtesy the World Cup. He picked Argentina as his favourite team, while considering Belgium as the dark horses.
“The 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia is one of the most awaited tournaments for all of us and I am excited to show my support for the #MeriDoosriCountry campaign. The film gives the Indian audience a sense of belonging to one of the most significant sporting events of the world. While I am confident that we will see our football team in the World Cup one day, MeriDoosri Country will be Argentina this year,” Bhutia signed off.
