JAIPUR: Australian spin legend Shane Warne has been named the brand ambassador of the Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming 2019 season.
Warne will return in a new avatar to mark a decade of the team’s existence. The Royals are the first-ever champions of the cash-rich T20 competition, having defeated MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings in the 2008 final in which the Aussie was captaining the Royals. His leadership and playing stint with the franchise lasted till 2011. He will be critical in expanding their international fanbase, attracting sponsors and is likely to play a mentoring role to the youngsters in the team.
“I’m very happy to be back with the Royals and I’m grateful to the team and the fans for their constant support. It was important for us to retain our established values but at the same time develop a new and modern identity. I am already in love with the new look of the team and hope the fans will love it too,” Warne stated.
Rajasthan Royals principal owner and Emerging Media founder Manoj Badale commented: “We feel that the time is right for us as a brand to invest further into our marketing strategy and create an even stronger brand presence both on and off field, hence having our First Royal Shane Warne to lead from the front as a Royal Brand Ambassador was important. We welcome him back once again and hope for an exciting IPL season ahead.”
The Royals also announced that it will be turning ‘pink’ after the huge response from the fans last season and the deep routed link between the colour and the state of Rajasthan. Jaipur is known as the ‘Pink City’, Jodhpur is famous for pink sandstone and Udaipur produces pink marble. This development will also help the fans identify and celebrate their team.
In all, the new look expresses Royals as a team that is reinventing itself taking into consideration the commitment of their fans. However, at the same time, the new look has been adopted keeping in mind the innovation and quality care to improve team’s performance.
“We are extremely happy to announce our official colour as ‘PINK’. This is an exciting change for us and marks a strategic move in the direction of what we are trying to build our brand into – a fan driven team that finds ways to win from anywhere.” Badale signed off.
Rajasthan Royals officially unveiled its new look on Star Sports on Sunday evening in an exclusive show ‘Halla Bol 2019’ which was was aired on Star Sports 1 , Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 Hindi and Star Sports 1 HD Hindi at 4:30 pm.
