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Purvita Chatterjee

Sony Max campaigns continue to focus on cricket and cinema for an audience that's crazy about both.

TO build a brand to distinguish itself from other TV channels, Sony Max with its sports and movie offerings has been running its Deewana Bana De campaign for a while.

Ad agency Euro RSCG being entrusted with the task, the channel initially featured an elopement sequence, building in drama to depict the craze for Hindi films. Now it sports Kapil Dev (Sony Max's brand ambassador) who plays roadside cricket with a street urchin who turns out to be a hero of the ad film.

Blending cricket and Hindi films, the latest commercial shows Kapil Dev playing a common man chasing the urchin to play cricket while the latter becomes a film star too busy to play the game.

As making Kapil Dev a film star was not possible, it was the little boy who was shown as the hero in the ad film. According to Ashok Karnik, Vice-President (Creative), Euro RSCG, says, "Cinema and cricket are the two passions of India. Sony Max believes in owning that property and thus the campaign to highlight it."

Primarily a Hindi film channel, Sony Max graduated to showing cricket after winning the exclusive rights to the ICC Championship in 2002 and World Cup Cricket. Kapil Dev was then roped in as the brand ambassador. "We decided to integrate Kapil Dev into the brand campaign for Max cinema. He is not a film star but a passionate cricketer," says Karnik.

The previous Max campaign featured Kapil in the cricketing avatar. In the commercial, a street urchin was seen bowling to Kapil in a chawl. The current campaign is a sequel to that, in which the roles get reversed between the street urchin and Kapil Dev.

In fact, Euro RSCG believes in treating a channel like any other FMCG product. Says Karnik, "It is very simple. Treat it like an FMCG product. If there is parity, create a differentiator. The fun part, though, was no brand window, no pack shot, and no smiling models. We had a story that everyone would relate to. After all, media are also products. Consumers need to be convinced about the product they buy."

Future campaigns will continue trying to differentiate the channel. "After all, the films shown are no different from what is being shown in other channels. It's all about making viewers watch only your channel," says Karnik.

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