Situation – Airtel, one of India’s telecom giants, wanted to regain the ground it had lost to competition. The way to do so was to show off technological capabilities, and get associated with future-readiness in the consumer’s mind.

Brief – Find a creative way to show off Airtel’s technological prowess.

Objective – Create a unique, one-of-a-kind experience based on culturally relevant way of showcasing Airtel’s tech capabilities.

Kapil Dev’s 175 runs in the 1983 World Cup are regarded as one of the greatest feats in Cricket. This victory was crucial for India to win the Cricket World Cup that year. It's regarded as the beginning of India's intense passion for the game. Which is why the lack of any recording of this match hurts fans so much. Their only desire for years has been to find some way to revisit that iconic inning and see Kapil score 175 runs themselves.

Airtel, India's telecom leader, would use its technological capabilities to reconnect the fans with this game changing match by recreating it in minute detail and allowing them to finally see it.

Target Audience

We had 2 set of audiences –

1) People who are technology positive

55% Indians are interested in tech advances, especially under-30 crowd

2) Indians who obsess over Cricket

9 out of 10 Indians watch Cricket. Which means the sport was the best way to grab the nation’s attention.

Approach

Instead of just another tech demonstration, we would showcase Airtel’s tech by utilizing it to show a detailed, highly accurate recreation of the match to the fans.

We gathered human data – people’s accounts of what happened in this match, including Kapil’s– to create a record of how the 175 runs were scored. Collaborating with an Oscar-winning VFX studio, we recreated the match down to every minute detail – including a de-aged Kapil Dev.

This match was shown to a select crowd, including some of the country’s top influencers, in an immersive, 5G-powered experience. They saw the match in a novel, first-of-its-kind way. It was also screened across the country in select cities. TV, digital and radio were further used to amplify and extend the conversation around the match.

Attained #1 Spot with increase in Airtel’s 5G association

- Overall CTB for a mobile connection amongst the youth increased by 8%

- Overall engagement received: 120 mn+

- Overall reach received: 304 mn+