Airtel, a brand that led the Indian telecom revolution for more than two decades had lost its leadership to Jio. Airtel was the first brand to test 5G network in India but Jio was leading in 5G mind-measures. The task in the category is to persuade consumers to switch from one operator to the other and the only way of doing that is by giving them a reason for superiority vs competition.

Airtel wanted to stake a claim for leadership in the 5G tech space. But 5G was still a technology of future. When you think about 5G technology, you think about remote surgeries, autonomous cars, and drone deliveries. But these things will affect people’s lives only in the distant future.

The challenge was to excite a nation today, about a technology which is only relevant in the future and claim leadership in the 5G space.

Futuristic technologies like 5G are perceived to be cold and unrelatable. So, we didn’t want to fall in the trap of staged demonstrations of 5G technology with yet another remote surgery or drone delivery.

We realised that 'Recalling the positive events of the past is the best way to create optimism about the future.'

In cricketing folk lore, there is one moment, which catapulted cricket from a mere sport to being a religion – Cricketing legend Kapil Dev’s iconic 175* innings in 1983 world cup but this moment was lost to a British broadcaster’s strike. Kapil Dev's heroics put India on the world map but it’s significance was lost over time; denying Indians of today a shared moment of pride and celebration.

We decided to bring this lost piece of Indian history to life, so our audience could relive that proud moment again.

Every technology brand targets innovators and early adopters for a new technology launch. But Airtel, the brand that’s eyeing to reclaim the national leadership can’t limit its appeal to a small number of early adopters.

We had two set of audiences

a) People who are ‘technology positive’

India’s population is young and compared to past generations, they are very friendly with technology.

b) And people who are intimidated by cold, futuristic technology

But even the people who are intimidated by futuristic technology adopt it when it becomes warm and relevant.

Our Approach

We decided to reach out to the tech positive masses (mainly the youth) through the people they look up to when it comes to technology and other matters in life – The innovators and early adopters as influencers.

Our effort took 9 months and finally culminated in Airtel recreating a missing part of the Indian cricketing history. We partnered with India’s top 27 influencers across different relevant spheres of modern life – sports, technology, lifestyle, fitness and gaming to create awareness on the prowess of Airtel 5G through a unique event.

Our approach divided the campaign into 3 phases:

1. Pre-buzz: We collaborated with some of the most influential content creators and cricketers to get the ball rolling on Twitter and Instagram.

2. Event: We unveiled the film in a big event where journalists and India’s top influencers were invited to create buzz about the film. We simultaneously released the reactions of influencers and journalists on the on brand’s social channels & was pushed via media across platforms.

3. Sustenance: We collaborated with publications to cover the event and showcase all the activities of the whole campaign.

1. Exceed industry benchmarks for engagement in the telecom category by 20% -->

120 Mn

2. Exceeded Industry CPV benchmark by 40%--> Rs 0.60

3. Owned Media

Engagement On Owned Content --> 49 Mn+ (23% Increase Vs Benchmark)

4. Earned Media

Engagement On Influencer Content--> 70 Mn+ (17% Increase Vs Benchmark)

5. Business Metric

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

6. Brand Perception

a. Airtel attained #1 Spot with increase in Airtel’s 5G association, crossing JIO for the

first time ever

b. Airtel over took Jio in 5G-readiness perception with an increase of 15%

c. Airtel overtook Jio in 5G-Testing perception with an increase of 26%