MPL SPORTS, India’s leading esports platform was the kit sponsor for the Indian national cricket team. This was MPL’s opportunity to gain credibility in the cricketing world and earn legitimacy as a big league e-sports player. The challenge was that finding a fresh conversation around cricket felt impossible in country like India. How could we gain mindshare and visibility during the Cricket World Cup?

We realised that simply slapping a cool design on a jersey was futile. Since 1982, there have been over 30 variations of the jerseys that team India has worn on the field. But only a handful of these have attained iconic status. We needed a concept that India could rally behind.

This was already a high bar, but to make this task tougher, the COVID 19 pandemic played spoilsport, forcing the Cricket World Cup to be shifted to the UAE. The fans couldn’t travel to cheer the team on, creating a divide between them and the team.

How could we unite the Indian cricket team with their fans who were 2603kms away?

We Reincarnated a Ritual into a Jersey

Indian cricket fans truly believe that their cheers, chants, and blessings help the team win on the field. From ‘India, India’ to ‘Chak de India’ to ‘Vande Mataram’, every world cup has witnessed some truly iconic chants over the decades. With India playing away from home ground, we wanted fan cheers to reach team India all the way in UAE.

Creating Our Cheer Data Library

We began our data quest and went through 4 decades of audio data of fan cheers. That’s right, 4 decades of cricket, that like over 1000 matches across 250 locations and 15 countries. This gave us access to sounds that could accelerate the entire energy and momentum of the game. We had struck our audio data goldmine!

Converging the Worlds of Technology and Design in a Jersey

What we did next was unexpected – We used simple audio sound waves patterns to interpret each of the iconic cheers. This became the fulcrum of our design. Cheers Ranging from “India, India!” to “Chak De India!” to “Vande Matram” missing from the stadium resurrected on a jersey. The collision of audio and sports apparel that created a masterpiece – the world’s first audio-generated jersey.

Extending Our Brag Worthy Proposition

We knew we were speaking to fanatics, so we needed to make our jersey a collectable. So, we used AR technology to convert these wave patterns into audio consumables for fans to create, share and express their support for Team India. Giving every Indian access to archived audio cheers of a billion roaring Indians.

An Epic Jersey Deserves an Epic Launch

We gave it the biggest unveiling we could think of – On the Bhurj Khalifa. The response was spectacular. Soon enough The Billion Cheers Jersey was something that got people awestruck. With all the media frenzy, and the social chatter the jersey became omnipresent.