STAR India gets fans on board for Sachin's farewell campaign

Star India will run promotional activities across its entertainment and sports networks in the run-up to the series

STAR India, the title sponsor and broadcaster of the coming India-West Indies test series, plans to pull out all the stops for Sachin Tendulkar’s last test series. The broadcaster will run promotional activities across its entertainment and sports networks in the run-up to the series and roll out special initiatives to make the event larger than life. Apart from massive undertakings for promotions in print, television and outdoor media, the network is launching interactive campaigns for fans across the nation.

STAR India has launched a campaign Cheer for Sachin to pay tribute to him as he gets ready to play the farewell series against West Indies on November 6 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. STAR India is targeting to break the record for the highest number of cheers garnered by a campaign.

The campaign invites fans to dial a number and cheer for Sachin (saying Sachin, Sachin) and it will run across the STAR Sports network, as well as STAR India network of channels. There will be a lot of focus on digital media to aggregate all fans for the campaign. STAR India will donate its share of proceeds from the incoming call revenues to a  non-governmental organisation for sports development among youth.

Priyanka Chopra, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Kapil Dev, Ravi Shastri, Wasim Akram, Rameez Raza and actors from leading serials on STAR Plus such as Diya Aur Baati Hum and Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai have recorded their cheers. The broadcaster has reached out to Sudhir Kumar Chaudhary, regarded by many the biggest fan, to record a special cheer.

Gayatri Yadav, executive vice-president (marketing and communications) at STAR India, said: “Our philosophy has been to take fans closer to their heroes because as official broadcasters, we play the critical role of an enabler. We are extending the invitation to all Sachin fans through this campaign to come out and thank the Llittle Master for a wonderful career in which he took Indian cricket to newer heights. We believe there cannot be a bigger opportunity for Sachin fans to show support and be a part of history in making as he gets ready for one last time to play for India.”

Additionally, the broadcaster will use a special FanCam enabling fans to say “I was there" as they enjoy the historic moment. It is capable of generating a 360-degree high-resolution photo of the stadium, making it possible for each and every fan present in the stadium on any of the Test match days to zoom in to his picture.

On the programming front, a 10-part documentary series called Sachin Ka Safar (in Hindi) and The Sachin Journey (English) will be telecast in November. There will be a live show on Sachin titled Sachiiiiiiin …Sachin, which will be telecast during the series. There will also be a special 24-segment series titled Sachin Years showcased in the run-up to his last series, which will track 24 years of the legend’s international cricketing career.

 

The series has already caught the attention of the advertisers as the ad rates are rocketing to almost 5 times the usual ten second rates for a test series involving India and being played in India. Earl;y estimates within the industry peg the series to rake in Rs 70 to 75 crore for the broadcaster and there are possibilities of the ad revenue scaling up as the D-day nears.