Change the game (literally)

A country with over a billion fans. A sport which is a religion. Now why would anyone put their money against those clichés? A beverage giant would apparently, and they would take it to the next level while they were at it. Yes we are talking about India and Cricket. Pepsi’s Change the Game exercise has come at a time when football seems to have finally taken seed in this cricket crazy country.

Football has certainly not been the pride of our lands. Even for the entire continent of Asia, we are under-represented with only Korea, Japan and China representing our continent at the premier events. India, in particular, has not done very well abroad. This sad state of affairs is attributed to another group of clichés; poor infrastructure, lack of funds and the usual mismanagement. Almost everyone is aware of how there is a long way to go and how this is just the first baby step. So what do we do and how do we do it?

Nothing Official About It

Pepsi has answered that question with a step in the supposed right direction. The ‘Change the Game’ campaign is a simple move to cut across the clutter of minds that follow cricket, and reach out to the growing football fan base across the country. And with that, they re-instilled belief and vindicated the football faithful, along with gaining a few more fans. Now what remains to be seen is if their strategy would work.

Will Football be able to hold a Crowd outside a TV showroom?

In a survey, cricket had the highest fan following in our country, with WWE coming in second and football ranking a close third. In a recent survey by the same source, cricket still reigned supreme, but WWE had been toppled by football. Now the fact that the fan-following, according to the survey, runs in to millions, makes it a little less funny, and shows how India has decided to pay attention to ‘the Beautiful Game.’

Choosing Ranbir Kapoor as the brand ambassador was another masterstroke, as he have the appeal and the ability to send out the right signals. He is also a football fan, and quite a few have seen his pictures in Barcelona colours. He also has the reach to bring in the crowd for the Pepsi T20 football event.

The T20 rink football competition is Pepsi’s answer to the IPL, or maybe not, but it has already received a tremendous response. The country-wide event has done what quite a few set out to do but failed, i.e. mobilize the masses.

It is the perfect start that the sport needed, and Pepsi has given it everything it deserves, at least in tier 1 cities. The revenue angle is a bit subdued for now, given that Pepsi has actually achieved some concrete results.

The Non-Believers

Understandably, critics will still go back to the basic argument, stating how we prefer EPL clubs over our home-grown teams, but the fact is that we have at least taken an interest in the sport. A Manchester United jersey will outsell a Mohun Bagan jersey at any day of the week, but at least we have buyers for both. With the coming of Pune FC, Shillong Lajong and the likes, even the I-league has freshened things a bit. Be it the EPL or the I League, be it Blackburn or even your neighbourhood eleven, football has finally caught the eye of the right people.

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https://www.sportskeeda.com/2012/04/06/change-the-game/