Australian leg spinner Shane Warne has joined the ESPN Star Sports (ESS) presentation team for the second test between India and England starting at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 23 November. The network has release three promos which went on air yesterday to promote the leg spinner's addition to the commentary team. This is the first time that Shane Warne will be commentating for the ESPN Star Sports network after he signed a three year deal earlier this year.
WATCH the promos
On the sidelines of the announcement, Campaign India caught up with Aloke Malik, managing director, ESPN Software India to talk about the campaign created to introduce Warne to the Indian viewer and to talk about the channel's plans for the rest of the Indian cricket season:
CI: What was the thought behind the new campaign?
Aloke Malik (AM): Warne is a huge value addition to our entire commentary team. We don't need to introduce Shane Warne in a cricketing sense to the Indian viewer. The promos created are about Shane Warne, the personality, Shane Warne, the person and the uniqueness of insights Shane Warne will provide for the game. This is separate from the main tactical campaign we are running for the India-England series. Shane Warne is in for one Test match in the series right now. He goes back because of his prior commitments in the Big Bash in Australia. He returns for the entire India-Australia series. He has got a contract for which he'll be exclusively with us.
CI: How does the channel plan to promote the rest of the Indian cricket season?
Aloke Malik: We have got one major campaign running for the entire season. This is separate from this campaign created for Shane Warne. The main tactical campaign we are running for the India-England series as well as the campaigns we plan ahead for Pakistan and Australia's visit here are created from the insight of the viewers. For example, the England series shows how fans have not forgotten the drubbing the team received in England and therefore it's all about that. The other campaign we have is about how new India will emerge from this series and that will unfold in a few days from now. The advertising we take out for the India-Pakistan and India-Australia series is a part of this one big over arching campaign. The campaign will be seen across television, internet and radio.
