Star India rebrands sports bouquet; brings on Dhoni as ‘Believe’ ambassador

Star India has consolidated its sports offerings under the brand name ‘Star Sports’ - renaming Star Cricket as Star Sports 3 and ESPN as Star Sports 4. These channels add to the existing Star Sports (now Star Sports 1) and Star Sports 2 channels. The network has also renamed its HD sports channel offerings as Star Sports HD1 (earlier Star Cricket HD) and Star Sports HD2 (ESPN HD).

 

To communicate the change, the network has rolled out a new campaign conceptualised by Ogilvy & Mather. The 360-degree campaign consists of three spots, one of which features Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Dhoni has been roped in by the network as its ‘believe’ ambassador, a theme the network is taking forward in its campaign.

 

Gayatri Yadav, EVP, marketing, Star India, said, “Our aim is to make Star Sports one of the most iconic sports brands in the world. The campaign is based on a core insight that consumers are searching for hero moments in their life. They want to strive for better and realise their own potential for greatness. Our belief is that everyone can take part and share in greatness. We can all be inspired. The mission is to bring the fan closer to heroes than ever before. Our aim is to inspire the hero in you.”

 

On Dhoni as brand ambassador, Yadav said, “We signed MS Dhoni as our first ‘Believe’ ambassador. The campaign outlines the beliefs that have made MS Dhoni one of the most iconic heroes of our time. The TVC slows down a classic helicopter shot of MS Dhoni to get inside the mind of the hero. The campaign includes memorable lines such as ‘Mujhe yakeen hai ki sirf sheher chote hai, wahan ke log aur unke khwaab nahin’ (I believe that only towns are small, not their people and their dreams) -  these are classic beliefs of a hero who makes his own destiny. We could not have found a better embodiment of a man who became a hero on the dint of self-belief. MS Dhoni is the most successful captain in the world and an inspirational figure to many. He is a living embodiment of the Star Sport brand ‘Believe’.

 

Navjot Singh Siddhu features in the promo for Star Sports 3 (the network’s 24-hour Hindi sports channel). The theme for the promos underlining the flavour of Hindi broadcast, is ‘Joh baat Hindi mein hai, kissi aur mein nahin’.

 

 

 

A third film communicates the new logos of the channels in the network. The new brand identity has been created by the Star Broadcast Design team in India, Venture 3 in UK (brand identity) and Capacity (broadcast package).

 

 

 

 

On the new brand identity, Yadav said, “The brand highlights Star Network’s ambition to change the face of sports broadcasting in India and provide world-class sports coverage to fans across the country. To signal the change to the consumer, Star India is bringing all the six diverse TV channels under one brand Star Sports and one purpose - ‘Believe’.”

 

Putting sports first

 

She added, “This was more than a new brand announcement. This was a statement of purpose. A mission to put sports first. To deliver such a powerful brand promise, required a high impact strategy. In a bold and innovative campaign we asked India to ‘Imagine a world where sports come first’. This thought has been carried through across media. For the first time in history – Star Sports has enabled sports to move to the front page of a newspaper in India. In a unique move, editions across The Times of India, The Hindu, Dainik Jagran, Navbharat Times, Maharashtra Times, Nai Duniya had sports as the first page on November 6th.”

 

The campaign was extended to electronic news media, with anchors on Aaj Tak wearing Star Sports-branded T-shirts to present sports news - first. On digital, the brand took over Yahoo and MSN news, with sports news appearing first. The brand claims over 15 million views for the new look online on day one. The thought was also extended to some DTH platforms.

 

 

The campaign is running on the Star Network and was rolled out on 6 November.

 

Old Name	New Name	Content
Star Sports	Star Sports 1	Primarily cricket with english commentary along with other Indian sports leagues.
Star Sports 2	Star Sports 2	Cricket, along with Indian sporting leagues other Indian sports leagues.
Star Cricket	Star Sports 3	Primarily hindi telecast of cricket. Some amounts of football, badminton, hockey etc. New shows in Hindi to be launched.
ESPN	Star Sports 4	International sports - F1, Barclays Premier League and other football leagues, along with Golf, Tennis and other sports.
Star Cricket HD	Star Sports HD 1	Primarily cricket with english commentary along with other Indian sports leagues
ESPN HD	Star Sports HD 2	International sports - F1, Barclays Premier League and other football leagues, along with Golf, Tennis and other sports.