MUMBAI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has announced the launch of the official tournament online store for the cricket World Cup which kicks off next month.
The site, which is being managed by international brand management company IVS Group, will offer a wide range of official merchandise, including T-shirts, polos, caps, key-rings, mini-bats and horns as well as a range of products for children centred around the event mascot, Stumpy.
Visitors to www.icconlinestore.com can shop for official merchandise by product, by team or by range. Purchasing is convenient, safe and secure with Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Laser, Maestro and Solo - all accepted methods of payment.
IVS Group MD Ash Kapoor said, “We are proud to be working with such a prestigious international event as the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. It is the third biggest sporting event in the world and we are honoured to be providing the merchandising services this time just as we did at the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009 and 2010.”
The licensing and merchandise for the tournament is facilitated and managed by Licensing In Motion (LIM), the ICC’s global licensing and merchandising partner, and the online store can be found at www.icconlinestore.com with a worldwide delivery service provided.
In addition, IVS Group will also manage the official onsite event sales and will be present at all 13 venues of the ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup across Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. IVS always uses local suppliers and labour, thus generating jobs within the community while minimising environmental impact.
This is one of a slew of activities that the ICC is doing as cricket‘s marquee property draws near. Last week it had released a communication campaign across the sub-continent for the event.
The campaign was conceptualised by the ICC marketing team and Ogilvy Mumbai.
Ogilvy & Mather managing partner Navin Talreja says, "About 1000 matches were played between the last ICC Cricket World Cup and this one. Many tournaments, many cups but a World Cup in any sport has been and will continue to be the pinnacle of achievement. The postioning line ‘The Cup That Counts’ serves as a reminder to all cricket fans of this very simple fact.”
With this in mind, a surround campaign involving not just TV, Print, Outdoor, PR but also last mile mediums such has Digital and Activation was created for India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Sharma said, "This time around we have moved away from the conventional amplification approach of the core idea across mediums. Instead the messaging strategy for
different elements developed reflects different facets of “The Cup That Counts” from the point of view of the teams, players and of course the fans."
The campaign kicked off worldwide on the first week of this month with the launch of TV commercial titled ‘Tightrope’.
Ogilvy & Mather national creative director Abhijit Avasthi says, “Every country, every player and every fan has only one wish - to win the race to the cup. But this is no ordinary race. Full of obstacles and surprises, to win this race, each player would need to literally walk on a tightrope. Keeping this in mind we decided to use a metaphor and depicted a tightrope race to the cup that counts”.
The ‘Tightrope‘ commercial aims to capture the passion, celebration, competition and fun associated with the game of cricket like never seen before. Shot across the entire city of Jaipur over five days, the commercial ‘features‘ captains from most of the playing nations and over 400 fans from various countries. Professional tightrope artists were flown in from US and UK for the filming of this commercial.
This film has been shot by the Cannes Gold winning director Bob of Good Morning Films and the music has been composed by Dhruv Ghanekar. This launch campaign shall also be supported by print and outdoor, shot by international photographer Palani Chandramohan.
In addition, fans will also get to see another campaign featuring iconic players from the subcontinent.
A series of three commercials starring Sachin Tendulkar, Muttiah Muralitharan and Shakib Ul Hasan respectively, this campaign plays upon a deep personal wish that these cricketing legends are fostering - to bring the cup home. These films have been directed by Piyush Raghani of Old School Films and shall go on air towards end January. This campaign too shall be supported by print and outdoor.
The event‘s theme song ‘De Ghumaa Ke‘ has been released on radio channels across the country. Composed and sung by Shankar Ehsaan Loy, this song brings alive the fierce sense of competition and the desire to win. The same song shall also be adapted in local languages for Sri Lanka and
Bangladesh.
A music video featuring Shankar Ehsaan Loy and ICC CWC 2011‘s Official Mascot ‘Stumpy‘ is also in the works and shall be released by end of this month.
Further, the ICC shall also unleash a slew of contests and below the line initiatives to help spread the CWC 2011 buzz. Across venue cities, Official Countdown Clocks shall be placed at airports and popular malls, uniquely designed ICC CWC 2011 branded vans shall give fans a chance to
share their wishes, radio stations shall run contests to help fans win tickets and much more.
As a part of ICC’s CSR and youth outreach initiative, Ogilvy also rolled out a nationwide school contact programme along with UNAIDS. The programme reached out to eight cities, 70 schools and above 10,000 students who got a chance to learn about Aids awareness and also participate in an Inter School Mini Cricket World Cup tournament.
