The Background:In 2011, the Cricket World Cup was being held in India after 15 long years. More than 1/3rd of the world’s population spread across more than hundred countries would tune in. And Pepsi, the famed anti-establishment, irreverent, challenger brand was now the ‘official’ partner of the event. No other sport has undergone as much change in the last decade as cricket – in the way, it is watched, and most importantly, even played. Unorthodox techniques like the Doosra, the Switch Hit, the Dilscoop, the helicopter shot and more, and the cricketers who invented these were now the new superstars of the game.And therefore Pepsi, the irreverent anti-establishment brand, turned a conventional problem - being the official partner of the World Cup 2012 - on its head by standing for all the unofficial, unorthodox new techniques that had taken over the game.Thus becoming officially unofficial.

We had to nail brand Pepsi's unorthodox, anti-authority DNA and yet reaffirm its official status.

First 6 of the most unorthodox, cricketers known for techniques that shocked the purists were launched with 6 quirky commercials on the fictitious origins of these shots. A massive online promotional activity inviting fans to invent/submit their own quirky takes on how the game should be played. The winners got into a Change the Game XI through a nationwide reality show on MTV and tweeted their way across stadiums. Meanwhile news channels, other brand advertising, stand up comics etc. started adopting the game-changing name formats for their material.Print and outdoor encouraged everyone to break out of the box, go against the grain and change the conventional pattern of their lives outside of cricket. Cricketers became radio commentators, online went ballistic and connoisseurs went blue in the face.

The Results:The Change the Game campaign was ranked the best campaign of the World Cup by none other than the Wall Street Journal. The brands Facebook fans where the campaign was hosted went up by 300% to over 2m fans. 30m people were engaged with the campaign across various touch points. Brand interactions on the fan page peaked to an increase of about 390% during the tournament. It became the #1 online brand during the World Cup and went on to become the first Indian global marketing video case study on Facebook.