HT finds an ingenious way to gain traction during ICC CWC 2019

When it comes to cricket, brands, marketers, publishers, broadcasters can never go wrong in investing in the game. The ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 has been a bonanza for brands associating with the tournament, especially since the time of airing of the matches coincides with primetime in India. 

It’s not surprising that a plethora of brands have jumped on to the ICC CWC bandwagon – including Vivo, PhonePe, One Plus, Havells, Kamala Pasand, Amazon.com, Amazon Pay, Byju’s, Dream11, MRF Tyres, Pernod Ricard, AMFI, Coca Cola, Uber, Uber Eats, Mondelez, Oppo, PolicyBazar.com, Paisa Bazaar.com, Ceat Tyres, ICICI Lombard, and Royal Challenge Sports Drink, to name a few.

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Not to be left behind, Hindustan Times has come up with an innovative plan to celebrate the tournament as well as increase visibility. On every India match day, the paper will turn blue to support the Indian cricket team, who don the blue jersey and hence are also referred to as ‘Men in Blue’. 

Accordingly, HT’s edition on Thursday, June 13, 2019, sported the colour blue, as it was the day when India was scheduled to play against New Zealand. It’s another matter that rains played spoilsport and the match was a washout. Now, all eyes are on the Sunday, June 16, face-off between India and Pakistan. 

Commenting in HT’s initiative, Rajan Bhalla, Chief Business Officer & Group CMO, HT Media Ltd, said, “The passion for cricket among Indians goes beyond religion. And there is no better opportunity for Hindustan Times to engage with the blue brigade fans. With 1.3 billion people rooting for India this World Cup, Hindustan Times is turning blue on all India match days to cheer for them along with our readers. HT Blue is a first-of-its kind innovation in the print industry and augurs well for our readers as well as our advertisers, and brings forth the spirit of the biggest cricket festival.” 

Bhalla further said, “With this campaign, we have not only innovated in print, but have also leveraged the Power of One, taking a 360 degree approach and integrating readers’ engagement campaign in Digital, Radio and On-ground activities.”