The MindShare India-devised campaign, which also won best integrated marketing campaign using pay-TV, became part and parcel of watching India play cricket on TV and won plaudits from the judges for its effective use of the pay-TV platform.
"It was a totally holistic campaign based on a single-minded dynamic -- the team huddle, which was brought alive in every medium," said the chairman of the judges, Rob Sherlock, executive creative director of FCB. "The catalyst was pay-TV."
Coverage of the Asia Cup Cricket series broadcast on ESPN cut to a 10-second pre-recorded huddle branded with a Pepsi logo every time India took a wicket. The idea became so successful it was extended to other matches.
One judge, Charles Edwards, executive producer of branded content specialist The Media Village, praised the originality of the winning work that lifted it above the plethora of brand tie-ups cricket attracts in India. "It has taken on a life and culture of its own, well beyond straight forward sponsorship," he said.
The victorious campaigns were those that exploited the values of the channel they used, Edwards added. He cited a DHL campaign on National Geographic, winner in the best business/corporate sector, in which DHL's portrayal of the Silk Road as the world's first international delivery route chimed well with the channel.
MindShare India wins top award for Pepsi Huddle
Pepsi Huddle, an integrated campaign which capitalised on the Indian cricket team's famous team-hug following every time they took a wicket, has been named best campaign on pay-TV at Casbaa's second annual advertising awards, held in Hong Kong last month.
