Brief

Games24x7 was founded in 2008, launching its flagship product, RummyCircle, an online rummy game. Despite its product superiority, RummyCircle was geographically limited - only people in South India knew how to play rummy, and many cultural taboos were associated with playing real-money card games.

By 2017-18, increased internet penetration in India created opportunities in tier 2-3 markets. Cricket's popularity and the rising fantasy gaming sector, dominated by Dream11 with an 85% market share, presented a new avenue. Leveraging 17 years of gaming expertise, Games24x7 developed a competitive fantasy cricket game called My11Circle in Feb 2019. The challenge was not development but penetrating a market with over 50 players dominated by one major competitor.

Objective

• Launch My11Circle and promote it aggressively to become a market leader.

• Utilize the Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled in Mar-Apr 2019 to achieve new users at scale.

Strategy & Execution

• We studied the competition thoroughly and enhanced our product with faster score updates, early announcements of the final 11, and extended user update times.

• Heavily promoted individual matches and utilized TV ad spots during non-IPL timings to manage the budget.

Insights from the IPL Campaign

• The IPL campaign was disappointing, missing targets and resulting in CACs almost 25x higher than expected due to brand spends.

• Key issues included:

  • Lack of trust: Users had no reason to trust us over established players.

  • Absence of a unique selling proposition: There was no compelling reason for users to choose My11Circle over other platforms.

  • Misaligned advertising: We advertised in non-cricket spots where our target audience was not present.

  • Ineffective paid ads strategy: The direct customer acquisition costs did not justify the revenue per user, and blended acquisition costs were extremely high.

• Overestimated the impact of traditional advertising compared to digital and targeted media.

T20 World Cup Campaign

• Implemented lessons learned from the IPL campaign with a more refined approach.

• Roped in Sourav Ganguly, a well-respected former cricket captain, known for his strategic skills in team selection, as a brand ambassador.

• New Product Promise: Launched the 'Beat the Expert' contest where users could win 3x their winnings if they scored more points than Sourav Ganguly.

• Strategic Advertising:

  • Focused on digital platforms like Hotstar (now Disney+), which allowed for trackable inventory and precise targeting.

  • Did a 360 degree campaign including selected matches’ TV ad spots, radio and Print 

  • Otherwise, avoided expensive TV spots in favor of cost-effective digital ads and analysis shows. Partnered with popular cricket editorial websites like Cricbuzz and Cricinfo for targeted ad placements.

• Enhanced Attribution: Partnered with an attribution tool to track user engagement across OTT and other media platforms, improving attribution accuracy.

Results and Metrics

• The T20 World Cup campaign was a success, with the 'Beat the Expert' contest resonating well with users. This unique feature set us apart, with many competitors adopting similar strategies later.

• Achieved an unprecedented 40% organic contribution for a 6-month old product, due to effective partnerships, celebrity endorsement, and strategic media buying.

• D30 ROI was ~45%.

• Increased brand trust and engagement due to the involvement of Sourav Ganguly

• Digital advertising on platforms like Hotstar and cricket websites proved more effective and cost-efficient than traditional TV ads.

My Role

• Led partnerships with Cricbuzz, Cricinfo, and managed TV media buying, handling budgets of approximately $2 million.

• Oversaw content creation, creatives, planning, and scheduling.

• Onboarded Sourav Ganguly, coordinated the filming of advertisements, and created marketing collateral.

• Contributed to the performance marketing team by identifying and delivering the necessary creatives for running campaigns.