BANGALORE: If you thought Indian Premier League was all about cricket, cheerleaders and its jang parties, you might have to think again. And, if you ponder at length that you are not getting enough of this IPL fever, there is something different for all of you, it is a comic book, exclusively dedicated to your favourite team and coming to your rescue.
Now, there will be a superhero range of comic books featuring IPL teams like Deccan Chargers and the Rajasthan Royals.
Comics and IPL:
With the Indian comic publishing industry demonstrating such huge potential and making a comeback amidst huge competition from the plethora of entertainment channels, can Cricket, considered a religion in India, be left behind.
Cashing in on the IPL fever, PUMA has decided on a unique marketing strategy this year, by introducing comic strips.
Rajiv Mehta, managing director, PUMA, South Asia said, “When you look at IPL as an entity, it is huge. And, with so many brands involved, if you want to break the clutter by spending minimum money, this is the best way. Comics resonate with people of all ages. The response has been good online. Through comics strips, our overall idea was to surprise everybody and be different.”
When asked how difficult it was to create graphics based on the results of the match, he added, “It is a laborious process. But, we have a great set of graphic designers who did a good job. As the characters were already well-established, it wasn’t so difficult to identify with them. Rahul Dravid has been depicted as ‘The Wall’ in our comic strips too.”
Another official representing the brand told us, “Our efforts have been picked up by the vested comic book community and the comic book publishing houses have commended our work, since they have loved the illustrations.”
The content for the comic strip evolves from the highlights of the matches played by the two teams, Rajasthan Royals and the Deccan Chargers.
Post each Deccan Charges and Rajasthan Royals match, a super hero comic illustration is released. This strip is a match-report with a twist and the completed page is put online and is available to all cricket fans the very next day at www.pumashop.in/cricket.
Fans have to collect each strip as it becomes available online and ‘eventually’ create their own comic book’ at the end of the tournament. Loyal fans who do this will get signed hard copies of the printed comic books.
In addition, there are limited edition but autographed copies of the printed book available at the store.