Broadcast & Tournament Coverage
Matches featuring the world’s best football players from premier clubs across top European leagues were telecast on the Sony Ten 2 channels. As the official broadcaster, Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) brought the UEFA Champions League closer to Indian audiences.
Campaign Launch: #SonaManaHai
SPSN launched its #SonaManaHai campaign, conceptualised by Scarecrow M&C Saatchi, to mark the beginning of the mega tournament. The campaign was designed to capture the collective emotion of Indian football fans and build excitement for the upcoming season.
The Launch Film Concept
Scarecrow came up with a clutter-breaking launch film built on a simple yet powerful insight: the biggest football matches happen late at night, when many fans end up falling asleep. The film followed Raj Kumar Rastogi, who walked into his office asking about the previous night’s UEFA Champions League results, only to be met with disbelief from his colleagues for having gone to bed early.
Storytelling & Characters
The film unfolded through a series of exaggerated yet relatable reactions from people across society. A canteen boy, a railway announcer and others, each expressing shock and disappointment at Rastogi missing the match. Rastogi then woke up in a sweat, realising it was all a dream, driving home the message: ‘Sona Mana Hai’ when the world’s biggest football club tournament is on.
Elevating the Viewing Experience
As the flag bearer of the UEFA Champions League, Sony Pictures Sports Network reinforced the tournament’s stature as the pinnacle of club football. Indian viewers were offered a richer viewing experience through expert-led studio programming and immersive broadcast initiatives.
Insight & Audience Targeting
The #SonaManaHai campaign urged viewers to stay awake and not miss the live action. It spoke to two key audiences: passionate football fans who struggled to stay awake for late-night matches, and fringe viewers who feared missing out on iconic sporting moments. This insight helped the channel create a first-of-its-kind, clutter-breaking campaign to boost appeal and viewership.
Multi-language Rollout
To reach audiences across markets, the on-air film was rolled out in four languages, English, Hindi, Malayalam and Bengali.
The Scarecrow Insight
As Scarecrow put it, when Messi and Salah were scoring, football fans were snoring. With UEFA Champions League matches airing late at night, the agency positioned #SonaManaHai. It worked as a caffeine shot, pushing fans to stay up and watch the action live on Sony Pictures Sports Network instead of catching highlights the next morning on YouTube.