5th December 2024, Mumbai, India: Leading global sport and entertainment agency Fuse, part of Omnicom Media Group (OMG), has today announced the opening of its new office in Mumbai, India, led by Jigar Rambhia. Through Fuse, OMG will capitalise on the burgeoning potential for sports marketing in India, offering a full suite of services to support brands with their end-to-end partnership needs.
Rambhia previously held the position of Chief Operating Officer of Sporjo – a sports industry consultancy – where he was pivotal in driving growth for the business. Prior to this, he spent 16 years at Wavemaker and worked across agencies including TME (Rediffusion Y&R) and Madison Communications.
Kartik Sharma, Group CEO, Omnicom Media Group India said: “Sport and culture are increasingly seen to be significant growth drivers for brands and so we are excited to bring Fuse’s expertise into the market – it further underpins our commitment to create transformational experiences for our clients.”
Echoing Sharma’s sentiment, Rambhia added: “The momentum in sports in India is at an exciting juncture and we’re fully equipped to capitalise on this to drive effective partnerships for brands. Sport has increasingly become a vital part of India’s cultural fabric, and with Fuse, we are strategically positioned to help brands harness the power of this medium to drive deeper connections with audiences across the market.”
The new office officially launches with Shriram Finance and Uni League Cricket as clients and will have a particular focus on supporting brands with strategic planning and activation of effective sports partnerships.
While cricket continues to dominate the market, India’s sports landscape has been further bolstered by the popularity of sports like Kabaddi, Football and Badminton, and the country’s recent performance at the Olympics and Paralympics. India’s sporting ecosystem is currently valued upwards of USD 1.8 Billion, and with continued tech innovation, the rise of OTTs redefining the viewing experience, and immersive experiences taking centre stage, growth is expected to continue at pace. As India evolves into a multi-sport nation, not only is it paving the way for emerging talent across various sports but it is also experiencing heightened brand interest and investment in sports marketing.
The fast-expanding agency network of Fuse is already home to a wealth of sports and entertainment specialists working across strategic markets across the globe. Most recently, Fuse launched in Spain, with Juli Ferre heading the business and in Brazil led by Luiz Fiorese. Fuse’s current international clients include PepsiCo, Nissan and Philips.
Commenting on India office launch, Louise Johnson, Global CEO at Fuse, said: “Fuse’s expansion and launch in India marks yet another critical milestone for us, underscoring our commitment to driving growth for brands through the power of sports and entertainment. With Fuse’s specialist sports marketing expertise combined with Omnicom Media Group’s data and technology offering, we are exceptionally positioned to capitalise on the sports market in India.
Through our extensive network and under the leadership of Jigar we can offer brands the chance to create memorable experiences for their audiences and integrate themselves into the heart of India’s sporting culture.”
If you have Instagram, it is highly likely that you follow one of the top 50 accounts on the platform, given that they collectively account for over 107.34 billion followers.
Of course, the usual suspects Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian have a strong showing but, after the official Instagram account, the two most followed accounts on the platform are Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with 617 million and 496 million followers respectively.
These two aren’t only showing up with the most followers either. The two footballers each have seven of the top twenty most liked Instagram posts of all time, topped by Messi lifting the World Cup in December 2022 with 75.6 million likes.
When we turn our attention to similar metrics on TikTok, however, we see a very different story for sports accounts. While eight of the top 50 most followed accounts on Instagram are athletes or former athletes, Dwayne Johnson is the only athlete or former athlete in the equivalent list for TikTok.
On top of these athletes, another five sports related accounts, including Nike, Real Madrid, and the NBA, are featured in Instagram’s 50 most followed. However, the only sporting brands to keep The Rock company on TikTok’s most followed are the official accounts of Paris Saint Germain (45th) and ESPN (34th).
With the average user estimated to be spending an hour on TikTok every day in 20241, there is massive potential on the platform for brands to make the most of their existing partnerships and sponsorships to simultaneously engage with their current fanbase and reach new audiences.
With rights holders struggling to amass TikTok followers in the same way they do on Instagram, how do brands make better use of their rights as sponsors on one of the fastest growing social media platforms?
While followers may be a vital piece of the puzzle when choosing an athlete or brand to partner with on Instagram, number of followers becomes less important in TikTok’s out-of-network algorithmic feeds. Despite not having a place in the top 50 most followed accounts, Barstool Sports has amassed the fourth most likes of any account on the platform. Similarly, ESPN jumps to the seventh most liked account despite its ranking as 34th most followed.
Moreso than other platforms before it, the rise of TikTok has marked the distinction between in-network feeds (like Facebook and Instagram), where users nominate who they want to see in their feeds, and out-of-network feeds, where users are algorithmically served content based on their behavior.
As such, while the rise of out-of-network feeds appear to have left rights holders with fewer followers and more problems on digital platforms, the reality is that perhaps there is too much focus on the wrong metrics. By looking at likes, comments, and quality engagements instead of followers, new strategies can be developed in a way that leads to exciting and unique ways to activate exclusive rights.
On out-of-network platforms, a creative-first strategy is the best way forward. If a fan can watch the game on TV and a press conference on YouTube, the challenge for a brand is to give users content that they wouldn’t have access to anywhere else.
With more content and more creators than ever before, brands need to use their access to sponsorships and make better use of highlighting the exclusive elements that are written into their rights. Exactly what this means will vary between brands and partnerships.
A recent example of a brand using these exclusive rights to incredible effect was when Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk took fans into team celebrations following Darwin Nunez’s winner against Nottingham Forest, courtesy of Google Pixel.
As the official mobile phone partner of Liverpool, Google Pixel brings fans closer to the team they love, putting players at the forefront of the content while natively integrating their product. While millions of fans were likely watching the game on TV, the right of Google Pixel to share pitch side footage meant that fans could only gain exclusive access by engaging with the brand. While Liverpool fans are most likely to engage with the content, the unbelievable access to a pivotal moment, posted on out-of-network feeds will also put the Google Pixel brand in front of audiences outside of those immediately connected to the Liverpool sponsorship.
This content doesn’t always have to be focused on access to players, however. Using their Wimbledon sponsorship rights, Vodafone’s partnership with Give Vision gave visually impaired tennis fans enhanced Wimbledon footage suited to their individual vision profile. Sharing this experience on algorithmic feeds opens exposure of Vodafone’s Wimbledon partnership up to people outside of tennis fans and those who are already engaged with Vodafone brand.
While the above activations are very different, they are perfect examples of brands using their rights to integrate their brand into their sponsorships, creating opportunities to connect with new audiences.
In summary, with the rise of out of-network feeds, brands who have access to sponsorships and exclusive IP rights have the potential to make a greater impact than ever. Creative-first strategies that offer exclusive content put brands in a position to appeal to the current follower base and simultaneously build familiarity and affinity by engaging with new audiences.
