Ogilvy, PokerStars India partner to launch India’s first-ever poker TV campaign

MUMBAI: PokerStars India has announced its association with Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui to launch India’s first-ever poker TV campaign. The launch and association are designed to strengthen the brand’s resonance as it seeks to bring the concepts of poker to a wider audience.

The campaign has been conceptualised by Ogilvy and brings to life the concept of bluff through engaging and fun narratives designed to entertain but also encourage people to work out whether Nawaz is bluffing and try their hand at the game themselves.

Ogilvy West group creative director Rohit Dubey said, “No pun intended, poker advertising in India is a tricky game. The communication has to tread the tight rope of legalities, balancing the elite and massy act simultaneously. The challenges were to tell engaging stories, that border between fact and fiction, and are interesting to watch. With ‘IS NAWAZ BLUFFING’, we tried to hit the triple whammy of curiosity, mass act and engagement that we hope is well accepted by the consumers. Nawazuddin Siddiqui brings an effortless fit and raises approachability quotient of Poker. It was sheer joy collaborating with the team at Pokerstars.in, who are creatively courageous and allowed us the room to write this campaign. Let’s see how cards unfold now. We are keeping a straight face.”

Senior vice president Harsh Bhatt mentioned, “Pokerstars is the biggest online poker brand globally. Yet, in India, it is just about launching. There were a ton of barriers we had to address. For one, Indians are habituated to playing card games like Rummy and Teen Patti. The first task was to introduce them to a new kind of game; a game of skill. Secondly, we had to toe a fine line between introducing the brand to the masses, and yet keep it on a pedestal over the other card games. Nawazuddin was our choice for a brand ambassador who could balance both. The launch itself was planned such - stage one introduces Poker to the masses through the commonly known card term - bluffs. It's an interactive campaign which will engage with the audiences. We plan a second burst soon which will take the messaging forward by introducing the prerequisites for playing Poker. You'll be happy to learn that Indians have all the prerequisites and more. The past few months have been a combination of a whole lot of strategic thinking, creative ideation and celebrity management, but it has all come together beautifully as a campaign.”

Ogilvy