Spotlight on sports, brands at gathering of sporting legends, leaders from banking and finance industry

(From left to right) Rajan Bhalla, Hindustan Times; Amit Chopra, president-sales, Star Network, and Anil Jayaraj, EVP-ad sales, Star Sports unveil Cricket:The Infinite Belief, at an event in Mumbai.

Powerplay was jointly organized by Hindustan Times and Star Sports in Mumbai on 25 January. It was an exclusive gathering of sporting legends and banking and finance industry captains.

Speaking at the event, Jonathan Neill, former director and head of sponsorship partnerships and relationships management, Barclays, talked about how the company used its sports platform to build brand and business in the UK.

Sai Narayan, associate director and group head of marketing, Policybazaar.com and Paisabazaar.com, talked about how they have used cricket to reach out and how rigorously they measure the cost efficiency of this platform.

Sandeep Walunj, chief marketing officer, Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management, and member, financial literacy committee, Association of Mutual Funds in India, gave perspective on sports as a good engagement platform for a long-term product like mutual funds.

Noted cricket stars V.V.S. Laxman and Yuvraj Singh talked about how brand/sponsorship money is helping cricket and cricketers, and how they, in turn, are investing back to boost the BFSI segment.

The event culminated in the launch of a white book titled Cricket:The Infinite Belief. The book was specially curated, designed and produced by Hindustan Times, and powered by Star Sports. This is a collector’s item that brings to life the known and lesser known moments of cricket, and celebrates this game as a religion and a unifying force in India.

[“source-“hindustantimes”]