The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
Airtel replayed an unrecorded 1983 cricket innings to demo 5G
Airtel rebuilt Kapil Dev's never-filmed 175-run innings in 4K over 5G, winning a Cannes Gold Lion and six Entertainment shortlists.
Bharti Airtel
the move
Airtel needed to show what 5G would feel like before spectrum was commercially available. Its idea was to resurrect India's most famous never-seen sporting moment: Kapil Dev's 175 not out against Zimbabwe in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, which had no recorded footage because TV technicians were on strike.
Working with Leo Burnett and Oscar-winning VFX house DNEG, Airtel de-aged Kapil Dev, recreated the stadium and crowds of 1983, and rebuilt key moments of the innings as a 4K '175 Replayed' experience. On Airtel's 5G trial network, over 50 concurrent users got speeds above 1 Gbps, sub-20ms latency, 360-degree views, multiple camera angles and a live hologram of Kapil Dev interacting with the audience.
The demonstration travelled through the award circuit: six shortlist places at Cannes 2023 Entertainment Lions, including Sport, a Gold Lion in Brand Experience & Activation, and two Silver and one Bronze Pencil at The One Show 2023.
why it works
- Recreating a beloved lost match made a technical spec emotionally concrete.
- The 4K multi-angle stream proved 5G's bandwidth and latency in one experience.
- A live hologram of the legend himself gave media an unmissable moment.
what transfers
To sell an invisible capability like 5G, demonstrate it on a moment people already love but can never see again; the demo becomes the story.
what came after
Airtel's campaign became one of the most awarded Indian works of 2023, with a Cannes Gold Lion, multiple One Show Pencils and six Entertainment shortlists, reinforcing its 'first-in-India' 5G narrative ahead of the commercial 5G launch.
references
- Cannes Lions unveils 2023 Entertainment Lions shortlists, with 8 Asian countries making the cut
- India wins 19 Pencils in The One Show 2023
- The in-stadia experience from the 1983 Cricket World Cup recreated with Airtel 5G
spotted an error? The archive wants to know.