The encyclopedia · Marketing & Brand · Marketing decision · 2023–2024
Airtel beamed 5G skeptics into live IPL and won the 2024 Media Abby Grand Prix
Instead of advertising 5G specs, Airtel used its network to beam 10 skeptical fans into Star Sports' studio as avatars — 30M+ watched live.
Bharti Airtel · EssenceMediacom · Star Sports
The solution
In 2023 India's 5G networks went live with all major telcos launching at once, and half a billion 4G users were not convinced. Outspoken skeptics took to social media questioning 5G's relevance and value, and Airtel needed to narrow a preference gap with its main competitor while winning those doubters over.
The idea was to stop advertising 5G's specs and demonstrate them in India's biggest live moment. Airtel and EssenceMediacom selected ten 5G skeptics, one for each IPL team, and used Airtel's 5G network to teleport them into Star Sports' studio as photorealistic avatars, chatting with cricketers, experts and hosts in real time during live Indian Premier League coverage.
The execution made the network itself the creative: low-latency 5G carried the avatars' images, movement and conversation live on national TV. More than 30 million cricket fans watched the avatars live, over 8 million engaged on social media, and the campaign generated more than 2 billion minutes of viewing time — every second running on Airtel's network.
The proof-of-network won the Grand Prix for Innovative Use of Branded Content – Integration at the 2024 Media Abby Awards, and EssenceMediacom recorded a 29.7% increase in sales, 250 million total reach and 8 billion hashtag views — with skeptics cast as the campaign's protagonists.
Why it worked
- The network itself carried the demo, so every broadcast minute proved Airtel's claim.
- Choosing skeptics rather than influencers made the message credible to the doubting majority.
- Live IPL gave the demonstration a mass audience already emotionally invested.
- Real-time interaction with stars showed a use case no spec sheet could convey.
What can be applied
To sell an invisible infrastructure upgrade, show it working inside a mass event your skeptics already love; the demonstration becomes the ad.
Aftermath
The campaign became the reference point for Airtel's 5G story and took the Media Abby Grand Prix at Goafest 2024. EssenceMediacom recorded a 29.7% sales lift, 250 million reach and 8 billion hashtag views, and the format — fans beamed into live broadcasts on the operator's own network — showed telecoms how to advertise infrastructure by making it the stage.
Sources
- Airtel 5G Launch in India
- ABBY 2024: Wavemaker is the Media AOY – ABP named Publisher of the year
- Airtel 5G Plus Ultimate fans – look maa! I am on TV
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