Brands
DDB Mudra Group creates a new rally cry for team KKR
MUMBAI: The Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) is a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata (West Bengal) in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, defined by its ‘Korbo, lorbo, jeetbo’ (Play, Fight, Win) spirit has won the championship trophy twice. At the IPL 2018, the team has already drawn first blood in its match against Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) and then against Delhi Daredevils (DD).
Created by the DDB Mudra Group, KKR’s latest anthem #KKRHaiTaiyaar (KKR is ready) shows the city and its die-hard fans gearing up for the 2018 IPL season. Featuring Bollywood celebrity and team owner Shahrukh Khan, the anthem has been crafted to give KKR and its fan-base a distinct, symbolic action in the form of a fist pump, which has the potential to become a ritual during every KKR match. The lyrics give the team’s decade-long war cry – ‘Karbo, lorbo, jeetbo’ a new spin, resulting in an anthem that fans – both old and new, can connect with.
Kolkata Knight Riders MD and CEO Venky Mysore says, “Every year our marketing embarks on a research and insight-backed exercise that aims to find the pulse of our fans to arrive at a tagline that rings most true to KKR. This year, along with the creative team at the DDB Mudra Group, the team has come up with #KKRHaiTaiyaar; which truly signifies the mood at our camp.”
The anthem boldly challenges KKR’s opponents to watch out as the team sets out to destroy every challenge in its path to becoming champions again. The visual representation and the music composition of the anthem captures the pride and passion that drives everyone associated with KKR – right from the players, to the coaching staff, the groundskeeper, the bat-maker , etc., along with the millions of supporters that live and breathe for the team.
DDB Mudra Group national creative director Rahul Mathew adds, “KKR has always prided itself on being more than just a team. KKR is an attitude. And you see this attitude in every aspect of their game; be it the auction, the training, the selection, the strategy, the execution of it, their victories and even their losses. Which is why, the KKR fan base spills far and wide outside of Kolkata. Because while Kolkata maybe in the name, the spirit of the Knight Riders is something everyone relates to. It’s this very spirit and attitude that we’ve captured in the work and in our call to arms #KKRHaiTaiyaar.”
Backed by a strong media strategy, the campaign is being showcased across television channels, radio, digital and print. In the print campaign, the players are shown coming out of moulds, to emphasise their readiness. On the digital medium, the anthem has more than 1.9 million views and 21K shares on the brand’s Facebook page alone, since its launch on 6 April 2018.
Brands
MakeMyTrip partners with OpenAI to boost AI-powered travel planning
Conversational AI now guides travellers from inspiration straight to booking
GURUGRAM: MakeMyTrip, India’s leading online travel company, has teamed up with OpenAI to bring a fresh twist to AI-driven travel planning. The collaboration integrates OpenAI’s APIs into MakeMyTrip’s app, making it easier than ever for travellers to move from chatting about dream trips to booking them.
The move centres around MakeMyTrip’s Myra interface, a GenAI trip planning assistant that now handles over 50,000 conversations a day in languages ranging from English and Hindi to Tamil, Telugu and Bengali. Myra helps travellers explore options, create itineraries and book flights, hotels and extras without the usual hassle of searching and filtering.
MakeMyTrip co-founder and group CEO Rajesh Magow said, “With OpenAI, we turn curiosity into confident decisions. When travellers start their journey through conversation, MakeMyTrip becomes a seamless extension of that discovery process. AI combined with our travel data makes it possible to deliver personalised, bookable options at scale.”
OpenAI managing director- international Oliver Jay added, “MakeMyTrip is showing how AI can make travel planning feel more like a conversation than a chore. Advanced AI isn’t just about back-end efficiencies, it’s about transforming the way travellers experience and engage with the platform.”
MakeMyTrip has long invested in AI across the travel lifecycle, from inspiration and discovery to booking and post-sales support. Nearly half of Myra’s queries now come from tier-2 and smaller cities, and voice interactions are booming outside metros, making AI travel assistance more accessible than ever.
With this partnership, MakeMyTrip is not just keeping up with AI trends, it’s aiming to lead the way, turning every traveller’s whim into a smooth, bookable adventure.
