Mumbai, India – India’s sports league, VIVO Pro Kabaddi League (VIVO PKL), has appointed financial and healthcare super app, Dhani, to be its strategic timeout partner in the sporting event. This is in collaboration with sports management firm Professional Management Group (PMG) and independent media agency Madison Media Ace, who shared the announcement.
The appointment will see VIVO PKL providing customers the opportunity to take a ‘timeout’ from making full payments by dividing their payments into three parts through Dhani’s flagship financial offering ‘OneFreedom Card’. The Strategic Timeout, which is 90 seconds in length, also fits with Dhani’s proposition of providing its financial card to customers in under two minutes.
Through the partnership, the association will also help Dhani with differentiated, clutter-breaking, and strong visibility during the live matches of the PKL. The strategic timeout is taken twice in a game, at the 10th and 15th minute of the second half of the game.
Ankit Banga, Dhani’s chief marketing officer, believes that the partnership is a great fit for them, as the majority of their customers stem from the heartland and other smaller pockets of India.
“Also, it resonates fantastically with our product proposition of giving our customers a timeout from making full payments by splitting their transaction into 3 interest-free parts,” said Banga.
Vandana Ramkrishna, Madison Media Ace’s chief operating officer, said that the OneFreedom card is the first kind of a product and needed a unique way to drive benefits of the product beyond standard inventory buys.
“We leveraged PMG’s expertise to get the STO created for the first time ever on Kabaddi for Dhani to help bring out the brand benefits seamlessly. Kabaddi as a sport, has significant unique viewers, and driving visibility through both on-air and on-ground will not only help Dhani garner incremental audiences but would also drive significant business results,” said Ramkrishna.
Melroy D’Souza, the chief operating officer of Professional Management Group, said, “Both the Vivo PKL and Dhani are only growing bigger and better, in terms of stature and popularity. We have no doubt that the relationship between these two institutions will go the same way, in the weeks and months to come.”
