#PKL2019: Decoding Jaipur Pink Panthers Social Media Strategy

As all Pro Kabaddi League teams attempt to create a niche for themselves as an individual brand, the Jaipur Pink Panthers social media strategy finds firm ground in pink hues and roaring strength.

The Jaipur Pink Panthers team looks at itself as an idea where the sport takes the centre stage and elements like players, community, and constituents of the game that surround it. The Jaipur Pink Panthers social media strategy stays true to the name and leverages pink hues and features of a cat to the hilt.

“We have always strived to stay true to the qualities of the city when it comes to our marketing strategy,” says Manoj Thakur, Operations Head, Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Social Media Footprint

Facebook: 778,392 likes

Twitter: 129K followers

Instagram: 114K followers

Jaipur Pink Panthers Social Media Strategy

With their social media presence, the team tries to showcase the intensity and appeal of the sport and the franchise.

The social media strategy of the Jaipur Pink Panthers has been built around four key pillars — motivation, insightful, entertainment and intelligence. “With these qualities in mind, we strive to focus to provide the highest quality content to our fans in Jaipur and across the country,” explains Manoj. 

The team is called the #PantherSquad and the hashtag is used in a majority of their posts and tweets.

#RoarForPanthers is another popular tag that is used in places where the intent is to pump up the energy among the team members and the fans alike. It almost works as a clarion call and #TopCats is often used when line-ups are announced.

Attention to key players of the team is a common feature in the social media communication of Jaipur Pink Panthers.

Moments captured in time with Abhishek Bachchan and his family are key imagery asset for the team in regards to driving engagement and establishing that the team is loved and supported by them and their fans.

The use of hues to highlight the parts the post intends to highlight is something that helps Jaipur Pink Panthers creatives stand out. This is a key feature in engagement-inducing, guess the #PantherSquad member category posts.

Also Read: #PKL2019: Decoding Patna Pirates Social Media Strategy

The use of strategic colour-based editing can also be seen in posts where the team announces partnerships and expresses gratitude to sponsors.

An interesting brand integration put forth by Jaipur Pink Panthers on social media is a cluster of the 'Mazboot Player of the day' posts that are powered by Ambuja Cement, the team's Title Sponsor.

To give fans a glimpse into the work that goes behind a strong kabaddi team, along with practice session imageries, candid conversations with the coach are thrown in the mix.

When it comes to social media promotions, the key objective of the franchise is to create engaging content for their fans. The idea is to help them stay connected with the players, know their stories and understand the team’s journey through the season and even after the league concludes. 

The road ahead

Major tells us about the three noticeable trends in regards to social media strategy of PKL ecosystem: Video content works great, localisation of content helps and there is a focus on the stories of athletes. 

Further, he adds that initiatives like PKL, ISL, PWL, PBL, and UTT have led to the creation of a sporting ecosystem that will be beneficial for the Indian sporting industry in the long term. 

"With PKL, people have been introduced to the players in the game. A large number of players have achieved popularity over the years. It would be a long way to achieve the same level of popularity as cricket but the seed has definitely been sown for the growth of kabaddi in the nation," he concludes.

To sum up

It is refreshing how Jaipur Pink Panthers have integrated the colour pink and the panther cat in their social media strategy. They play with hues well on their feed as well as within the creative.

Candid pieces do make an appearance from time to time but most of their communication rests on action imagery from the matches and live updates when the matches are on.

The running panther sequel juxtapositioned at the beginning of the videos shared by the team reflects on the importance of detailing in brand communications.