#PKL2019: Gujarat Fortune Giants Social Media Strategy

With a focus on video content and effective use of Instagram and TikTok, the Gujarat Fortune Giants Social Media Strategy includes a holistic approach that includes ticket and merchandise sales.

Gujarat Fortune Giants started its Pro Kabaddi League journey in 2017. In addition to announcing presence on-mat in Season 5, they effectively used digital media to create a brand that could challenge the already established teams in the league. With a comparatively young and highly engaged TG, Gujarat Fortune Giants has focused on Instagram and TikTok.

Regional content as a means to connect with fans more effectively is another key avenue explored by the team. The website is used as a digital asset to provide fans with in-depth team and player stats and timely updates.

Sanjay Adesara, CEO, Gujarat Fortune Giants says, “Getting to know our fans better also helps in creating cool merchandise, which they can buy to support the team and be a part of the Giants Army.”

Gujarat Fortune Giants Social Media Strategy

Initially, the team’s social media strategy hinged on brand building and player profiling. Eventually, they moved to more immersive content with which to engage with fans.

“Video has always been on top of our priority list. We used it to profile our players and showcase their extraordinary stories,” says Sanjay.

He adds, “Apart from the videos, two key moves were to use regional content to build more affinity with our fans and use of local influencers to which the fans would relate to.”

The team aims to use social media to build team affinity and brand awareness with content that inspires, engages, excited and differentiates them from others.

Attempts are made to keep the tone youthful and passionate, keeping the quintessential Gujarati fans at the heart of all communication. Most importantly, social media helps the team in building stronger channels for content distribution and leveraging partnerships to boost ticket and merchandise sales.

Generating engagement is a key aspect of the team's social media strategy. In certain cases, there is an aspect of gratification in terms of merchandises but even in cases where it's not, they have been able to get responses.

It is interesting how they participate in social media trends as a kabaddi team. Topical creatives that feature players add a dimension of personification to the brand-building exercise.

Most of the content pushed out by the Giants consists of videos, most of them being snack-sized and action-packed.

Brand placements incorporated by kabaddi teams this year has been an interesting phenomenon. While some visuals are properly edited creatives, the really effective ones are candid pictures where the players are simply using the product of a sponsor brand.

Using short videos where the team is shining on the mat, Giants often put across and extend the narrative of them being a strong team.

Pushing merchandise sales are a big part of the Giants' social media strategy. Such imagery helps build a fandom — something that all teams are trying to work on.

Also Read: #PKL2019: Decoding Jaipur Pink Panthers Social Media Strategy

Unravelling trends

“Latest trends suggest that user preferences are changing rapidly and leaning towards a more unconventional form of consuming sports,” says Sanjay. He explains that Social media platforms like Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok have revolutionalised the way fans consume and brands market sports content on digital mediums.

"Although we are in the early days of AR/VR technology, sports teams, and brands are making use of platforms like Snapchat and Instagram to create immersive experiences for increasingly global audiences inside as well as outside the stadiums,” Sanjay shares.

In recent years, the popularity of fantasy gaming and e-sports has seen exponential growth, a fact that has not been missed by sports teams. “In particular, the format has proven popular with cricket, football, and kabaddi leagues and teams, with millions of fans regularly hooked onto these offerings throughout the year,” he tells us. 

With the help of elevated access to user data and the evolution of technology such as AI, the sports business is bigger than it ever was. Sanjay tells us, “Features such as geo-targeted marketing and fan insights, we are now able to customise sports products/service offerings and distribute through the right channels, ensuring long-lasting results.”

He further explains how they are not able to enhance engagement with both new and existing fans and to monetise growing international audiences. Influencer collaborations further help acquire fans.

To sum up

The team uses two hashtags prominently across communication: #GarjegaGujarat and #IssBaarChhodnaNahi. This has helped them add a layer of easy searchability as well as establish the tags their fans should use.

Most of the content shared consists of vivid imagery, especially action visuals. Use of GIFs can also be seen prominently. The most interesting aspect is, of course, the merchandises — giving a holistic 360-degree aspect to their social media strategy.