How Khaby Lame fit into Dream11's 'dimag lagana' proposition

The world of marketing is changing and influencer marketing is one of the pegs that’s supporting this dynamic transformation. This was proved once again by fantasy sports platform Dream11, which recently partnered with international social media star Khaby Lame, famous for simplifying the seemingly complicated things in life. The industry is praising the platform for recognising how Lame is a great fit for the brand tagline “Dimaag lagana hai toh Dream11 pe laga na” and how his pairing with comical content-creator Viraj Ghelani is capable of taking it to the right audience. 

Life is simple. You just need to use your ? in the right place!
Ain’t it true, @KhabyLame? ? #Dream11PeDimaagLagaNa #Dream11 #D11 #LearnFromKhaby @viraj_ghelani pic.twitter.com/O63aGORVhj

— Dream11 (@Dream11) September 27, 2021

One Impression Founder-CEO Apaksh Gupta says, “It is a brilliantly smart move on Dream11’s part. They have always been the first movers in the industry and this time too, they have opened up a whole new avenue of location-agnostic marketing. Using Khaby Lame and Viraj Gehlani, both of whom have the kind of followers that are the TG for a platform like Dream 11 is a commendable strategy.” 

SoCheers Sr Manager - Outreach & Films Kunal Khandelwal also praised the brand for recognising and utilising a great opportunity by taking Lame in an Indian campaign. “Khaby’s comical and sarcastic style of creating content merges very well with the core Dream11 campaign of ‘dimaag lagana hai to Dream11 pe laga!” As the first movers in the space, they will definitely get a lot of benefit in the form of earned media as well.” 

En:lyft Founder-CEO Ajay Kudva adds, “Viraj is highly appreciated for his quirky sense of humour across Indian social media. Khaby is known for his trademark style of satire on sophisticated mannerisms & outrageous techniques. His videos on simplifying stuff are language & culture agnostic and have a global reach. Hence getting both these in a single video serves a dual purpose - helps strengthen Dream11’s dominance on cricket during the IPL & also position’s Dream11 as a global brand for fantasy sports beyond cricket in other sports like soccer, basketball, etc.” 

However, Tyche Media Co-founder and CEO Sasha D Cunha feels that the choice of influencers could have been better for the campaign: “I think Dream11 would have probably done ample due diligence before picking both the influencers. Even though the concept is very Khaby Lame I do not think he is a great fit, if Dream11 is targeting the Indian market fact we do not have TikTok in India evidently translating to Khaby not having followers or fan following in India either. Comparing Khaby to Viraj I would say Viraj is still budding and he does come up with fun content on his page but a brand like Dream 11 could have gone with better options more suited to their target audience.” 

Albeit her thoughts about the choice of influencers, she is quite impressed by the creativity of the campaign like her counterparts from the industry. 

Vavo Digital Founder-CEO  Neha Puri says, “International social media sensation, Khaby Lame marked his first-ever association with Dream11 and created a short video skit with Viraj Ghelani. The ad wishes to put up the message, to do their daily tasks the way they have always been doing, and use their brains in playing Dream11. The viewers would be pleased with this collaboration, and the story idea would seem funny and comical to take on their day-to-day activities.” 

Kudva highlights, “The content is very relatable. It hits the right note by further building on Dream11’s core message of #Dream11PeDimaagLagaNa Khaby’s trademark style along with the combined reach of both influencers works in favour of the ad.” 

The industry also feels that the ad is also a testimony of how big the influencer industry has grown, so as to attract international talent. Also, they feel that geo-agnostic influencer ads could be a big thing in the future if other brands are able to sustain the trend in the manner that Dream11 has done. 

Puri notes, “This snippet of skit turned to be Khaby's first-ever introduction to the Indian market. This ad is shot in two entirely different locations yet makes it a powerhouse together. It shows how the way of working has changed today, and what could the future hold for us. Location-agnostic marketing is possible, and we would see an increase in these types of ads very soon, it would make the whole world globally accessible.” 

Cunha adds, “Influencer marketing becoming a mainstream choice of corporates and brands in India and being taken up so seriously has only happened ever since last year once Covid struck. Even though influencer marketing has evolved quite a bit in the past, going forward we would only see evolution multiple times more than what we have so far with the ease of campaign execution thanks to influencer marketing and low production budget requirements. Location-agnostic marketing has already become a part of our day to day ever since Covid 19 and it is only going to grow with the threshold for launching digital content not being too high and it can be stretched to as far as one can creatively think and execute a campaign from anywhere, they see possible world over.” 

Kudva concludes by saying that marketers have now started paying attention to content & audience fit and this opens the door for creative geo-agnostic campaigns like this. “Brands are now looking at innovative ways to integrate within the influencer’s content style rather than ‘in your face’ endorsements we saw in the past. While the industry is leaning towards micro, region-specific influencers; influencers like Khaby have always been geo-agnostic. We have seen this trend for quite a while in the mobile phones & consumer electronics space. It’s comforting to see other brands exploring such opportunities as well. This always helps in expanding a brand’s horizon.”