Indian online gaming giant Mobile Premier League (MPL) has launched its new campaign ‘Hai Akal Khelo MPL’ across platforms during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 season.

The campaign has seven ad films produced specifically for IPL 2021, out of which three are already running on TV and digital platforms. 

The first three films feature a human brain as the protagonist and are based on different sayings on intelligence in the Hindi language such as ‘Akal badi ya bhains’, ‘Akal ke dushman’ and ‘Dimaag ghaas charne gaya hai’.

Bollywood actor Vijay Raaz is the films’ voice-over artist. 

“Our attempt was to bring this (skill) alive by creating the brain itself as a device. The campaign uses popular idioms associated with the brain to generate popular appeal,” said Navin Talreja, founding partner, The Womb, the agency that designed this campaign.

Through these ads, MPL aims to convey the message that anyone with a brain or ‘Akal’ can play on the app during the IPL season.

“This IPL, we decided to go back to the basics of fantasy cricket, which is to make the best possible team by using your knowledge of the game and your thinking skills,” said Abhishek Madhavan, senior vice president, growth and marketing, MPL.

The eSport and online gaming platform claims that the initial response to the campaign has been remarkable.

“We hope the audiences love all seven films in this campaign,” added Madhavan. 

MPL joined the digital gaming market in 2018 but has grown into one of the largest platforms in India with an estimated user base of over 70 million.

It recently extended its partnership with Indian Premier League franchise Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), becoming their principal sponsor for till 2023.

It also launched a premium subscription-based service, MPL VIP, which provides two per cent extra winnings and exclusive events for the premium users.