Shamik Sharma of cult.sport shares insights on how the activewear and sports market in India needs to tap into 'Indian sports'. The brand is using community building, content marketing and influencer marketing to get ahead of the game.
Whether it is sprinting to catch a bus in Delhi, dashing through the station in Mumbai to catch the final local train home, or cycling to work through the gridlock in Bangalore, every day Indians participate in a crazy combination of planned and unplanned sports.
Relatively new entrant in the activewear and sports goods market, cult.sport has taken this narrative in their first mass campaign. The brand is trying to define that sportswear is integral to our everyday lives and sport is not limited to professional athletes or specific activities, noted Shamik Sharma, General Manager at cult.sport.
Cure.fit has been casting a wider net by branching out into various segments within the fitness category such as nutrition, gym, mental well-being, etc. With cult.sports, the home-grown fitness company has ventured into a new segment that houses many national and international brands. The sports equipment, footwear and apparel market, which is estimated at $27.89 billion and is further expected to grow at a CAGR of 7.82% by 2027.
The brand currently has watches, shoes, cycles, gym equipment, sportswear, supplements and more.
With its maiden large-scale campaign called ‘Maidaan called India’ with Wunderman Thompson India, cult.sport is targeting the young generation and the objective is to change the way people perceive sports and athleticism in their everyday lives.
It is estimated that only about 23 per cent of India's population, 317.8 million, are playing at least one outdoor sport actively in their life currently. On the other hand, the report pegs India’s Sports Fan Universe at 136.3 Million people, i.e., 9.8% of India’s population. In a nation where participation in sport is still in infancy as compared to the following of sport, cult.sport is reminding all Indians that there’s a sporty personality within us all.
Talking about the ad film and the use of everyday activities to position their brand, Shamik Sharma pointed out, “We are talking about aspects like comfort and products made for Indians and their everyday situations rather than just running on high-end tracks and fields.”
The brand’s larger vision is to inspire the people of India to step out and play sports of any form, embracing their inner athletes, and ultimately leading healthier and more fulfilling lives. Ergo, cult.sport’s communication will be focused on everyday athletes, which gives them a leg to stand out in the cluttered athleisure market.
Moving Beyond Usual Sports
Through their communication and marketing, cult.sport tries to move beyond the usual sports and targets everyday sports activities like cycling and walking.
Sharma said, “cult.sport wants to be at places where everyday people are doing everyday sporty things.”
Apart from the video, the brand has an extensive experiential marketing strategy in place. Leveraging the audience’s love for cycling, the brand has built a cycling community across 26 cities in the nation and through this the brand plugs in their products like cycles, sporting gears and more.
To further fuel this sense of community and engage with its audience, cult.sport also has a content platform called stories.cultsport.com. This platform is focused on sharing latest sports news and health and fitness tips.
Continuing on the same message of connecting with local sports lovers, the brand’s social media aims at influencers that the audience can resonate with.
Sharma said, “As a brand, we aim at the everyday Indians. We connect with influencers that don’t feel out of reach and alien to the consumer.”
The brand doesn’t just collaborate with content creators from the fitness and sports segment but also engages with creators from different categories such as fashion, comedy, and art to reach out to a wider audience and establish themselves as an accessible brand for all.
Sharma also noted that by tapping into a range of influencers from beyond the metros has helped in building a stronger connect with the Tier II and beyond audience.
As of July 28, cult.sport has gathered 73.8k followers on Instagram and 1.8K subscribers on YouTube. The brand’s YouTube works as their guidebook. With over 300 videos dedicated to the brand’s equipment, cult.sport uses long-form and short-form vidoes on YouTube to showcase how to assemble and use their products.
Future of Sports Marketing in India
According to a report, in 2022, cricket continued to remain the dominant sport in the country, taking up 85% of the spends, while other emerging sports like football, kabaddi, badminton and marathons also saw an upsurge in spending to account for the remaining 15%.
Sharma stated, “India is a sports-hungry nation, but there aren't many Indian brands that actually cater to Indian sports.”
The Indian sports celebrity endorsement market is still heavily dominated by cricketers wherein, in 2022, out of the 505 brand endorsement deals, 85% of the total brand endorsement value has come from cricketers, stated a report.
“Marketers need to tap into the untapped audience and their tastes because they are much more relatable than western sports is in India,” said Sharma.
cult.sport’s marketing activities in the coming years will be focused on all sports and fitness enthusiasts.
"We have to decentralize sports and democratize it."
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