The Masuri Group, the cricket protection specialists and BatFast, the cricket simulator experts have joined forces in an effort to increase awareness and participation in cricket, showing a clear passion to find ways of appealing to both new and existing cricket fans of all ages.
“We’ve admired what Runish, Jignesh and their team have been doing for a while now”, explains Adam Shanley, CMO of Masuri. “The Batfast product is fun, portable but most importantly accessible and no doubt can be used to appeal (especially) to a new, younger audience that are growing up in the digital age. Collaboratively, through both physical experience and appearance; we’re looking to put together an offering that not only looks great and makes memories, but also competes with other main stream experiences / sports on offer”.
Both companies have invested heavily in their brands and positioning of products, and they believe that by combining efforts, they can approach the promotion of cricket in a new and different way.
Runish Gudhka, CEO and Co-Founder of BatFast commented, “As well as the traditional application of training – we’ve been applying focus on using BatFast in the entertainment space; not just to entertain current cricket fans, but to act as a gateway to give a wider audience a taste of the game in a fun, exciting environment that hopefully leads to taking up the game in some capacity”. He continues, “Masuri is one of the most recognisable brands in modern cricket, the look and feel of their products whether it be their protective equipment or sports clothing is great and we’re happy to be entering into a new relationship with them. The BatFast teamwear they have designed has already received amazing feedback.”
Although early days, there is clearly both drive and ambition on both sides to continue to increase the overall retail experience and offering including new technologies, events and merchandise to increase awareness and social presence.
“The next generation are not growing up with cricket in the same way ours did” says Adam, “Now that there is less free-to-air cricket available for fans; we need to find alternative ways to expose more demographics to the game – BatFast provides the industry with an excellent platform and we look forward to doing what we can to contribute”.
In what has already been a phenomenal year for cricket – both Masuri and BatFast are interested in meeting with other third parties that are interested in exploring promotional opportunities around engagement and participation in cricket. For more information, please visit either www.masuri.com or www.batfast.com.