The IPL, in its sixth version, has a new title sponsor, a rebranded team... and loads of activations waiting to burst on the scenario this season. Malay Desai tries to capture the brand-scape
“There is a little bit of the whore in all of us, gentlemen. What is your price?”
When Kerry Packer, founder of the World Series Cricket, infamously said this at a meeting with the Australian Cricket Board in 1976, he might have raised eyebrows and bruised egos. The tournament went on to change the nature of the game so much that if one cuts to 2007, it’s safe to assume that the architect of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Lalit Modi might not have emulated Packer’s abrasion to sell a TV-friendly idea to the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) officials.
April 2008, under a year after India, hesitant adopters of the Twenty20 format won the first World T20 title, the homegrown league of IPL debuted amidst a huge novelty-hungry audience. The reach and returns it has since offered its team owners, players, telecasters and advertisers has broken new ground for the sport itself, owing to many comparisons with Packer’s landmark Series. In its sixth edition this year, the IPL has long become the beast that can be both benevolent and brutal to its stakeholders.
Brand managers, ambassadors and marketing gurus have witnessed the dizzy roller-coaster of opportunity, innovation and controversy. We speak to a cross section of them to reveal what’s in store come April 3, 2013.
‘We’re expecting 25 to 30% more sales’
Wherever IPL goes, the network follows
Of old partners and new – Vodafone & Pepsi
Games Big Boys Play
Timing is everything.. and the promoters of the IPL probably knew this better than anyone else while putting a finger on the Indian summer. After the first ever season made its presence felt during April to May, the summer slot has turned into carnival time for a variety of brands – FMCG, colas, travel firms and telecom. Attention of the young vacationing Indian and an increased female presence in the TV ratings pie have been heartening factors for sales gurus to showcase their wares.
Man Jit Singh, CEO, Multi Screen Media (MSM), owners of the Sony Entertainment Television network that telecasts the league, assumed his current chair at a critical phase in 2009 and perhaps knows the value of this window better than others. “The IPL is the biggest sporting event in India bar none. It is a unique combination of sport and entertainment. For the fans, it delivers these factors along with glamour which makes it an eagerly awaited event. With them getting increasingly involved in their cities’ teams, advertisers are seeing the value of brand IPL and sponsors are consistently returning each year,” he explains.
Thus, we have had a variety of bigwig companies wanting a slice of sunshine, assuming various sponsorship levels. There are ‘title sponsors’ (developer DLF gave way to Pepsi this year, read more further), ‘presenting sponsors’, ‘associate sponsors’, ‘on-ground sponsors’ and more and every mega-brand worth its salt from Kishore Biyani’s Future Group to Hero Honda, Citibank and Vodafone has had a tie-up in the past five editions, many of them retainers.
As for this year, MSM has already raked in 12 sponsors, highest in its history, with PepsiCo and Vodafone being the biggest players while Airtel, Coca-Cola, and Parle Agro having activated all-round campaigns.
Not for small fishes?
It’s the obvious thought any serious brand manager would have – ‘Will the clutter affect my product’s visibility?’ Also, stakeholders of relatively smaller brands would worry about returns on huge investments made for the season.
Rohit Gupta, President of MSM and Sony’s key player from the last decade or so on this big playground of sports broadcasting, feels the IPL has a wide spectrum to not alienate smaller brands. “We’re now talking about a league that lasts over 50 days. We’ve rated our packages to interest all sorts of brands. This year, we have iBibo and Usha Appliances… while on the other hand, brands such as Samsung and Godrej which had left us have returned,” he feels.
For a relatively small player such as Usha International, a late association with brand IPL still looks fruitful. Neelima Burra, Sr GM Marketing is upbeat: “This is the second year we will partner Chennai Super Kings as co-sponsor. Also, we’re on board Set Max as associate broadcast sponsors of IPL 6. We are seeking high visibility in the peak season of our products such as fans and appliances.. and IPL cuts across age groups, socio-economic classes and geographical boundaries.” Last week, Yes Bank signed up as the official partner of the Financial Services category in a deal spanning five years. Its Founder MD and CEO Rana Kapoor justified the move saying, “IPL is the foremost event property in India. We’re confident our association will propel our pan-India retail banking franchise. For a brand that believes in a knowledge driven approach, this is a significant branding initiative.
Talking of small fries of relative size, one can’t overlook the stupendous success of Karbonn Mobiles in the Indian market and the heightened visibility of the IPL being one of the contributing factors.
Reportedly having set aside a giant Rs 200 crore for sports associations including football, hockey and the Champions League T20, the handset maker has milked the attention well (remember, every single catch is not called just that, it’s called a ‘Karbonn Kamaal’ catch!). After having sponsored the MTV show ‘IPL Nights’ in the past, this year, ‘Karbonn Tabs’ are the associate sponsors for Sony’s telecast. On the flip side, with the broadcaster shrinking ad rates to fill up inventory, we wonder if any of the bigwig brands are feeling the dilution of IPL’s ‘premium’ tag.
With nine teams and 76 matches at 12 venues, be prepared to see ‘official partners’ of all sizes and shapes in the coming weeks. In the backrooms of team owners’ offices and headquarters of F&B chains and service providers, hectic touch-ups are being applied on deals even as you read this.
Not to forget, no property pushes marketing heads to push the innovation envelope like the IPL does. We’ve seen theme songs, fan ambassadors, crowd-sourced chants and even players wearing fake moustaches in the past. For a slice of 2013’s action, read ahead.
Telecasters’ Trials In January 2008, when the consortium of Multi Screen Media and World Sports Group bagged the IPL television rights in one of the biggest deals in Indian cricket, the honchos at the media firm would’ve bitten their nails off hoping for a neat ROI. The stakes – revised to Rs 8,200 crore following a controversy – continue up to 2017 but the investors aren’t showing us signs of distress yet.
Is there a deadly race every year to break even with the price MSM paid for the rights? “The IPL rights have come expensive but we are satisfied with the economics,” retorts Man Jit Singh. Gupta tells us of a selling cycle that begins six to eight months before IPL. And from what we read in reports, MSM has been raking in figures upwards of Rs 700 crore every season, the inventory looking fuller closer to the event and ad rates more exorbitant as the league narrows down to its final stages. In an approach that yet again reminds us of legendary cricket administrator Kerry Packer’s ways in the 70s, Multi Screen Media have been unabashed about high ad rates every IPL season from inception. This has been a feature of the company much before the IPL, Gupta explains. “It was in the Champions Trophy 2002 in Sri Lanka that we took a decision to remain strong on our rates.”
Also the holders of ICC’s World Cup tournament rights, the channel has since been known for hiked rates, for good reason.
“We have been looking at cricket differently, packaging it in unique manners. In all ways, we have changed the paradigm of telecast (in the past decade) and have created a huge following for IPL too,” Gupta states.
As industry reports hint at a 27% increase in MSM’s ad revenues this year to around Rs 950 crore and we point out the direct link to the lowering of ad rates, Singh responds: “We made some minor adjustments to pricing in certain categories but overall will have similar pricing to last year. Making these has put us in a near sellout even before the tournament has started, so the strategy has been a resounding success.”
Moreover, and we gather this from Gupta too, Sony is promising an enhanced viewer experience this year. “We’re always trying to innovate in our broadcasting and add new elements to our wrap-around show Extraaa Innings T20. I can tell you we have some new faces and a surprise we will unveil later,” Singh declares.
Sony’s three feeds – Generic, Hindi and HD
In case you’ve overlooked today’s date, we have already entered Phase II of digitization in India, and this IPL will be the first tournament after set top boxes were made mandatory for four metros and 38 cities. Broadcaster Sony has rolled up its sleeves for this era of more quantifiable viewership by offering three feeds – an added dimension of ‘Hindi’ on Sony Six besides the generic Set Max and its high-definition version like last year. “We believe there will be good traction for Hindi commentary as well as the HD feed as digitization is now a reality in more markets. High-definition experience takes viewing the sport to the next level,” Singh seems upbeat for the task ahead.
The real impact of digitization will only be felt later. “Sony Six HD will be available in all these markets and we expect consumers to migrate to it. IPL will help MSOs (multi-system operators) have households take on the HD packages and so all our HD feeds such as SET will also see traction.” Clearly, MSM has no doubts in admitting that IPL remains the biggest event on the network. “It is a key promotional vehicle to popularize the rest of our programming,” Singh feels.
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