Show me the money!

The World Cup's around the corner but not many companies are coming forward with freebies and promo activities. Is the market drying up?

With each passing day, as the radio stations and TV channels remind us about the number of days left for the cricket World Cup, one would expect a build-up in the euphoria, right? Only, surprisingly, that does not seem to be the case this time around.

Compared to the excitement and the marketing hum surrounding the World Cup four years ago, the money-spinners are unusually quiet this time around.

Not many companies are offering the consumers the chance to go and watch the cup action in the Caribbean, like Britannia did in 1999, nor are there companies coming out with special edition products, like Pepsi did in 2003. The main sponsors for the World Cup, like Hero Honda, LG, Pepsi, Hutch, too, are surprisingly quiet. Overall, the buzz has been much less than it ever was.

Says Harish Bijoor, CEO, Harish Bijoor Consults, "Overall, if you see, the interest in cricket has been a bit on the decline. Also, the game has taken a beating in all regards due to the on-field performance of the team." Bijoor, however, expects things to pick up, but predicts that it will be less than it used to be and brands are being a bit more cautious this time.

Traditionally, consumer durable companies spend the most on cricket-related activities and keep the buzz going. Companies like LG and Hutch are still gung-ho about the World Cup. LG has kept aside a budget of about Rs 40 crore for World Cup led activities.

Says Sandeep Tiwari, head (marketing), LG India, "We have always looked at cricket in a big way and contrary to the opinion we would be doing a lot of stuff like running contests and promotions around the World Cup."

Hutch, on its part, was among the early movers for the World Cup. They started a campaign for the World Cup with Rahul Dravid batting for it as early as four months ago. Samsung, which has been very active in cricket led promotional activities, is also set to launch a few promotions.

The total advertising spend for the 2003 World Cup, including the lead-up, was approximately Rs 550 crore. This time it should be somewhere around the same region and could be more.

Says Anand Halve, partner, Chlorophyll, "Two types of brands are known to be associated with cricket. There are those for whom the brand strategy revolves around cricket and there are others for whom the World Cup gives an opportunity to join the bandwagon."

Till now, both of these brands have somehow shied away from the World Cup but expect the cricket madness to witness a massive surge in the coming weeks. As Bijoor puts it, "In a matter of a few nanoseconds we will move from brickbats to garlands, so a couple of good games for the team and the euphoria will be back." That's what we are rooting for!