Intex marches to the tune of the IPL trumpet

Looks to leverage association with Gujarat Lions, beat back advancing footprint of Chinese labels

It is Intex’s second year as owner of Gujarat Lions, one of the two youngest teams in the Indian Premier League (IPL), but the impact of the Rs 10-crore buy on the brand has been dramatic, says Keshav Bansal, director of Intex Technologies. Cricket has brought visibility, trust and acceptability he says as it is only now that people know Intex even though the company has been around for over a decade. However, even as the brand gears up to exploit the full potential of its ownership of an IPL team and expand the portfolio of sports-led brand alliances, the big challenge it faces is scripting a differentiated brand story that stands out in the crowd of Chinese phones on the IPL track. 

For Bansal however, cricket is the best vehicle for his brand. It gives Intex visibility and appeals to the aspirational buyer of smartphones. Thus, he says, there was not a moment of hesitation when the opportunity to buy Gujarat Lions came up. “We took hardly four or five hours to put in the bid. Until then, we had been involved with cricket just as advertisers or sponsors. This gave us the opportunity to take ownership of a cricket entity and that too in an eco-system like the IPL.” Intex is not a newcomer to the IPL frenzy; it has been advertising  during the league over the years, but having one’s own team is a different story altogether, the company says. “Owning Gujarat Lions has given us a much better understanding of the IPL and the importance from a business point of view and of course it has helped create great visibility and awareness about the brand,” says Bansal. 

Sports sponsorship, especially cricket, is part of the marketing playbook of all brands looking to cut through the clutter, especially in the budget segment. However for mobile phones, the problem is not easily solved because of the growing influx of Chinese handset brands such as Oppo, Vivo, and Gionee. They have all clambered on to the cricket and sports brand wagon while flooding the market with low-priced variants of smart phones. 

The growing influence of Chinese brands has hit recall, trust and credibility across the board and a recent brand trust survey, Brand Trust Report: India Study 2017 by Trust Research Advisory shows that Intex has slipped 38 places to rank 120 this year, down from 82 in 2016. Significantly, Vivo has gained 407 places to make it to position 59 in 2017. In 2016, Intex had actually scaled 68 places (in 2015 it was on number 150) and Vivo was a new entrant, ranked at 466. Given the volatility in terms of price and discounts in the budget segment, it has become more and more difficult for brands to hold on to their positions with consumers. And that is why companies such as Intex are not skimping on their marketing budgets.

The marketing budget for 2016 and 2017 at Intex is between Rs 200-220 crore, which includes the spending on the team and its upkeep. “Yes it is expensive. But we’ve found the results more than satisfactory. For one, we saw a 20 to 25 per cent increase in sale in Gujarat and UP last year post the IPL. The recall for brand Intex has increased according to our research. All in all, I would say the decision we took to own Gujarat Lions has been successful,” Bansal says. 

The catch here is that Gujarat Lions (and Rising Pune Supergiants) were created with a life term of two years as they replaced two castaway teams, Chennai Superkings and Rajasthan Royals. Although fresh bids for all the teams are expected post May, there is little clarity on whether Bansal will be able to retain ownership of the Gujarat Lions. The fate of his brand’s association with the team therefore hangs in balance and Bansal is well aware that Intex now faces the daunting task of transferring the loyalty that fans have shown towards Gujarat Lions to brand Intex. 

However he stands by the decision to own Gujarat Lions, even if it was for a short term. “We were aware of the limited tenure of ownership and in fact, back then, it was one of the main reasons we decided to buy the team. We wanted an immersive initiative for a short while to bring the perception of the brand up. However, now we know the benefits and also see it has a long term business potential so we’ll continue to invest in sports through ownership,” says Bansal. 

He further clarifies that the trademark for Gujarat Lions belongs to Intex and may be used by the brand in its marketing initiatives for a while. For example, the latest 4G phone from the brand is called Intex Aqua Lions 4G, using the word ‘lions’ as a mnemonic to drive the relation between the IPL team and the brand. 

To further cement its relations with the IPL, the company has also signed on Gujarat Lions captain, Suresh Raina, to endorse its range of speakers. And over the coming years, the company says it will involve itself with kabaddi and fight  sports (not football though because Intex does not see a brand fit with the sport) and deepen its association with cricket, IPL or no IPL.