Blue-eyed boys, once again

It isn't anywhere near the World Cup frenzy as yet, but marketers are flocking to cricket and cricketers again.

Remember the scenario in March this year, when the Indian team crashed out of the World Cup in England? Obituaries were written, contracts were torn off, viewership numbers plummeted "" interest in the game would never be the same again, was the consensus. Even the game's controlling authority in India tried to keep the cricketers out of the limelight.

Then came a somewhat meaningless, embarrassingly dubbed "revenge" series against Bangladesh, where the team did well yet; but it was not the same. Cynics said, "Oh, it's just Bangladesh. Wait till they go to England." Then came the tri-series in Ireland, where a few good one-day results against South Africa had everyone wondering whether it was just a flash in the pan or a sign of revival.

Cut to the present. After taking a lead in the test series against England, it seems the Indian cricketers are back in the reckoning. Certainly, the numbers tell this story.

According to the latest aMap ratings, the second test match against England got impressive cumulative ratings of 15.63, with 1.85 as the highest TVR. Compare these with the Bangladesh series, the first after the World Cup debacle, which had cumulative ratings of 3.37, and highest TVR of close to 0.4.

Anirban Das Blah, president, Globosport, feels that cricket's value was so inflated at the time of the World Cup that it was like a bubble waiting to burst. "The kind of money involved was literally unsustainable and the bad performance saw some of the deals collapsing."

This view is endorsed by Roland Landers, business head, sports, Percept D'Mark. "The entire value attached to cricket at the time of the World Cup was inflated, and coinciding with the below par performance of the team, questions were raised and fingers pointed." But now the situation is more stable.

Ad rates during the World Cup reached a high Rs 3 lakh per 10 second, which fell to around Rs 50,000 during the Bangladesh tour. Even for the on-going India-England series, the spot rate during the second test was close to Rs 1.25 lakh; expectations are it will double in the third and final test.

Agreed, there were a few knee-jerk reactions after the World Cup, but most brands were fence-sitters, waiting to see which way the fortunes of the team went. So far, the fortunes seem to be on the rise.

After all, the total loss marketers incurred during the World Cup was in excess of Rs 120 crore. And no wonder, a few brands completely cut off ties with cricket. Coca Cola, for instance, had no cricketers as brand ambassadors; even Videocon took off air its ads with M S Dhoni; ditto for Rahul Dravid with Sansui.

Couple this with the BCCI's restrictions on player endorsements, and marketers were in a tizzy. There was also talk about players' endorsements coming down after the World Cup.

Still, the majority stuck with India's national obsession. As Blah says, two kind of brands have always been associated with cricket. There are those with a short-term view who'd probably sign "the new kids on the block" (take Cherry Blossom) and then there are those with a long-term association with the game who sign on the Tendulkars and Dravids (Pepsi and LG).

"Let's face it, even under 'normal' circumstances, the India-Bangladesh series would not have found many takers, so the numbers from that series are not too surprising," points out one media planner.

But the next two series, which involve Pakistan and Australia, could potentially be a gold mine for advertisers. Not many would admit to it, but don't be surprised to see World Cup-like numbers if the England tour continues to be a success.

Marketers, advertisers and viewers know that it's cricket that sells and sells big in India. But as Blah says, gone are the days when cricketers would command almost 60 per cent of the total endorsement pie, as was the case five-six years back.

"You won't see an Irfan Pathan or a Suresh Raina carrying brands on their shoulders," concludes Blah. But Sachin and Dravid would still get a bagful "" and hopefully with runs as well!