Cricketers' brands fail to fire during World Cup

More than a week into the ICC Cricket World Cup, brands endorsed by the Indian cricketers are yet to make a splash on television screens. The brands range from the Tata group's retail chain Westside to public sector major Bank of Baroda, consumer goods major Emami and petroleum major BPCL among others.

Agency heads claim that prohibitive costs are the primary reason for the non-appearance of many ads. Others say that in certain cases, such as BPCL, brand ambassadors are kept under cover to avoid conflict with official event sponsors. IndianOil is one of the sponsors on DD, which airs the India matches.

Under the ambush marketing clause, rival brands cannot use cricketers in their advertising during the world cup, even if they have been endorsing the brand. A BPCL spokesperson said while the company had bought spots for the India matches, they wouldn't screen the ads featuring cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni who endorses BPCL's premium fuel, Speed.

Brands such as Emami Sona Chandi Chyavanprash or Mysore Sandal soap, which are endorsed by Sourav Ganguly and Dhoni respectively, are not a part of the world cup action despite the fact that they do not clash with any of the key sponsors.

Industry watchers attribute this to the high advertising rates commanded by cricket, putting the medium out of reach of smaller advertisers. "The rates being charged today make it next to impossible for a challenger or a smaller brand to advertise through cricket," an ad agency head said. For an India match, a 10-second slot is being sold for Rs 4 lakh, while for the Super Eight stage, the slots have been sold at Rs 2.75 lakh.

Bank of Baroda, which has skipper Rahul Dravid as the brand ambassador, has a different problem. Rival Union Bank has already picked up hot properties like action replays.

Rohit Gupta, executive vice-president, SET India, said, "Even though it makes sense for cricketer-endorsed brands to buy ad slots at least during India matches, the reason for them not doing so is their budgets."

But smaller brands are finding a way out. Orient Fans, which is again endorsed by Dhoni, has taken spots in channels like CNBC. Others like Mayur Suitings have come on board for 'Extra Innings' - the pre and post-match analysis show.

Mysore Sandal soap will start advertising after April 1. Media sources said there would be many more brands who would start advertising once the series moved into the Super Eight stage.