Leading brands are taking promotions to a new level for the World Cup and IPL.
With the Cricket World Cup returning to Asia after 14 years, there is hardly any brand which isn’t pitching for its share in this marketing opportunity. And since the World Cup will be followed by the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) within six days, media analysts estimate over Rs 3,000 cr brand spends.
According to TAM data, cricket matches attracted 176 million viewers in 2010. This number is expected to almost double this year, as per industry estimates.
Betting heavily for its share of viewers’ attention is LG Electronics’ Mobile Army campaign that aims to recruit 2,500 cadets, involve 500,000 participants, 800 man days of activation and distribution of 1.5 million units of exclusive cricket merchandise worth over Rs 60 crore. Apart from the Rs 100 crore cricket spend this year, LG is also investing more than Rs 10 crore in Lead 11 campaign, where 885 kids between the age group of 8 and 14 will be selected to lead the cricketers to the ground.
L K Gupta, CMO, LG India says, Lead 11 helps young kids and their parents become friends of the brand.
Everyone seems to be planning to do something “different” to grab eyeballs. Consider Hindustan Lever, which has come out with Axe Googly, or KFC, the official restaurant partner of ICC World Cup 2011, which has created a special edition of ‘Fan Bucket’ that will be available in 108 outlets.
Bharti Airtel is launching services aimed at delivering cricket extravaganza to its 150 million plus mobile customers. Airtel mobile customers can avail various cricket specific services including SMS, MMS & video alerts, airtel Talk2Me with cricketers & experts, games & applications and also share opinions on matches with their friends on social networks.
With more than 250 sponsors planning to use the ICC World Cup 2011 as a marketing platform, there’s always a risk of clutter. Big Bazaar, the hypermarket retail chain of the Future Group and the authorised licensed merchandiser for ICC World Cup 2011 has launched an exclusive range of personal care products, fashion apparel, bed and bath linen, says Sanjeev Agrawal, Joint CEO, Big Bazaar.
Hopes are running high. Sony, for instance, is investing Rs 100 crore in marketing and estimates it can sell about 250,000 TVs during the World Cup season.
PepsiCo, one of the global sponsors of the ICC Cricket World Cup, has unveiled six new flavours of its Lay’s potato chips. "We believe this campaign gives the global Indian a unique experience on exciting tastes right here in India,” PepsiCo Foods India Marketing Director Vidur Vyas says. The six new flavours are named after India, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Australia, England and South Africa.
Even brands like Puma, which have no official association with the World Cup are hoping to create brand awareness ahead of IPL. Rajiv Mehta, MD, Puma India, says, “We have two teams for IPL 2011 and we will be kitting them as well as running a campaign for them. I cannot disclose numbers, but a fair portion of my marketing money has been diverted to IPL.”
That’s the same reason why Reebok has unveiled fan gear products, which include Reebok ZigTech bats.
With an eye on consumers who are expected to opt for digital viewing experience ahead of the cricket season, Airtel Digital TV — the DTH service from Bharti Airtel — has installed high definition demo units in Sony Center outlets, created a bundled cricket pack and will support this with its on-going TV campaign with celebrities endorsing HD.
Tata Sky has also rolled out Tata Sky+, a high definition set top box, ahead of the World Cup.
Advertising volumes doubled between World Cup in 2003 and 2007, as per TAM data, with autos, foods & beverages and telecom contributing half of it. The trend continues in 2011. According to industry reports, the on-ground sponsors of ICC World Cup — Reliance Communications, LG, PepsiCo, Reebok, Hero Honda, Emirates, Yahoo, Castrol and Money Gram — have together paid an estimated Rs 1200 crore for in-stadium advertising. Sony India, Hero Honda and Vodafone have paid Rs 55 crore each for the rights of on-air joint presenting sponsors of the world’s third largest televised event.
