Advertising agencies’ new innings in sports marketing is not playing out very well for them. Some have already shut down their fledgling sports marketing arms; others have reduced the staff strength.
The shift of the DLF Indian Premier League (IPL) to South Africa has not helped their cause, and even the fact that the Commonwealth Games are on the anvil is not lifting their spirits.
Ogilvy Sports downed shutters last December 2008. “Ogilvy Sports was a part of Ogilvy Action (brand activation arm). Making it a specialised, separate entity was just an experiment. To be frank, it never existed and is not existing. There were only two-three people working in it, who have quit,” said Sanjay Thapar, group president, north and east, Ogilvy & Mather.
Asked why the experiment didn’t work, he said it was not closing sales for clients.
VGC Sports is not exactly in the pink of health. From a staff strength of four, it is down to one. “We haven’t shut down, but have reduced the strength. It wasn’t working. There was slowdown in demand for the services,” said Preeti Vyas Giannetti, chairperson and chief creative officer of VGC.
Mahesh Ranka, general manager-India, Relay Worldwide, Starcom MediaVest Group’s sports marketing arm, said: “For us, in general, the growth has been good as compared to last year. But the slowdown has affected the business.”
Anand Yalvigi, general manager, Havas Sports (a division of MPG India), however has a different perspective. “It depends on how unique and viable is your sports marketing solution. For us, the growth has been quite good, thanks to IPL, where we have been able to generate huge sponsorships for one of the franchisees.” He refused to disclose the name of the team, saying that it would be announced soon.
But IPL’s moving to South Africa has played a spoilsport, because it will be the activation-level marketing (where these arms are involved) which will be hit the most as the audience will be very different. Observers said there’s chance that clients will move money from activation budget to TV ads.
Yalvigi had a different opinion: “Probably, it’s a blessing in disguise. We would get more time with players for shoot, corporate hospitality, extra branding, etc., due to fewer security concerns which would have been difficult in India.”
Asked if sports marketing was working in the country, Ranka said it was a tough call. “Stakeholders are not professional. In India, 85 per cent of the sports property is cricket, and a little bit comes from golf, tennis and badminton. There are not enough heroes (excluding cricketers). Consider the case of Abhinav Bindra. He remained in the media for a couple of months but is seen nowhere today.”
There have been new additions in sports properties, such as Delhi and Mumbai marathons. But marathons do not go a long way yet.
“For sports marketing to flourish, it needs sports to be successful, which is not happening. Sports infrastructure is lacking. It’s only cricket that is working. Administrators blame it on the lack of sponsorship. But even if sports get sponsorships, one can’t make stadiums from that money,” Ranka said.
Sports merchandising (T-shirts, caps, etc) needs to be more organised. There should be a proper set-up for creating merchandise for players and teams.
