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Tag: Amazon India

  • The films bring to life stories of people settling into new cities

    Amazon gets back its Chonkpur Cheetahs for IPL 2018

    By A Correspondent

     

    The Chonkpur Cheetahs are back for Amazon, and this time with new rivals. The campaign “Ajnabi Shahar Mein Apni Dukaan” shows the everyday struggles of an unknown city through the cricket team, where Amazon.in helps resolve dilemmas getting in the way of things truly important.

     

    Conceptualized by Ogilvy Bangalore and directed by Hemant Bhandari of Chrome Pictures (Chonkpur Cheetahs) Jerald Packiasamy of Still Waters Films (Chellapuram Cheetahs), the films bring to life stories of people settling into new cities, and how Amazon India can help by providing access to required products in a humorous and light hearted way.

     

    Said Ravi Arun Desai, Director, Mass and Brand Marketing, Amazon India: “With more than 300 million interactions across touch points in 2017, Amazon had to bring back the Cheetahs in 2018, this time chasing a bigger dream in an ‘Ajnabi Shahar’. The insight behind this campaign is that almost all Indian families have someone who would’ve moved to a big Indian city in pursuit of better opportunities for themselves and the next generation. The campaign encapsulates how Amazon supports millions of Indians in their pursuit of dreams, as we cater to their everyday needs. Our customers use Amazon to effortlessly settle down in a completely new environment. The campaign explores a few relatable stories of the Chonkpur Cheetahs trusting apni dukaan to help them tackle some problems of settling into an unknown city. With over 17Cr products to choose from, the obstacles are taken care of by Amazon.in, and all they now need to do is concentrate on fulfilling their dream.”

     

    Added Azazul Haque, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy Bangalore: “When we conceived the idea of Chonkpur Cheetahs last year we created an entire team with characters that would feel completely relatable to any individual who saw it. Their journey started as a team with a big dream – and this year that dream takes them to an unknown big city. This journey is inspired by the millions in India who shift to unknown cities to fulfil a lifelong dream regardless of the challenges they may have to face. Amazon.in here is everyone’s ‘Apni Dukaan’ that helps tackle these challenges, so that the dream can flourish.”

     

     

  • A fun integrated creative campaign has been created by Leo Burnett India

    Amazon Prime Video’s new campaign woos new-age viewers

     

     

    Amazon Prime Video is back with a campaign that sees it promoting the video-on-demand service as the go-to place for movies and TV shows.

     

    Executed by Leo Burnett India, the two films featuring the endearing couple Rohan and Roshini, who are symbolic of the fun, quirky young couples of today.

     

    Speaking about the new campaign, Ravi Desai, ‎Director, Mass and Brand Marketing – ‎Amazon India, said:“We received a positive response on our first campaign that aimed at building awareness about Amazon Prime Video’s benefits to a Prime member and ‘redefining Primetime’. With the launch of our new campaign, we want to reiterate the promise of bringing the latest and exclusive content across languages and genres for Prime members while highlighting the content options available on Amazon Prime Video.”

     

    The film shows Rohan and Roshini sitting in a park, enjoying a TV show on their mobile. A friend of theirs spots them and begins to regale them with gossip about their neighbour. Roshini stops her in the middle of her story and asks her to watch the content on Amazon Prime Video for all the latest drama she needs.

     

     

  • The campaign looks at the reality of our lives today

    Amazon gets ready for this festive season with #KaroMilkeTayyari

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amazon has announced the launch of The Amazon Great Indian Festival.Conceptualised by Ogilvy, Bangalore, the campaign has been directed for the Southern Region by Jerald Packiaswamy of Still Water films and the campaign for the rest of India is by Anupam Misra of Crazy Few Films.

     

    Said Ravi Arun Desai, Director, Mass and Brand Marketing, Amazon India: “This festive season, we wanted to remind India that the lead up and preparation for any festival is just as exciting and memorable as the festival itself – an opportunity to strengthen bonds that matter. From choosing what to buy for your loved ones, renewing our homes with products that were earmarked for purchase during the next Dassera/ Diwali, and buying products specifically required for the festival itself, preparations play a critical role in making the festive taiyarri memorable. Through our campaign, we want to urge people to take time off and invest it in creating memories with their loved ones. Brand Amazon always attempts to tell a story that our customers feel connected with, in a manner that is simple and relatable based on real Indian insights. While Amazon India is a preferred destination for most people for their shopping, #KaroMilkeTayyari aims to remind people of the importance of the human connect, whilst we take care of your shopping needs.”

     

    Added Azazul Haque, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Bangalore: “In India festivals are not just a one-day event. And especially in this festive period, the preparations for the festival are as important and exciting as the day of festival itself. And being together in these festive preparations is as important as being together for the festival.”

     

    Said Kiran Ramamurthy, Executive Vice President, Ogilvy Bangalore commented: “In a festival-rich milieu, it is a challenge to find an insight that is fresh. And when, during consumer immersions, we discovered this rich territory of the joy of the festival getting magnified by the planning and preparation leading up to it, we knew we were on to something. The icing on the cake for this campaign has been in responding to the client mandate of finding two distinct region-specific expressions of the campaign.”

     

  • Amazon.in continues with its messaging of '#DeliverTheLove' to inspire brothers and sisters to meet and celebrate this day together

    Amazon has a special message for all this Raksha Bandhan

    By A Correspondent

     

    It’s Raksha Bandhan and Amazon has come up with a campaign that talks about the message‘#DeliverTheLove’ to inspire brothers and sisters to meet and celebrate the day together.

     

    Conceptualised by Ogilvy Bangalore and directed by Afshan of Good Morning Films, the film tells the story of a young man who just cannot fathom why his grandmother doesn’t mind getting the same gift for rakhi, every year.

     

    Led by a digital film, the campaign also includes print and radio.

     

    Said Ravi Arun Desai, Director, Mass & Brand Marketing, Amazon India: “Our current lifestyle keeps us on our toes 24×7, and sometimes also ends up eating into the time we ought to be spending with probably the most important thing in our lives – our loved ones! With the new Amazon.in’s Raksha Bandhan campaign, we want to encourage everyone to slow down, take a step back and experience the magical moments of the festival with their cherished siblings to renew as well as create new memories. Our brand always attempts to tell a story that the customers feel connected with, in a manner that is simple and relatable. The campaign #DeliverTheLove is about connecting with our customers in the context of Raksha Bandhan and in some way touching their heart amidst this fast paced life we all lead today.”

     

    Added Mahesh Gharat, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy Bangalore: “More than the gift, any sister actually wants her brother to actually come and meet her.  There are some things beyond materialistic gifts, and the campaign reminds you of that.”

     

  • India Ke Sapno Ki Apni Dukaan launches the finale film of Chonkpur Cheetahs

    Amazon’s Chonkpur Cheetahs continue to make post-campaign impact

    By A Correspondent

     

    To coincide with the Indian Premier League finale that played out last night, Amazon.in’s latest T20 campaign Chonkpur Cheetahs, too launched the finale closure film for the season. The campaign ‘India keSapnokiApniDukaan’ consisted of a series of films about an aspiring team’s journey to reach their goal of playing in the T20. The campaign captured the various ways in which Amazon.in enables the team to get one step closer to their dream by providing them access to a huge selection of products which might not otherwise have been easily available. Commenting on the closure film, Ravi Arun Desai, Director, Mass and Brand Marketing, Amazon India said: “We are thrilled by the response witnessed for the Chonkpur Cheetahs campaign from across the country, to the team actually becoming a loved household name today. With the closure film we want to convey that every Indian dream can come true. As Amazon, we want to show our support to millions of Indians by being their partner in their quest to reach their dreams.” Conceptualised by Ogilvy and Mather Bangalore and directed by Amit Sharma of Chrome Pictures, the campaign was led by multiple TVCs through the course of T20, amplified through an integrated campaign spread across Digital, Social, OOH, Print and Radio.

  • Talks to consumers with the "India Ka Naya Primetime" campaign

    Amazon Prime Video redefines content watching in India

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the launch of its Prime Video service, Amazon is ready to redefine content consumption in India. With the best content selection at your fingertips, and consumer-first product features, Amazon Prime Video unshackles consumers from the bonds of traditional entertainment consumption. To take this thought forward, the brand brought in Leo Burnett India to conceptualize its new integrated campaign – “India Ka Naya Primetime”.

     

    Speaking about the new campaign, Ravi Desai, Director Mass and Brand Marketing, Amazon India, said, “Amazon Prime Video offers consumers the ability to enjoy the very latest and exclusive content, with easy-to-use features, enabling them to take control of what they want to watch, when they want to watch and where they want to watch. We believe this campaign will work towards building awareness of this new Prime benefit, as well as bringing new consumers to Prime Video, as every content lover would be attracted to this new world of entertainment.”

     

    When it comes to content watching, India has evolved with content becoming its new social currency. Expectations are that content should not be limited by where consumers are, the device they are using, availability, or when they are watching. Having said that, while expectations from content have changed, we still end up consuming it the way we used to – by appointment viewing. Amazon Prime Video consumers are no longer restricted by a time slot, programming choice, or by who has control over the TV remote. They can watch latest and exclusive content, anytime they want, anywhere they want, making anytime – Primetime!

     

    To carry this thought forward, the films feature a young couple, Rohan and Roshni, who are defined by their love for content. The characters individually have a distinct personality, and together, as a couple, give us a glimpse into their very interesting everyday lives, with entertainment enabled by Amazon Prime Video. The insight for the campaign stems from everyday fun, tongue-in-cheek moments. These moments allow for narratives created around the couple’s content watching behavior, making it relatable for anyone who loves to watch movies and shows.

     

  • Amazon Prime launched in India in July 2016, and launched its Prime Video streaming service in December 2016

    BBC Worldwide signs licensing deal with Amazon India

     

     

    BBC Worldwide announced a deal with Amazon that will give Amazon Prime members in India access to more than 600 hours of award-winning and popular factual and pre-school content from the BBC. Amazon Prime launched in India in July 2016, and launched its Prime Video streaming service in December 2016.

     

    “In the last year or so, we have seen digital consumption in India increase exponentially,” said Myleeta Aga, SVP and GM of India, BBC Worldwide. “We are very excited to be partnering with Amazon Prime Video India to satisfy viewers’ demands for quality, premium programmes from the BBC.”

     

    “We are pleased to work with BBC Worldwide to avail premium quality pre-school and documentary programmes to our Prime Video customers,” said Nitesh Kripalani, Director and Country Head, Amazon Prime Video India. “We are very humbled by the positive response from customers to Prime Video and we are confident that the BBC’s programmes will resonate with customers. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with BBC Worldwide.”

     

    Indian subscribers to Amazon Prime Video now have access to CBeebies; Dinopaws; and Hey Duggeethat recently won the pre-school animation of the year at the most 2017 BAFTA Children’s Awards.

     

    Subscribers to the service are also able to watch award-winning and highly rated BBC factual programmes including Gandhi, The World’s Weirdest Weapons and The Genius of Inventions. Gandhi is an in-depth look at the life of the ‘Father of a Nation’.

     

  • The campaign, conceptualised and executed by Orchard Advertising, part of The Leo Burnett Group India, highlights the many benefits of shopping on Amazon.in

    Amazon celebrates the many quirks of the Indian consumer with #WeIndians

    By A Correspondent

     

    Amazon India has launched an integrated campaign that highlights the unique traits of Indian consumers and their behaviour, bringing alive the spirit of “what we Indians love”. It celebrates Indian quirks whether it’s about dropping newspaper to block a seat in a bus or about seeing Rs500 note under sunlight to check its authenticity. It celebrates who we are, what we like and how we behave as Indians.

     

    The campaign effortlessly ties back these quirks to the brand’s promise of 100% Original Products, Easy Returns, Fast and On-time Delivery and many other customer centric benefits to inspire trust in the brand.

     

    The campaign features series of films that talk about Amazon’s critical customer benefits. Commenting on the launch of the campaign, Amazon India Spokesperson said, “Our brand always tells a story that the customers feel connected to and in a manner that is simple to understand and relevant. It’s about being a part of their lives at the right time and at the right place. On the same lines, our new campaign theme #WeIndians conveys many benefits that Indian consumers seek while making their purchase decisions including original and genuine products, convenience of easy returns and experience of fast and on-time delivery. As always, the new campaign takes the route of everyday situations in an Indian consumer’s life and the customer’s intrinsic responses to these situations.”

     

    Continuing with Amazon.in’s trademark desi style, #WeIndians campaign effectively celebrates Indian style using interesting narratives and established how our offerings and services are in complete sync with what the consumer wants.”

     

    RajDeepak Das

    Elaborating on the thought process behind the campaign, RajDeepak Das, Chief Creative Officer, The Leo Group India, said, “All our campaigns for Amazon have focussed on insights that tell us about the psyche of the Indian shopper. Truths about the Indian consumer that are never spoken about but are so evidently seen in daily life situations.”

     

    Das further added, “The idea of #WeIndians emerged from the fact that Amazon’s strong understanding of the Indian consumer has led to an experience that is top quality and unmatched in the online shopping space. The campaign showcases the Indian consumer’s many quirks in day-to-day life situations. It uses real people, real locations and situations that land a smile on your face.”

     

    Neha Contractor, Senior, Vice President and Branch Head, Orchard Bangalore, commented, “We are proud to partner with Amazon on their journey of building the brand and leveraging rich Indian insights from #AurDhikhao to #TryTohKar, #Apni Dukaan and now #WeIndians.

     

    With We Indians, we have created a strong slice of life connect with the Indian consumer, driving top-of-mind recall by staying true to the brand’s customer-centric approach.”

     

  • Amazon India may start offering music, movie and video streaming services later this year besides debuting its Prime subscription service as it looks to expand offerings in the country

    Amazon India may start offering music, movie and video streaming services in India

    By Varun Sood

     

    Amazon India may start offering music, movie and video streaming services later this year besides debuting its Prime subscription service as it looks to expand offerings in the country, key to its global expansion strategy. The Jeff Bezos-led company is currently evaluating the feasibility of such services while building up a content library, which would be a critical element of Amazon Prime.

     

    The Indian unit of the Seattle-based ecommerce company has tasked Nitesh Kripalani, former executive vice president at Multi Screen Media – which runs Sony Entertainment Channels – to get access to “digital content”, according to a person familiar with the development.

     

    “We are working towards it… difficult to say by when as Nitesh has just been brought in… but he will soon start talks with content providers,” said a second executive aware of the discussions. “The biggest limitation is the slow Internet speeds. So, we are looking at how we can bridge this. Hopefully, we should have some of these offerings available sometime in the second half of the year.”

     

    Amazon India’s push into the entertainment space marks an important step in the fiercely competitive ecommerce space where participants are looking to position themselves as a central gateway for customers – from everyday purchases such as grocery and diapers to music, books and movies.

     

    The company is yet to appoint an executive who will roll out Prime in India, but it has started strengthening its logistics and shipping team and is expected to more than double this to 14,000 people by July from the current 6,000.

     

    Bengaluru-based Flipkart last year launched Flipkart First, an annual subscription service, and some industry watchers believe it will not be a surprise if Amazon India launches Prime in 2015. In the US, customers get free two-day shipping and get access to more than 15,000 movies and TV shows.

     

    Mr Kripalani, who was appointed head of digital content at Amazon India last month, is expected to start negotiations with some of the country’s largest music and movie companies, including Mumbai-based Yash Raj Films and Eros International Media as these production houses hold the rights to thousands of titles.

     

    Although details remain sketchy, multiple executives said Amazon India is looking to adopt the “streaming” option rather than letting subscribers “download” music and movies. This is unlike the model adopted by Flipkart, which allowed users to download music when it launched digital music store Flyte in February 2012. That shut a year-and-ahalf later after the service failed to find takers.

     

    An Amazon India spokeswoman said it doesn’t comment on future plans. Nonetheless, some experts urged caution as the country’s e-commerce market remains the smallest among emerging markets and what is being envisaged involves a high level of capital investment.

     

    “Only a few million of India’s one billion-plus people purchase online and the COD (cash on delivery) issue has made it extremely expensive to execute well,” said Sucharita Mulpuru-Kodali, retail analyst, who follows ecommerce for Forrester Research.

     

    “India is the smallest e-commerce market of the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) countries and frankly I’m not sure why Amazon is investing heavily in it… when the company has a number of other issues to contend with,” she said. “I don’t see Indian ecommerce being as significant as Chinese e-commerce anytime soon, and the bet they are making suggests that they think it could be the next China. I’m not sure that is a realistic expectation.” To be sure, Amazon has been unable to gain a foothold in the Chinese market, which is dominated by homegrown companies, hence the importance of the Indian market for the US e-commerce giant.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • As Flipkart and Amazon battle it out for control in the marketplace, it's customers who will profit most

    In ecom-land, it’s Bezos v/s Bansals

     

    By Radhika P Nair

     

    Deep discounts for customers and big incentives for merchants who sell on their marketplace are what Flipkart, India’s largest online retailer, is planning as it aims for fourfold growth in sales over the next 12 months.

     

    In the aftermath of the biggest round of fund-raising in India’s Internet industry, Flipkart and challenger Amazon plan to open more warehouses, hire in larger numbers and acquire companies with newer products or technology as they battle for supremacy in one of the fastest growing markets for online commerce globally

     

    “It is still day-one of Indian e-commerce,” said Amit Aggarwal, vice-president and India country head at Amazon. Last Wednesday, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos said he will spend $2 billion (.`12,000 crore) to build operations in India without offering a timeframe. The announcement came a day after Flipkart declared funding of $1 billion from a host of global investors.

     

    Amazon’s announcement is being viewed as the strongest call for battle between the two protagonists.

     

    This month, Amazon will add a new category and also increase the range of books and electronics – its two main product lines in India — as it powers ahead to reach sales of Rs 6,000 crore this fiscal. In the past year, 8,500 sellers have hawked their wares on Amazon’s marketplace.

     

    Flipkart, which adopted a marketplace model last year, aims to increase the number of sellers to 50,000 in the next year from the current level of over 4,000.

     

    “China’s ecommerce industry reached its inflection point in 2005 when Alibaba raised $1 billion. We believe Indian ecommerce is at that inflection point right now,” said Sachin Bansal, Flipkart’s cofounder who expects a significant chunk of the latest funding to be used to enhance services for sellers. The Bangalore company runs six warehouses and intends to open 50 more in the next three years.

     

    Amazon is also increasing its warehouse count to ten with three new ones coming up in Maharashtra’s Bhadarpur, Haryana’s Manesar and Ghaziabad in the next few months.

     

    Experts said the focus of all this splurging will be dominated by one ultimate goal, attracting more customers. “Consumers will be wooed like never before. And it will not just be in the form of discounts; the two companies will unleash assortment and services that are specifically meant to retain them,” said Arvind Singhal, chairman of retail advisory, Technopak.

     

    Merchants who do business with both companies said Amazon for now, is more focused on electronics and books. “This brings scale and helps them show customers that they can provide products at lower costs quickly,” said one person.

     

    This is exactly how Flipkart scaled up, by focusing on books initially and then on electronics. Now, fashion has become its most important category, especially after it acquired fashion portal Myntra in May, contributing to one-third of the company’s sales, said Mr Bansal.

     

    The Flipkart site will focus on fastselling fashion products that will bring in volumes, while Myntra will focus on the higher-value products and inhouse brands that deliver profits, said a senior official at Flipkart. Branded apparel can bring in margins of up to 35% while in-house apparel brands command profit margins of up to 60%.

     

    “We are here for the long term. Our aspiration is to make Flipkart a $100-billion company,” said Mr Bansal, 32, whose company clocked $1 billion in sales in March 2014.

     

    Amazon also aims to reach the milestone this fiscal. “The aim is to have a 30% market share soon,” said a senior executive at Amazon, who did not want to be identified.

     

    Flipkart also plans to get a bigger share of exclusive sales on its portal, as it did recently with Motorola phones. Last month, it started selling China’s Xiaomi phones while Amazon launched sales of a Samsung phone and Swipe’s Slice tablets exclusively.

     

    Flipkart is also actively scouting for companies to purchase. “We are looking across the board. We will acquire if we find interesting companies in wearable devices, fashion technology, mobile internet, and robotics and in other areas,” said Flipkart’s Mr Bansal.

     

    The companies are also setting aside money for hiring and for increments. “War on talent is yet to begin as both are targeting the FMCG and telecom industries,” said a consultant. Flipkart will double headcount to 26,000 this fiscal. Amazon too is expanding and pays two-year joining bonuses of over Rs 40 lakh at the top levels.

     

    “Many companies who scaled up much slower than these two have faltered before,” said Technopak’s Mr Singhal. “It is like making an entire army move in tandem. Who will get that right is what we need to see.”

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2014, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

    Licensed to republish

     

  • While the compulsion to move part of annual cricketing spectacle out of India may have taken off some of the excitement, sponsors have made a comeback. Now for the viewers…

    IPL 7: Living on a prayer, and a little luck

    By Johnson Napier

     

    Blame it on the late player auctions that were held early this year or the match-fixing allegations that keeps cropping up intermittently or the fact that the General Elections may have taken the hype away from the greatest sporting spectacle coming out of India every year – the IPL. While IPL 6 was already making waves this time last year, the scenario is a little different in Twenty Fourteen with most team-owners still making last ditch attempts in getting their act together including enticing advertisers into partnering them afresh.

     

    But whatever the challenges being presented, the tournament does promise to provide its dose of entertainment this year as well. To begin with, there would be only 60 matches being played this year with the tournament being staged in two phases including one in the UAE from April 16 to May 1 and the India leg that will be staged from May 2nd onwards. In fact broadcaster Multi Screen Media (MSM) is already making its presence felt and has managed to get a decent number of brands to endorse the event this year as well – the same number as IPL 6.

     

    MSM has inked deals with nine presenting and associate sponsors for the seventh season of IPL. The presenting sponsors include Vodafone and Karbonn Mobile who are estimated to have spent approximate Rs 50 crore while the associate sponsors comprise Amazon India, Havells, Perfetti, Marico and TVS all of whom fall under the Rs 25-30 crore cost bracket.

     

    While MSM does seem to have made sufficient inroads with brands, what will eventually decide the success of the tournament is the average viewership ratings that it will throw at the end of the tournament. According to data shared last year, IPL managed to generate an average cumulative TVR of 3.1 in HSM markets and a rating of 3 in C&S 4+ all India. This was much lower than the 3.45 HSM average TVR it reported in 2012.

     

    Ashish Bhasin
    Anita Nayyar

    Sharing his opinion on whether the tournament will live up to its hype or not, Ashish Bhasin, Chairman & CEO South Asia, Dentsu Aegis Network and Chairman Posterscope & psLive Asia Pacific, said: “I think the seventh season of the IPL will build up as the tournament progresses and be near normal towards the final stages. But it will have a slow start, compared to past years,” he affirmed.

     

    Putting forth her views, Anita Nayyar, CEO- India & South Asia, Havas Media Group said, “IPL has always been an interesting event irrespective of the reasons. Across seasons it has delivered well whether in India or South Africa. Especially the last leg towards the finals has always been an advertiser’s delight with ratings upwards of 10.”

     

    On what the current season will hold for the tournament, Ms Nayyar said, “The seventh season is generating a lot of interest inspite of the shift between UAE and India amongst advertisers who do view IPL as a mass reach medium. Moreover, while it is election time the interest in IPL still stands. This is further vindicated by an analysis of viewership of various genres during elections, which indicates that it does not have any major impact on sports (cricket) or GECs, however the Hindi news genre gains share. Given the situation, IPL holds its own and should continue to deliver viewership and hence interest and acceptability from advertisers.”

     

    Perhaps the right indicator of how viewership could be bought back to the sport could be assessed from what Vinit Karnik, National Director, Sports & Live Events, GroupM ESP had to state in the SportzPower-GroupM joint report on the Sports Sponsorship report. Karnik had stated thus: “Even though the IPL is off to a rough start this year, in the long run accountability, better corporate governance, more transparency, are all good for not just the IPL, but the BCCI too.”

     

    Another factor that will decide whether the tournament receives a positive response this year is the buzz that it will create from the online medium. This year, starsports.com has licensed the digital distribution rights for IPL 2014 from Times Internet. Starsports.com thus will be streaming video on demand on its portal and would not be played on Youtube like last year. With an aim to attract 20 million more users onto the digital platform, starsports.com will be looking at bettering the 2013 viewership numbers that were reported to be in the region of 200 million video views.

     

    Thus, with the countdown to the greatest cricket spectacle only a few hours away, one can look forward to an average outing from the team and brands at the IPL this year. One only hopes that the match-fixing allegations do not make their presence felt yet again or the organisers will have to face additional bottlenecks next year as well. And possibly no ‘bulawa’ as well.