MxMIndia

Tag: Cricket World Cup

  • ICC may be reluctant to end the format altogether, but it's happening organically anyway, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    End of a World Cup… and a Format

    Australia men’s cricket captain Pat Cummins walking back to the dressing room with the Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 trophy. Photograph courtesy screengrab from video on ICC-cricket.com

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorFinally, it’s done. The six-week long Cricket World Cup culminated last Sunday, with an imperfect finale from an Indian perspective. Forty-eight games of potentially 100 overs played out over this period. In the age of instant gratification, where “short” is the way to go for most things, cricket administrators seem to have their own unique ideas, some of which seem rooted in another era.

     

    Last night, India played a T20 game against Australia. It’s the first of the five T20s in a low-key bilateral series. Both sides are resting their star players. Yet, the game had a packed crowd at Vizag. It went to the last ball, something that none of the 48 ODI World Cup games can boast of.

     

    Cricket has even made it to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, on the strength of the T20 format. These are just some of the signs on how the future of the sport lies in this format, and the leagues built around it. Test cricket is there to indulge the connoisseurs. But it’s T20 that will expand the sport, taking it to newer audiences and geographies.

     

    ICC may be reluctant to end the format altogether, but it’s happening organically anyway. Over the next 12 months, the major cricketing nations are playing less than 20 ODIs put together. The number of T20s are at least twice that number, and that’s not counting the T20 World Cup scheduled for early 2024.

     

    The World Cup itself had its share of controversies, mostly administrative in nature, ranging from scheduling to the choice of pitches for the knockout games. The crowds in India, especially outside the major centers, can be very ‘un-sporting’, and this became painfully evident in the final, and the prize distribution ceremony that followed. As long as India is winning, all is good. But when we don’t, the picture looks embarrassing from a sporting perspective. It’s perhaps the nature of the hyper-nationalistic times we live in.

     

    Right out of the World Cup, we jump into the elections season. Next Sunday (Dec 3) is the big counting day for legislative assembly elections in five states, which are a lead-up to the big General Elections next year. Just from a thrills perspective, one hopes there are closer finishes in at least a couple of those, compared to the largely one-sided World Cup we witnessed.

     

    On the theatrical front, there are three big movies lined up in December: Animal, Dunki and Salaar. The year is well-positioned to be the highest-grossing year at the Indian box office ever. But that’s another story for another day.

     

    Shailesh Kapoor is Founder and CEO of Ormax Media. He writes on MxMIndia on Fridays. His views here are personal.

     

  • Many D2C brands have now realised the need to do brand-building, notes Vikas Mehta

    From D2C to Omnichannel

     

     

     

    With apologies to none at all

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaLast week, Unilever sold off its D2C brand Dollar Shave Club to a private equity firm. This was quite a shocker, something that made me think away from the Cricket World Cup. There had been lot of media hype when Unilever bought the brand six-seven years ago for reportedly a billion dollars. It was a vindication of sort that direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands had arrived and maybe traditional brands were under threat. A lot was being made about the Millennials and Gen Z preferring new D2C brands. And the pandemic gave the D2C brands a bigger boost. Enough entrepreneurs started using social media platforms to peddle their wares directly to the consumers. From clothes to chocolates to baked food to homemade beauty products to accessories to collectibles, D2C was the buzzword.

     

    And this was not limited to first time entrepreneurs working from home. In fact as a business model, it had started catching on since early last decade. Most of these like Nykaa, Mamaearth, Zivame, Bombay Shaving Company, Chumbak or even Pepper Fry, Lenskart, BoAt, Licious had used the online boom smartly. And some of them have even had successful IPOs. India is estimated to have more than 600 D2C brands with a market size of about $ 65-70bn in 2023. Not numbers to sneeze at. And, this was of course fueled by the fact that around 600 million Indians have access to internet with 185 million online shoppers.

     

    On the face of it, D2C is a win-win for all. For the entrepreneur who need not get entangled with a distribution system or has to spend big monies on getting his consumers to the store. For the consumer it was hassle-free shopping from home and getting delivery at the doorstep.

     

    Customisation, no geographic boundaries, choice and the spread of social media lead to a surge in this business model. And then there were ecommerce portals like Amazon, Flipkart and Meesho which were ready to embrace the D2C model. Indeed, Meesho differentiated itself by not only claiming to be doing social marketing but also keeping regular traditional brands at arms length and promoting D2C brands with their no fees model.

     

    However, the very factors that initially spawned success for D2C have come back to haunt the model and caused a deceleration in its growth. Let’s look at some such factors.

     

    Value proposition

    D2C brands went into a value proposition overdrive (Read discounts and offers). BoAt was giving same for less. Same features of premium brands like Sony or Sennheiser but at discounted prices. Mamaearth, Nykaa, Bombay Shaving Company were all following this model. Lenskart was about more for same. Buy one and get one free. And then with the help of ecommerce companies these brands made discounts or freebies a habit. So, when there was no discount, the allure of buying D2C lessened. As a result, the pricing structure and strategy of most D2C brands was based on discounting. They had to therefore keep a close watch at their costs and any increase in costs hurt their margins.

     

    No distribution setup

    This was a big plus for the D2C players. They were not at the mercy of the distributors, wholesalers or retailers and could theoretically serve any customer anywhere on earth. So, when a brand In Bengaluru wanted to send stuff to someone in the metros or mini metros all it had to do was negotiate with logistic companies and ensure speedy and timely deliveries. But as an analyst put it, it was easy to do this in the initial phase and achieve a turnover of maybe Rs 100 crore. But after that one needed to penetrate into smaller towns. And the cost of sending courier to more than 100 towns in India, without any delay meant that each sale was burdened with a distribution cost which was unlike traditional distribution where the wholesaler or distributor send stuff in big bulk quantities thus ensuring low distribution cost per item. The dilemma was clear. Grow and increase your cost per order or hit a growth ceiling. This again was eating into the margins. Just online sales was not good enough.

    Not surprisingly, most of the D2C brands are now into offline selling too. Nykaa, Mamaearth, Lenskart have all either opened their own stores or are trying to be available in regular offline stores. I am told that the Mamaearth IPO prospectus claimed that their offline sales is now 37% of their total turnover in FY ending March 2023. Anyways, D2C was a misnomer as a huge part of their sales, analysts say upto 75-80%, came form ecommerce platforms. Indeed in 2021-22 more than 80% of BoAt sales was through ecommerce platforms Amazon & Flipkart. Which meant that they had not only distribution cost of paying commission to ecommerce platforms but also the logistic cost of each piece shipped, which given the category, was not something to ignore.

    And as I write this, comes the news that Big Basket, the quintessential D2C brand. Quoting from the Times of India “currently its offline business is on a pilot mode with some 25 stores across Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Kolkata. The idea is to experiment with different store formats with different price points and find the right store strategy before launching a broader rollout in the coming quarters.”

     

    Returns

    A big allure of D2C brands has been the return policy. If the consumer is not happy with the product then it can be returned at no cost. While in personal care this does not come into play, but in categories like apparel and electronics this can again be a margin killer. In apparel the return percentage is supposed to be as high as 30-35%. All this not only adds to the cost but also makes the value proposition difficult to sustain. How long can these brands survive with losses and VC funding?

     

    Online spends and not traditional advertising

    With D2C brands using online selling platforms they started spending money more on online. So, the objective was to direct traffic to their website or ecommerce platforms. Or use social media influencers. This was not very expensive compared to traditional advertising. But the focus moved away from brand building. With value into play (it was more discounting) the communication was more about discounts, offers and promotions. No effort was made to build an emotional connect or base with the consumers. Value or an influencer was the only emotional connect. This meant that the brands had difficulty in selling without discounts or offers.

    So, when the brands needed to grow and break the ceiling of limited markets and they moved offline, they had no connect with traditional distributors. Traditional brands which had been nurtured and had long term association with distributors, wholesalers and retailers resisted these new upstart D2C brands. Also, since these D2C brands had not done much brand building they did not have sufficient consumer pull. As a result, product turnover, in terms of inventory, at retailers was a laggard to traditional brands which had build bonds with the consumers over a period of time. That did not help matters as the distribution channel was not too keen to stock products whose turnover time was in many cases three-four times than that of traditional brands.

    Many D2C brands have now realised the need to do brand-building. That’s why many of these brands are now doing traditional TV advertising. Again, Mamaearth IPO states that while social media spends have increase three times TV ad expenditure is up by almost ten times. Lenskart is trying to cash on to the cricket fever on TV. And BoAt is also into traditional TV advertising.

    With high inflation and funding becoming a problem most D2C brands have to start showing profitability or the path to profitability. Ironically, this is the time when their costs are going up. Offline distribution, spending on expensive traditional TV advertising while sustaining online presence to build brands are all factors which may hurt the future of D2C brands.

    That’s one reason D2C brand are now talking more omnichannel. That’s their new buzzword. They are now trying to justify being jack of all trades. Their advantage against traditional brands is now their vulnerability.

     

  • During ICC Men's Cricket World Cup

    Sprite unveils brand films

    By Our Staff

     

    Sprite, the lemon and lime-flavoured beverage from the Coca-Cola Company, has unveiled a series of brand films with the ‘Thand Rakh’ theme.

     

    Said Tish Condeno, Senior Category Director, Sparkling Flavors (India and Southwest Asia) Coca-Cola India: “The new ‘Thand Rakh’ campaign revolves around embracing the unforgettable intensity that defines sports. Sprite, truly takes ownership of these heated moments, offering a refreshing solution during ICC Men’s Cricket World cup. We are thrilled to provide a cool respite for those impulsive, high-pressure moments that define the essence of the tournament.”

     

    Added Sukesh Nayak, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India: “Sprite is established itself as the go-to brand when life throws situations at you that end up causing heat. The cricket world cup is one such situation. The campaign shows cricket through the lens of life in an interesting way that ends in a comedy of errors. It’s quick, snackable content that drives home the point of when heat strikes, Sprite comes to the rescue.”

     

    Said Ritu Sharda, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy India (North): “The cricket World Cup is the biggest clash of the best teams from around the world. Obviously there will be intense moments and things will heat up. The films show how heated moments from a match get transferred to real life. We took words from the world of cricket and gave it a spin with real life situations where the meaning of the word is completely different. Resulting in heat. Making it the perfect ground for Sprite to come in as the official cooler of heat and to tell people to enjoy the World Cup in full, minus the heat.”

     

    In addition to the commercials, we also watched multiple sponsored posts by standup comic ‘AiyyoShraddha’, and also noted usage of ‘Thand Rakh’ in some tweets/social media posts.

     

  • And all eyes are currently on the big India-Pakistan clash tomorrow, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    The Games Take Over

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorThe Cricket World Cup has taken off to a good start. As good as the World Cup for an eight-hour format can be, in today’s age of instant gratification. Why does the 50-over format still exist is a larger question, whose answer is purely commercial in nature. Many experts have raised doubts over the purpose this format is serving, but who needs to disrupt a cash-generating machine, in India at least?

     

    So, the current World Cup will put that question aside for a few weeks, even months. The 2027 World Cup, by the way, is already planned to be held in South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia, though four years is a long time away, and a rethink is not entirely ruled out in the coming year or two. On the format itself, not on the venue.

     

    But let’s come back to the World Cup that is currently underway. By and large, on-field action has taken large share of the attention in the last one week, and India’s two wins have given an initial sense of comfort to the fans. All eyes are currently on the big India-Pakistan clash tomorrow. India’s record against Pakistan in the 50-over World Cup remains unblemished, with a 7-0 lead. We could see both television and online records for live sports being rewritten tomorrow.

     

    The only major off-field controversy over the last week is not a frivolous one. It’s to do with mismanagement of tickets. The opening game between 2019 finalists England and New Zealand had thousands of empty seats visible on camera, even as the tickets showed largely sold out on online platforms (Imagine that happening with ad inventory during a World Cup game!). BCCI’s handling of scheduling and ticketing of this event has been unprofessional, even incompetent. The advantage of a long tournament is that you can learn on the job, and one hopes corrective action is already being taken.

     

    The broadcast of the World Cup is strictly on expected lines, and I say that in a good way. BCCI and Disney-Star have kept it simple, focusing on first principles, than offering too many distractions via meaningless innovations. Commentary in nine languages is impressive, though the absence of Bhojpuri (JioCinema’s cute contribution to sports broadcast) takes a bit of the fun factor away.

     

    The World Cup ends in the week after Diwali, and shortly after, we will be entering the elections season. Our news channels have enough fodder to keep themselves busy till mid-2024 at least. Which is not such a bad thing at all, because at least they will not have too much time to conjure up bizarre stories to keep the ratings going.

     

  • Captures the fervour of 2023 Cricket World Cup

    Disney+ Hotstar ad film features Kapil Dev

    By Our Staff

     

    Disney+ Hotstar’s latest ad campaign featuring Kapil Dev captures the fervour of cricket fans for the approaching ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The matches can be watched free on mobile only on Disney+ Hotstar.

     

    The campaign is  conceptualised by Manja Brand Works LLP and directed by Nitesh Tiwari.

     

    Talking about the collaboration, Sidharth Shakdher, Head – Marketing, Disney+ Hotstar India said, “Cricket serves as a unifying force that brings our nation together. By offering free mobile streaming of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 on Disney+ Hotstar, our goal is to make cricket more accessible to all, and who better to collaborate with for this endeavor than the iconic Kapil Dev. Through this campaign, our aim is to harness the deep-rooted passion for cricket that resonates across the nation, reaching every nook and corner.”

     

  • Between sports and politics, we have a packed 12 weeks, leading up to the end of the year, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Two World Cups & A Mega Election

     

     

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorWe are in the last quarter of 2022. It’s been a fairly ‘normal’ year, after the painfully-disruptive 2020 and 2021. It’s also a year that saw normalcy return to the entertainment business, despite pandemic-related challenges linked to changing audience habits and taste.

     

    The last two-and-a-half months of the year promise to pack a punch from a mass media perspective. Starting later this month, we have the much-awaited T20 Cricket World Cup in Australia. The tournament was originally scheduled for 2020, but was canceled because of the pandemic. The 2021 edition in India was eventually held in the UAE, with ICC moving the Australia edition to 2022.

     

    India’s campaign kicks off with the marquee India-Pakistan clash on Sunday, October 23. With a depleted and somewhat-inexperienced bowling attack, India has its task cut out. But irrespective of how the team performs, the tournament is bound to be a viewership magnet.

     

    Cricket in Australia always makes for good television. And while the match timings (afternoons) may not be primetime friendly in India, three key India matches are scheduled for Sundays. And being in the middle of Diwali holidays helps, both from viewership and ad revenue perspectives.

     

    Within days of the Cricket World Cup ending starts the FIFA World Cup, being held in Qatar from November 20. Usually a summer event, the World Cup is being held in winters, to avoid the high summer temperatures the host nation witnesses. While the audience is understandably smaller than cricket in India, it’s the first Football World Cup in a long time where the match timings are India-friendly.

     

    And then, there’s the anticipated big-ticket political event, elections to the Gujarat state legislature. While the dates are not out, December is touted to be month. Gujarat elections always hold special interest, because it’s the state from which Prime Minister Modi hails. While a BJP win in these elections will not surprise anyone, the build-up and the campaigning are likely to gets news media all charged up. The Aam Aadmi Party has also thrown its hat in the ring, and a struggling Congress will be hoping that these elections provide some face-saving value to them, after a spate of embarrassing defeats in recent times.

     

    Between sports and politics, we have a packed 12 weeks, leading up to the end of the year.

     

    This column will take a seasonal break and return on November 18, 2022.

     

  • Indrani Sen sums up It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future

    Looking Back at the last 11 Years

     

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Indrani SenThe second decade of the twenty-first century was perhaps the most eventful phase in the history of the Indian M&E industry, where Indian media played a significant part in transforming Indian economy. When www.mxmIndia was launched in 2011, Indian the M&E industry had just come out of the effects of the economic slowdown of 2008-09 and a new beginning, the start of a digital metamorphosis was looming large on its horizon. Marketers and advertisers were looking forward to the implementation of the Digital Addressable System (DAS) which would transform the regional footprints of the TV channels to national; the only glitch was the delay in execution of Phase 3 of FM Radio.

     

    The three totally different events of 2011 which sums up the whole year beautifully are: the Indian Cricket Team winning the Cricket World Cup which was celebrated across all households in India; the anti-corruption campaign started by Anna Hazare which flooded the country as a movement and last but not the least: the release of the song Kolaveri Di which broke all records by going viral on the first day of its release. All these incidents had one common thread: the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2012, the digital metamorphosis continued and dream of reaching and engaging with the significantly diverse, one billion strong Indian customers became a reality. The theme for the FICCI Frames 2013 conclave was ‘A Tryst with Destiny: Engaging a Billion Consumers’. However, a global slowdown of economic growth affected the Indian market and advertising expenditure again took a dip. A grewsome incident of rape resulted in the ‘Nirbhaya’ protest movement followed by women’s safety campaigns across traditional and social media and gained widespread awareness and support. The social issues were the main focus of the year 2012, supported by the TV programme Satyamev Jayate; movies like OMG and Vicky Donor; campaigns like Lead India and Teach India, all highlighted various social issues and proved again the power of mass media, both traditional and digital.

     

    In 2013, it was clear that “the Stage is set” for the gradual process of triumph of digital media (which has been around since 1995) though all the traditional media ranging from television to newspapers to films to radio to outdoor continued to connect with various touchpoints in the lives of the Indian consumers. The roll out of DAS in Phase I and II cities were largely completed by December 2013 and the process of digitisation across the sub-sectors of the M & E industry continued but monetising the digital content remained a challenge.  Sony Liv and Ditto TV (ZEE) were launched in 2013 marking the beginning of the OTT explosion in India.

     

    The next year – 2014 – saw a new government at the centre after a successful general election followed by a marked positive shift in investor’s interest for investing in India. However, in the domestic market there were various unresolved issues like implementation of DAS as the deadline for completing the implementation in Phase III and Phase IV cities got extended to December 2015 and December 2016 respectively. Still, the FICCI KPMG Report was optimist about the future growth of M&E industry and estimated the industry to grow from INR 1026 billion in 2014 to INR 1964 billion in 2019 a CAGR of 13.9% over next five years.

     

    A new era of TV ratings began in India with BARC releasing its first report in April 2015 and by the end of the year they announced their intention of reporting rural TV ratings which would later change the hierarchy of TV channels. Print, which had the largest share of advertising revenue till 2014, finally lost its crown to TV in 2015 (Source FICCI KPMG reports). The entire focus of growth in digital media shifted to the mobile sector as it became absolutely clear that mobile would be the backbone of digital India. Of the 331 internet subscribers, around 200 were mobile internet users. India’s mobile market with over 500 million active subscribers, but had less than 200 million smartphones and low-end phones known as feature phones dominated the market. It also became clear by 2015 that the Central Government had its own rules about allowing criticism of its various policies in mass media. As a result, news media, particularly News TV got clearly aligned to the ruling political party and began taking sides, which was not the characteristics of Indian media.

     

    The year 2016 was marked by the banknote demonetisation at the end of the year which had ripple effects on the entire economy. Jio mobile phone service was launched publicly in September, 2016 which quickly changed the Indian mobile network scenario in the next couple of years. The implementation of GST in 2017 which saw certain adverse effect on the revenue of traditional media. In 2017, the growth in M&E sector was led by digital, film, gaming and events while in TV subscription growth outpaced growth in advertising. Traditional print media began to lose young genres of readers to digital news rapidly.

     

    In 2018 and 2019, the overall growth in M&E sector continued to be led by online gaming and digital. These were two good years for Indian advertising industry. The BJP government at the centre was re-elected in 2019 having a positive impact on trade and commerce.  The last Indian Readership Survey was released in 2019 showing TV reached 77% of Indians above 12 years of age against 37% reached by newspapers. However, towards the end of 2019, the whole world saw a new pandemic, Covid-19, which shook up economies and affected business growth across all countries. In India, the National Lockdown declared at a short notice by the Prime Minister towards the end of March 2020, severely affected all business sectors and M&E industry also suffered severely. Indian Print media, which was heavily dependent on the last mile delivery by hawkers, was impacted hugely.

     

    In 2020, we saw the beginning of the work from home culture, which changed the consumption pattern across media almost overnight. The viewing of content on OTT platforms went up significantly turning the linear TV viewing scenario upside down. Print continued to struggle with both subscription and advertising revenues. Event industry had a most severe setback followed by outdoor, cinema and radio.  The severe degrowth of all traditional media however did not get extended to digital media and online gaming. At the end of the year, it was found that M&E sector performed much worse than Indian economy and it was estimated that it will take 2 to 5 years for traditional media to get back their pre-pandemic advertising revenue of 2019.

     

    In 2021, the M&E industry regained some of its lost business, but the second and the third waves of Covid-19 did not allow proper growth of the sector. The current year, 2022 promises to be a better year with PMAR and TYNY respectively predicting 20% and 22% growth in total advertising revenue. Advertising and Media agencies also are bullish about their business growth. The agency sector had a tough time during the last decade with stress on margins and commissions. Another trend which became prevalent over the last 11 years was large agencies acquiring or tying up with smaller specialised agencies, even promising start ups. Talent and training have become two issues with agencies in spite of the mushrooming of MBA institutes teaching advertising and media.

     

    It is doubtful if we will see another such eventful and colourful decade of ups and downs in M&E industry in the near future. www.mxmindia.com has been closely associated with this interesting phase and has flourished as a platform for exchange of independent views and opinions over the last 11 years. I am proud to be associated with website since 2016.

     

  • A digital campaign engaging with the cricket fanatics of India to understand their favourite spot while watching ICC World Cup 2019 match

    Greenply launches campaign around Cricket World Cup titled, #MyMatchSpot

    By A Correspondent

     

    Greenply has launched a digital campaign titled #MyMatchSpot, to engage with the cricket enthusiasts and understand their favourite spot while watching a cricket match.

     

    Said Sanidhya Mittal, Executive Director, Greenply Industries: “We have taken our enthusiasm in cricket to a whole new level. Match viewing from a particular spot each time over the years and during this World Cup too is a serious affair so to say for us, the lovers of the Game. I can recollect numerous such instances, when I have personally fought with my near and dear ones to secure #MyMatchSpot.” The film has been conceptualised by Digitale, Kolkata.

     

     

  • Expectedly, Star India has hiked World Cup 2015 ad rates after India's performance

    Star twinkles as India shines

     

    By Ravi Teja Sharma & Ratna Bhushan

     

    Star India, official broadcaster of the ongoing cricket World Cup, has lost no time in hiking ad rates for the tournament even further, riding on the two big wins India recorded and all-time high television viewership of the India-Pakistan match. Rates have shot up by almost 25-30% over the past two days, and are in the range of Rs 18 lakh to Rs 20 lakh for a 10-second ad spot, up from close to Rs 12 lakh, said two media buyers requesting anonymity.

     

    Sam Balsara, chairman and managing director at media buying group Madison World said it was usual for broadcasters to up rates on highly watched shows. “India’s performance has been unexpectedly good so far. So its natural to hike rates for any broadcaster,” he said. Media planners say rates may peak that of the last World Cup which India won.

     

    Anita Nayyar

    “The India show gives India more muscle to stick to its rates. Even if advertisers think the rates are too steep, they don’t have a choice,” said a marketing head of a top foods firm. “When the World Cup started, there was scepticism. In the last two matches India has done phenomenally well giving a lot of philip to the tournament. With viewership increasing, Star is increasing rates,” said Anita Nayyar, CEO of Havas Media, India and South Asia. She said there are clients who are waiting for quarters, semi-finals and finals to advertise as they know that people will watch these games irrespective of the Indian cricket team’s presence in the stages.

     

    Media buying firms say now even unconventional advertisers are looking to buy one-off spots, even at a premium, with India almost certain to reach the final league stages. Without specifying the rates, a Star India spokesperson said: “The pricing for the remaining matches is dynamic and depends on the inventory left. Most brands are interested in buying spots for a group of matches, therefore single game spots are sold at a premium.”

     

    Star claims it has over 100 advertisers on the tournament. “The final stage matches will definitely get Star a higher rate. With India doing well, they will get their desired rates for these few matches,” says Vinit Karnik, national director, sports and live events, at GroupM ESP.

     

    The India-Pakistan World Cup thriller on February 15 was watched by 288 million people in India – the most watched event in the country since the last World Cup final, according to data provided by World Cup Star India. In comparison, on the opening day of the World Cup, the Australia-England match was viewed by over 100 million people. The match, which India won convincingly by 76 runs, got a rating of 14.8 TVR among male viewers.

     

    With Star launching commentary on its regional channels, about 76% of the total viewership during the match came from regional and Hindi while the rest came from English, said Star. The India-Pakistan match had also created history on the digital front with Star India’s digital platforms garnering over 25 million views, the highest in the world for a single game.

     

    Source:The Economic Times

    Copyright © 2015, Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.

    All Rights Reserved, Licensed to republish

     

  • Cricket icon & Gillette India Brand Ambassador Rahul Dravid seen with a cricket fan in a unique avatar

    Gillette salutes fans’ passion for cricket in new TVC

    By A Correspondent

     

    With the Cricket World Cup underway, and as a tribute to the Indian cricket fans, GREY group India has launched a special video that salutes all cricket lovers who showcase their incredible passion and relentless support towards Indian cricket and cricketers.

     

    The Indian fans’ sentiments and passion flows into the performance of the players thereby reinstituting their joy and this video is Gillette’s ode to the Indian cricket fans. Rajeev Sathyesh, Country Marketing Manager, Gillette India said, “Gillette, globally has been associated with sports for many years now. As part of Gillette’s endeavor to salute the spirit of all Indian cricket fans, we have launched Special Edition India razors. The new razors have the word India engraved on the handle and proudly displays the country’s name and colours.”

     

    Gillette’s recently launched special edition razors that have the word India engraved on the handle and displays the country’s name and colours, to encourage cricket fans to continue extending their relentless support to the team.

     

    Malvika Mehra

    Malvika Mehra, National Creative Director and Executive Vice President, Grey Group India, said, “They say fans make the game. No fans, no game. This short film is Gillette’s salute to the passion of every cricket loving Indian fan. Told through a story of a blind fan whose spirit and love of the game clearly overtakes his disability. In today’s overly crowded (and yet ironically isolated) social ecosystem, any sensible brand needs to have larger conversations with its consumers, they need to evoke ‘real feelings’. The age of mere transactional communication is over. We are lucky to have a client like Gillette, who sees that. With this film we hope to touch a much richer space of a ‘real connection’ with the consumer. Leading to a far more satisfying pay off for a brand in the long run.”

     

    Yashaswini Samat, Executive Vice President, P&G, Grey Group APAC said, “Gillette has historically leveraged sports and sports celebrities, globally. The focus here has been on the common man, the fans and their unequivocal passion for the sport.”

     

  • World Cup 2015 is unpredictable. Not for which team would win but for marketers, brands and the media, writes Sanjeev Kotnala

    Sanjeev Kotnala: IPL is any day a better bet for brands!

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    The Indian Premier League or Cricket World Cup is a choice or problem for a few brands. You either have money to splurge on both tournaments or you don’t. Those who have money either have a campaign to run or they don’t. And brands with money and campaign, it is only the rate and ROI issue. ROI can never be guaranteed and remains a gamble. So, if you have the money and a campaign and need to advertise during these times you may want need to look at it differently.

     

    World Cup 2015 is unpredictable. Not for which team would win but for marketers, brands and the media. Success here depends on audience interest, viewership, viewer’s empathy and apathy towards the team. Oh yes, the die-hard will watch anything, but the deciders are the real consumers; the fringe audience that makes the numbers advertiser look at. Match timings are big spoiler for them. We can expect non-India matches to be completely blanketed. Unfortunately, such matches form a large percentage of the tournament. The main sponsor get these ineffective buys as a package helping them show lower ER.  Non-sponsor brands try avoiding them but are served as no-option as channel has to square off the investment.

     

    IF (a capital, bold IF) India plays well in the 1st final (India Vs. Pak) it could change the whole game. We as a nation are currently feeling low entering WC15 after a series of losses. Cricket is suffering from lack of empathy and viewers apathy.

     

    On these qualitative counts itself IPL outscores WC-15 with a high percentage of your real TG hooked on to every match.

     

    Srini or No-Srini, 12 or 8 teams, ball-tampering or fixed matches nothing changes the ground rule; IPL is a festival, a mela, a tamasha we all enjoy with a spicy tadka of regionalisation. IPL demands less of your time, give you much to discuss and is much more fun. It is realignment of interest, supports and stars. The audience loves this cut-throat high intensity not giving an inch of attitude. They smile, so can the channel and the advertisers. The patriotic feeling is understated or completely dead and that makes team losing a bit more manageable for the viewer.

     

    I firmly believe that even a low WC-15 performance by the Indian team will fail to dampen the IPL spirit. Good or near decent show will help IPL. In gambling terms, with IPL you hold the royal run. IPL is always a new beginning. With auctions, there is always a new team under every banner. It has a clearly differentiated taste and flavour.

     

    On the other hand, the hard focus on TV impact in these tournaments creates blinkers and brands end up underutilising or missing opportunities with other media. Radio and hoarding are good bets. In WC, by the time newspapers share the result of a match, the audience would be watching the next day’s match.  But if you want to add regionalised tadka in IPL making it exciting for your brand, go talk to your print guy and be pleasantly surprised with the ideas they have.

     

    Sanjeev Kotnala is Head Catalyst at Intradia and believes the best way forward for an organisation is to enhance the potential of  internal teams instead of depending on external resources. He is a management- marketing-media consultant and also conducts specialised workshops in the area of ‘Harvesting and Liberating Ideas’ and Innovation.  To contact email netkot@yahoo.com or tweet at s_kotnala visit www.intradia.in  www.sanjeevkotnala.com. The views expressed here are his own.