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4Ps
Why Coke Prefers Knight Riders Over Hrithik Roshan?
No individual can be bigger than the game. Interestingly, this statement is especially relevant to marketers who are looking to strike the right shots with their shrinking budgets in a slowdown. Pawan Chabra & Pallavi Srivastava of 4Ps B&M examine why, in humbling times, IPL promises marketers what the best celebrities cannot.
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 Why are the companies focusing more on innovative ways of association with IPL as compared to plain sponsorship deals on-air and on ground? Well, there’s a two-fold reason behind this – the first being that the marketers had enough time to plan beforehand, unlike in the first season.
Secondly there is a lot of pressure on marketers to ensure that they put in their money in the right property, and more importantly in the right manner to reap the maximum possible benefits. Rakesh Singh, CMO, Chennai Superkings explains, “Due to slowdown pressures, the marketers are looking for sales-driven branding associations, as this will help them in tough economic situations.” Undoubtedly, the brands have realised the potential in sales-driven marketing, and hence they are looking at deals which can partly result in actual sales, apart from the obvious benefit of giving high visibility to the brands.
Even TV channels are looking at cashing in on the IPL popularity creatively. Star Vijay has tied up with CSK and launched two TV shows: CSK Junior and CSK cheerleaders. NDTV Imagine will be launching a reality show ‘Knights and Angels’ to select cheerleaders for SRK’s Knight Riders in the hope of getting some eyeballs hooked on to the channel. The teams are finding such associations quite beneficial. As CSK’s Singh points out, “We are getting tremendous visibility because of such shows and will also get paid for it; it makes perfect sense for us.” In fact CSK has decided not to launch any TVCs to promote the team this season and is looking to market the team through more such innovative
associations. And it’s not just CSK; most of the teams are in talks for such deals. But these haven’t been finalised yet. Vidur Naik, Marketing Manager, Delhi Daredevils told this magazine, “Coke will create a lot of awareness on our behalf in their communication strategy around the second season.” And as Coke has recently picked Gautam Gambhir, an opener for DD, it clearly indicates that he will also
be used for creating awareness about the Daredevils.
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 Having said that, companies are also significantly subdued in their marketing push with IPL this time, especially when the so-called ‘Slowdown Blues’ are riding the sentiments in the economy. “The response towards IPL this season is much lower than last year. This is a natural transition, as there was a lot of hype around the first season of any event, which tones down by the second season; the economic slowdown has made the situation even worse,” feels Anita Nayyar, CEO, Havas Media. It’s not that the brands are no more interested in IPL season 2; viewership figures (TRPs as high as 10) for last year’s IPL are tempting enough for marketers to take a closer look at, even this season of IPL. But clearly, brand investments are becoming difficult. Although the difference may not be huge, marketers are certainly more cautious this time. Shubhoshekhar Bhattacharjee, CEO, Planman Motion Pictures, comments, “One has to realise that the economic downturn does not mean that this cricket crazy nation will stop watching cricket, especially IPL, which in turn provides an opportunity for good brand visibility.” Utkarsh Singh, Head - BD, Rajasthan Royals opines, “There are surely lesser number of brands investing in IPL this time as compared to the last season. But the level of engagement of those investing is much deeper.”
However, unlike the last season, marketers have become very choosy in their approach and very cautious about the teams they are associating with because they want to make the most out of their dear money. While many teams have already bagged a handful of licensing and co-branded deals and other innovative brand associations, many teams are struggling to get to open their innings on this front. For instance Mumbai Indians are yet to finalise one as Tushar Pania, Media Manager, Mumbai Manager confessed to 4Ps B&M “We haven’t finalised any deals, so far. We are in middle of talks with marketers and advertisers. ”
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