There has already been some speculation that India’s early departure from the world cup will cost sponsors and advertisers tonnes of money. After all, it is the mad Indian fans and advertisers who keep the ICC coffers ringing. With Pakistan already out and India– despite the comprehensive win over Bermuda–tottering on the brink of elimination, the advertisers must be nervous wrecks. But did they get their calculations wrong?
For the likes of Nike, Sahara and Pepsi, which have spent millions of dollars on sponsoring Indian and Pakistan cricket teams the real shocker is this little piece of information: The money they spent on a 40-second ad on Sony TV during that historic match could have fetched them the sponsorship of Bangladesh for World Cup!
Consider this. Ispahani Mirzapur Tea—a tea company in Bangladesh—last month signed a sponsorship contract with the national team for a paltry $25,000 (around Rs 11 lakh) for the first three group matches of the World Cup. That’s the kind of money a company in India has paid Sony to advertise its brand during India-specific matches for just 40 seconds.[link]
Compare this with India where Sahara has paid more than 300 crores for a four year old deal with Team India. Interestingly enough, learning from the example of Ispahani Mirzapur Tea, even Sahara is talking of performance linked bonuses!
Wonder what will happen if India is actually kicked out of the world cup. My guess is nothing. We are so short of sporting heroes that we will forget and forgive. Of course, we will rant for some time, declare war on the India cricket team and swear never to follow the India cricket team ever again.
Till the next series starts.
(link via Cinamon)
Confused,
Nike and Pepsi want to sell their stuff in India, so they have to sponsor the Indian team, not Bangladesh. Plain enough I guess. I guess though, you were not serious about this
And yeah, Sehwag needs to be kicked out… Ok, he played well against Bermuda, but did you watch the game closely enough? He was beaten outside the offstump many a times(including successive balls in one over, by a slow medium pacer). He still seemed on the edge. It was not that Sehwag was playing amazing cricket. It was just that Bermudans could not get him out, they did not realize that they have to exploit his weakness.
BTW, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Yuvraj were the stars!! Once again, Tendulkar back to his scoring ways (though he seemed a bit tired… his sixes just cleared the ropes by few feet)… and Ganguly again lost his wicket to impatience..
Iconic brands like Nike, Pepsi endorse the spirit, the fight, the struggle of the game and they form a great nexus between the game and the psychographics of its TA (target audience), which would further reinforce the sense of identification.
Brands of such stature don’t fight for gaining saliency (what that tea brand did), but attempt to be part of the season, the language, the sense of loss, the jubilation over a win. The brands extend their solidarity for the countrymen who are passionate for their teams and for the game that evokes great emotions.
Marketing is not driven by the possibility of guaranteed a success, but that madness of “take a plunge”…well, of course, there would be a *contingent plan …n the sponsorship cost would be low when it is pitted against the Humongous audience that would be reached via the platform the event provides.It is a win win situation.Not a stand alone campaign…..
Certainly, Cricket is not just the game of bat and ball when PAKISTAN wars with India. It’s a magnificent epic battle between two warring (psychologically) Asian giants. The absence of Pakistan (I truly miss them this time) would linger through this World Cup and the lurking possibility (don’t know most bloggers getting so psyched ..after all win n loss are key ingredients of any sport/game) of India losing the rhythm before it could board the bus for “super” challengers at the tail end, stay on as the dramatic twists in this heartless event.
rightly said confused
coz it seems bangla is a better bet as they come for a minimal price and also has a bunch of young and frothy players who can step down and play the spinners and also tae some renowned champs for a task
hain na tc bye
if my client puts a different thinking cap, based on one surging glorious and miraculous win, to consider a midgety economy over a booming BRIC economy , we in the advertising world tend to say , “take a flying fuck across Colarado”…..