Tag: Indian Premier League

Sony’s Ek India HappyWala for IPL scores big on social media, wins hearts

MUMBAI: If sports channels are raising the expectations of viewers, the general entertainment channels cannot be left behind.

Leaving no stone unturned, Sony Pictures Network began a month earlier with its campaign EK India…Happywala (One Happy India), so that the excitement builds even before the ninth edition of Indian Premier League.

The campaign Ek India….Happywala (One Happy India) was launched on 1 March with the IPL anthem.

To the launch the Vivo IPL 2016 anthem video, Sony did a Vox Pop activity featuring kids who were asked to answer a few questions about India. The same set of questions was thrown to adults on social media.

The anthem was launched on social media that trended on twitter across India for five hours. The channel recorded 4,526 tweets, more than 42 million timeline deliveries, and had a reach of more than 5 million and recorded 3 million views anthem video. The anthem video received more than 100,000 likes and 26,131 people had shared it on Facebook.

In order to take the campaign forward towards creating a happier nation, Sony started a user-powered activity where they motivated users to spread happiness with #15days Happywala. The core task is to make a stranger smile every day, thus converting users into happiness ambassadors. The activity kicked-off with a lot of user participation resulting in getting the activity to trend across India for more than 4 hours. The channel achieved 3,672 tweets, more than 28 million timeline deliveries and more 4 million plus reach – and 805 entries for the same.

On 17 March, Sony launched the taxi promo, through which they emphasised on how the assurance of safety and well being can spread happiness among our citizens. The activity focused on driving conversations about spreading positivity.

With this activity, the campaign thought #Ek India Happywala once again got a lot of buzz resulting it to trend for over 5 hours across India. More than 10 million people watched that video on social media platforms.

The next in list was the Newsroom promo, with the launch of the news room video urging users to focus more on the country’s positives than the negatives, Sony Pictures Networks decided to reward users who would help support this cause. This activity turned out to be a huge hit amongst the audience as the broadcaster garnered more than 4000+ entries within a week. The Newsroom promo achieved more than 500,000 views on twitter.

The next initiative of the campaign was to spread happiness in the lives of underprivileged kids. Users have to tell the story of a child who aspires to be a cricketer but doesn’t have the means. Sony offered to help 11 children (scouted by the users) with professional cricket kits and so far, they have received 145 entries since the launch of the activity. With 1, 255 tweets, 13 million timeline deliveries and 2 million of reach, the initiative #HappyXI was trended for four hours across India.

To highlight the current mood of the country, the channel started Happiness meter activity. Happiness Meter is a listening activity that tracks the conversation happening on Twitter to gauge what is the current mood of the people in the country.

The next Old Age Home promo recorded 29 million views on social and 1504 likes on Facebook. On 1 April Best Cricket game was a prank where the audiences tricked into playing the best ever online cricket game & having the best cricket experience they can ever have. Later, they realized that it’s the cricket insect that played them.

The idea is to highlight that the best ever cricket experience can only be lived with vivo IPL. 2,045 tweets, 16 million timelines deliveries and 3 million reach, the prank activity was trending for five hours across India.

April 8, 2016
Huawei global ropes in Lionel Messi as brand ambassador

MUMBAI Huawei ICT and telecommunication solutions company Huawei, today announced Lionel Messi as its latest global brand ambassador. The Chinese multinational says that the partnership with Lionel Messi showcases the brand’s alignment with people and brands that demonstrate, and strive towards its shared value of connecting greatness.

“Lionel Messi will help our brand to encourage people to focus, persevere and breakthrough; to connect with greatness, especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where Huawei puts great devotions. We both honour the path we walked to what we have achieved, and with each new challenge we renew our commitment to find the path to success.” said Huawei Consumer BG handset business president Kevin Ho.

“We are happy to announce our collaboration with an extraordinary individual who inspires people all over the world to pursue their dreams, to face challenges to become better with each day. Just like our brand which strives for excellence and innovates to better itself to reach newer heights of greatness, Messi is the epitome of perseverance, excellence and commitment.” said Huawei India consumer business group president Allen Wang.

Messi said, “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and go all in, always looking forward to achieving greatness. The day you think there are no improvements to be made, you have to keep working for reaching other achievements.”

Huawei believes that sports are a great way in which people enrich their lives and that is why our commitment towards sports in general, is so strong. In the India market Huawei completed 16 successful years and has associated with cricket, a sport which resonates the Huawei brand value, by sponsoring RCB in the Indian Premier League. “Besides cricket, football is another game which has a lot of followers in India and we are excited to be associated with the World’s top football athlete,” added Wang.

March 21, 2016
Huawei global ropes in Lionel Messi as brand ambassador

MUMBAI Huawei ICT and telecommunication solutions company Huawei, today announced Lionel Messi as its latest global brand ambassador. The Chinese multinational says that the partnership with Lionel Messi showcases the brand’s alignment with people and brands that demonstrate, and strive towards its shared value of connecting greatness.

“Lionel Messi will help our brand to encourage people to focus, persevere and breakthrough; to connect with greatness, especially in Europe, Asia, and Latin America, where Huawei puts great devotions. We both honour the path we walked to what we have achieved, and with each new challenge we renew our commitment to find the path to success.” said Huawei Consumer BG handset business president Kevin Ho.

“We are happy to announce our collaboration with an extraordinary individual who inspires people all over the world to pursue their dreams, to face challenges to become better with each day. Just like our brand which strives for excellence and innovates to better itself to reach newer heights of greatness, Messi is the epitome of perseverance, excellence and commitment.” said Huawei India consumer business group president Allen Wang.

Messi said, “You have to fight to reach your dream. You have to sacrifice and go all in, always looking forward to achieving greatness. The day you think there are no improvements to be made, you have to keep working for reaching other achievements.”

Huawei believes that sports are a great way in which people enrich their lives and that is why our commitment towards sports in general, is so strong. In the India market Huawei completed 16 successful years and has associated with cricket, a sport which resonates the Huawei brand value, by sponsoring RCB in the Indian Premier League. “Besides cricket, football is another game which has a lot of followers in India and we are excited to be associated with the World’s top football athlete,” added Wang.

March 21, 2016
Vivo IPL’s Trophy Tour from March 19

MUMBAI: Indian Premier League (IPL), the sporting spectacle cheered by every Indian and cricket fan across the globe begins its journey with the first ever Trophy Tour starting March 19, 2016. Making its debut from Pune, the Vivo IPL 2016 trophy will travel to six different cities in India ending its journey with Mumbai, home to last year’s IPL champions.

It would be a great opportunity for the cricket loving fans to see the trophy from such close quarters. It will add to their thrill and excitement to view the trophy which would be sought after by eight competing IPL teams.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said, “This is the first ever trophy tour, which will not only promote the league but will also give the cricket fans across the country a chance to witness the trophy first hand in their cities. With the new title sponsor ‘Vivo’, on board we are thrilled to embark on this exciting six city tour to showcase the trophy for Vivo IPL 2016.”

Sharing the excitement on becoming the new title sponsor for IPL 2016 and announcing the trophy tour, Vivo India CEO Alex Feng said, “Vivo is the first ever title sponsor to organize the trophy tour. IPL being the most professional leagues played across the world. It truly reflects the love and passion Indians share for this wonderful sport. Vivo is a global brand which appeals to the sensibilities of the young Indians. We are constantly striving to innovate and translate our vision into reality. And, undoubtedly, the partnership with IPL is the fastest way to reach out the youth of India.”

The trophy tour to six cities will start from March 19, 2016 and will close the tour with Mumbai on April 03, 2016. The schedule to each city will be:

March 16, 2016
Vivo IPL’s Trophy Tour from March 19

MUMBAI: Indian Premier League (IPL), the sporting spectacle cheered by every Indian and cricket fan across the globe begins its journey with the first ever Trophy Tour starting March 19, 2016. Making its debut from Pune, the Vivo IPL 2016 trophy will travel to six different cities in India ending its journey with Mumbai, home to last year’s IPL champions.

It would be a great opportunity for the cricket loving fans to see the trophy from such close quarters. It will add to their thrill and excitement to view the trophy which would be sought after by eight competing IPL teams.

IPL chairman Rajeev Shukla said, “This is the first ever trophy tour, which will not only promote the league but will also give the cricket fans across the country a chance to witness the trophy first hand in their cities. With the new title sponsor ‘Vivo’, on board we are thrilled to embark on this exciting six city tour to showcase the trophy for Vivo IPL 2016.”

Sharing the excitement on becoming the new title sponsor for IPL 2016 and announcing the trophy tour, Vivo India CEO Alex Feng said, “Vivo is the first ever title sponsor to organize the trophy tour. IPL being the most professional leagues played across the world. It truly reflects the love and passion Indians share for this wonderful sport. Vivo is a global brand which appeals to the sensibilities of the young Indians. We are constantly striving to innovate and translate our vision into reality. And, undoubtedly, the partnership with IPL is the fastest way to reach out the youth of India.”

The trophy tour to six cities will start from March 19, 2016 and will close the tour with Mumbai on April 03, 2016. The schedule to each city will be:

March 16, 2016
Rs 1500 crore riding on World T20 & IPL’s back to back play out in 2016

MUMBAI: Come 2016 and merely five days separate the two flagship cricketing extravaganzas – the ICC World T20 and the Indian Premier League (IPL). Even as World T20 draws to a close on 3 April, IPL takes to the ground on 9 April and riding on the two tourneys in terms of advertising spends by multiple brands is approximately Rs 1500 crore.

While one tournament invokes national pride, the other appeals to emotions at a more regional level. The two tournaments will be played over a span of 80 days, which in turn poses the threat of fatigue.

On one side, Star India will be pulling all stops in order to rake in the highest possible revenue. The broadcaster had an average 50 over World Cup played in Australia and New Zealand, which generated ad revenue of approximately Rs 400 crore. On the other hand, there’s Sony Pictures Networks (SPN) India (erstwhile Multi Screen Media), which has two more editions of the IPL with them to break even and close with a neat profit. The remaining two seasons will be very crucial for SPN India’s balance sheets. It should be recalled that MSM acquired the rights of the tournament for a period of 10 years in 2007 after dishing out a whopping $1 billion.

Ad spends on the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup can go up to Rs 400 crore including digital as per estimates of a senior media planner. “At the same time, if Sony goes by their normal 10 per cent ad rate hike even for the 2016 edition of IPL, they should manage to generate close to Rs 1100 crore, which I think they would be happy with,” the planner adds. Similar estimates were drawn by multiple other media planning executives that Indiantelevision.com spoke to.

So when Rs 1500 crore is on the line for two major cricketing events, will the back to back scheduling eat into one another’s ad pie?

Havas Media Group, India & South Asia CEO Anita Nayyar is of the opinion that it will not. “I don’t think the schedules of either of the tournaments will effect the advertising spends they are expecting. Whether it’s ICC World T20 or IPL season 9, there are different clients focused on them. IPL specially enjoys a different section of advertisers, who keep an eye on it in well in advance. Even with the common advertisers, it’s a question of their marketing and advertising budgets. Marketers plan their spends for a year in advance after looking at the calendar. I am sure they have prepared for both the cricketing events,” she says.

Dentsu Aegis Network South Asia CEO and chairman Ashish Bhasin concurs with Nayyar. “I don’t think that the two tournaments scheduled one after another will have an affect on their ad revenues. This is not the first time that it’s happening. Often we do see tournaments like the IPL leading to a different sporting event or vice versa. Marketers and advertisers who look forward to such events plan their budgets and strategies accordingly in advance,” he says.

IPL and World T20 are completely different ball games when it comes to ad spends according to Bhasin. He says, “World Cup invokes following and fandom for team India. While it appeals to everyone, it is when the India matches air that our audience is mostly interested. That is why you see peaks of viewership for India matches, which reduce drastically if India is out of the tournament early. Whereas IPL retains the general interest of all. Marketers are aware that IPL is prolonged entertainment. It is not just the game but all the action around it. Therefore, advertisers strategise for IPL and World T20 in a different way.”

The most consistent team of the IPL – Chennai Super Kings (CSK) owned by N Srinivasan promoted India Cements will not be a part of the tournament courtesy a two year ban imposed on it. The two year ban has also been imposed on Rajasthan Royals (RR). The Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) has added two new franchises in the interim period. The players of the two banned teams thereby went under the hammer and after following the bidding process, the two new teams – Pune and Rajkot – absorbed them. So cricket fans will get to see their idols albeit wearing a different coloured jersey and maybe even in a new role.

When queried as to how the absence of CSK and RR teams will impact the brand value of the tournament, Bhasin says that it might leave a certain impact on the ad rates. “Two of the biggest teams are out of the tournament and new ones have been introduced. At a time like this, clients may start questioning the credibility of the tournament all together. If the tournament has to retain its advertisers, they have to work on keeping the credibility intact,” he adds.

“Having said that, a popular event like IPL will never have a lack of sponsors. The key issue is the ad slot prices. Over the years we have seen an increase in ad rates from the preceding tournaments for every new season. This year however, it will be hard to aim for higher ad rates for the ad slots,” he asserts.

One thing that the SPN India president – ad sales Rohit Gupta and his team managed to achieve over the years is a constant hike in ad rates. The tournament 2015 edition, as per Indiantelevision.com’s analysis, raked in over Rs 1000 crore to make it one of the best ever IPL for the network. In the previous edition, the tournament hiked the ad rates by close to 15 per cent, taking the price of a 10-second slot to Rs 4.5 – 5 lakh. The tournament’s viewership has also kept ascending with time, and keeping the regional importance in mind, the broadcaster relayed the tourney in six different languages last year. Last year IPL was welcomed by ICC cricket World Cup. Played in Australia and New Zealand on a totally different time zone, the 50 over tournament did no harm to the flagship domestic T20 tournament.

If sources are to believed then Star India is all set to bring back the Mauka Mauka craze. The ad campaign emerged as one of the most talked about elements during the ICC World Cup earlier this year.

A cricket expert on condition of anonymity says, “The quality of cricket is elite in both the tournaments. India will be playing Pakistan in one of the league matches and I think that will be one of the most viewed matches of the year. Having said so, the enthusiasm won’t be similar during non-India matches, whereas when it comes to the IPL because of its unity in diversity nature all the matches turns out to be of equal importance. Pune is a good inclusion but I doubt if the pitch will last seven matches because last the time it did not. If you ask me to choose one between IPL or ICC World T20 Cup from a cricketer’s point of view, I will choose the IPL because of it’s consistent quality for a longer period of time whereas, as an Indian I will choose the World Cup because at the end of the day, when the National Anthem resonates, the feeling is special.”

That said, the first half of 2016 will definitely be exciting for cricket, broadcasters, advertisers as well as fans of the game.

December 29, 2015
India – Pak rivalry: Why is cricket the only scapegoat?

MUMBAI: Since Independence, which then also led to Partition, the relationship between India and Pakistan has been all but cordial. Even as pigeons were flown from either side to send across a message of peace and harmony, it could not prevent bullets and bloodshed.

If there’s been one unallied casualty as a result of the unrest at the Line of Control and differences between the two countries, it is cricket.

In the recent past, while commenting on the Indo-Pak bilateral series former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly and Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur said that terrorism and cricket cannot go together. Strong message indeed! Yes, it’s true that Pakistan is infiltrating every now and then as a result of which soldiers and innocent civilians are losing their lives and hence a blockage of dialogue is indeed pragmatic.

What’s more, blocking cricket between the two countries as a part of process is also justified. However, the all important question here is: Why the partial blocking?

Consider this: Mibah-Ul-Haq is not allowed to bat in India but Ramiz Raza and Shoaib Akhtar are allowed to commentate on a India – South Africa match. Not only that, while Wasim Akram is allowed to coach the Indian Premier League (IPL) team, Pakistani players’ participation is strictly prohibitive in the same. Aleem Dar – the umpire from Pakistan – has access to cricket fields in India whereas Mohammad Hafeez is not allowed.

Why is the diplomatic barrel limited to the 11 players in the lush green cricket field? Why are we restricting ourselves to cricket, which is a form of entertainment in India? Shouldn’t the blockage be unanimous?

Music is also a form of entertainment and singers’ voices from the other side of the border reverberate all across the nation as they croon in Bollywood movies, launch their albums and hold many public and private concerts. This year Atif Aslam has already had three concerts in India. The Pakistani artist and his team charge between Rs 60 – 70 lakh for a live concert. Indians buy tickets and enjoy the concert, whereas the organisers reap in the benefit and generate huge revenue through ticketing and sponsorship. Rates of a Ustad Rahat Fateh Ali Khan live concert are also in the similar range.

Money making from India and Indian market is not only limited to music. Actors and actresses often feature in Bollywood movies. Recently Pakistani actor Fawad Khan paired up with Sonam Kapoor for Khoobsurat and soon Bollywood Shah Rukh Khan will be seen romancing the famous Pakistani TV actress Mahira Khan on the big screen.

Speaking of Fawad and Mahira Khan, Zee TV has a dedicated entertainment channel – Zindagi, which has content sourced from Pakistan.

The India vs Pakistan bouts in cricket are considered to be one the biggest derbies in the world of sports. Ecstasy, agony, congratulations and commiserations during any such bout are unlike any other match. What’s more, television ratings also prove the same. The ratings of an India vs Pakistan match almost doubles the ratings of any other match in a bilateral series.

Absence of Indo-Pak cricket series is a major loss for broadcasters too. While the ad rates for a normal match generally fluctuate between Rs 1.5 – 3 lakh for a 10 second slot, the rival series can command as high much as Rs 4 lakh.

As is said – ‘Art, Music, Sports has no religion, caste, community, geography or demographical barriers.’ However, with the way things are progressing, we might find sports out of it very soon. Pakistani players were restricted to participate in Mumbai and Pune during the second edition of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi League. On the other hand, India’s national sports Hockey is also mulling following the no Pakistan rule. In December 2014 India last hosted Pakistan for a bilateral series, and whether India will host or travel to Pakistan anytime soon is something that the Sports Authority of India has yet to decide.

India is scheduled to play a bilateral series against Pakistan in December. But now that seems to be nothing but impossible. In a press conference, Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Shariyar Khan said, “The series with India does not look possible now and it is a big loss for cricket but we will try, although I do not think it will lead to anything. We have always said that politics and sports should be kept apart. But apparently India does not think this way.”

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Anurag Thakur’s tweet almost spelled the rule out for the series. His tweet read, “There will be no revival of cricketing relations between the two countries if Pakistan harbours Dawood Ibrahim and makes attempts to indulge in dialogue with separatist leaders.”

Whether the ‘no sports with Pakistan’ route is right or not, is the prerogative of lawmakers to adjudicate but this partial prohibition certainly is a subject of a larger debate. So the question remains, why ban only cricket and let rest of the entertainment go on?

September 12, 2015
IPL Governing Council proposes 2 new teams; total 10 teams after CSK, RR ban lifts

MUMBAI: A moment of respite and glory may come for Multi Screen Media (MSM) – the official broadcaster of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as the league’s governing council floated a proposal of adding two new teams to replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) spot.

Additionally, the IPL governing council also proposed that after the two year ban was lifted from both the teams, the IPL will be a 10 team affair.

“One suggestion is to have two new teams only for two years and replace them with CSK and RR in 2018 when they come back,” an IPL GC member told PTI today (27 August).

“The second suggestion is to make it 10 teams from 2018 onwards once the two suspended franchises complete their sentence,” he added.

The council’s two proposals will be put forward to the BCCI Working Committee on 28 August.

MSM holds the broadcasting rights of IPL till 2018, which means that the last season of its IPL broadcasting tenure will be an elongated one with 10 teams. Trade media experts and economists believes that the MSM will make a profit from the revenue generated in the 2018 edition. If the proposal is accepted, it will be icing on the cake for MSM as 10 teams means more number of matches and subsequently a longer time span to monetise.

The broadcaster raked in more than Rs 1000 crore in 2015 edition of the multi million dollar tourney. It may be recalled that MSM bagged the IPL broadcasting rights for a whopping $1 billion.

Broadcasters, who are gearing up to bid for the IPL telecast rights when it comes up for grasp again, are making their permutations and combinations to bid for the tournament. It’s no rocket science that they will be following the developments closely.

Now it remains to be seen whether CSK and RR players are relieved by their respective franchises and are allowed to participate in next edition of IPL.

August 27, 2015
Can India become a sports merchandising haven?

MUMBAI: The entire business fraternity in India gets buoyed by 500 plus cumulative reach of a sporting event or a movie grossing over Rs 300 crore, but hardly puts any effort in translating this success into other formats. One of the most reached sporting event in India, the Indian Premier League (IPL) over eight years of operation, faltered to develop the merchandising business in India. The story is quite similar in movies too. Star Wars holds the record of largest selling merchandises in movies as it has garnered $12 billion over the years and is still evolving. Indian super hero movies like Krrish and Ra:One hardly managed to scratch the surface of the huge merchandising industry.

Since last year, PUMA has been pumping some much needed energy into the dormant merchandising industry in India. The sports apparel giant signed a five year deal for approximately $51 million per year with London based English Premier League (EPL) football club Arsenal FC in 2014. Arsenal is ranked seventh in the list of top Soccer team valuations, which is lead by Spanish giants Real Madrid FC.

This year, PUMA flew all time Arsenal legends Ray Parlour and Sol Campbell to India and made them launch the Home and Away kit. A screening of historical Invincibles documentary was organised alongside road shows. Mehboob Studios in Mumbai turned into a battalion of gunners wearing red and white, welcoming the legends wholeheartedly by cheering out loud and clear.

Parlour and Campbell were mesmerised, and the eagerness in fans’ eyes to see the new kit unveiled was an encouraging sight for PUMA India managing director Abhishek Ganguly. “India holds 10 per cent of Arsenal’s social media fan base and we feel, we are stronger together. This year’s campaign is named ‘Powered By Fans,’ to make fans feel special to celebrate with them. The new kit is an elevated version of last year, more comfortable, more stylish” he said.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com about the merchandising market in India, PUMA India executive director product and merchandising Atul Bajaj says, “The market is still at a nascent stage. However, the growth potential is huge and as long as the brands involved have synergies it is a win-win situation. Though the size of licensed merchandise globally is much bigger, the growth rate for this segment is in the range of 80-90 per cent.”

To add to PUMA’s delight, the team broke its trophy jinx by winning the FA Cup in 2014 and wearing PUMA apparel they defended it by winning again in 2015. The fans are more excited now as they believe the league title is inching closer. Sharing PUMA’s aspirations in the second year into the deal Bajaj asserts, “We expect a huge growth in this second year of our association, exceeding 200 per cent. Arsenal has a huge and loyal fanbase, the performances are great with much more to follow and to top it all we have a great merchandise range for the fans. It also helps that Indian fans comprise close to 10 per cent of overall Arsenal fans on social media.”

As can be seen below in the graph, the sports merchandising market globally grew to $20.07 billion in 2015 compared to $19.57 billion in 2014.

The other factor that predominantly hampers the merchandising industry is piracy. Substantial number of football fans are often spotted all over the country wearing club jerseys but seldom are they original. Though for PUMA the target audience is totally different, Bajaj feels knockouts do damage a brand.

He says, “While knockouts damage a brand, however in terms of business, the target group is completely different. The Arsenal fan and PUMA consumer would never want to buy or wear a cheap fake knockoff. We also have a legal cell in place, which proactively ensures that this menace is minimised.”

Merchandising is not only limited to jerseys, which is the most expensive one but other exclusive products like training kits, wrist bands and stockings used by the players also attract fans. However, brands do not pay enough attention to those, feels Arsenal’s officially recognised Delhi fan club admin Nishant Singhal.

Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, Singhal says, “Powered By Fans delight every fan and the ones that I interact with wear the official jersey of the team. The problem with merchandising is the range of products. Apart for home jerseys, it is very difficult to find anything available and I would request PUMA to change that. Special thanks to them for getting Ray Parlour and Sol Campbell in India. Pricing is not an issue as it is identical globally and people can buy online to avail many discounts.”

Speaking on the range of products, Bajaj claims, “PUMA has a complete range of Arsenal products including Replicas, fanwear, footwear, accessories and more. An Arsenal fan will have the complete range of products available to choose from and enough options to showcase his love for the club.”

Bangalore Arsenal FC official fan club admin Vinay CP is also buoyed by the fact that this year the campaign is named Powered By Fans. He oversaw the proceedings of the 2014 jersey launch. Vinay feels that PUMA is giving adequate visibility to Arsenal products. “In every PUMA store that you enter, you will see Arsenal merchandise everywhere and that’s something I like as a fan. The reason why the merchandising business is not picking up in India is because of the pricing and piracy. Still the number of original jerseys is going up substantially.”

PUMA has also tied up with Amazon India to enhance its reach. The home jerseys, which are priced at Rs 4299, can be purchased from PUMA outlets, in.Puma.com and Amazon India. “Amazon helps us reach to a far wider group of consumers and markets, which were earlier inaccessible. The ease of purchase encourages people – who either do not have access or do not want to travel, but be able to get the latest products sitting in their homes. Above all, it provides us a great platform to engage with the fans. Our event related posts on Amazon’s social media for example drove top tier engagement rates,” adds Bajaj.

Baseline co-founder and director R Ramakrishnan feels that in India, merchandising and licensing has huge growth potential. “India is a lucrative market and that’s why PUMA is aggressively promoting Arsenal merchandises by getting in legends in the country. Football merchandising is always a style quotient, the jerseys are always elegantly designed with one title sponsor on it, which one can wear and flaunt unlike those in IPL where it becomes more billboard and less apparel because of the number of sponsors. Given the youth population in the country, I think elegant merchandising will pick up in India,” he says.

A merchandising expert on condition of anonymity opines, “The merchandising partners never really ran an interactive on ground campaign be it WWE, football or cricket and hence the merchandising industry never picked up. It’s so ironical that a country like India, where cricket is considered as less sport and more religion, hardly has a substantial merchandising base. On one side, you have Sachin Tendulkar and on the other side Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. India never took merchandising seriously. PUMA is bringing in what was missing in merchandising industry, they got in Arsenal legends, organised a road show, screened Invincibles for the first time in Asia and that’s the way ahead. They have already started putting hoardings on prime locations. As a well wisher of the merchandising industry I feel all the licensed partners should put in more efforts and rejuvenate the industry.”

IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla in the recent past had said that the BCCI will sell IPL merchandise centrally to boost up the sector. Seven out of the eight teams agreed to that, whereas Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) decided to sell their merchandise separately as they already invested a lot in developing the business. Overall, it remains to be seen if other big names will also join in and contribute to what PUMA has started for the merchandising industry in India to pick pace and reach its potential.

July 25, 2015
Six-team IPL may disrupt BCCI’s economics: experts

MUMBAI: When Justice Lodha committee spelt a part of its landmark verdict on 2013 Indian Premier League (IPL) betting case on the afternoon of 14 July, 2015, many ripples were created.

IPL is the largest revenue generating property of the Board for Control of Cricket in India (BCCI). As per the board’s 2013-14 annual report, gross receipts from IPL 2013 were Rs 1194 crore as against Rs 892 crore in 2012. The main reason behind the increase in gross receipt, as per then honorary treasurer, was mainly incline in receipts from media rights which has gone up from Rs 556 crore to Rs 844 crore. The franchisee consideration had also witnessed a marginal incline from Rs 460 crore to Rs 502 crore. Now with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) being suspended for a period of two years by the Justice Lodha Committee, the reduction of two teams will result in less number of matches and subsequently generate lesser revenue for the Board as the broadcaster will pay less than the proposed deal.

Apart from BCCI, the official broadcaster of IPL – Multi Screen Media’s (MSM) Sony Max will also face a major blow if the number of matches go down. MSM paid a mammoth $1 billion (Rs 6600 crore) to acquire broadcasting rights for a period of ten years. Lesser number of matches will leave Sony with less opportunities for monetization. The 2015-16 season of IPL was the most successful year for Sony as the broadcasters sealed advertising deals of more than Rs 1000 crore before the first ball was bowled.

A source closely associated with the broadcasting network tells Indiantelevision.com on condition of anonymity, “It’s too early to predict anything and also it’s highly unlikely that BCCI will enter IPL with six franchises. This is a judicial step taken and the entire fraternity will abide by it. The broadcaster will wait and watch what BCCI does and the best part is there is time in hand to ensure smooth proceedings.”

As per TAM Sports analysis, CSK matches in IPL 8 (2015) garnered 4.2 per cent TVR whereas RR matches secured 3.7 per cent TVR. Moreover, as per the analysis, CSK featured six times in the list of top viewed matches of the season, which only goes on to prove the growing popularity of the MS Dhoni led team.

If IPL is played with six teams, the million dollar tourney will have 34 matches in total instead of 60. A cricket expert opines, “Firstly, we have to keep in mind that the two teams are suspended for two years and not for life. Now, in the meantime if BCCI adds two more teams to make it eight again, after two years when the two teams are back, IPL will be a 10 team tourney and that’s when it goes for pitch. So the hypothesis that the IPL will face a blow, is a null hypothesis. And if we think that because of the controversies, Indians will stop watching IPL then we are wrong because if it had to happen it would have happened in 2014 and 2015 because the case we are talking about is of 2013. So I see the IPL only growing bigger.”

On the brand value of IPL, Baseline managing director Tuhin Mishra says, “There might be a bit of a blip, but it’s temporary. The game of cricket and IPL are much bigger than a few individuals. It’s a game that is embraced by Indians and the world over. Controversies and incidents have been a part of sports from time immemorial and this too shall pass.”

Revenue from ticket sales will easily see a 25 per cent decline if there are only six teams feels a senior member of an e-ticketing giant. Every match of IPL witnesses more than Rs 7 crore gross in ticket sales and hence if the number of matches go down, ticketing revenue will also decline, which will in turn result in a substantial loss of e-ticketing venture associated with the league.

Addressing a press conference after the Justice Lodha Committee verdict was delivered, Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra said, “I am shocked and hurt. There are many inaccuracies… have requested for a copy of judgment.”

As per a PTI report, India Cements is set to move to Supreme Court and appeal against the order of the Lodha Committee. However, it must be kept in mind that it was the apex court, which in the first place, appointed the Lodha Committee to investigate the matter and said that its verdict on the case would be “final and binding.”

Following the pronouncement of the order of the Lodha Committee, BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said, “BCCI is committed to honour and respect judicial decisions and it would give its observations after the entire report is read and a collective decision is taken. BCCI is committed to ensuring transparency, accountability and cleansing the sport in order to restore the faith and confidence of millions of cricket loving people in the glorious game of cricket in general and IPL in particular.”

Veteran cricket expert Ayaz Memon tweeted, “Most significant import of Lodha verdict? Busted time-held defence of BCCI that it’s a private society, which can function with its own rules.” Another tweet from him read, “Momentous day not just in Indian but international cricket. Tremor will be felt everywhere….”

The focus now will gradually shift towards the broadcasting rights bid for the IPL in 2017 as there will be a number of broadcasters aggressively vying to get their hands on the Twenty20 cash cow. A senior media planner is of the opinion that things will get interesting with time. “An IPL comprising six teams will enforce 30 per cent loss if compared to the number registered this year. But a 10 team IPL will raise the brand value enormously as the broadcaster will have additional time to monetise.”

Experts also believe that the ball now is in BCCI honorary secretary Anurag Thakur’s court and he will play a pivotal role in the fate of the league. Speaking on the verdict and the way forward Thakur said, “We respect the verdict and would undertake a collective decision in a transparent manner, in the right direction and in the larger interest of the game after the verdict is received and analysed.”

Click to View CSK and RR matches viewership pattern (TAM Sports)

Click to View Overall ratings click (TAM Sports)

July 14, 2015