ITV

Tag: Kingfisher

  • How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    How advertisers have ‘reacted’ to Facebook Reactions

    MUMBAI: So, the social media giant Facebook has rolled out a whole new range of emoticons for users to ‘react’ with. This has come after the long standing legacy of the ‘like’ button. The new reactions, namely ‘Haha’, ‘Wow’, ‘Love’, ‘Sad, and ‘Angry’, were highly anticipated by the advertising fraternity until  Facebook  revealed that it won’t be letting advertisers use these new reactions as a way to create targeted ads. For now, reactions would only be counted as additional ‘likes’, meaning that an “angry” reaction would be treated the same as a “wow”.

    Though initially put off by Facebook’s decision to keep the new reactions out of their reach, advertisers and digital marketers have found ways around this. What makes these new reactions such a lucrative tool for digital marketers is its immense power to look into consumer insights.

    “There is a lot of learning from it on a broader scale, but since Facebook as of now isn’t revealing the exact numbers of ‘angry’ or ‘wow’, advertisers are having a hard time in making the most of it. But, you can actually can see who has liked it or ‘loved’ it if you hover over the new emoticons. Once you physically count that list, you can put a number of it. Though tedious, but not impossible,” points out Isobar India MD Shamsuddin Jasani Aka Shams.

    Now why would a marketer go through the trouble of physically counting these reactions? What’s in it for her or him?

    “It’s a great tool to understand, learn your consumers for a brand. You can see what tonality and emotions consumers have for content. We can figure out what kind of posts, communication and content that are working with a brand’s TG. Beyond that, the use is still limited and it will take some time before people start using it extensively,” Shams shares, adding that the new offering is all about analytics.

    PnB Metlife digital marketing, ecommerce and digitization head Abhishek Rathi too feels that the new reactions can prove to be a powerful tool for marketers like him. Especially for re-targeting of campaigns. The net adoption of these features is what marketers are closely paying attention to, Rathi says. “Right now we have to wait and watch if people are actually using it or not to make a significant difference. Currently the majority of what we can work with on Facebook are likes and shares. Comments can give you some consumer insight but isn’t a huge help. Similarly we need to wait and see exactly how we can use these features in marketing.”

    “The first thing that I predict is the number of engagements on the posts going up,” Shams observes, “ It’s not always that you like something, you might really like it, love it, or dislike it. Having more to the spectrum to react with also makes people interact with the site more. Earlier people were restricted by only the dislike button, but now the new emoticons are making engagements go up.”

    Given its potential use for brands, media planners especially on the digital front, are contemplating on how to incorporate these reactions under their bouquet of services. Shams feels that reactions have a huge scope when it comes to accentuating data and analytics further.

    “Of course the planners, who need to buy the right kind of inventory for their client will have to take the new reactions into consideration. It is still difficult to correlate who liked it or loved it and accordingly bought it, as the analytics are not in place right now,” shared another well-known media planner who wished to remain anonymous.

    But it is the creatives or the content creators who can make the most of this new feature. Content creators will be able to gauge what reactions their work is getting and where they need to tweak to get the desired result.

    “When we are talking about corporate social responsibility or a social cause, it helps to know how our viewers and consumers are reacting to the campaigns; the emotions behind their likes. It’s the next level of engagement,” says Rathi.

    Brands which are most likely to jump on this bandwagon and try out the new Facebook reactions for their campaigns are the youth oriented brands, brands with brand language that lets them experiment and try new things. Citing an example from his own client base, Shams says, “Myntra’s brand Anouk, which we handle, has a communication that many like while others may also dislike. It is very clear in what it wants to say to its audience. These reactions can be a help to the brand. Brands which are steadier in their brand communication will wait and watch first.”

    Ecommerce and digital start-up companies will be the next to take the new feature seriously for their marketing. “Then you have the likes of Coke and Pepsi who will soon follow,” Rathi adds. The sport leagues can also be big takers for this new feature, Rathi feels. “The IPLs, ISLs, kabaddi leagues and tennis leagues of the world can make a huge advantage from these as it is an association of pride and entertainment. Anything which involves a whole community will try to make the most of this tool,” he adds.

    Another advertiser who wants to stay ahead of the curve is United Beverages Limited. UBL has started to look at how these new reactions can affect its marketing strategy. Not only that, UBL, Marketing SVP Samar Singh Sheikhawat shares that UBL is also keeping the ‘angry’ reaction in mind.

    “Brands need to be more responsible and responsive now. We need to be more on the ball, because unlike earlier, the ‘angry’ button can become the new ‘dislike’. Not that it has never happened before. In the real world, there are consumers who like one product, others love the same and there are few who can even hate it. Earlier that emotion seldom got reflected to the brands, but now the game is changing,” he says.

    With so much excitement among brands in making use of Facebook reactions in marketing, one has to wonder if it’s ethical to use such data at all. “That’s true. We need to be careful how the information is used and it needs to be monitored well. As a marketer I am thrilled about the opportunities this gives us but personally I am not comfortable with my personal data, likes and dislikes being shared with companies who can make use of such data. But if it is an aggregate that you are sharing, it will not be so much of an issue. Suppose 50 per cent of ‘love’ or 20 percent of ‘angry, etc. From a privacy standpoint I don’t think it’s in the interest of customers to share individual data points.”

    Sheikhawat on the other hand has a slightly different perspective. “I don’t see how it can become unethical. The fact of the matter is when you sign up for Facebook. you share your personal data.  When you get a new app or service, you let it access your Facebook data, including your preference. When you make any of your reactions public, you are sharing it with the rest of the world. It is already happening and consumers are aware of it.

    On a positive note, many marketers also observe that NGOs and campaigns for social causes can get a huge help from the added feature. Several marketers are of the view that if the data is readily available to marketers, consumers who are aware will not adopt the feature as much and therefore its effectiveness even from an aggregate standpoint will go down.

  • Kingfisher gets beer lovers inventing on International Beer Day

    Kingfisher gets beer lovers inventing on International Beer Day

    MUMBAI: This International Beer Day, which is celebrated worldwide on 7 August, saw a social trend where beer lovers uploaded creative inventions or gadgets with the ingredient Kingfisher Beer.

     

    The hash tag #KFBeerInventions too caught on like wild fire. This unique online campaign was started by Indian liquor giant Kingfisher as part of its unique digital campaign on Twitter.

     

    Kingfisher conceptualized a whacky initiative to enthuse fans on their digital platform, giving them an opportunity to showcase their inner creative genius. Lapping on to the opportunity to turn into innovators, the beer heads tweeted their most quirkiest and ingenious ideas using #KFBeerInventions.

     

    From beer being sent via emails to machines that could turn Mondays to Sundays with beer, beer heads didn’t leave any stones unturned to showcase their whacky sides. Kingfisher then took upon themselves to go over the entries at their Good Times lab and gave life to the quirkiest ideas through GIFs. With over 200 entries received in less than two days, Kingfisher’s Twitter page was filled with quirky images, GIFs and vines. 

  • Trick or Treat: Bring out the troll in you

    Trick or Treat: Bring out the troll in you

    With just couple of hours to go before people dress up to trick or treat for Halloween, one thing that comes to mind is the Pepsi versus Coca Cola war.

    So, what is new between the two cola giants taking on each other, which they have been doing for years now? Well, it is the response which the campaign by Pepsi generated.

    Last year, Pepsi released a campaign during Halloween wherein a Pepsi can wore a red cape with “Cola Coca” written on it and with a tagline saying, “Have a scary Halloween”. Of course, the campaign went viral, but what was more interesting was the response from one of the avid Coca Cola fan.

    The new tagline read, “Eveybody wants to be a superhero”, hinting that the red cape was that of the Superman.

    Ambush advertising is nothing new, but it takes a lot of wit and guts for the players to take a jab at each other and take it in their stride as well. And not to forget, to make it worth a while for the costumers as well.

    The objectives of ambush marketing are twofold: to get maximum returns on the marketing buck and to undermine the branding efforts of the rivals by stealing the attention, increasing the clutter and confusing the viewers.

    Who can forget the Pepsi’s ‘Nothing official about it’ campaign during the 1996 cricket World Cup that introduced the concept of ambush marketing in India.

    Indiantelevision.com takes a look at a few memorable advertising wars between brands in India.

    Kingfisher vs. Jet Airways

    In April 2007, Jet Airways had an image makeover and had released an outdoor campaign that stated, ‘We have changed.’ Soon, Kingfisher placed a hoarding above that which read, ‘We made them change’.

    Samsung vs. Nokia

    It was in 2012, in a packed theatre in New Delhi, as scores of excited movie buffs sat to watch an exclusive premier of SRK-starrer Ra.One for mobile phone maker Nokia’s premium users at PVR Select City Walk mall, what took everyone by surprise were the advertisements that had been running for the previous few minutes were of Samsung mobile.

    HUL vs. P&G

    Hindustan Unilever’s shampoo brand “Dove” and Procter & Gamble’s shampoo brand “Pantene” caught it out in 2010. P&G launched its intriguing ad campaign for Pantene with the tagline “A mystery shampoo. Eighty per cent women said it is better than anything else.” A few days later and before P&G could announce the launch the new Pantene, Hindustan Unilever ambushed the campaign by placing an adjacent hoarding with the tagline “There is no mystery. Dove is the No. 1 shampoo.”

    The Hindu vs. Times of India

    For its Chennai edition, Times of India in late 2011, launched a ‘Wake Up!’ campaign, provoking the readers (mainly targeted at Chennai readers) to shift from the newspaper that puts them to sleep with its boring and dreary news (indirectly pointing out at the Hindu). Soon afterwards, The Hindu hit back with the tag line ‘Stay Ahead of the Times’, telling the readers to move out of the Bollywood and Page 3 gossips and take up the news that is relevant to current affairs of the country and the world.

    Flipkart vs. Snapdeal

     The latest to enter the bandwagon is none other than the highly-competitive e-commerce sector. On 6 October, Flipkart announced its ‘The Big Billion Sale’ as a jacket ad in the Times of India, announcing, ‘Today Don’t Look Anywhere Else, India’s Greatest Ever Sale is here’. But the thunder was stolen on the page immediately following with a Snapdeal ad announcing, ‘For Others it is a Big Day. For us, today is no different’.

  • Can corporate executives be good brand ambassadors?

    Can corporate executives be good brand ambassadors?

    MUMBAI: An old man with a moustache and a turban advertises a popular spice brand. A chain of resorts has a familiar character giving it a thumbs-up. A recent advertisement features executives from other companies talk about their experience flying with a national airline.

     

    Save for these examples, a majority of ads use celebrities to endorse products and services. Making one wonder why most brands prefer not to let their functional executives do the talking.

     

    Apparently, using executives might lend a lot more credibility. However, it may not really appeal to the masses as there is no known face involved.

     

    Brand consultant Harish Bijoor believes Indian brands don’t resort to using their executives as much as the West because Indian CEOs are rather shy and prefer to work behind the scenes rather than in front.

     

    Martha Stewart recently appeared in a cough syrup ad. How many of our CEOs sell a product?

     

    He points out that there are exceptions. “Vijay Mallya’s each and every move promoted his brand – Kingfisher. In the past, Mahindra used Pawan Goenka as well. So, it’s not always celebrities ruling the roost.”

     

    Overall, Bijoor is of the view that people may debate the overuse of celebrities but there is no immediate need to get executives to screens. “There are already a few doing the needful and I don’t think we need more executives to promote the brands. There is a healthy mix, so why clutter it?” he argues.

     

    Business head of Raising ibrows Ganapathy Visawanathan feels that in a country like ours where Bollywood and cricket is like religion, it is safer to use celebrities. “The brands normally use their executive to fight some crisis situation to build credibility, otherwise there will be a big disconnect between the brand and the masses,” he elaborates.

     

    Taproot India co-founder & chief creative officer Santosh Padhi believes product category plays an important role in choosing a brand ambassador. “For an FMCG product, it would be senseless to use an unknown face. Celebs – be it actors or sportsmen – are more relatable to for a common man and hence, it is better to use them. However, for a category like airlines, it is fine to use executives,” he says. The choice between a celebrity, model and executive is also determined by the brand’s strategy, according to him.

     

    Bang in the Middle MD and chief creative officer Prathap Suthan feels it’s a bad idea to use executives. “They shouldn’t get into advertising for their own brands. Essentially, brands need to have their own individual and original character. From the language, persona, tone, colors, design, advertising etc. All of this works together to create and craft a timeless personality for a brand – independent of everything else,” he says. “More importantly, a brand, if it is built on the shoulders of a CEO, what happens when the CEO quits and moves to another company, or cannot speak properly, or is not too presentable, or falls down and hurts himself, or gets into a controversy, or dies? All terrible situations if you build brands around publicly unknown CEOs,” he adds.

     

     Business director GroupM ESP Ameya Sule has a different take on the matter. “For me, the idea is a little conditional. There is no black or white to it. For instance, if a CMO or a senior executive of an apparel brand goes on to promote the brand, then it is more easy to connect it. There has to be a connect and authenticity attached to it, no matter who promotes the brand. It will be good to use an executive as it shows more credibility,” he signs off.

  • Actress Sneha Upadhyay at Sydenham College’s Simsree Simerations 2013

    Actress Sneha Upadhyay at Sydenham College’s Simsree Simerations 2013

    Actress, model, DJ, Pantaloons Femina Miss Fashionista 2012 and Kingfisher Calendar finalist Sneha Upadhyay (Madhu Sneha) is on a high this year after having walked the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week for Ritu Kumar and as a Pool Model; as well as for Shantanu & Nikhil at IIFA Rocks 2013.

    Sneha was on the jury of Sydenham College’s Simsree annual fest Simerations 2013 along with Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s favourite choreographer Mudassar Khan (Dabangg, Bodyguard, Bol Bachchan and Boss amongst others) and Dancing Curve’s Itika and Raunak. Sneha, who found the Simerations show too ‘filmi’, crowned Beat Breakers from Chinai College as the winners along with the second runners up from NK College.  

    Incidentally, Sneha is also finalising a very unique show on a niche channel where she is playing herself as a successful model – well, she really is the Tyra Banks of India when it comes to films, fashion and television.  

    This mesmerizing model was born in Howrah (near Kolkata) and was a studious conservative middle class family geek till she participated in the Bhawanipur College Fest and her entire life changed! The scintillating Sneha Upadhyay is the first runner up of the Kingfisher Calendar Girl 2012 hunt in association with NDTV Good Times and chosen in the Top 3 after a long hunt for a talent race among contestants from all across India. The girl, who had not even worn track pants is now scorching the ramps across India with what ace lensman Atul Kasbekar calls is the ‘perfect body’.  And renowned Bollywood designer Manish Malhotra chose only this Kolkata girl for his shows. The diva now aims to model her career a la Trya Banks and wants to replicate the global icon’s success in India.  

    Sneha started off with an audition as a ‘Cat Woman’ and the model with ‘Rhythm in her Body’ had leading  fashion choreographers drooling over the Indian equivalent of Hollywood star Halle Berry! In fact, Sushma Puri from Elite Model Managemetn chased her all the way upto the Kolkata Fashion week in order to sign her on. And ace designer Nandita Thirani chose her as the lucky opening mascot for showcasing her Lakme Fashion Week collections.  And then followed a string of fashion designer fans including Manish Malhotra (he only chose Sneha from Kolkata she closed for him in the Kolkata Fashion Week), Jaya Misra  and Shantanu-Nikhil amongst others.  

    “I always had a feeling of being extraordinary and rising above my surroundings but didn’t have any clue. I strode the normal path for a girl of my background till my teens. My letter from the engineering college got misplaced and I was mulling entering dental college. When suddenly a new avenue of ramp modeling opened up in my life. It created a ruckus in my conservative household and my parents were very upset. My elder sister stood by me and gave me the confidence and courage to pursue it,” says Sneha. When 5-6 hoardings with my face were put up across Kolkata, my parents finally relented when people appreciated my work. And yes, she has not taken a single penny from them for her pursuits.

    On the Kingfisher Calendar show, Sneha was initially very disturbed with the emotionless approach of the crew! “I was just another candidate with a lovely body. I wanted to tell them that I had an equally intelligent mind to back my body up. I am proud that it was seen in the tasks that I did. The other candidates found my reading habits and my religious chanting from my rosary very weird. And while they used to diet, I used to eat quite a lot and still maintain my demure size zero tall frame. But when I started posting success after success, they started taking me seriously,” says Sneha.  She adds, “Others were competing while I was really enjoying myself.  I am very happy to win the Most Beautiful Body and the Most Photogenic Body titles. My mantras were confidence, determination and focus.”

    In fact, Sneha’s biggest fear on the show was that she was frightened of water and scared she might be asked to swim. “There was an accident in Chennai where I literally lost my life and was scared of swimming and going underwater. I joined this contest to confront my biggest fears and showcase my inborn talents. In the early rounds, they gave me an underwater task and I had to channelize all my resources to complete the task. I did well and proved a point to myself and peers. I won the maximum tasks and surprised myself and others. I have become very carefree and fearless.”   

    An ambitious young fresh face, Sneha quit her marketing job in the fast-paced city of Mumbai to change her career course to the glamorous world of fashion. A true believer in herself, Sneha swears that soon the world will know and believe in her! She is the most confident about “Myself as a whole” and her asset is her “confidence that has got her quite a lot at a young age.  She reads quite a lot and is a linguist with English (literature graduate with honours), Hindi, Urdu and Bengali. And she claims that she is a born dancer. She has dabbled in copywriting and thinks of writing scripts during her leisure time. She has also tutored the contestants of the Indian Princess contest organized by the Mumbai-based Atharva Group. She enjoyed the task of grooming and tutoring young raw contestants and elevating their self-esteem, self-confidence and self-belief.

    An extremely spiritual human being, Sneha philosophises, “I get bored very quickly and keep looking for new challenges and frontiers of expressing myself.  I still feel I haven’t expressed myself fully and am still in the process of discovery. I continue to get plum assignments without really auditioning or striving hard. I continue to meet greater human beings and aspire to match their greatness with my latent talent and abilities. I believe that an actor lies hidden within me. I always fantasise about giving several expressions for a particular situation. I am Power Woman and will be the one that will make a difference to the lives of millions of Indians.” Incidentally, her father was an amateur actor and used to do a lot of theatre and encourage her to watch serious cinema.  But no one else in her family has any remote connection with showbiz. And Sneha is determined to make it on her own steam.   

    As in sync with her Kolkata mindset, Sneha dreams of doing meaningful globally crossover films in the mould of actress such as Aparna Sen, Smita Patil and Madhuri Dixit amongst others.  She is still adjusting to the metropolis of Mumbai in terms of films, finance and fashion.  And Sneha Upadhyay is very clear that she is here to be and carve a niche for herself while leaving her footprints in the sands of time. ..

  • Vodafone, Pepsi and Kingfisher are most recalled brands in IPL5: Ormax

    Mumbai: Vodafone, Pepsi, Kingfisher, Volkswagen and Hero are the five top recalled brands during IPL5, as per the cricket advertising recall and effectiveness research – Day after Cricket (DAC), conducted by Ormax Media, the media research and consulting firm.

    Though, Vodafone was the overall winner, the last week of IPL 5 saw Pepsi leading the recall charts, touching a score of 44 per cent on unaided recall, the highest achieved by any brand this season, the company said.

    As per the research, Volkswagen and Kingfisher are the only brands which feature among the Top 10 brands in terms of both unaided recall and ad likeability.

    The top three most liked ads are: Gems – Raho Umarless, Sprite – Raasta Clear Hai and Mazaa – Har Mausam Aam. Interestingly, none of these campaigns featured a celebrity.

    The most recalled innovation sponsorship association recalled is Karbonn Kamaal Catch. DLF Maximum Sixes and Vodafone Star of the Match are at distant No. 2 and No. 3 respectively.

     

    Top 10 Brands Recalled (IPL 5 )
    Rank Brand
    1 Vodafone
    2 Pepsi
    3 Kingfisher
    4 Volkswagen
    5 Hero
    6 Coca Cola
    7 DLF
    8 Idea
    9 Nokia
    10 Tata Docomo

    The top 10 most liked campaigns or promotions in IPL 5 are listed in the table below.

     

    Top 10 Most Liked Campaigns (IPL 5)
    Rank Brand
    1 Gems
    2 Sprite
    3 Mazaa
    4 Volkswagen
    5 Cadbury‘s Dairy Milk
    6 Yatra.com
    7 Kingfisher
    8 Mountain Dew
    9 Lays
    10 Slice

    DAC is a consumer based day-after recall study, conducted among IPL viewers across six cities: Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai and Kolkata. The target group for the study was 15-40 years males and 15-34 years old females.

  • Kingfisher is ‘Good Times’ partner of six IPL teams

    MUMBAI: United Breweries-owned Kingfisher has become the ‘Good Times‘ partner of six IPL teams – Delhi Daredevils, Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, Deccan Chargers, Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI Punjab.

    Taking advantage of the summer and cricket season, Kingfisher will be initiating a 360 degree marketing approach across TV, OOH, digital, merchandising, in stadia, on ground, player interactions, packaging and consumer and trade contests.

    Through the ‘Beer Premium League‘ the brand is looking at creating a fun filled experience while screening live matches in pubs and bars. For every pint of Beer ordered, consumers win themselves points, at the end of the match the table with the most number of points get gratified with match tickets and more Kingfisher beer.

    UBL SVP-marketing Samar Singh Shekhawat said, “Kingfisher is synonymous with sport, which is our biggest marketing activation. The association with India‘s most loved game – cricket, is natural. The West Indies cricket team singing the legendary Oo la lala le o jingle, today has 23 players across six different teams embodying the Good Times with Kingfisher.”

    Consumers buying Kingfisher beer also stand a chance to win an all-expense paid trip to watch a match near their home town. The brand will be giving this opportunity to over 5000 consumers across the country.

  • ‘We have no intentions of selling Deccan Chargers currently’ : Deccan Chargers COO Venkat Reddy

    ‘We have no intentions of selling Deccan Chargers currently’ : Deccan Chargers COO Venkat Reddy

    For IPL franchise Deccan Chargers, it has been a story of ups and downs. The team had a miserable run in the inaugural season but bounced back strongly in the second edition to walk away with the title.

     

    Even off the field, Deccan Chargers had to deal with uncertainty what with the main shirt sponsor changing hands every year. However in the fifth edition of the IPL, the franchisee has finally found its true calling striking a multi-million dollar three year sponsorship deal with Emirates besides roping in a host of other national and local sponsors.

     

    The franchise has also been in the news frequently that it is on the blocks. Deccan Chronicle Holdings had mandated KPMG Corporate Finance to find a buyer and was looking at a valuation of $250 million in 2008.

     

    In an interview with Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin Pinto, Deccan Chargers COO Venkat Reddy clears the air about the team’s sale reports by asserting that it is committed to the team and is not planning to presently sell the team. Reddy, a man of few words, also said that the franchise has broken even and is looking at good revenue growth this year.

     

    Excerpts:

    Will Deccan Chronicle sell IPL franchise if the valuation is attractive or will you wait for it to mature further?
    Presently, we have no intentions of selling the team. Deccan Chargers is very much owned fully by Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.

    Deccan Chargers posted revenues of Rs 1.15 billion in 2010. What has the growth been since then and have you operationally broken even?
    We have achieved break even and expect the growth to be good this year. It is an exciting season for us and we have got good response from sponsors.

    How did the deal with Emirates come about? Which are the other new sponsors who have joined?
    IPL 2012 is a huge opportunity to leverage revenues with the Deccan Chargers being a well known and growing brand. Strategic trading in auction without compromising on the team balance has brought in sizeable revenue in its kitty. We are privileged to have Emirates as our team sponsor. And our other main sponsors are Jaypee Cement, TVS Motors, United Spirits, Kingfisher, Xenoh and Puma. We were associated with Jaypee for the inaugural IPL season and are pleased to have them back. We are reaching out to our fan base, taking the matches to the catchment areas of Vizag and Odisha.

    Is the Telangana issue going to affect your ticketing revenues once again?
    This year we have three confirmed cities as Deccan Chargers home grounds – Vizag, Cuttack and Hyderabad. Our matches are well distributed in these three cities, which will see a considerable growth in gate revenues. Added is the special hospitality seating areas created for the spectators to enjoy the matches and have a great experience. The match entertainment is also very carefully planned, keeping the local flavour in view.
    ‘We have achieved break even and expect the growth to be good this year. Emirates is our team sponsor. Our other main sponsors are Jaypee Cement, TVS Motors, United Spirits, Kingfisher, Xenoh and Puma‘

    Given that it has been four years since IPL started, has licensing and merchandising become a serious revenue stream or is there still a long way to go?
    Yes, it is and there are challenges yet to be faced.

    Has Deccan Chronicle got what it aimed at when it decided to be involved with the IPL franchise?
    Deccan Chronicle has always supported sports and has nurtured the Deccan Chronicle cricket team for years. IPL was a great opportunity to get into big league and cricket is religion for us Indians. We are now a well known sports brand globally and want to extend further. T20 cricket is challenging. We have emerged as winners in 2009 after suffering a major setback in the inaugural season. We believe in working hard and motivating our team to perform well without putting any pressure. We have seen a tremendous growth trend in our fans base, which continues. As per the latest study on Top Ten Social Media Influencers by DataQuest, Deccan Chargers has been in the Top Ten Indian Brands.

    How do fans perceive the Deccan Chargers and how do you maintain a relationship with them across the year even after the IPL season gets over?
    Deccan Chargers is always full of surprises. We have a loyal fan base that supports us thick and thin. We maintain interaction through the social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

    What marketing activities are being done to create excitement?
    Our local campaigns have already started. We recently organised events in Hyderabad and Vizag like the See U in Blue event, Buildings lit in blue, Cycle rally, Beach Corporate Cricket etc. A separate fans blog, selecting some active fans on social media sites and giving away DC goodies and many other fan engagement activities are lined up. unstoppabulls.deccanchargers.com/ featured a contest to find “Super Blogger, Photographer & Videographer” who‘ll be part of DC Crew to follow & cover team DC.

    Could you talk about your deal with My Rewards International?
    We have agreed to market membership based programmes under a co-branding arrangement. This will give our members and their family access to the My Rewards benefits which are available throughout India and the world. Similarly, over one million My Rewards members throughout India, Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the Philippines will have the opportunity to join the Deccan Chargers and enjoy all the benefits of being a member of one of the premier IPL teams. I am sure our fans will enjoy the plethora of rewards.