ITV

Tag: MI

  • Partnership with MI helped DHL expand TG & become a household brand: Sandeep Juneja

    Partnership with MI helped DHL expand TG & become a household brand: Sandeep Juneja

    MUMBAI: The sports sponsorship market is booming. Never before has more money been pumped into marketing sporting events, athletes and sports teams- globally as well as in India. According to a recent Nielsen study, sports sponsorships were up by 107 per cent in 2021, even as sponsorships drove an average of 10 per cent lift in purchase intent among the fan base. Today, aided by accelerated digitalisation, sports sponsorship offers brands entirely new opportunities than a few years ago, that’s especially attractive. And when it comes to sporting properties in India, it goes without saying that the Indian Premier League (IPL) is indisputably the mother of them all!

    For the second consecutive year DHL Express India, one of the leading players in logistics, parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and international supply chain management is the principal sponsor and official logistics partner of Mumbai Indians (MI). The deliverables entailed in the partnership are indicative of the brand’s 360-degree approach. While the brand logo can be prominently seen on the back of the players’ jerseys, DHL branding is visible in the player dugout banners, stadium concourse, outdoor, as well as digital and print ads of the MI team and all its official stationery. And that includes the right to present the coin toss in one home match!

    As DHL Express (DHLE) India, enters its second year of partnership with Mumbai Indians, IndianTelevision.com had an exclusive interaction with DHLE India VP of sales and marketing Sandeep Juneja to try and understand the background and rationale behind the continued association. Having joined DHLE in 2004, Juneja worked his way up in the organisation, taking on the mantle of VP- sales & marketing in October 2013. He has played a key role in driving the sales and marketing strategies, especially in the new normal.

    Juneja also shares insights into the value and ROI that DHLE gained basis the partnership as well as the campaigns it has planned to further leverage the collaboration. Despite its bad run at the IPL this year the MI team remains one of the crowd favourites. The brand recently released its latest ad film featuring the MI players titled ‘DHL #TheTeamBehindTheTeam for Mumbai Indians – 2022.’

    Edited excerpts:

    On the value/ROI that DHLE gained basis its partnership with Mumbai Indians in 2021

    2021 was a bit different for the Indian Premier League. While it started with an in-stadia audience, the second wave of Covid-19 put a halt to the game, moving it to the later part of the year. However, for DHL Express India, it still ended up being a fruitful association with the team. As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (Barc) India data, while the tournament’s reach (live matches on TV) in India was 405 million, matches featuring Mumbai Indians were watched by 306.5 million households. In fact, the buzz on social media around the team also saw an 18 per cent growth over 2020.  All this data only strengthens our belief in Mumbai Indians and this partnership. In fact, the presence of DHL’s logo on the back of the jersey positions us as the team behind the team and we have enjoyed great brand visibility with this association.

    On the background and rationale behind the long-term partnership with IPL & Mumbai Indians

    DHL, globally, over the years, has supported some of the world’s largest and most popular sports formats – from football to rugby, Formula One and even e-sports. Collaborating with prominent events helps brands, such as ours, to generate leads, and build customer loyalty and credibility. Cricket is a game that is well-loved and followed with ardent devotion in India, and many nations across the world. If you talk about the Indian Premier League, it is a festival in this country. The league has been able to successfully bring together sports and entertainment, making it an event for everyone, regardless of age or gender. IPL brings countries together and gets them all on one single platform.

    Even within the IPL, it was essential for us to partner with a team that shares similar values. For DHL Express, the partnership with Mumbai Indians demonstrates our support for sports given the shared spirit of speed, passion, teamwork, and a can-do attitude. Mumbai Indians has proved its mettle in the game. If one has to go with pure data, they tick all the boxes: five-time champion, most popular team in IPL, highest social media buzz generator during the game, and many more. Mumbai Indians demonstrates “Excellence: Simply Delivered,” which is in sync with our mission. Therefore, we are glad to be the principal sponsor and official logistics partner for Mumbai Indians for the second consecutive year.    

    Sports sponsorships, like the one with Mumbai Indians, gives us an opportunity to widen our canvas and expand our target audience. It helps us build brand awareness and equity with not only a more varied target group but also reconnect with our customers and stakeholders through multiple touchpoints, a necessity in a post-pandemic world. Through this partnership, we hope to better connect with our customers and reach out to a wider customer base.  

    On how does the brand aim to strengthen its bond with its TG through this association

    The viewership data for IPL suggests that the tournament cuts across sections, gender, geography and age groups. It is a great platform to reach out to people, primarily in the age group of 25-35, especially from tier I and II cities. This partnership with Mumbai Indians has helped DHL expand its target group and become a household brand. This season, we are looking forward to amplifying our MI partnership through a carefully curated and immersive 360-degree campaign with a focus on digital.

    With our various digital activations, we created multiple touchpoints, thus giving us an opportunity to have instant and engaging conversations with our audiences across gender, geography, and age groups. We have introduced an all-new brand film featuring the crowd favourite Mumbai Indians players, to establish ourselves as the team behind the five-time league champions, as well as our customers. In fact, our digital video on #TheTeamBehindTheTeam trended number two in the first hour of it being activated on Twitter. Also, via our several social media fan contests and campaigns like Six for a Cause, DHL Match Ke Stars, the interaction with both the MI players and fans were much more authentic. We were able to tap into a new set of customers and build a greater connection with our existing customers via this crowd favorite game.

    On the strategy and activations planned to further leverage this collaboration

    With the traditional and digital worlds merging, it is vital for brands to leverage new technology and utilise digital platforms to develop engagement like never before. After a fruitful partnership last year, this season, we aim to amplify the association via a 360-degree marketing approach. Through digital, social, radio, print, and outdoor mediums, we will take our activations to the next level. We have leveraged all these mediums to ensure our visibility on and off the field.

    Given that people are stepping out of their homes again, we have focused on outdoor advertising as well. This will include personalised branding on over 50 DHL vans, outdoor ads & radio spots. We are working on creating interactive content to engage with our target audience on social media.

    We will also engage with Mumbai Indians fans as well as our current and potential customers via fan contests on social media like ‘DHL Match Ke Stars’ and through our alpha campaign – ‘Six for a Cause.’ The campaign will showcase Mumbai Indians players holding interactive sessions with the blind cricket team. We will also donate Rs 20,000 for every six that a MI player hits during their game. The proceeds of this will go to Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled which supports blind cricketers.

    The focus for any brand that wants to build and retain its market position should be put on continuous user engagement, via digital touchpoints such as search engine marketing, snackable digital content, online knowledge sharing and round-the-clock availability of sales executives. We employ a 360-degree marketing mix to build stronger customer relationships. Be it television, radio, online or print, we try to ensure our brand visibility across media channels. We believe in leveraging all these channels throughout the year.

  • IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians launches new anthem ‘Dil Khol Ke’

    IPL 2022: Mumbai Indians launches new anthem ‘Dil Khol Ke’

    Mumbai: IPL franchise Mumbai Indians (MI) has launched its team anthem titled “MI MI Bol Ke, Khelenge Dil Kholke.” The anthem comes as an addition to its ongoing campaign ‘Khelenge Dil Khol Ke’ which is conceptualised by Ogilvy. 

    While the last film was for aspiring cricketers, the latest one is for the fans, MI said. “The anthem is a reflection of the young and gen-Z fans, who have continued to support and push us forward, every time we take to the field,” said a Mumbai Indian spokesperson.

    The video features the entire playing squad of MI including Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Kieron Pollard, Surya Kumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, and others.

    The anthem brings a perfect combination of emotion and winning spirit while celebrating the idea of playing cricket on the streets of India. The video represents the passion for playing cricket and how the journey takes the players through a rollercoaster of emotions.

    With this newly launched energetic anthem video, MI aims to connect with GenZ, vibing over the idea of playing the game of life with all your heart, imagining the impossible and making it a reality, to never lose faith and give their best at everything they do.


    Ogilvy managing director Anurag Agnihotri feels that IPL is cricketainment. “It’s cricket with huge doses of entertainment mixed in,” he explained.

    Speaking of the campaign, he said, “While we addressed the fulfillment of dreams of young aspiring cricketers in the last campaign, we wanted to have some fun this time around. The last film was for aspiring cricketers. This one, though, is for the fans. It’s an all-out visual spectacle with a sing-along aspect. It’s a chant for fans to express their love. We owed them something for their love. This is our way of giving them something they can truly own.”

    Sharing the idea behind this vibrant anthem, a Mumbai Indian spokesperson said, “Mumbai Indians have always played with passion – Straight from the heart, driven by the motto – never give up.”

    “Also, one of our main pillars is the fans that we have across the globe. Our style of cricket, brand values, and everything that we do resonates with their values, beliefs and inspires them, which is reflected in the growth of the MI Paltan army over the years,” the spokesperson added.

    ​​​​​​

  • Myntra leverages IPL to expand reach & diversify its brand image

    Myntra leverages IPL to expand reach & diversify its brand image

    NEW DELHI: In India, there are two things that people lose their minds over: cricket and festivals. And the IPL is a festival of cricket. Add on the fact that this year, it happens to coincide with the Dussehra-Diwali season – and it's no wonder that brands are pulling out all the stops when it comes to advertising and promotional campaigns to capitalise on miraculous opportunity.

    Ahead of its Big Fashion Festival, fashion e-commerce platform Myntra has decided to hop on the IPL bandwagon to maximise its visibility and sales. The brand has also tied up with multiple brand ambassadors tailored to click with different demographics and help the brand double its sales compared to the same period last year. It is also Myntra's debut on the IPL pitch.

    ‘IPL will help Myntra expand into newer markets’

    Myntra has partnered with not one, but three IPL teams – Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mumbai Indians, and Chennai Super Kings. The brand is RCB’s official fashion sponsor and will have its logo on the upper right chest of the team’s jersey. CSK and MI will carry the Myntra logo across the teams’ branding and communications.

    According to Myntra, VP- marketing Achint Setia, “Myntra is keen to form deep connections with users across India and believes that engaging with prospective customers at all possible and relevant touchpoints is crucial to this vision. We believe that cricket in general, specifically the IPL makes for a key touchpoint and will help Myntra expand into newer markets.”

    The company has a bunch of activities planned with its partner teams. It has developed strong user engagement through social media, via the RCB, CSK, MI, and Myntra handle, where customers can win unique daily prizes by participating in interactive contests centred around the cricket tournament. The fan engagement innovation ‘Virtual Wankhede’, developed in association with the Mumbai Indians, is a platform which provides MI’s army of fans to unite virtually and cheer on their favourite team. 

    "The way IPL has also come up with innovations by bringing in the virtual crowd noise, virtual meet and greet with top fans, has helped the brand to drive a lot of traffic from digital and social channels,” Setia added.

    To leverage the season effectively, the fashion portal has planned several exciting gamification features and content properties which will provide users with entertainment in the coming days.

    One such feature that has grabbed users’ attention is the Myntra Fireball, which provides customers the opportunity to bag specific and time-bound deals by catching a moving ball of flame on the Myntra app.

    ‘Looking to expand in South, tier-2 and tier-3 cities’

    The unique overlap of the IPL and the festive season this year was like a lifeline thrown to brands reeling under the Covid2019 crisis and Myntra is trying to make the most of it. Besides a 2X growth in sales from last year, the fashion firm is also expecting sales momentum from tier-2 and tier-3 cities to continue into the festive period. In fact, it is anticipating that over 50 per cent of its sales will come from outside metro and tier-1 cities.

    Looking at the team partnerships closely, the e-commerce firm has chosen two teams from south India and one from north, highlighting its push to diversify and expand its reach. Setia also agreed, saying: “We intend to make a big expansion in the south market. RCB and CSK not only have a strong following in the metros such as Bangalore and Chennai but also drive countless conversations in the smaller cities and towns of the south market.”

    Mumbai’s importance to retail businesses can hardly be understated and tying up with the city’s most prominent sports team will only further solidify Myntra’s position in a crucial market, he elaborated. Factors such as team popularity and style quotient were also given strong consideration by Myntra executives when opting for team partners this IPL season.

    ‘Celebrity endorsements to boost audience appeal’

    Brand image and new user engagement are two agendas high on the list of Myntra’s marketing strategy for its festive season jamboree. With this goal in mind, it has roped in vlogging sensation Bhuvan Bam as its first digital brand ambassador.

    Myntra and Bam will co-ideate and create content that effectively portrays the brand in an innovative and entertaining manner that goes beyond the traditional forms of communication. The e-commerce platform is counting on Bam’s engaging social media presence and high resonance with the people to gain traction with his 1.93 crore-strong loyal fan base.

    Similarly, as part of the Big Fashion Festival promotion, Myntra has partnered up with Soha and Saif Ali Khan to bring the sweetness of Durga Puja to the fore.

    The brand film aptly re-creates the present scenario, with countless families celebrating the festive season through video calls, thereby striking an emotional chord with the audience, while underscoring the value of the right attire to enhance any festive celebration and make moments special.

    The fashion e-tailer recently announced Bollywood actor Disha Patani as its first-ever beauty ambassador to further consolidate its strong position in the massive and rapidly-growing beauty and personal care (BPC) market in India; actor Kiara Advani is the brand’s nationwide celebrity endorser.

    In the same month, south cine star Samantha Akkineni signed on with Myntra as the fashion marquee’s face to win over the region’s large and widespread audience.

    Myntra’s holistic approach to its marketing campaigns, with Bollywood, Tollywood, and other regional celebrities, along with top IPL teams, is expected to reach 150+ million people across the nation. According to the brand, the mega fashion event is also set to witness a massive uptick in demand, at 4X over its BAU (business as usual).

    Speaking about the overall marketing plan for the festive season, Setia explained: “Our key goal is to ensure Myntra has a prominent space in the key touchpoints with potential customers ahead of its blockbuster sale events. This festive season, our marketing efforts will further drive conversations around the brand through the star-studded campaigns with celebrity brand ambassadors, who have a wide audience appeal reaching all corners of the country.”

    However, the company did not share the marketing budget allocated for the festive period, and replied, in terms of spends, the investment varied for each partner as the scale and size of the associations are different.

    Myntra’s Big Fashion Festival is scheduled to be held between October 16 and 22. The fashion major will offer various lakh styles from the widest collection of 5000+ brands for its customers. As part of the seven-day festive season sale, the platform is expected to cater to over 4 million unique customers.

  • Star Sports brings back the excitement in MI vs CSK IPL 2020 opener

    Star Sports brings back the excitement in MI vs CSK IPL 2020 opener

    MUMBAI: It promised a lot, and it did deliver. The Star Sports broadcast of the inaugural match of the IPL 2020 at the Sheikh Zayed stadium in Abu Dhabi between arch rivals Mumbai Indians (MI) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) served all the dishes that make for a delightful platter. Thankfully, there was no gaudy, boring opening ceremony. The focus was on the sport. The venue, well it looked, perfectly fit for cricket with a green carpet on the ground. The sport too lived up to its potential. At least for the viewer at home on his Disney + Hotstar service or on their Star Sports channels.

    A rusty looking MI side muffed many a chance on the field and let a fitter looking –though having more retired players – Chennai Super Kings romp home with enough balls to spare in the twentieth over. The Rohit Sharma-led team began like they have done in many a previous IPL – losing their inaugural game. Their sloppiness in the field aided by rather inexplicable field placings, Jasprit Bumrah’s inability to bowl the yorker which he is renowned for and a collapse by most of the batters helped ease CSK’s passage to victory

    Of course one has to hand it to Mahinder Singh Dhoni’s captaincy while making his bowling changes and field placements. Piyush Chawla’s audacious spinning spell which tied the MI batsmen in knots, deserve a mention. The fielding was sharp and catches the Chennai Super Kings held their catches. The ball seemed to chase Faff du Plessis in the outfield who accepted two mishits by the Mumbai Indian batsmen and one strike near the ropes, which he lobbed back on the playing field to catch.

    On the batting front there was the reborn Ambati Rayaduand supportive Faff du Plessis, who helped stabilize the CSK innings – after two of its batters Shane Watson and Murli Vijay – departed cheaply. Once he got his eye in, Rayadu thumped the ball all around – and over – the ground – hitting three maximums – and scoring a brisk 71. Du Plessis was steady as she goes accumulating runs at regular intervals, and then came Sam Curran with his hurricane six ball 18, just when the match seemed to be getting a tad tight for the CSKs.

    Sharma and his men appeared to be helpless bystanders and just watched the ball going past them to and over the boundary or for doubles and triples. CSK’s victory broke its five match losing streak against the MI.

    Sharma, on his part, has to go back to the planning board, after what can be best described as a pedestrian performance by his team against an older side. He himself needs to hit the treadmill as his waist line showed. More of the top order need to get amongst the runs, the fielding needs to be polished, and the bowlers need to get more time at the nets, turning their arm over with the evening-dew-laden slippery ball.

    The lack of stadium attendees – while we wanted to see a sea of faces painted, smiling, energized, disappointed, praying fervently – was felt, but only marginally. For players on the field, many found it strange and they expressed it as such, without the constant roar of the tens of thousands of cricket lovers. But in this age of Covid2019, sport has to be revived without fans in the stands, life has to go on with social distancing to prevent the SarsCov2 virus from finding more victims. Dhoni expressed this best when called on during the post-match presentation. He nearly walked up to the presenter but was told to step back, reminding him of the two-metre distancing rule that needs to be maintained. Dhoni was apologetic but expressed that it felt strange, different to be doing so.

    On television and OTT, Star Sports used some tricks, like canned audience roars, screams and yells, fans and sponsors representatives popping up on giant sized screens placed in the stadium from their homes. As did videos of the cheerleaders doing their routine during exciting moments of the match, Then the Disney Star India fans too shared their Instagram reels – short video clips by fans commenting on cricket, the IPL and their experiences while watching at home. The commentators of course added to the excitement by being higher pitched than they are prone to be so early on in the tournament.

    Around seven million viewers on Disney + Hotstar at peak is a good number, considering the streaming service has put the IPL telecast behind a pay wall. The adverts on it and on Star’s channels were a-plenty, whether TVCs or banners or offers popping up. Of course that means good revenues. That should come as good news for the TV broadcast industry – which like many other sectors – is struggling with a poor five-month period of clamped up ad spends.

    And it’s good tidings for sports and for cricket buffs, who number hundreds of millions in India. As Dhoni said during the pos- match presentation: “It’s great that cricket is back after so long. For us and for the devotees. It takes a lot for those behind the scenes. We can be critical. But it takes a gigantic effort to put it all together. A big thank you to all them.”

    Indeed. Cricket and IPL fans echo his sentiment.

    (Today’s match between Delhi Capitals and Kings Xi Punjab at 7:30 promises to be another cracker.)

  • Anuj Sharma joins Xiaomi India as head of marketing

    Anuj Sharma joins Xiaomi India as head of marketing

    MUMBAI: Chinese mobile giant, Xiaomi, has appointed Anuj Sharma as the new head of marketing for India business.

    Sharma’s appointment comes at an interesting time when the company is looking to accelerate market growth ahead of the festive season.

    Welcoming Anuj Sharma on board, Xiaomi India head Manu Jain said in a Facebook post and a tweet: “Anuj will be heading end-to-end marketing at Xiaomi India, including all functions and product lines. At Xiaomi, we believe in ‘marketing without advertising’. We’ve always innovatively used social media, Mi Community and various Mi Fan forums to do our marketing, rather than spending crores in traditional advertising!”

    With an experience of over 15 years in the technology domain, Sharma worked at Lenovo and Motorola where he headed online sales, product management and product marketing.

    Sharma has over 15 years of experience in the technology domain, having had a long stint at Lenovo & Motorola, where he played various roles, including heading online sales, product marketing & product management.

    Known as the ‘Apple’ of China, Xiaomi mobiles entered the Indian market in 2014 with an exclusive sales tie-up with Flipkart for smartphone Mi 3. The company spent zero marketing dollars for the first three years.

  • Xiaomi India retains smartphone market leadership in Q1 2018

    Xiaomi India retains smartphone market leadership in Q1 2018

    MUMBAI: Xiaomi India continued to lead the Indian smartphone market as per IDC’s quarterly mobile phone tracker in Q1 2018. Xiaomi retained its top smartphone brand position with a substantial 30.3 per cent market share, widening the gap between itself and the number 2 smartphone brand. Xiaomi also continued its dominance in the online smartphone market with 59.6 per cent market share. The popularity of Redmi Note 5 and Redmi 5A and Xiaomi’s efforts in expanding its offline presence are key contributors for Xiaomi’s growth in the smartphone market.

    Xiaomi India vice president and managing director Manu Jain says, “All the success which Xiaomi enjoys today is proof of the love we have received from millions of our Mi fans. We are thankful to each and every one of them for putting their faith in us and we promise to work hard to retain it.  Xiaomi will strive to deliver on its philosophy towards providing high quality innovative technology at an honest price and bring the best of technology to everyone.”

    True to its unconventional spirit, Xiaomi India released a unique video. With Xiaomi’s sales continuing to gain momentum, the video gives viewers a series of quirky insights on the vast scale of its smartphone sales in India over the last 3.5 years. The video aptly summarises the incredible scale of Xiaomi’s impact of smartphone sales, making quality and innovation available to everyone. 

    The video was conceptualised by the brand marketing team of Xiaomi India led by Karan Shroff, brand marketing lead, Xiaomi India and created by Schbang Digital Solutions. For example, if all Xiaomi phones sold were stacked together, it would run 25 times deeper than the depth of Mariana trench, world’s deepest oceanic trench at 10,994 meters and 35 times the height of Mount Everest at 8848 meters. The total weight of all Xiaomi phones sold measure 25 times more than the recorded weight of a blue whale. The video shares a similar fun fact on how the charge from batteries of all Xiaomi phones sold could easily light up the Burj Khalifa for as long as five days, which would stand as a distant dream to many other phone brands. This also highlights the powerful battery life that most Xiaomi smartphones are known for. With its highly engaging content, this video certainly leaves viewers with some great food for thought. Interesting facts like these indicate Xiaomi’s rapid success and growing positive outreach across the country.

    Xiaomi was founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneur Lei Jun. With presence in over 70 countries and regions, Xiaomi is expanding its footprint across the world to become a global brand.

  • Mohit Burman willing to look at cricketing leagues globally

    Mohit Burman willing to look at cricketing leagues globally

    MUMBAI: They had never won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title in 10 seasons but that didn’t stop Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) from investing in big names for the eleventh edition. Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, Yuvraj Singh and KL Rahul are names associated with this team.

    Since the commencement of the league, the ownership of KXIP has remained unchanged with Dabur India director Mohit Burma holding the majority stake and the rest being distributed among actress Preity Zinta, businessman Ness Wadia and Apeejay Surrendra Group’s Karan Paul.

    This season, the IPL has introduced a novel concept of allowing mid-season transfer of players. While some team owners believe that it won’t be used much, Burman thinks the opposite. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com, he says, “It is a great move by IPL. It helps the team realign its strategy keeping in mind the kind of position it is in at that particular moment. The players who haven’t received enough opportunity to play for the team will get a chance to play for some other team.”

    The first seven seasons were loss-making with KXIP losing Rs 70 crore but the team stuck to it and managed to turnaround things in the next three seasons. Burman is set on cricket and isn’t keen on investing in other sports but will look at other cricketing leagues globally.

    Burman may have taken a lesson from his investment in the team Dabur Mumbai Magicians in the Mumbai Hockey India League (HIL) from 2012 to 2014. The team is now owned by DoIT Sports Management. But he still owns the Pune team of the Indian Badminton League.

    Financially, this was the best pre-tournament time for KXIP’s history. “For the first time in history, we closed all our sponsorships one month before. This year, we changed our strategy to sell out sponsorships by approaching the companies that generally don’t advertise on cricket. In terms of sponsorship revenue, we grew by 20-25 per cent compared to last year. The average title sponsorship for all the teams is between Rs 10 crore and Rs 20 crore. The top teams for selling sponsorships are Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders,” Burman adds.

    KXIP sponsors for season 11 include Kent RO, Lotus Herbals, Jio, Fena, Royal Stag, Finolex, Manyavar, Tecno, Surya LED, Kingfisher, Tic-tac and Coca-Cola.

    He lauds the investment by Star India to ensure the IPL reaches out to regional crowds this season onwards. “Star has put it a lot of work because of the amount they have paid for broadcasting it. IPL viewership has gone up in the south because they are showing it in different languages like Telugu, Tamil and Kannada,” he says.

    The team that failed to qualify for the knockouts in the previous season, surprised everyone by deciding to release star performers Glenn Maxwell and David Miller with the former going to Delhi Daredevils and the latter being retained using the right to match option. The side that ended in the fifth position of the table decided to retain only the bowling all-rounder option Axar Patel this year.

    As of today, KXIP stands fourth in the IPL ranking chart trailing Sunrisers Hyderabad, Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. The team will have to buck up if it wants to defeat champions and become champion for season 11.

  • Dura Cement replaces Kingfisher as RCB’s associate sponsor

    Dura Cement replaces Kingfisher as RCB’s associate sponsor

    MUMBAI: Kingfisher and Royal Challenger Bangalore (RCB) have parted ways after a successful 10-year sponsorship sprint at the Indian Premier League (IPL). The associate sponsor slot has nowbeen taken over by Dura cement replacing Kingfisher. As part of the deal, the Dura branding will appear on the back of the team’s playing kit.

    In a recent interaction, Gameplan Sports director Jeet Banerjee pointed that the sponsorship amount that brands will pay to teams this year will be in the range of Rs 15-25 crore per annum.

    RCB is waiting for the title sponsors deal to be closed and have increased the amount by 50 per cent. Gionee paid Rs 14 crore for the previous season, so this season the amount has reached to Rs 20 crore according to media reports.

    Kingfisher’s “oo la la la la le o” campaign has been a successful one in the past for the IPL. The campaign was seen with the big names of six teams previous season including RCB, Mumbai Indians (MI), Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), Delhi Daredevils (DD) and Rising Pune Supergaints (RPS).

    With the revival of the eight original franchises that took part in the inaugural edition, the league is all set to embark upon a new journey. Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals arereturning after a two-year ban.

    Also Read:

    BCCI invites bids for e-auction of India rights

    Star India bags production rights for IPL 2018

    IPL 2018 gets a makeover with Star India

  • IPL 2018: Team sponsorship deals may see an uptick

    IPL 2018: Team sponsorship deals may see an uptick

    MUMBAI: With barely two months to go before the eleventh season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) starts in April 2018, brands have begun their hunt to pick their favourite team to bid on and are rapidly putting together deals. The bigger team you pick, the more chances of your brand being visible on the field and earning you brownie points in the eyes of viewers and consumers. 

    A lot is riding on this year’s season for sponsors as the T20 tournament has gone on to become the fifth most popular sports event in the world with more than 335 million viewers and the number only seems to be increasing every year. Last year, Star India won the global IPL media rights for Rs 16,347 crore for a period of five years. Since this is the first time both the TV and digital rights are with a single broadcaster, better synergies can be drawn between the TV and digital campaigns.

    Gameplan Sports director Jeet Banerjee projects a rise in the sponsorships amount that brands will pay to teams this year as compared to previous seasons. “The amount will differ from team to team, but it will be in the range of 15-25 crores per annum,” he believes. 

    According to an industry source who did not wish to be named, however, principal sponsor deals this year between teams and brands could range from Rs 8-12 crore per annum, more in line with previous years.

    Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI), according to another source, are on their way to complete their inventory for the year 2018 with new sponsors and partners.

    As the five-year deal between MI and Videocon d2h has come to an end, a new innings for Samsung has begun this season. Samsung, which was the official partner for MI, has now become the team’s lead sponsor. The team has a list of official partners including Performax, Kenstar, Taiwan Excellence and Usha.

    Although Kingfisher is sponsoring all major teams this season as well,  Royal Rajasthan and Chennai Super Kings that are making a comeback this season are also interested in sponsoring with Kingfisher and the brand is in talk with teams to consider it.

    United Breweries Group chief marketing officer Samar Singh Shekhawat believes IPL is the perfect sport for the brand to invest in as the league is all about fun, glamour, colour, youth and energy. Because the brand is not allowed to do television and other traditional advertising for its product due to government regulations that prohibits any alcohol advertising on the platform, IPL works best for the company.

    The brand is considering a lot of on-ground activation this year and is working and debating with 3-4 agencies that have pitched presentations for UB.

    Radio station radio city 91.1fm’s five-year official partnership deal with the Mumbai Indians ended this year but is said to be in discussions with the team to renew the partnership.

    While CSK has Muthoot Finance as its principal team partner, the right chest of the team’s jerseys will bear the logos of India Cement, which has come on board as the team’s official cement partner, and Gulf, which is its official lubricant partner. Other partners include Nippon Paint as the official paint partner, Equitas as the official retail banking partner, HIL as the official partner and ACT Fibernet as the official connectivity partner.

    This season, Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) has water purifier brand Kent RO as its title sponsor while detergent brand Fena, Royal Stag and Lotus Herbals have come on board as official partners and will be featured on the team’s jerseys. The team, with its fresh squad, is planning to change its team name and shift its base out of Punjab.

    Sony Pictures Network successfully managed to elevate the IPL’s position year after year. The turn of events is going to be interesting now with Star India planning to make the IPL a six-month-long fiesta with new-age technology, putting fans at the heart of the experience.

    Also Read :

    Star ushers in IPL’s new era with a bang

    Star India gets IPL to change match timings for 11th edition

    IPL auction: Gayle to play for KXIP, Unadkat most expensive Indian player

  • KKR grew 24% as IPL value reaches US$ 3.8 bn, challenging times ahead

    MUMBAI: Even as the business value of the IPL system grew 9% to US$3.8 billion, KKR, worth US$58.6 million, is the IPL’s ‘Most Valuable Brand’ despite missing out on the title this year.

    Mumbai Indians has the most powerful brand and Royal Challengers Bangalore’s is the only brand to fall in rank, according to Brand Finance.

    Since 2009, it has calculated both the business value of the Indian Premier League system and the brand values of each individual franchise team, providing a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges facing the teams and the IPL system as a whole.

    public://F1_6.jpg
    Being the fastest growth year to year of 24%, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) tops the Brand Finance IPL league table for the second year in a row. Despite missing out on the title, KKR has continues to consistent qualify for the playoff stages. The team has displayed strong leadership skills, team bonding, and a clear approach to composition and winning tactics.

    This year, however, surprising player choices in the playoffs did not pay off as KKR lost to Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier. KKR has its owner Shah Rukh Khan to thank for a larger part of its popular appeal. The Bollywood superstar attracts incredible media attention and fan following, acting as an icon for the entire franchise.

    Depending heavily on Khan’s personal brand equity and connections, KKR lands a host of local and national sponsorships and has been one of the first to introduce an effective merchandising strategy.

    This year’s champions, Mumbai Indians (MI) are the most powerful brand among all franchises, with a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score of 71. As part of Brand Finance’s analysis, each brand’s strength is assessed (based on factors such as marketing investment, familiarity, preference, sustainability and margins) to determine what proportion of a business’s revenue is contributed by the brand. This proportion is projected into perpetuity and discounted to determine the brand’s value. Despite creating the strongest brand, Mumbai Indians have been less adept at capitalising on this strength than KKR.

    At US$54.1 million MI’s brand value is over US$4.5 million behind KKR. MI must do more to convert its unrivalled brand strength into maximum financial returns and brand value.

    Impressive growth of 23% to a brand value of US$46.5 million landed Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in third place, up from the fourth position last year. In 2017, SRH continued to be the most balanced team in terms of the ratio between overseas stars and high-performing Indian players, investing especially in young, emerging talent.

    With a brand value of US$44.4 million, up only 4% year on year, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) fall to 4th place. As a team, RCB had a forgettable year in 2017, which is reflected in the decrease of the BSI to 64 from 66 in 2016. RCB is the only franchise brand whose strength waned this season.

    Delhi Daredevils (DD) hold to 5th place in the study with a brand value of US$40.5 million, following growth of 13%. Zaheer Khan’s charismatic leadership infused a newfound spirit into the team and new talents such as Rishab Pant drove the team very close to playoffs, attracting praise from pundits and critics as well as a massive fan following far beyond Delhi.

    Kings XI Punjab has a brand value of US$36.2 million, putting it in last place. However, solid 18% growth hints at the brand’s relative success this year. Under the leadership of Glen Maxwell, the team was a force to be reckoned with.

    After a troubled 2016 season, the business value of the IPL System grew 9% in 2017 to US$3.8 billion. Celebrating 10 years of the IPL journey, opening ceremonies took place at all host stadiums this year, with a whole array of Bollywood entertainers and local cricketing celebrities. As the season progressed, fans without tickets could watch the competition in ‘Fan Parks’ in 36 cities across the country. Family-friendly and free to attend for all, Fan Parks offered music, entertainment, and a range of merchandise stalls, bringing stadium atmosphere to city centres on a scale larger than ever.

    The quality of the game did not disappoint either, improving ticket sales and enabling the teams to build brand equity. The emergence of strong contenders such as the Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab, challenging the usually dominant Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians, resulted in a seesaw in the points table throughout the season. The emergence of relatively unknown young Indian players created further interest. Young guns such as Nitesh Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant, Basil Thampi, and Mohammed Siraj, all began to build powerful personal brands, whilst adding to the interest in and value of the competition as a whole.

    Overall, stadium attendance increased 25% from 2016 even before the season was over, while last year’s television viewership numbers were beaten by the time match 43 of this season had been played. Social media engagement reached an all-time high, with nearly six million tweets sent over the season’s first five weeks.

    Brand Finance India managing director Ajimon Francis comments, “The 10th anniversary year is an inflection point for the IPL. The upcoming tender procedure for television and digital broadcast rights, the disbanding of Gujarat Lions and Rising Pune Supergiant and the revival of Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, as well as the unavoidable reshuffling of players all present challenges for the management of the IPL. However, this year’s results show that the IPL is now operating from solid financial and reputational foundations, with increasing fan interest and engagement. The future looks bright.”