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Tag: WSH

  • Bridgestone ups marketing budget by 20% in 2012

    Bridgestone ups marketing budget by 20% in 2012

    MUMBAI: Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone India has upped its marketing spends by 20 per cent to Rs 300 million this calendar year with 40 per cent of the total spends set aside for television, according to a company executive.

    In the previous year, the company had a marketing spend of Rs 250 million, half of which was allotted for television.

    The company, which is a heavy user of sports as a marketing platform, believes its recent tie-up with World Series Hockey (WSH) coupled with its sponsorship of Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians will pay it rich dividends. The tyre manufacturer announced earlier this week its title sponsorship of WSH for the first season of the tournament.

    “Partnering any form of sports is a natural extension of our marketing philosophy; we have been doing it for so many years now ever since Bridgestone Corporation was conceptualised. It helps us to connect to our target audience and in achieving our marketing strategy as well,” Bridgestone India GM PSR Sales & Marketing Vaibhav Saraf told Indiantelevision.com.

    He further added, “We started advertising in India in 2011 last year around April and the first thing we did was partnering with Mumbai Indians as associate sponsor. So we are quite keen on tying-up with sports events in India mainly from the perspective that it goes directly to our audience and that is a much salient way of putting your brand to your customers.”

    Bridgestone has a three-year sponsorship deal with Mumbai Indians effective till 2014. As the title sponsor of WSH, besides getting the title naming rights of the event, the tyre brand will also have on-air rights as part of a combo offer.

    Globally, the tyre manufacturer is associated with events like National Hockey League, National Football League and World Golf Championship. Its long-term association with F1 ended in 2010.

    The company counts youth as its core target group and, hence, the connect with sports. “In India, all guys with car are part of our TG and in terms of age of course male 25+ Sec AB and R1 (top social rural class),” Saraf explained.

    The brand hopes to derive the same mileage out of WSH sponsorship as it did from the IPL association through Mumbai Indians. Saraf expects WSH to deliver return on investment of at least Rs 100 million in terms of brand awareness.

    The hockey association, the company believes, will help in the North Indian market where it is weak and the game has been traditionally popular. The company also sees its 2000 dealers across India as a major consumer touch point.

    “Our evaluation is that we expect to get returns of at least Rs 100 million in terms of brand awareness and that’s the reason we have partnered WSH. The North belt has been a weak link for us and Hockey is tremendously popular there. We are also trying to tap into that segment which is not very keen on IPL and GEC. They have their own flavour, so we are trying to address those customers from Hockey,” Saraf held.

    Bridgestone’s marketing activity around the league will be limited to BTL since there is not much time left for the tournament. “Most of our ATL activity will be taken care by Nimbus and Neo Sports, we will not spend much on ATL activities. But for the BTL activities, which will be mainly to drive traffic to the stores, we will be spending on campaign and a lot on sales promotional materials,” Saraf affirmed.

  • 2011: Building leagues and searching for life beyond cricket

    2011: Building leagues and searching for life beyond cricket

    2011 was a year where sports took a leaf out of the success of the Indian Premier League (IPL) and announced leagues following a similar franchise format. Leagues ranging from football to hockey are being built to offer content to sports broadcasters.

    Sports marketers believe that there is an audience for sport other than cricket as long as it is packaged, marketed and organised well in a professional manner.

    As far as cricket is concerned, the big news was the termination of Nimbus‘ rights for India cricket by the BCCI. On a more positive note, the sport did well for advertisers in terms of ROI.

    As far as the push towards non cricket is concerned, two leagues were announced this year in motorsports and American football. Nimbus and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) concretised their plans for World Series Hockey (WSH).

    The property for Nimbus will serve as a feeder for Neo Sports. Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph expects this franchise to break-even within five years. But given that politics has been responsible for the national sport going down the drain, it is not surprising that the initiative has run into some rough
    weather.

    In order to take the sport of horse racing to another level, R1 was launched marking Bennett Coleman‘s first big push into sport. The push also extended to sports entertainment with WWE opening an office in India.

    Life In The Fast Lane: It is not just mass sports that are going the league way to gain a wider audience and boost their commercial value. In motorsports, Machdar Motorsports announced the launch of a racing league at a cost of $12-15 million a year. It will no doubt be encouraged by the response that the first F1 race got in Delhi. The league, called i1 Super Series, will see the likes of Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan owning a team.

    The league, though, has been postponed to January next year, partly due to the fact that franchise owners want time for marketing activities. Also, it has been finding it tough to get corporates to own teams for I series, which is why it had reduced the ownership price from $5 million to $3.5 million.

    1 Super Series managing Darshan M expects the franchises, who have ownership for 15 years, to recoup their investments in the fourth year. Each team will race with two cars forming an 18-car grid.

    Aiming to grow the amount of sports it covers, Ten Sports has taken the broadcast rights for the event. Ten Sports CEO Atul Pande believes there is place for a domestic racing league. “Our programming mix is the best among the sports broadcasters and this property is a significant addition. With the kind of capital and marketing dollars chasing it, the event will gain traction,” he says.

    And for Khan, this offers an opportunity to get involved with other sports ventures apart from his Kolkata Knight Riders IPL franchise.

    GroupM ESP managing partner Hiren Pandit notes that the involvement of celebrities like SRK will lend visibility. “But ultimately it is the quality of sport being dished out that will determine its fate. At this point I am not sure if it will turn out to be a good TV sport. This will be a toy for the big boys.”

    Taking a Punt: In order to boost the profile of horse racing, RWITC formed a joint venture with Bennett Coleman and Procam to launch R1.

    R1 has 13 races lined up across the country in its debut year. Aired on Ten Sports, R1 kicked off with the Indian 1000 Guineas on 11 December 2011. The aim of the stakeholders is to position the sport as being cool and trendy so that younger viewers start tuning in.

    Zee is pushing the property on its other channels like Zee Café and Zee Studio. Bennett Coleman will also heavily promote the event across its different properties like Times Now.

    For the first time in the history of this sport, behind-the-scenes action will be captured, which include the jockeys‘ room and the stewards room. The live world feed will include new cameras including a Super Slo-Mo Camera.

    According to Pandit, horse racing operates in a tight segment. “It is seen in India as a gamblers sport. Some brands will associate with it. Whether they broaden the audience base or not remains to be seen,” he says.

    EFLI makes an entry: The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) announced a league aiming to grow American football in India. Based on the franchise model, it starts with eight teams, building up to a total of 52 by 2022 representing all Indian cities with a population in excess of one million.

    With Ten Sports as its partner, the league will kick off in November 2012 in Pune. Says EFLI CEO Richard Whelan, “American football is fast, furious and fun to watch. Indian viewers are now watching sports other than cricket. There is no doubt in our minds that the EFLI has picked the right time for its Indian touchdown. Even women are keen on watching sports.”

    Nimbus‘ Woes: Speaking of the bat and ball game, Nimbus is on a sticky wicket. It moved the Bombay high Court over its deal with the BCCI (the Board of Control for Cricket in India) that got terminated for non payment of dues.

    The BCCI has time to find a new broadcaster as there are several months to go before India plays a series at home.

    Ad revenue scene: Sports broadcasters earned an advertising revenue of around Rs 21 billion in 2011, a healthy growth over last year.

    Agrees Lodestar UN CEO Shashi Sinha, “2011 was special for sports as there was the cricket World Cup and the IPL. You had the highs of big properties as well as events that helped build the image of sports. FMCG brands also got more involved with cricket. The economic slowdown has not impacted sports ad revenue.”

    There is a challenge, though, in 2012 as ad revenue from cricket could degrow in terms of monies due to a lesser number of high profile events.

    Sinha finds the entry of new leagues an encouraging sign. “The surface of sports in India has not been scratched beyond cricket. There is scope for leagues to work as long as investments are made. It will be a question of how a property is leveraged and marketed.”

    The Cricket Rights Scene: On the cricket rights front, 2012 will see a lot of action as a host of properties come up for grabs.

    In 2011, Zee took the crucial step of renewing its rights for Cricket South Africa. Zee also renewed rights for Zimbabwe cricket, while ESPN Star Sports (ESS) retained Australia.

    The rights for India, England, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand are all due for grabs.

  • ‘World Series Hockey will change the face of hockey as we know it’ : Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph

    ‘World Series Hockey will change the face of hockey as we know it’ : Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph

     

    In order to expand its presence in the sports world Wizcraft International has come on-board the World Series Hockey (WSH) as a franchisee. The franchise-based league initiative from Nimbus will be played across eight cities and kicks off on 17 December 2011.

     

    Wizcraft International bought the Delhi franchise and has called it Delhi Wizards.

     

    Indiantelevision.com‘s Ashwin pinto caught up with Wizcraft International director Sabbas Joseph to find out more on the company‘s plans and how he sees the league benefitting the sport.

     

    Excerpts:

    How did Wizcraft get involved with World Series Hockey?
    We have always been involved in Sport, be it the ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games or the Cricket World Cup and were very eager to get involved in a big way with Hockey.

     

    Wizcraft sees the WSH as an opportunity towards community building, giving our national sport a pedestal equivalent or maybe even bigger than other sports. We are keen on developing the sport and bringing it back in a big way.

    How does this broaden your presence and offerings as a company?
    We‘ve always tried to push the boundaries with everything we do and we are constantly looking to challenge ourselves with new endeavors.

     

    As a company, we have the resources and the determination to do this and we feel that World Series Hockey will establish Wizcraft as a player in the sports arena as well as entertainment. In fact we would work actively to combine entertainment and sport to create a success.

    What are your short term and long-term expectations from the league?
    We‘ve only just started and it will definitely be a challenge but we‘re sure that it will be a great success.

     

    Both our short term and long term expectations from the league are “Whatever is best for Indian hockey and sport”. We are confident that WSH will make a huge difference.

    From a commercial, viewership and player point of view what impact do you see the league having?
    From a commercial point of view I think it will change the face of Indian hockey as we know it. This initiative will make hockey ‘cool‘ and ‘exciting‘ again and it will revamp the image of our national sport.

     

    It will be a great opportunity for the players to get international training and exposure and develop their skills and really show their talent. And I think it will rouse the interest of the public as well. People will begin to get excited about hockey just as they do for cricket.
    ‘It will certainly be a challenge to get sponsors in such a short amount of time, but we love a challenge‘

    Could you talk about the management team that has been put in place to look after the franchise?
    As of now, Wizcraft has the in-house expertise with a number of people working around the clock to manage the franchise and build the ‘Delhi Wizards‘ brand from the ground up, making it the national capital‘s pride.

     

    Additionally we have the world‘s best hockey coach, Roelant Oltmas and the captain Lucas Villa.

    Will Delhi Wizards be incorporated as a separate company?
    We are at a very nascent stage now. We are yet to decide the corporate structuring of the ‘Delhi Wizards‘. We will do all that is needed to give it impetus and independence.

    What is the overall investment being made by Wizcraft in the franchise and will this go up year on year?
    At the present moment we are committed to do all that it takes to make Delhi Wizards succeed. Expectedly our commitments will only increase year on year.

    By when do you expect to breakeven and what sort of a split do you see between central and local revenue?
    It is early. But we hope that we can break even within five years at least. The split between central and local revenue is projected to be equal.

    Why did you choose Delhi as the franchise base?
    We have already got a fantastic team in Delhi and we have our leisure and entertainment destination ‘The Kingdom of Dreams‘ there as well.

     

    We have also got a media and entertainment institute coming up in Delhi shortly and we felt that all of these factors would give us a bit of an edge.

    How did the name Delhi Wizards come about and what are the brand attributes of the team?
    Well, at Wizcraft we consider ourselves to be Wizzes and believe the hockey team should be an extension of this belief.

     

    They are another addition to the Wizcraft family which is why we call them the Wizards. It‘s also a tribute to Dhyan Chand, the wizard of hockey. Incidentally, our home ground too is named after Dhyan Chand.

    Has research been done by Wizcraft to show how the national sport is perceived?
    Yes, but I think it‘s pretty clear that our national sport doesn‘t get the recognition it deserves.

     

    It is riddled by politics and doesn‘t get the encouragement and distinction or reward that is needed. This is very sad and it is exactly the kind of perception that we would persevere to change.

    There are just a few weeks between the announcement of your franchise and the league starting. What challenges does this pose for you in terms of getting sponsors, getting the players to gel as a team?
    It will certainly be a challenge to get sponsors in such a short amount of time, but we love a challenge at Wizcraft and we‘re certain we will rise to the occasion.

     

    With regard to the team, we‘ve got the pick of the coaches in Roelant Oltmans, who is unarguably the world‘s best coach today and he‘s committed to working hard to get the team on the fast track and ready for the league. We‘ve also got some excellent players – a combination of international and local, experienced and really young – and we are very certain and the team will be more than ready by the time the league starts.

    Could you talk about your strategy during the players draft?
    We‘ve tried to pick a fairly balanced mix of players. We want to combine expertise with the eagerness of youth and create an environment that is conducive to learning and development.

     

    We‘ve also picked many talented players that can play in different positions making it easy to build a good team.

    Is it fair to say that a draft system is more cost effective compared to a player auction?
    Yes! It is very cost effective and it is also fair as there is an even distribution of quality players. Consequently, the picking of players is purely based on strategy. The draft system has been used very successfully in the US for the NBA. I think it works splendidly for us, as well.

    This year the NBA had a dispute with the players. Are there safeguards in place for WSH to ensure that this problem does not arise?
    The disputes between the NBA and the players arose solely due to the fact that the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) entered into between the NBPA (player union) and the league had expired.

     

    Both parties had failed to agree the terms on the renewal of the CBA which resulted in a lockout. Given that the players in World Series Hockey are currently working collectively as stakeholders for the league the need for a CBA does not currently arise, making the possibility of aforementioned NBA type dispute not possible.

    We are in the midst of an economic slowdown. In this situation how tough will it be to get sponsors?
    It is not easy but we‘ve seen a tremendous response to hockey by many corporations. Things are looking up for our national sport.

     

    We see corporates willing to go the extra mile to reclaim the country‘s pride in our national sport. In the case of hockey it is more CSR than sponsorship!

    If you want to succeed then the franchise must be in the public‘s eye for the major part of a year and not just for a couple of months. How do you plan to do this?
    We plan to undertake community engagement programmes to ensure that the franchise engages with its most important stakeholders: the people. Coaching programmes, club tournaments and school engagement will be the key to connecting with our fan base through the year.
    Will the franchise have an active digital presence?
    The franchise already has an active digital presence. We have a strong digital team working on it and the website will soon be up and running.

    Would you look at grassroots level activities to identify new talent?
    Yes, definitely. We plan to develop the sport and create an interest in hockey. Our stakeholders will see us as a brand new light in the area of sports.

     

    As said earlier, we would have coaching camps,tournaments, a search for hockey talent that would commence in the months after the tournament.

    What other sports is Wizcraft looking at being involved with?
    For now we want to focus on hockey and really do our best with developing the sport and getting more people involved. In the future we would like to translate this success across other sports.

     

    You have won awards for events like the opening ceremony of the cricket World Cup. How important is innovation in experiential marketing?
    Innovation is very important. In fact, sometimes it is the thing that makes the difference between a run-of-the-mill engagement and something that will be memorable. It keeps the event alive and fresh.

    You have won awards for events like the How important is innovation in experiential marketing?
    Innovation is very important. In fact, sometimes it is the thing that makes the difference between a run-of-the-mill engagement and something that will be memorable. It keeps the event alive and fresh.

     

    As said earlier, we would have coaching camps,tournaments, a search for hockey talent that would commence in the months after the tournament.
     

    What other sports is Wizcraft looking at being involved with?
    For now we want to focus on hockey and really do our best with developing the sport and getting more people involved. In the future we would like to translate this success across other sports.

     
    You have won awards for events like the ricket World Cup. How important is innovation in experiential marketing?
    Innovation is very important. In fact, sometimes it is the thing that makes the difference between a run-of-the-mill engagement and something that will be memorable. It keeps the event alive and fresh.