Once upon a time we played Cricket !!! - Part IV

Part IV of Guest article by Vipin Nambiar - Manager (Space selling) at Indian Express, Mumbai who also happens to be one of my beloved students......

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IPL – A Property for All…

The packed DY Patil stadium with more than 50k spectators bid a fascinating farewell to IPL 3. The show is over. Chennai Super Kings became the King of IPL. Hard Luck for Mumbai Indians, being the most favourites throughout the season.. IPL 3 thus ended with all its Glitz, Glamour and Excitement intact. Thanks to Keiron Pollard, Sachin, Raina for an excellent finale, and the likes of A R Rahman, Shahid Kapoor, Bipasha Basu made the entire evening a sparkling and memorable one...

For all the bad publicity IPL is earning in the past so many days, I have one thing to say, just like the short format of the T20 version of cricket, the controversies, too, will be short and entertaining(it already is entertaining and nothing more). The sooner one gets sprung up; the faster it gets dusted. My passion towards cricket and IPL from the last 3 years, compelling me to pray that nothing bad should happen to put off curtains to this behemoth event called Indian Premier League. Because it’s indeed the biggest marketing extravaganza ever happened in India, by most (if not all) measures. A golden goose for all…

In this controversy, the ultimate winner is Media Companies by all means. They welcomed it with both hands ,easily filling in the slots. The controversies tearing many masks, opening the intricacies of the Big Mine Called IPL… Not getting much into the controversy side, because I don’t have Valid Proofs, which everyone is asking for… Will this havoc create a permanent dent on the credentials of IPL? Let’s wait and watch …

Have you happened to hear the Nerolac Jingle whenever the Score summary of IPL matches was being shown in CNN IBN? This one hour program on IPL is named Cricketainment. Or the Sidhuisms in the program called Cannon Summer Slam III with Sidhu in Times Now. Be it regional or national, every news channel in India has got half an hour to one hour exclusive programs on IPL. Had you missed a sixer, OOPS, sorry, a DLF Maximum or a Citi Moment of Success you would have tuned into these programs and got a glimpse of it.

Even you can have chats with all time greats like Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri, Sidhu, Harsha Bogle and many more. These are brilliantly devised marketing programs. That’s the only reason why these so called 24x7 News Channels didn’t get into more fights over the telecasting issues with the IPL governing body and SET MAX. These innovative IPL properties successfully fetched in many of the big advertisers on board.

Each and everyone was eagerly selling out IPL to make that extra buck this summer. Some days back, Lalu Prasad Yadav was demanding the nationalization of IPL, where it’s already a Universal Brand. The Top 5 News Channels registered and Average Ratings of 1.5 to 1.75 for their Exclusive IPL Programs.

IPL was not spared by the newspaper dailies. Times of India has come out with a 3-4 pager exclusive feature on IPL called IPL THREELLER. From Scorecards, to Today’s Matches, to Players Columns to whatnot, every single column of the broadsheet has been attached to a brand. Not just TOI, but all the leading dailies tried to fetch in many advertisers on board by their 20-100 sqcm box ads....( click on the first two pics attached with this article) IPL, thus creating opportunities for all, despite which and what field they are in.

Websites featured IPL also registered a healthy growth in the last 45 days. The websites’ HITS were on a high. Be it to check the scorecard, or to go through the players or teams profile, for all reasons Indian Cricket Websites pulled in more eyeballs this time.

Its not just IPLT20.COM, which is the official website of IPL, which registered steepness in their growth curve, but sites like Cricinfo, Rediff.com etc also took a greater share in the pie. Better and fast mobile browsing helped many to have a quick check while they are on the go. The easy and free browsing applications are doing a world of good for those mobile savvy cricket fans. Thanks to the live Youtube featuring also, which really enhanced the spectrum of fan base across the world.

IPL Mobile Connection

IPL thereby making fans in all strata of society right from a 3 year old to 60 year old to housewives to Chaiwalas to whonot. It’s indeed the biggest and most successful realty show India had ever produced. Let’s all wish and pray all the conspiracies, problems and probes on IPL will end up soon and expect a clean and transparent IPL 4.

I retire with a heartfelt thanks to all who read this article that got spread in four episodes… God bless !

(Pic courtesy- Financial express- Brand wagon)

Once upon a time we played Cricket !!! - Part III

Part III of Guest article by Vipin Nambiar - Manager (Space selling) at Indian Express, Mumbai who also happens to be one of my beloved students.

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Best, Bekar and Bewildering…

One good thing or rather the best thing about IPL lies in the fact that quality and thrilling cricket is being played all the time. So much excitement that even housewives take the front seats for the live telecasts, which really ends up in calling the Pizza guy for a home delivery. In short Good Business for all… (40-50 minutes lagega boss... IPL chaaloo hein na sir, zyadaa orders aa rahe hein... - Excerpts from the home delivery call for a chicken biriyani with the owner of Hotel Banana Leaf, the nearby hotel to my building – call timing 9.50pm)

For the Brands and Ad Agencies, the cardinal rule here is, “to make quality ads and get the audience well connected to your brand”. To divert the audience from the match, you really need to buy out those 5-10 seconds from them. To a greater extend Airtel; Max New York Life Insurance and Vodafone were successful in the first leg of the tourney. And this clarity of thought made the new born species “ZOOZOOs” were a tremendous hit last year. It touched everyone from a 6 year old to 60 year old.

Let me start digging into the ambiguity of consumer durables. To everyone’s surprise it’s a clutter amongst the big clutter. Samsung, LG, Godrej, Voltas, Whirlpool. My vote goes to Whilpool and Voltas in this category, wherein they sticked to one creative at a time with Ajay, Kajol and Yuvi. Whirlpool is the only product that has succeeded in the clutter to remind you by its sub product name ie, WHIRLPOOL MASTERMIND. Even though Yuvi is bit out of place in the ad, it has managed to create a good recall. Yuvi’s involvement here is because, you get free Reebok shoes and watches autographed by Yuvi and their partnership with Kings XI Punjab.

Do you remember any of the LG or Samsung ads in category?

3D TVs, Washing Machines, Refrigerator, ACs, in short all products from their bouquet. They made confusion by infusing all of them amongst their corporate ads as well. So badly planned and even worse implementation. 3D TV’s in India? What bizarre idea. In India, only a few satellite channels offer us so called High Definition Mode, and this 3D is just “Dhoor Ki Baat Hein”… TURN ON TOMORROW tag from Samsung is completely lost in the queue. Like always LG has no clarity in their ads. Not even the Akshay’s ad- of wooing the girl at his place which is a complete nonsense. Voltas was an exception with a good jingle backing it up. The “SENSIBLE HAIN SENSIBLE HAIN” jingle with Grandpa and some kids made some difference. The message of the ad is also well conveyed. Talking about the various product features, which will in turn save your energy, is indeed a well tried attempt…… Better ad films with limited product exposure would have reaped better results for LG and Samsung. They should have zeroed down on AC’s and Fridges, which is the immediate necessity for the summer.

Another major Product Category is Mobile Phones. Good try by the newcomers. One category which is really benefited from spending good bucks in IPL. Nokia and Sony Ericson paved way for Maxx, Videocon, MicroMax, Karbonnn Mobile, Aircel INQ and so on. Samsung for their lower end versions with ads of Aamir Khan, did exceedingly well for the brand. The ad is beautifully directed with an emotional touch, stood out from the crowd. Good work done by famous director Anurag Kashyap. I believe there are 2 or 3 more episodes of the same ad and to be rolled this IPL season. And we can proudly call this as well planned strategy. This sensible continuity will help the brands to get better connectivity with the consumers. All players have one thing in common - “Economy Business Phones”. Suddenly we could see everyone busy selling their business phones, which made even the Giant Blackberry to advertise. And to our surprise, they were showing us the FUN side of Blackberry. Direct association with Mumbai Indians can give Videocon a booster among the lot. Too much shouting will not really help here as it can lead to much more fluster.

In between those star studded Mobile Service ads [Sharman Joshi for Airtel, Dhoni for Aircel, Abhishek for Idea and none other than ZooZoos for Vodafone], the new Videocon Mobile Services ads (without any stars) were indeed well crafted and superbly narrated ones. It really touches the heart for its Life’s Most Valuable yet so simple SIGNALS that we all would have faced or would be facing in our daily lives and by attaching it to the so called Better Network, is simply delighting …

One classier example of superior connectivity with the audience is Max New York Life Insurance. It is simply charming... Max New York Life Insurance being the biggest spot buyer in the first week of IPL definitely did the trick through the series of their SMART KIDDO ad. Like Samsung Mobile Phones, they also bridged the gap between their TG. Such ads are fun to watch and easy to recall.

Hyundai another biggest spot buyer, trying hard with the same films, did nothing great. Hope the product quality helps them in retaining their loyal customers. Nothing fresh to get the X factor to convert a Maruti owner to Hyundai. “Can we change the name to i10”, Oh God, Change the ad itself…

Videocon D2H ad makers had no idea about what are they up to… Bizarre!!!

Tata Photon, Kent purifiers, MTS Broadband, Park Avenue, Vaseline (New Fairness Cream), Spinz Deo’s, TVS Jive, Axe Deo’s, Club Mahindra. The list of advertiser goes on and on… Latest entry being Videocon Mobile Services and Sprite…

The resurrection of Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan Royals Vengeance, Punjab’s Problems, Chennai Super Kings’ fight back, all opened up the table for this season’s IPL. One thing is unequivocal; all can expect more cracker burst in the second leg of IPL 3.

To be continued...>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tail piece : -

Javed Miandad called Merv Hughes that he's nothing but a "fat bus conductor"during a match.......

"Tickets please!" MH calls to JM after he gets him out in the next ball...

Once upon a time we played Cricket !!! - Part II

Part II of Guest article by Vipin Nambiar - Manager (Space selling) at Indian Express, Mumbai who also happens to be one of my beloved students.

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Match between Break or Break between Match?

Boundaries, 4’s, 6’s, OUT, CATCHES etc... It rather became a cliché. All these are supposed to be terms used in the game called Cricket. These terms have almost gone into oblivion and been rephrased into some statements.

All Harsha’s, Jackman’s and Shastri’s are busy shouting these…

Oh my goodness, It’s a “DLF Maximum” Indeed a “Citi Moment of Success” What a good “Karbonnn Kamal Catch” Billy Bowden’ funny signals for a “Maxx Mobile Timeout”

Brands are ubiquitous…….. Licking the cream out of every moment of IPL…...

Amongst all the heavy duty campaigns of Save the Tiger, an animal called Mongoose is getting all the attention. Even those left out 1411 Tigers would have badly wished, why the inventor not named the bat after them. IPL is all about that…... Fun and Frolic with much awaited climax and anti climaxes.

In this IPL season we could not see any transformations like CEAT & Godrej (Logo change ads) and Vodafone Zoo Zoos in IPL 1 and IPL2 seasons respectively, thereby helping us to reach a conclusion that this platform is a better place to build Brand Value. It’s a 45 days realty show with a mega final. So the media planning and account planning for a brand also should be in sync with the continuity of the show.

Mobile phones to Consumer Durables to FMCG’s to Soft Drinks, every one trying so hard to get a fair pie of the FCT. Consumer Durables making the platform count to enhance the sales of summer season through ads of AC’s. Mobile operators claiming better network coverage’s and pushing their various VAS (Value Added Services). Soft Drinks finding better ways to quench thirst this summer. The sudden spurt of new Mobile Phone players in the market made Nokia to keep silent this time and paving way for Rookies Maxx, MicroMax, Karbonnn and Videocon…… LG and Samsung are also in the race. Insurance companies are making the most by emotionally blackmailing the audience. So every product category is here to make an impact to get the desired attention. Hope to have a win-win situation for all...

All have one simple strategy – VOCIFERATE. When others are shouting, let’s also do it…

About IPL 3 Breaks, I could sum it up like this – Chaos, Confusion and Obscure.

Best, Bekar and Bewildering …

If there is something called Best IPL ad this time, the whole credit goes to Airtel and Sharman Joshi. Flow of ads being spectacular and recall being the highest, Airtel takes the centre stage this time surpassing Vodafone Zoo Zoo’s. Somewhere the repetitive quotient did not help much for Vodafone. Still it is a crowd puller. Though not 3-4 times (like IPL 1), we wait for the new episode of Zoo Zoo every match and watch it fully at least once.

Oongli Cricket, a new cricketing concept by IDEA is a good IDEA, just to optimize their SMS push. Decent one by Abhishek, his peon and seductress secretary.

Battle between Pepsi and Coke, the clear winner is Coke by all means (cute and smart faces of Imran Khan and Kalki Koechlin and the nice background score), because for many reasons the Ranbir and later on Sanjay Dutt’s teaser not even funda is bewildering all the way. Hope at least the ‘ reveal ad ‘will do some justice. Opinion by some college going DUDES about this ad somewhat stated like this - “Youngistan ka Wow Sucks”.

One more reason to get irritated in this hot summer is the Akshay Kumar’s Micromax Mobile ad. The all hehehehe’s and hahahaha’s was indeed BEKAR. Stupid Chef and nettlesome laughs made me just turned on my channel from SET MAX, the only one time in IPL…….

Now the tale of the best , bekar and the bewildering continues... come back for part III...

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Tail piece :- During a Test match between the West Indies and England, Michael Holding was to bowl to Peter Willey........ The commentator at the time, Brian Johnston, described the action, quite accurately, as "The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey".... need less to say that the whole stadium burst into an uproar of laughter... !

Once upon a time we played Cricket !!! - Part I

Guest article by Vipin Nambiar - Manager (Space selling) at Indian Express, Mumbai who also happens to be one of my beloved students.

The Indian Premier League (often abbreviated as IPL), is a Twenty20 cricket competition initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and supervised by BCCI Vice President Lalit Modi, Chairman & Commissioner for IPL. It presently includes 10 teams "franchises" consisting of players from different countries. It was started after altercation between the BCCI and the newly-created Indian Cricket League.

Above mentioned is not rocket science. Neither it is strange for us. This is the wikipedia search result of IPL. Every Tom Dick and Harry knows who is Lalit Modi.. He is undoubtedly the latest celebrity of India.



Does he look good ??



Is he charming?



Neither he is and nor is he an amazing public speaker… But he is indeed a Star.. … Wikipedia made some recent updates with 2 new entrants in the table, updated a week ago, Pune & Kochi with no logos and captains to be decided . The whopping amount of Rs.3235 crores of Pune and Kochi Teams, which by anywhich ways more than the aggregate amount of 8 other teams, which direct us to only one way, this mega marketing extravaganza is here to stay and for a long time…But Only if it is nurtured properly.

Once upon a time we played cricket... and now we can better term it as CRICKETAINTMENT. Started as a true copy of English Premier League, but now it is growing much beyond that and will soon become the richest event in the world. The success of these 2 new bids has astonished everyone. It is apparent that IPL just keeps growing. And the marketing support behind this mammoth event is indeed vivacious. The model has been efficiently and smartly devised in such a way to woo the bestest of the marketers.

IPL Breaks...

SET Max is expecting to earn a revenue figure more than 45 crores this year. I believe it can easily cross this figure. As the day progresses we can see new entrants in the Breaks. Latest being Videocon Mobile Services, which is just been launched. The success of IPL lies in the fact that it is a right blend of Cricket, Entertainment, Fun, Excitement and last but not the least the bollywood involvement. IPL is indeed the most successful business of cricket, which creates a win-win situation for all, be it advertisers, franchisees, hotels and everyone involved in the game from groundsmen to the jockey who plays the music inside the stadia.

It has become highly imperative to have right mix of FCT and innovations with good on ground promotions and better merchandising on and off the ground. If you happened to be a spectator inside the stadium you will have a better connect to all the brands. Vodafone leads the lot of the best marketer by maximizing their ZooZoo stuffs and thereby optimizing their product recall.

Indian Premier League is receiving not only an avalanche of advertisements but also taking away their viewers of other GEC’s. The recent revelation of increase in Women viewership for IPL is a good sign that by infusing more and more entertainment this can be the right platform for a brand to get the extra added mileage by targeting all strata of audience.

Ten days from the launch of IPL 3, the LIVE telecast continues to clock record television viewership numbers. Data from aMap, a TV viewership monitoring agency, show the average rating for IPL-3 matches telecast in the first 11 days registered an increase of 22 per cent to 4.55 points from the 3.72 points recorded during the same period last season. aMap tracks cable and satellite homes among the age group of 15 years and above in six cities. Viewership numbers have peaked faster this season as compared to matches telecast in the first and second editions of the event. (Tips from afaqs.com)

Broadcaster Multi Screen Media Pvt. Ltd (MSMPL), which operates Sony Entertainment Television, is set to reap a bonanza from the third edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is expected to deliver Rs 700 crore in advertising revenue for the network (AHEM). The network has managed to sell close to 90% of its advertising inventory a full six weeks ahead of the tournament’s launch date of 12 March despite a steep increase in spot advertising rates and sponsorship fees. ....

A Golden goose, Money Spinning Machine, Profitable Stock Exchange..Synonyms are many. Within a year or two, we hope it to be the biggest sporting event in the world. IPL has been a runaway television and valuation success.

So the big game is on... come back to part II for more....

To be continued...>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>