- Club

FOREWORD
Dr. S. K. Singh
Dear Students,
It gives me great pleasure to see the fruition of yet another Club MarkUp effort to
make a difference in the world of Marketing.
We have always supported the Club with its various initiatives to make a mark in
the dynamic space of Marketers across B-Schools & the industry. While the
Marketing World Cup & its other flagship events have gained the Club & IMT a
place of respect, I wish the students luck as they now aim to provide a platform for
& encourage original thought as Marketers at a national level.
An ever changing environment, ever increasing competition & a favourable
climate for innovation & enterprise have made the need to stay updated a matter
of survival & we hope that Markezine can contribute in its own humble way to the
ever growing pool of knowledge in Marketing Circles.
I hope to see an overwhelming response to their effort & wish them luck for this &
future endeavours.
FOREWORD
Dr. Lubna Nafees
Markezine is here with yet another interesting issue on sports marketing. Sports
marketing is usually divided into two sectors: Marketing of Sports and Marketing
through sports. One is the advertising of sport and sports associations such as the
Olympics, IPL and the NFL etc. The other concerns the use of sporting events,
sporting teams and individual athletes to promote various products. Sports
marketing is generally perceived to be difficult in a country which does not have a
sporting culture. India, in particular, may not be a sports marketing market in a
purist sense compared to western countries, in particular the United States of
America.
Although we lag behind in sports marketing, the earliest initiative was the
association of an Indian soft drink brand and textile brand during the
Doordashan era of live telecast of cricket matches in the early eighties.India first
experienced sports marketing on a grand scale when the late Mark Mascarenhas
& World Tel signed Sachin Tendulkar for a whopping $ 1 billion way back in 1996.
It was the first time that Indian sports landscape had an experience with sports
marketing at this price point. Sports like cricket are like religion and though
Sports Marketing is predominantly a cricket dominated industry in our country,
tremendous opportunities exist in other sports as well. Individual sports like
tennis and badminton are catching up with the success of sportspeople and the
rise of fan following in this sphere.
There is an interesting range of articles from various B-schools in this issue that
touch on the concept, development and challenges of sports marketing
specifically in the Indian environment. Markezine touches on this topic at an
interesting time when we are witness to several sports marketing companies
setting up operations in India. I wish team Markezine and Club MarkUp loads of
success in all their endeavors.
Editor’s Desk
Dear Readers,
We hope you enjoyed our recent edition of Markezine
We are back and this time, at the risk of sounding cliched, we
are bigger and better. Markezine transcends to newer heights
by going inter bschool in this edition. We had invited articles on
the theme "Sports Marketing - Challenges and Opportunities"
from bschools across the country and the response was
overwhelming - in terms of quantity as well as quality. It was
truly difficult to adjudge one article as the best since each had a
different perspective on Sports Marketing but tough decisions
are a part of every manager's life ! The winner for best article is
Dinesh RC from NITIE(Mumbai). However, as promised, the
top 5 entries have been published here.
This time around, we have a brand new section - TETE-A-TETE
which will have interesting insights from industry stalwarts in
the form of an interview. We flag off this section in
conversation with Ms.Prerna Arun, Founder - Director of PI
Communications, on her views and tips on entrepreneurship.
So all of you out there who aspire to be your own boss, this is a
must-read for you.
Another new addition to Markezine is TREND CHECK - a
section on the emerging trends in the industry that are
changing the rules of the game. We focus on Apology
Advertising and Green marketing in this edition. Apart from all
these ,we have our trademark Mark-O-Meter to tickle your
grey cells.
The highlight of this edition however is our recently concluded
"Marketing World Cup 2010" - we offer you a sneak peak into
the huge success that was MWC 2010. MWC had a "Race"
theme which infact coincides with our current sports theme as
well. The event witnessed colossal participation with over
100+ teams sending in their entries for the first round and 27
teams came down to the campus to attend our 2-day
marketing extravaganza.
Editor
Vidyullatha
Prakash
Content Developers
Kanika Khandelwal
Renuka Nandgopal
Design & Layout
Pratik Bubna
Ameya Sohoni
Once again, we thank all of you for your wonderful response
and hope to see the same enthusiasm and participation in all
our future endeavors.
We look forward to your valuable suggestions, feedback and any queries. Do mail us at
[email protected]
1 Marketing Spo(r)t
Mithila Mehta, MICA
3 Sports Marketing - Time to look west
Harshad Sardeshmukh, IIFT (Delhi)
The Future of Sports Marketing
5
7 Focus on India
COVER STORY
V R Shwetha, IIFT (Delhi)
9
Sports Marketing - Dual Aspects
11
Sports Marketing - Evolution
Dinesh RC, NITIE (Mumbai)
Akshay Dikshit
13
Voicetap - Going the entrepreneur way
16
MARK-O-METER
An interview with Ms. Prerna Arun
18 Trendcheck
Marketing Spo(r)t
- Mithila Mehta, MICA
D
o you remember the “Eat
cricket, sleep cricket, drink
only Coca Cola” campaign?
Of course you do. India is a cricket
crazy nation, and we take sports very
seriously. By cleverly aligning itself
with the sport and the cricketing
hysteria, Coke had pulled off a
marketing coup.
Sports marketing is gaining momentum in India
and globally. It refers to how companies leverage
the emotional attachment of people to teams,
sporting heroes and sports in general. Sports have
become a marketing medium, and even companies
seemingly unrelated to sports are jumping onto
the bandwagon.
As per the Pitch-GroupM Survey, the sports
marketing industry is worth Rs 1,900 crore and is
growing at 25% annually. Sports marketing is a
potent medium and marketing opportunity if
correctly utilised. "There is no greater dramatic
product than sports. It can have emotions running
high and have people glued to the sporting action,"
says CEO of MindShare Asia Pacific, Ashutosh
Srivastava. In a world where the customer is
discerning and preoccupied, sports provide the
'hook' for marketers to reach their customers.
There's something about sports that rouses
loyalty. Sports viewers are undyingly loyal. By
associating themselves with a particular sport,
team or sportsperson, companies can essentially
'cash' into this loyalty. Many have attributed
Pepsi's popularity in India (while it trails behind
Coke worldover) to the fact that it has been
associated with the “Boys in Blue.”
Sports also provide marketers the opportunity to
reach specific target groups. Golf, for example, has
been used to market luxury products. Formula One
is used to target those with a passion for cars and
speeds (and hence market products like Mobil One
engine oil or Bridgestone tyres). Football is most
popular among the youth and young working
professionals. Few other media provide access to
such specific and interested target audiences.
Sports marketing provides powerful positioning
opportunities. Bank of Baroda tied up with Rahul
Dravid, to promote itself as dependable—deriving
from Dravid's existing image as a dependable
cricketer.
Increasingly, marketers are also discovering
opportunities in sports beyond the conventional
cricket. LG has recently decided to allocate 40% of
its sports sponsorship budget to non-cricket
sports. Companies are also realising that sports
marketing can be used to target the local populace
and connect with them on a personal level.
Vodafone has started sponsoring the local Goa
football league, the Delhi marathon and Polo
matches at Jaipur.
With global boundaries melting, sporting stars are
increasingly becoming internationally known
celebrities. Sporting events like the
Commonwealth Games grab eyeballs, media
attention and public interest. This global reach is a
tremendous opportunity for marketers looking to
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move beyond physical spaces and cultivate a global
presence.
There is also lack of expertise in the industry. This
is proving to be a major obstacle for its growth.
However, despite the many opportunities in this
field, sports marketing faces lot of challenges. The
biggest obstacle is that sports remain an
underdeveloped market, and sports marketing in
India is still a premature avenue.
Sports marketing may be burgeoning on a global
level, but marketers need to understand that every
nation is different. China loves basketball, India is
crazy about sports that provide entertainment as
well (Read: T20 cricket) and Europe loves football
and Formula One. Understanding the preferences
and psyche of sports viewers in different segments
is a challenge.
Apart from cricket, most sports do not have the
necessary fan base, infrastructure, visibility or
financial support. Within India, it is a very real
challenge to get companies to invest in sports
besides cricket. The general perception is that only
cricket grabs eyeballs. As a result, other sports are
Despite the many challenges facing sports
marketing, it seems to a potent tool. If harnessed
correctly, sports could well become the ace up the
marketer's sleeve! is a challenge.
Despite the many challenges facing sports
marketing, it seems to a potent tool. If harnessed
correctly, sports could well become the ace up the
marketer's sleeve!
left out in the cold. It is a fact that spaces in Indian
sports are limited and difficult to promote.
Companies need to understand that the first step in
sports marketing is development of the sport as a
whole. Ideally, sports marketing businesses
should operate on long-term business model,
which includes creation of sports properties and a
relevant gestation period. The challenge lies in the
fact that companies want instant gratification (and
results) instead.
There is general ignorance about sports marketing
as an industry and a career. Many traditional
companies do not understand sports marketing.
Others are reluctant to look at it as an option,
because sports are considered to be all fun and
games--literally.
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Sports Marketing - Time to look west!
- Harshad Sardeshmukh, IIFT Delhi
W
e have long heard of advertisements
being launched specially for the Super
Bowl and about the huge impact they
have. Coca-Cola, Snickers, Budweiser are only few
of the brands which have made use of this sporting
extravaganza to reach out to one of the largest
audiences possible, at one single time. Advertising
during Super Bowl 2010 is expected to reach out to
more than 90 million users across the USA and a
mere 30 second slot is expected to cost around 2.6
million dollars.
Marketing through sports is very popular in
western countries and has been quite successful
too. Be it associations with sports league such as
the Barclays
Premier League ,
sponsoring sports
teams such as
Samsung which is
the jersey sponsor
of Chelsea football
club or Gillette
which has famous
s p o r t s
personalities as
i t s b r a n d
ambassadors ;
sports marketing gives the company an
opportunity not just to reach out to local
audiences, but in case of popular sports such as
football which has matches being telecast
worldwide as in the case of the Barclays Premier
league, the marketers can reach out to a
worldwide audience. So in a nutshell, marketing
through sports is an effective way to reach out to
the audience. So where does sports marketing
stand in India?
For long, sports in India has begun and ended with
cricket. Hence most of the advertising and
marketing has also been cricket centric. Sahara's
association with the Indian cricket team,
Sachin Tendulkar endorsing Pepsi, Sehwag and
Gambhir in Coke advertisements: It's difficult to
blame the companies for not looking beyond
cricket. India is and will always remain a cricket
crazy nation and the benefits of marketing through
cricket will always be huge. But other sports are
catching up. Sports such as Hockey, Badminton,
Tennis etc have always been popular regionally,
but with sportsmen from these sports gaining
international prominence, not only are these
sports getting valuable air time but also national
recognition. And this is where the opportunity lies
for marketers.
There are two ways the companies can go about
this. The first is by using upcoming sportsmen as
brand ambassadors. The good thing about the
development of these sports is that it has given an
opportunity for players from all corners of India to
come to the fore. So, using these sportsmen
implies that companies can gain from the strong
regional connect that such sportsmen will bring
with them. Also these sportsmen will be available
at much cheaper rates as compared to their
cricketing counterparts. India's youth is coming
out strongly in support of other sports and they
connect instantly with a Sania Mirza or a Saina
Nehwal. Another
aspect is that by
signing on such
sportsmen, the
companies provide
them with financial
security which will
encourage more
youngsters to take
up sports as a
career option. This
is not only good for sports in India but more
sportsmen means more opportunities for
marketers.
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events itself. The IPL has been a huge success in
India and companies have been quick to join the
bandwagon in order to promote their brands.
Brands such as Cloud 9, Max Mobile have utilised
the IPL with great success to reach out to the
masses. With viewership of more than 50 million in
India alone and a worldwide audience, the IPL is an
opportunity that cannot be missed by marketers.
However, the recent successful hosting of the
commonwealth games by India and the following
that it garnered has shown that Indian audiences
are ready to move beyond cricket.
recognisable all over the country.
To summarise, the rising popularity of sports and
sportsmen justifies their use in the marketing of
products. The success of companies in the west
using these channels for marketing should provide
companies in India with sufficient inspiration to
utilize this medium to the fullest.
While marketing though sports in India seems very
lucrative, there are still a few road blocks faced by
the still nascent industry. Companies still see
cricket as the only lucrative option and arewary of
investing in other sports. The market may be
limited to only the sports fans and companies
wanting to look beyond this audience may not
want to invest in this. Also in case of Leagues such
as IPL which has regional teams participating,
interest of regions dies down pretty quickly with
the elimination of their teams. Some of the players,
though gaining in popularity may not be
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C O V E R S TO RY
The Future of Sports Marketing
Sport is, somehow, a religion . . . sports flow outward into action from a deep natural impulse that is radically religious: an
impulse of freedom, respect for ritual limits, a zest for symbolic meaning, and a longing for perfection. The athlete may of
course be pagan, but sports are, as it were, natural religions - NOVAK (1995)
I
n a nation as cricket crazed as India,
with CWG taking the country by storm,
and India's medal tally steadily inching
upwards in the Asiad games, it's easy to see
why Sports marketing seems to be a safe bet
for Cos. to grab eyeballs & awareness
Cricket & Movies have been the buzzwords
to reach out to the true Indian, but with
budding performers in various other
sporting events, and the Indian middle class
even rooting for football, what the country
has witnessed so far in terms of sports
marketing is surely the tip of the proverbial
iceberg.
of IPTVs and 3D TVs, the actual viewing rate
is likely to increase further.
Fourth, cheering for national teams at
international events heightens a sense of
oneness, encouraging national unity and
social integration. In Japan, the impressive
records achieved by swimmers at the 1952
Helsinki and 1956 Melbourne Summer
Olympic Games encouraged Japanese
people, who were disheartened by the
recession that followed World War II, to
regain pride and reunite. Surely, all that
good sentiment would lead to great brand
association for you as a sponsor!
Moving Beyond Mere Recognition
Why Sports? – It's A Language We All
Understand
Four Attractions of International Sporting
Events
First, sport is a universal language. It is clear
and easy to understand, and it can bring
people together, transcending the social,
cultural, and ideological differences.
Second, sports deliver unexpected results
and upsets and such drama and excitement
often go beyond what written stories can
offer.
Third, sports attract wide attention. The
2006 World Cup games in Germany had 32
participating countries and a billion viewers
(cumulative figure), while the 2008 Beijing
Olympics had 205 participating countries
and 49 million viewers. With the
development of various forms of media
including the Internet and the distribution
For low-profile companies or brands, sports
marketing offers a very effective tool since it
instantly enhances brand recognition.
Nevertheless, sports marketing should not
remain confined to simply increasing
recognition, but upgraded in a way that it
creates associations that are favorable and
unique.
Companies today are looking to go the next
step in the branding exercise; they are
looking to move beyond creating brand
awareness to create favorable attitudes
towards their brands.
Sports Marketing Simplified
Set Strategic Direction – This would help
companies to improve coherence between
brand identity and sports marketing
projects.
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C O V E R S TO RY
The first step is to analyze the
characteristics and tendencies specific to
the sports, teams, and players they sponsor,
since the fans are likely to share similar
tendencies. It is crucial to understand why
people become immersed in one team or
athlete over another. Choice of sport,
personality & team is of utmost importance
since the key to association lies in these
initial steps.
Create the Brand Identity - The next step is
for the company to target goals for sports
marketing and brand identity, especially
concerning the direction and coherence
strategy of the brand identity that it seeks to
create. Sports marketing can serve as a
powerful tool that raises both brand
recognition and improves brand image.
In case a company discovers a lack of
coherence in strategy with a team or player
already under contract, since cancelling the
contract could be an expensive proposition,
repositioning is the best option.
Affect Brand Recognition - Finally,
companies should find ways to affect
powerful brand recognition. Differentiating
points should be clearly devised to ensure
mindshare since other companies & rivals
might sponsor the same popular players or
teams.
that spread virally across the online
community.
CWG: An Opportunity Untapped
Common Wealth Games 2010 India's major
international sporting event with
participation of athletes from 71
commonwealth nations could have been
India's claim to sporting fame. It was an
event that begged to be marketed with as
much fervor as any other in the country.
Alas, being surrounded by many
controversies including numerous qualms
about the infrastructure facilities and
political interference, multiple
opportunities in terms of sponsorship sales,
sponsorship activation, ticketing, corporate
hospitality, ceremonies, athlete
management, advertising and
communications, and new media were lost.
Many major international brands preferred
to stay aloof lest their involvement put the
brand image to risk.
However, this is just the beginning and as
India climbs her way to sporting glory, we
hope to see Sports Marketing getting bigger
& brighter in the days to come!
Strategies like Ambush marketing though
proven to be highly effective must be used
with caution. Moral and social
responsibilities must be met at all times to
uphold the company's image. Ambush
marketing however was used to great effect
by Nike in the run up to the Fifa Worldcup
2010 with their popular soccer themed ad
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Focus on India
- V.R. Shwetha, IIFT Delhi
C
ricket and Bollywood - craze of India and
major marketing avenues. There are no
trends they cannot sell, no section of
society they don't inspire. Why am I talking about
cricket only? Because sports in India is highly
skewed towards cricket. But things are changing
and therein lies the challenge and the opportunity
beckoning the sports marketing industry.
If sport is a movie on the sports marketing stage,
following are the stakeholders:
?
Rights Holders eg. ICC: (Producers)
?
Broadcasters: (Distributors)
?
Facilities/Venues: (Cinema Halls)
?
Promoters: (Media Partners)
?
Buyers/Sponsors: (Financers)
?
Agents/Athletes: (Actors)
?
Event Management/Operations: (Director)
Traditional marketing through sports
(hoardings, ground display, kit, jersey)
With times more opportunities have been
exploited eg. specific associations with key
moments in the game (4,6,wicket) and latest, the
mid over ads on the giant screen ( to great
annoyance of the fans).
How it began:
India first experienced sports marketing on a
grand scale when the late Mark Mascarenhas &
World Tel signed Sachin Tendulkar for a whopping
$ 1 billion way back in 1996. It was the first time
that Indian sports landscape had an experience
with sports marketing at this price point.
Long before that, Jesse Owens received free shoes
in the 1936 Berlin Olympics from Adidas, which
was one of the first known examples of an amateur
athlete used for a public relations or advertising
means.
About the same time, television became the means
by which sports personalities evolved. The visual
aspect was a huge event for sports marketing.
People could see their sports heroes and soon
wanted to emulate not only their sporting feats,
but their styles of clothing and equipment as well.
With newer formats like T20 clubs, opportunities
for sports marketing is huge. A person just making
his debut in intra country T20 event now earns
more than Test greats 20 years back.
Challenges and Oppor tunities
- Observations:
Rising cost of cricket: The BCCI sold the TV rights
for all the international and domestic matches in
India between 2006 and 2010 for $612 million to
Nimbus Sport. That is 12 times the amount it
charged Prasar Bharati for the TV rights deal for
1999-2004. Consequently more and more
companies are involving themselves with other
sports: Sunfeast Open Tennis tournament, Airtel
marathon etc.
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Viewership: 2.9 crore people watched the opening
ceremony of the Commonwealth Games with a
peak viewership of 4.27 per cent of India's total TV
audience. Each day of the Games telecast saw a
minimum net reach of 2.2 crore. Contrastingly,the
India-Australia Test played at the same time saw
viewership ranging from 0.44 per cent to 1.62 per
cent of the total audience, with net reach lower
than 1 crore on all the days.
Growth: Indian sports industry is worth $ 4-5
billion currently. It is set to increase multifold in
next few years. This is a strong reason for the
stakeholders to move up the value chain and offer
an integrated approach to sports marketing.
Jocelyn Robiot, VP Global Sports Marketing &
MD Adidas International says ”India has become
a very important market from the sports
marketing perspective are focusing on India this
year because of a series of sporting events starting
from early this year till next year. It's a champagne
year for us in India.”
consultants will look to tap into the Indian sports
marketing pie.
New markets: U.S. is emerging as a new market for
T20 and its global events. U.S. is now a venue to
neutral matches. Its U.S.'s chance to grow in cricket.
That is why Neo Sports is pondering expanding in
U.S./Canada.
But the opportunities bring their own challenges.
Even though other sports are gaining popularity,
none has come as close to replacing cricket. A kid
may look up to Christiano Ronaldo but not
Baichung Bhatia. The challenge lies in managing
the spoilt kid (cricket) and the shy guy (other
sports).One cannot be neglected for the other.
People will see other sports only if quality is good
and quality will improve only when there is
sufiicient pressure on administrators which will
come only by viewers' interest. It is a vicious cycle
and a sports marketer has to be the Abhimanyu in
this Chakravyuh balancing the risk and the cost
against benefits.
Exposure: In U.S., sports sponsorship spending is
projected to grow at just a 1.8 percent rate to $11.6
billion after years of mostly double-digit growth.
With India staging world class events like IPL, it
will not be long before international sports
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Sports Marketing - Dual Aspects
- Dinesh R.C., NITIE
E
ver since marketing started playing a
prominent role in businesses, the frontiers
of its reach have been expanding to include
new areas under its purview. As businesses
diversify and move into the virtual space, new
media of marketing are being sought after. This
evolutionary expansion has now culminated in
online and mobile marketing with social media.
During the dilation, the need for marketing sports
and marketing through sports arose when the
television broadcast of spectator sports gained
popularity after the broadcast of 1936 Summer
Olympics at Berlin that marked the first live
television coverage of a sports event in world
history.
The term 'Sports Marketing' can sound ambiguous
if used out of context as it may refer two very
d i f fe re n t a s p e c t s o f
marketing viz. marketing
in sports and marketing
of sports. The former is
marketing through sports
where a company
promotes its products or
services by using sports
or sport events whereas
the latter is promoting
sports, sporting events or
sport icons. The success
of the former is in direct
correlation with the
success of the latter.
Marketing in Sports:
Sponsorship is the most favoured of the sports
marketing techniques used by businesses today. A
survey by Ernst & Young predicts that going by the
present growth rates, and with two more editions
of the Olympic Games, 2012 (London) and 2016
(Rio de Janeiro) and Asiads (China and the one in
2019, for which bidding is still on) and one more
CWG (Glasgow, 2014),
the sports sponsorship market will be more than
doubling across the globe by 2019. This clearly
shows the enormity of the opportunities available
for companies with ambitious global expansion
plans. India now has just 1 percent share of the
current sponsorship deals (90% of which are
cricket based) worth $40 billion and they are
primarily coming from companies in Clothing
(sports), Automobiles and Telecom industries. As
games other than cricket gain popularity,
companies investing there will not only get
singular brand recognition, but also appeal to the
customers' social responsibility quotient for
supporting other sports.
In sponsorship, some companies align with a
sporting event while others build a strong
association with either a team or a player in
depending upon
the sport in
contention. There
are distinct
advantages and
disadvantages in
either of the
strategies. While
charismatic
individuals can
build trust in the
b r a n d q u i c k l y,
sponsoring
leagues or teams
reduces the risk of
being affected by
scandals, bad behaviour or poor performance of
individuals. Companies like Accenture, Gillette
and AT&T that featured Tiger Woods in their
promotions were suddenly forced to rethink their
strategies after the recent imbroglio. The
challenge here is to choose relevant sports, right
team/event and an appealing player to align with
for long term mutual benefits. McDonalds and
Coke, for example, are long standing partners with
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the Olympic Games and have always been
leveraging their partnership for expansion by
taking their brands to wherever the games go.
Marketing of Sports:
As the proliferation of different sports and sporting
events engrosses consumers, efficient marketing
of sport events becomes a highly exigent task.
Different sport federations and teams around the
world are competing among themselves for
viewership which brings them sponsorship and
advertisement revenues besides royalty fee from
sale of merchandise that often peaks after the
teams' victory. Relationship Marketing forms a key
element of sports marketing and sport bodies and
teams can embark on the Web 2.0 bandwagon to
easily connect to their fans as in case of NBA and LA
Lakers, which have more than 2.1 and 1.6 million
foll
build a win-win relationship. The key to NASCAR's
success is successful management of their brand as
they realize that stock car racing is more than a
sport, it's a lifestyle. Nike's 'Just Do It' campaign, on
the other hand, capitalized on the sentiments
around different sports and successfully appealed
to the consumers' senses by linking those to their
need to stay fit.
Sports Marketing as a Career:
For marketing students with special interest in
sports, opportunities galore with rise of specialty
sports marketing companies (e.g. Globosport) and
sports focussed marketing groups within
organizations. VISA, for instance, has a separate
Sponsorship division that looks into sports
sponsorship, among others.
owers respectively in Twitter. NBA's recent
expansion through increased broadcast coverage
and introduction of web pages in local languages
have served the cause of increasing fan following
and hence higher revenues. The marketing success
of sport events like NACSAR and Nike's association
with sport are often cited examples of the synergy
between marketing in/of sports and how it can
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Sports Marketing - Evolution
- Akshay Dikshit, NITIE
S
ports Marketing is an effective marketing
tool which gives a company the opportunity
to leverage on the passion that consumers
have for sports. It is one of the most effective ways
to reach a specific target because
just as every product has got its
target of consumers, every sport
has got its target of fans, viewers
and followers.
India first experienced sports
marketing on a big scale when the
late Mark Mascarenhas & World Tel
signed Sachin Tendulkar for a
whopping $ 1 billion way back in 1996. Over the
years, India has witnessed an evolution in Sports
marketing. However compared to international
opportunities in sports marketing, the
opportunities in India are restricted to organizing
events, selling sponsorships & ads for the sports
properties & individuals. These restricted
opportunities in sports marketing can be largely
attributed to the role played by various governing
bodies in India. The industry is not very well
matured, but thanks to IPL the industry is much
bigger today.
Indian Premium League (IPL) has
taken sports marketing to new level in
I n d i a . We h ave w i t n e s s e d
unprecedented participation from
independent entities who have
invested heavily in the game. We now
see cricketing teams advertising
through 360 degree campaigns,
various merchandise created for fans
to buy, music videos with celebrity
brand ambassadors promoting the
teams. Teams are putting in maximum effort to
connect with the fans through various initiatives
and contests.
Videocon, the official partner of Mumbai Indians
had run an exclusive IPL contest asking the
subscribers to suggest special advice to the
players. Karbonn gained 7-8 % of the mobile
handset market in India by sponsoring the
'Karbonn Kamaal Catch' and who can forget the
adorable Vodafone ZooZoo ads made
exclusively for the event?
Though Sports Marketing is
predominantly a cricket dominated
industry in our country, tremendous
opportunities exist in other sports as
well. One key element of boxing as a
sport is that it actually is ideally suited
for the modern lifestyle and is shorter
than even a T 20 cricket match with bouts lasting
for 15 minutes at best. With Indian boxers
delivering consistently over the past few years,
Monnet Ispat and Energy had signed a $1 million
three-year deal with the Indian Boxing Federation
to be the team and kit sponsor. The Indian Boxing
Federation and its marketing partner Percept have
launched Fight Night, India's first ever indoor
b ox i n g b o u t s b e t we e n to p I n d i a n a n d
international boxers to be held all over the country
at periodic intervals. The platform of Fight Night
showcases a mix of boxing with live entertainment
offering a premium experience for the audience.
Though this concept is largely practiced
in US and Europe, Indians will
experience it for the first time in a very
big way. Matches will also be played at
high footfall venues like malls,
multiplexes, discos,
Football is gaining popularity amongst
the youngsters & there is a huge
opportunity here which can be tapped
by organizing national level football
competitions. Luxury brands can have an
attractive proposition to build their brand image
by sponsoring polo matches & golf tournaments.
TAG Heuer has tapped into elite sports to create
buzz around their brand.
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Coca-Cola & Hero Honda have been associated
with mega sporting events like the CWG in form of
corporate sponsors. While Coca-Cola India
launched a new Visual Identity System (VIS) and
logo conceptualized on the platform of "Go Dilli,
Let Sports Win", to encourage people to participate
in and support the XIX Commonwealth Games so as
to ensure the triumph of sports and sportsman
spirit, Hero Honda has rolled out the new Passion
Pro which is designed as a collector's item to
celebrate the Commonwealth games. Such
partnership with sporting events provides an
opportunity to enhance brand value.
Each sport has an audience that is passionate
about it, so the challenge is to find that audience
and sell those eyeballs to the corporate.
The challenge is to involve other sports into this
industry and corporates have to be brought in to
promote the growth in sports.
Challenges
Sports Marketing can be built to operate on a longterm business model by including creation of
sports properties and this would take time to
nurture. Though not yet an 'industry', market
demand for sports marketing can be created
through effective packaging. The best example for
this would be the Mumbai Marathon, a city-based
event, which derives major sponsorships and
partnerships and is promoted at the world stage.
The biggest challenge is the perception that only
cricket gets the marketing dollar because
consumers are only interested in this sport.
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Voice Tap - Going the Entrepreneur Way
- An Interview with Ms. Prerna Arun
Prerna Arun is the Director of Pi Communications. She is also founding member of Pi
Communications which is a young and dynamic PR Firm.
She majored in Advertising & PR from Indian Institute of Mass Communications,
New Delhi and holds a Masters in Sociology from Jamia Milia Islamia University
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, she worked with Hanmer MS&L, Delhi & Leo
Burnett PR, Kuala Lumpur.
She played a vital role in launching the Philips Water Purifier in India and the launch
won a Global PR Award in the Netherlands in 2008. She led the team for LG (Mobiles
& IT division) which achieved for the first time the Annual PR target within three months of
commencing work. She has worked on diverse brands like ING Vysya Bank, ING Vysya Life
Insurance, Daimler Chrysler, Publicis Groupe, JM Mutual Fund, LG, Lacoste, Bose, AXN, Animal
Planet, Starcom, MTS, Spice Telecom, Ministry of Tourism, SEWA (Self-Employed Woman's
Association), Pipal Research, amongst others.
1. You became an entrepreneur at a very young
age. You left a well settled job and entered an
unknown territory. How was the transition?
What were the challenges that you had to face?
for others, needs to be looked at. We chose the
name PI which means Perception by Innovation
because it matches with the mission and vision of
our company.
I come from a family where people do nine to five
jobs, so business is not in my blood and I am not
really money minded. I was getting a lot of good job
offers and I had no experience of starting a venture
from scratch. It all started when I was looking for a
job and one of my clients suggested me to be an
entrepreneur and start my own firm. This gave me
a push and that's how it all started. Not everyone in
the family was upbeat about it which is the most
common issue we entrepreneurs generally face.
And this is because of a common mindset that
entrepreneurship happens after the age of 40. It's a
mental block of “whether to do it” and “should I be
doing it?” I felt that I should atleast give it a try and
if it doesn't work out then I can always find a job.
With the help and support from seniors and client
entrepreneurs, PI communications came into
existence. It was something different because a
fixed amount salary doesn't get credited to your
account every month and a lot of effort is required
initially to keep things going. Everything has to be
done from scratch right from choosing the name of
the firm to the printing of visiting cards. Every
minute detail, which we never think while working
There are no shortcuts for a long term successful
business. Clients cannot be taken for granted.
Getting the first client is always difficult which
requires working hard to build upon trust and
giving them that extra value for money. Our 1st
client is still strongly associated with us, which is a
measure of our success.
2.How important is creativity
according to you?
Creativity is important in every
field be it advertising, media
communication or the field of
science. Without creativity
everything gets monotonous and
loses mass appeal. Creativity is
what sets us apart from others and becomes a
point of differentiation for a particular firm. Indian
education is so structured that it makes a person
think in a particular way. So, a person coming from
a science background would think in a particular
manner. We sometimes become so logical and
methodical that creativity takes a back seat.
Creativity has no bounds – it can
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be a random, vague idea or an extension of what we
can logically think of.
Some people come out with things which are
creative and practical at the same time compared
to some who work in an entirely different sphere.
Creative ideas can be implemented only when they
are doable and acceptable in generality as we
should not forget that every brand looks for ROI
before implementing a particular idea.
3. What different aspects of personality have
yo u d eve l o p e d s ince yo u b e c a m e a n
entrepreneur?
Being an entrepreneur is a
totally different experience
compared to a traditional
job. There are a lot of
dynamic external factors
which are dependent on
many people and an
unstructured environment. I
have become more patient.
The process of signing a
contract with our client is
long and very unpredictable.
There also exists a gap between what people think
and what they do which increases the uncertainty.
Working for my own firm has broadened my
mindset of looking at a particular problem because
now I have to look at a bigger picture of not just
short term company gains but a long term
sustainable partnership with clients.
Stress is involved but it is of a different level. We are
more concerned about our business deals and day
to day operational issues which is obvious for
anyone who works at the strategic level. The best
part is the benefits neutralize the stress. I get to do
things my way, my vision and my way of
functioning matches with the work I do for my
company, I get more satisfaction when working for
my own self and I don't have to please the boss. My
work-life balance is maintained as I can plan my
day most of the time. I don't have to show how
much I am working as I just have to complete my
work. So the work for which I would have to sit for 5
hours to show to my boss, I can now do it in 2 hours.
Hence, I can finish my work and can concentrate on
other things as clients are looking only for results.
Efficiency level has improved because in a
traditional office a lot of office politics is involved
and lots of disturbances exist while working. Here,
I independently work on a particular task and so I
am able to finish a work in much less time.
It is true that entrepreneurship involves a lot of ups
and downs but it also has its share of highs.
Everyday there is a lot of learning involved in
diverse areas of business and we learn
to deal with different people. It is said
that boss management is important
and we need to please the boss but by
that we tend to lose our individuality
and start following the rat race. It's the
hard work and commitment of work
that is required. If we take short cuts
there won't be any real learning and
eventually we will reach a stage of
stagnation. Money is important but the
real driving force is the success we get
from the real work we do. Ultimately, it
all boils down to our dedication and commitment
towards real work with long term perspective
which is an important aspect in becoming a
successful entrepreneur.
4. What is your take on the comparative
advertisements that have become very
common these days?
These days, advertisements have become more
daring and are openly hitting their competitors. It
finally is the call of that particular company or
brand as to what extent they want to go and rage a
direct war. Also, there are many creative ads that
are created but not put on air mainly because they
don't match the general perception. E.g. if a
particular ads promotes stupidity in a way that
says Young dynamic people who are fast forwardly
stupid should use the brand, it won't be a hit among
the crowds. The ad could be creative but definitely
not implementable and it won't be able to deliver
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results. However, there are ads that are a blend of
both creativity and random in idea (e.g. the
Volkswagen ad) which become an instant hit.
5. What is your take on Sports advertising?
What according to you is the best means to
promote a brand through sports advertising?
Out of many innovative ways to promote a brand
through sports advertising, the best one I think is
the unique association a brand can have with a
particular sporting activity e.g. Sahara
sponsored the IPL awards.
Zoozoo campaign was the one I liked a lot as its
association was very strong. Its brand visibility
stood out and it could not be copied by any other
brand. They could have continued with the PUG ad
but because of their commitment towards
constant innovation, they completely discarded
the pug ad and came out with series of zoozoo ads
specifically for the Indian Premier League (IPL).
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MARK-O-METER
Think you know it all? Let's see how many of these you can answer without peeking/googling!
1.
Which famous movie on sports marketing can you relate these pictures to?
2.
Explain the Google Doodle.
3.
Which very famous ad do you associate this movie with and who were the personalities
featured in it?
4.
What is common to all of these?
5.
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6.
This 32-year old printer walked from his home in Market
Harborough to the nearby town of Leicester to attend a temperance meeting
on 9 June 1841. Suddenly an idea flashed on his mind and suggested a
proposal to engage a special train for the temperance supporters and he
approached Midland Railway Company. Name the person who created a
successful worldwide organisation?
7.
Associate them with a sports marketing company .
8.
Name the personality who connects all these corporate
identities?
9.
Identify him and the brand he is associated with. He started an
apparel company in 1978 which is based in Molvena in northern Italy.
10.
Fo r e ve r y c i g a r e t t e
(Hint: Widely Publicized these days.)
t h e r e
i s
a
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ .
Please visit www.clubmarkup.com for the answers
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TREND CHECK
APOLOGY ADVERTISING
Consumers cannot be taken for granted and their trust
cannot be easily earned. If something has been done wrong, it is
better to admit it in good faith. Apology advertizing is catching
up. Tiger and Earl Woods are doing it; Toyota is doing it; Nike also
came out with apology based ads to try to reinstitute reliability
and trust as part of a crisis management policy through very
unique measures. Owning up to mistakes isn't easy in any form,
let alone via a medium that's never been about realism as much
as it has been about fantasies of success and perfection. Two
important findings have come out in recent surveys - trust and transparency in business influence
corporate identity more than product quality. After a decade of recession, fraud, customers'
manipulations, repetitive breaches of privacy and trust, these numbers indicate a fundamental
change to interactions between consumers and providers.
We all love a comeback. Both Toyota and Tiger are fighting to regain our love and admiration.
It's even possible that the battle scars emerging on both these brands will reveal something even
more important for their survival than success and perfection: Character.
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ECO SUPERIOR
The number one
c h a l l e n g e
f o r
governments, consumers
and businesses (recession
or no recession) in 2011
remains the quest for
more environmentally
sustainable societies and
economies. When it
comes to 'green
consumption', expect a
rise in ECO-SUPERIOR
products: products that
are not only eco-friendly,
but superior to polluting
inc u m b e nt s in eve ry
possible way. Think of a
combination of eco-friendly yet superior functionality, superior design, and/or superior savings.
Why the need for ECO-SUPERIOR? The number of consumers actively seeking out 'green' products is
reaching a plateau, as mainstream consumers start to question the value and efficiency of going
green:
?
While 40% of consumers say they are willing to purchase green products, only 4% of
consumers actually do when given the choice. (Source: Journal of Marketing, September 2010)
?
58% of global consumers think that environmentally friendly products are too expensive,
while 33% of global consumers think that environmentally friendly products don't work as well.
(Source: GfK Roper, September 2010)
?
While the volume of green products available to US consumers increased by 73% between
2009 and 2010, only 5% of products were not found to include some 'greenwashing' claims. (Source:
Terrachoice, October 2010)
Expect to see a number of leading brands in 2011 switch from purely marketing their products'
sustainability and eco-friendliness (with its niche reach) to taking aim right at the heart of
traditional alternatives: stressing the superior quality and design, increased durability and/or
lower running costs of products in ways that will appeal to even the most eco-skeptic, self-centered
or financially-challenged consumer.
Ref: trendwatching.com
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Sponsored by
in association with
Event Sponsors
Associate Sponsor
“You never really know how quick you are before you reach the finish…”
Race for admissions, race for jobs, race for promotions; one never stops racing against competition. Races have become a way of
life.
Club MarkUp's annual inter B-school marketing extravaganza Marketing World Cup 2010's theme was “RACE”. From among the
qualifying round entries from 100+ teams, 25 teams and 125 participants qualified for the Race Days on 4-5 December 2010,
where they contested on 5 tracks of core events and faced 3 pit-stops of on-the-spot events in the race to the ultimate marketing
honor, MWC '10.
On Race Day 1, we had dignitaries like the AGM of Punjab National Bank Mr. Vinod Joshi gracing the inaugural ceremony. Dr. Sanjay
Kumar, Chairperson, Student Affairs of IMT, Ghaziabad Singh declared the event open with the auspicious lighting of the lamp. And
so began the marketing mayhem.
We had 2 core events being held simultaneously – Vanguard which focused on Go-to-market strategy for Religare and Get. Set. Gold
that was based on a gold coin trading strategy for PNB. Vanguard was a closely fought race with Aashayein (IMT-G), WE marketers
(Welingkar, Bangalore) and Moksh (NITIE, Mumbai in the fray till the last but ultimately Aashayein won the race with We
marketers being the runners up. On the other hand, Get. Set. Gold, based on gold coin trading, had a nail-biting finish with
Mindscrewers (IMT-G) crossing the finishing line just ahead of 3 teams as we had a 3 way tie for the 2nd spot which was shared by
Naya Daur (MICA, Ahmedabad), Aashayein (IMT-G) and Mantra (IIM-Raipur).
In the evening we had our first on-the-spot event, a press conference at the amphitheatre where we had 11 teams defending their
companies from the Line of Fire. After grueling cross-questioning from opponents and the judges, Team Fixed Deposit (IMT-G)
came out as winners whereas Mindscrewers took the 2nd spot on the podium. This was followed by the twazziest event, a quiz on
Twitter, Twizmaster – beat the tweet where contestants had to direct message the answers to the questions being updated on
www.twitter.com/markupimt. But the night was not over yet as MarkUp in collaboration with the Cultural Committee of IMT
organized the Bollywood night where we had a bonfire and on-the-spot contests.
On Race Day 2, things got even more intense and exciting as a lineup of 3 core events and one on-the-spot street-play based event
set the adrenaline pumping. We flagged off the day with Acer's event Concord as teams presented co-branding and social media
strategies for global leader Acer to improve upon its 3rd rank position in India. The judges, Mr. Amit Khandelwal, Regional Sales
Manager at Acer India Pvt. Ltd. and Mr. Ajay Davessar, Global Head for External Communications at HCL Technologies Limited
grilled the participants for 2 hours before Masterminds (IMT-G) were declared 1st whereas 008 (IMT-G) came a close second.
While these teams were presenting co-branding strategies at Concord, 8 teams were presenting their repositioning strategies for
Paras Gold, an edible oil brand, as part of the event Oilchemist. Team Pandavas (IMT-G) won the top honors while Oilmerchants
(MICA) tied for the 2nd spot. The 3rd core event Proximix based on proximity marketing, was a nail biter as 008 and Mindscrewers
(both from IMT-G) tied for the first spot and this finish repeated itself in the on-the-spot event Road to Eden, as we finally came to
the end of the events.
The closing ceremony arrived and the contestants were all revved up to know who would take away the coveted Marketing World
Cup of 2010. Also on offer was a sleek netbook from Acer. Club MarkUp extended its vote of thanks to the guests of honor, Dr. Sanjay
Singh and Mr. Amit Khandelwal and all the participants. This was followed by the launch of Markezine's first printed inter b-school
edition based on the theme 'Sports Marketing: Challenges and Opportunities' by Mr. Rohit Dhuwad, coordinator of MarkUp (200809). And finally the moment for which everyone was waiting for arrived as Mr. Mehul Sangoi from Paras Gold unveiled the winners
of MWC '10 – Team Aashayein to the sound of a thunderous applause. Mindscrewers took away the runners-up trophy, having lost
out by a mere 9 points. Dr. Sanjay Singh lauded the efforts of the Markupites for having put up a grand show that lived up to the
reputation of MarkUp and definitely raised the bar for MWC'11, as the curtains were brought down on MWC '10.
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