Cricket and Advertising

Today we are breathing air with the new generation of Indian cricket. The likes of Dhonis, Kohlis and Rainas have taken Indian cricket to a level which was like a dream way back in 1983. Under MS Dhoni India has conquered T20 World Cup, ODI World Cup and the latest trophy is the ICC Champions Trophy. Cricket is nothing less than a religion in India. Though Sachin is the God and the real inspiration for the whole nation, it was the World Cup winning team of 1983 which sparked the hunger and passion for the game of cricket.

Group photo of all the teams participating 

in Benson & Hedges World Cup '92

(L-R) Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni

 Exactly 30 years back, on the historical date of 25^th June 1983 India was crowned as the World Champions of cricket. Cricketers like Kapil Dev and Sunil Gavaskar soon became cricketing stars. The whole nation went crazy after these new star faces. Cricket was catching eye and the Ad gurus opened the doors when opportunity was knocking on it. Kapil Dev became the first star brand on Indian Television with his Palmolive ka jawab nahin advertisement. Cricket gradually became a medium for advertising. These stars started endorsing big brands. Emergence of Sachin Tendulkar was a big boost for the advertising industry. Honest and hard working image of Sachin helped brands like Johnson and Johnson(Band-Aid), Pepsi and Action Shoes to gain popularity. Brand logos started appearing on boundary boards, playing grass and side screens. Few brands like and Reliance, Benson and Hedges and Singer went a step ahead and sponsored international tournaments. Those who couldn’t grab a space as title sponsor found a place of their own on the bats. Who can ever forget the symbolic MRF bat, which Sachin raised after scoring numerous tons? Rahul Dravid carried a Britannia sticker on bat; Virender Sehwag did it for Hero Honda. Today Virat and Dhoni have Nike and Reebok respectively, as their bat sponsors.

Television viewers have to sit through the Ads which come between overs or after a fall of wicket. The batsman walking out to bat isn't always considered worthy enough to be televised. Sometimes ads pop up even before a ball reaches the boundary or an umpire gives his verdict for an appeal. It is also said that cricket is shown between advertisements. Undoubtedly this the biggest con of watching cricket match on television, but a huge amount of money is splashed to buy that little space between the overs.

            

In the last 15 years, Indian cricket has gone through a major transformation. Indian cricket team got a T-shirt sponsor in the form of Sahara India Pariwar. Indian Premier League (IPL) provided an international platform for many emerging brands. DLF bagged exclusive rights to the IPL in 2008 for over Rs 200 crore. For over five seasons of IPL, every six was announced as DLF maximum on satellite television. In the sixth season Pepsi took over from DLF.

Advertisements have also become a major source of income for today’s cricketing stars. MS Dhoni broke into top 20 on Forbes highest-paid athletes list. He earns a staggering $31.5 M (188,33,85,000) every year, out of which $28 M (167,41,20,000) comes from endorsements. MS Dhoni has already raced ahead of Sachin Tendulkar who earns $18 M from endorsements and the other young guns are catching up very quickly.

This is a list of top 5 Indian cricketers on the basis of endorsement earnings.

Cricketer	Endorsement Earnings	Brands Endorsed
MS Dhoni	$28 M	Pepsi, Reebok, Lays, Boost, Exide, TVS, Dabur, Titan, Gulf Oil
Sachin Tendulkar	$18 M	Aviva Insurance, Coca-Cola, Jaypee Cement, Adidas, Toshiba, Castrol, Luminous, Rbs Banking
Virat Kohli	$9 M	Nike, Pepsico, Toyota, Karbonn Mobiles, TVS, Cinthol, Nestle
Virender Sehwag	$4.1 M	Hero, Fila, Jaypee cement
Gautam Gambhir	$4 M	MRF, Reebok, BHPC, Lays, Royal Stag

(Source: www.tsmplug.com)

Three decades back history was made in field of sports, but who would have ever thought that it will benefit the advertising universe. Cricket comes with the guarantee that it will never slump in India, which also assures new heroes and attractive faces for the advertising industry. Even the Ad people will say ‘long live cricket’, but for a completely different reason.     

5 Best Ambient Ads from around the country

Ambient media has probably not yet got the recognition in India as it does abroad, but over the years, there have been several creative attempts by advertising agencies to get their message across in a smart way. Here are 5 creative endeavors by Indian agencies to promote products via ambient media.

Knowing your place- Advertising and the Bollywood Connection

The year was 1973. The concept of liberalization was nonexistent. Western brands had yet to reach Indian shores, but a western idea had found its way in India. The highest grossing film of the year, which would go on to be the second highest grossing movie of the decade, Bobby had its producers smiling to the bank. But it was not just them who were eating a share of the Bobby craze. A well known motorcycle company of its era, Rajdoot, had made a killing thanks to the movie.

The Unfair Sex- Women and Indian Advertising

 In late February this year, up and coming phone brand Micromax launched a campaign for its new model called Superfone Ninja. The campaign showed a man telling a woman about him going out with another woman, proclaiming that he will sleep with her and not marry her. At the end of the ad, the man asks: “Are you jealous?” to which the girl replies: “I am not programmed for that”. This is where we find out that ‘Aisha’ is actually an Artificial Intelligence software in the said phone.

Threading the Line- a look at Controversial Indian Ads

 In the latter half of March this year, advertising agencies in India were in for a rude shock. The celebrated creative director of JWT, Bobby Pawar and his team were given the sack from the renowned agency. The reason behind this move was a series of scam ads created by the team for the leading car brand Ford, which did not go down well with the audience.

Mother of Invention- India and the Rise of Mother’s Day Campaigns

 On Saturday morning, a good chunk of Mumbai and Delhi woke up to a small surprise (and for many a reminder) when they glanced their newspaper. Clinic Plus, one of Hindustan Unilever’s (HUL) leading hair care brand gave a small heart shaped card with every newspaper so that people could write a note to their mothers on the occasion of Mother’s Day. This campaign was carried out in leading English and regional newspapers.

This cute but impactful campaign gives us a perspective into the changing Indian consumer market and their rising acceptance of International culture. But it’s not just the customers who are changing. The rise of spending power coupled with the rising number of tech savvy people has led to many brands turning to the digital spectrum, especially social media.

 Social Media as a brand building tool has been on the rise since the past couple of years in India and many innovative marketing campaigns have been created on various social networks like Facebook and Twitter. 

On every occasion, it has become a staple for digital agencies to put up a small, informal greeting for their followers, but yesterday, many brands went for full blown campaigns that were both unique and interactive.

For example, the Proctor and Gamble (P&G) child care brand Pampers had a dedicated Facebook application called Mother’s Day Tribute that let its fans customize a greeting card for their mothers. The application provided a variety of templates and other editing tools for creating a card. Pampers will be giving away prizes to the people who wrote the best messages to their mothers.

The Pampers India Facebook app

 But it was not just established brands that were diving into full blown campaigns. International brand KitchenAid, which shall be launching its products in India soon, wanted to create a buzz on the social spectrum. Their application called as Mother of the Year plays on the mother- child bond. The app lets its fans upload their mother’s favorite recipes. The entry that shall be judged as the best recipe stands a chance to win a KitchenAid stand mixer and earn the sobriquet of ‘Mother of the Year’.

Though it seems to be the popular opinion, social networking websites were not the ones who got to eat the whole Mother’s Day promotion pie. Traditional media channels, especially television, capitalized on the Mother’s Day bandwagon as well. Leading Indian FMCG brand TATA Salt launched a campaign that speaks of the values inculcated by a mother in children on the eve of Mother’s Day.


 All in all, Mother’s Day has become another date that has been earmarked in the diaries of advertising agencies. With many more such globally celebrated events coming up in the near future, it will be fun to watch whether traditional media or social media shall win the tug of war for being the leading medium of promotions.


Sources:

Lighthouse insights

afaqs

Campaign India