Indiantelevision.com Team

(18 August 2007 7:30 pm)

MUMBAI:Indian advertisers who want to leverage sport beyond just cricket, need to look at more than just eyeballs. They should look at being associated with a unique platform which will grow in scale as it gets repeated from year to year.

This was a major point that came out during a panel discussion at Brandscore sports marketing forum on Friday, organised by ESPN Star Sports and Mindshare.

The speakers at the 'Sports And the Indian Advertiser' session were Globosport India VP Anirban Das Blah, Harit Nagpal, GroupM CEO India and COO South Asia Vikram Sakhuja and HUL GM media services Rahul Welde.

In India the fact is that only a few brands like LG and Pepsi have sports as the central part of their marketing plan. At the moment apart from cricket, brands are also flirting with sports and testing the waters.

The session pointed out that the advantage of investing in another sport though is that you can own it. Cricket has now become too expensive to own. The days of the 1987 Reliance World Cup are long gone. The Mumbai Marathon is a good example of how a brand - Standard Chartered - used sport as a platform effectively in a way that goes beyond eyeballs. But it is important that the event gets repeated year after year or else it and the brand will be forgotten. Brands can also look at leveraging an existing passion for a sport.

The common belief in soccer is that interest in EPL and Spanish league come from soccer states like Goa. However, Anirban argued that there is growing interest in those leagues from affluent pockets of Mumbai like Bandra where a lot of water cooler conversation happens around it. Once that has been identified, then a brand can think of doing initiatives around the event like contests and thus tap into the aspirations of the fans. It would be more effective for a brand to hook onto a sport at this level as opposed to a grassroots level.

An opposing view given was that interest in basketball is growing with the NBA coming down to India. If the profile of the sport grows, then brands could find value in it. It is also true that Golf and FI can be used by premium brands who are not looking for the masses.

In terms of cricket, it was noted that the hero based narrative thread which threw up the likes of Sachin, Dhoni has run its course. However, other threads around cricket will emerge.

Also the space on the TV screen is getting increasingly cluttered and one could reach a stage where some brands step back due to overuse which is leading to a decline in viewer experience. This is the last thing any brand wants, it was pointed out.

Future Brands MD and CEO Santosh Desai dwelt on the relationship between sports and the Indian consumer in another session. He noted that there is a tenuous relationship between what sports people play and what they watch. A lot of people would have played table tennis but how many watch it?

Sport allows us to embark on a symbolic quest for perfection. Therefore there are rules, it is very fair. Sport, he noted, is the ultimate in reality TV as the storylines are unscripted.

"We are also seeing the emergence of the spectator owner in cricket. Here fans feel that they are entitled to a good performance from the team," Desai said.

Addressing the forum to offer a ratings service provider's point of view, Tam CEO LV Krishnan says that sports as a genre needs to move from a commodity to an engagement arena. Drama is essential for sports to get good viewership. This drama could, maybe, come from a good batsman versus a bad batsman. It is important that sports broadcasters think of new ways to create drama.

Krishnan gave the example of the Shaz and Waz show on ESS back in 2004 when India toured Australia. Drama can even be created around a local hero which was the case when Kartikeyan was driving on F1. Interest in the sport has picked up again with the spat between McLaren and Ferrari.

Sports can also benefit from pre-event hype. That was the case with Anju George at the 2004 Olympic Games. On the day of her event, news channels were covering her from morning which lead to fan interest growing. The Fifa World Cup coverage in print last year was huge and the cricket that was being played at the same time paled in comparison.

Krishnan says that drama can also be created by promotions which is what Max did superbly with its Deewana Bana De campaign. Moto GP, he notes, has picked up. Wrestling also has a good level of stickiness and all SECs watch it, unlike racing which is mostly viewed by SEC A. The youth not surprisingly are the most hooked to both these sports.

While the level of stickiness for sports is less than what it is for soaps, sports allows for maximum reach at one sweep. For an India cricket series the reach is 50 per cent. Sports also offers audience segmentation.