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Fourth take (Mumbai)
(22 January 2003)

Inside Dope spoke to some advertisers and media planners in Mumbai. Here are some juicy titbits:

* Secrecy has become the name of the game. Several advertisers and media personalities are not "showing" their cards nor are they playing "blind".

* Many advertisers, media planners and buyers have realised that the head should rule over their hearts when it comes to buying spots during the cricket World Cup 2003. A wag commented "shouldn't this be the case at all times, World Cup or not?"

* Space sellers are lamenting the fact that the print media is not seeing the windfall of advertising spends that its richer cousins in the electronic media space are getting.

* The promotional campaigns in print media are billed to be around one-third of what the TV ad spends are expected to be.

* However, the contests in print publications are getting a very good response, with almost every Sachin, Virender, and Saurav taking a turn at the nets in their bid to pocket some winnings. This in turn is helping in building hype and hoopla around the World Cup.

* It is a different matter altogether that females are not responding to these contests. The question remains: Will the housewives really watch cricketainment?

* Charu's (Sharma) angels Mandira Bedi, Maria Goretti and Sandhya Mridul are undergoing special training to ensure that there are no gaffes during Extraaa Innings on MAX.

* A certain cricketer, who was livid when Ruby Bhatia asked him some silly (not Silly Point) questions, has actually offered to train Charu's Angels free of cost. It is a different matter altogether that he would get to interact with the nubile starlets.

* The World Cup mania has already reached a high in places like Kolkata. There is considerable amount of interest in Gujarat but more for the "wrong" reasons that have nothing to do with the purist aspects of the gentleman's sport.

* The news is that DD feels that the addition of ESPN-Star Sport's commentary team (especially Sunny Gavaskar) can add value to its pre-match and post-match programming.

* A leading channel's top executive was quoted as saying that they would not lose sleep over the World Cup except during India matches.

* The pathetic display of the Indian cricketers in New Zealand has given a shot in the arm to all those producers who are planning to produce non-cricket shows.

* The sales teams of both DD-Nimbus and SET-MAX feel that the size of the ad pie will increase as India progresses to the Super Sixes, the semis and the finals. India's progress could up the stakes by an additional Rs 400 million on the upper side.

* The biggest changes are in the odds on the season’s in-form teams, New Zealand and West Indies. The odds have been cut on West Indies from 25/1 a few months ago to just 18/1 now. According to Harish Thawani of Nimbus, West Indies is the team to watch out - they beat India on Indian pitches in the recent ODI series. New Zealand, who again have shown pedigree in the limited overs game, have come in to 10/1, leapfrogging both England and Sri Lanka in the tournament running.

* India can now get 15/2 on their side, while England fans can now back their side at 14/1. There seems to be a strong feeling that England will do very well in this World Cup and might go on to win the Cup.

* Sri Lanka, formerly the sub-continent’s most favoured side, are now third behind India and Pakistan at 14/1. The recent controversy between the team members and the Sri Lanka cricket board has precipitated the decline in odds.

* At the top of the table, Australia still remain favourites to retain the World Cup. Ricky Ponting’s side is 13/8, in spite of a few chinks appearing in their armour recently.

* Hosts South Africa are 10/3 second favourites after strong performances against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. But their "chokers" tag coupled with the fact that the host nation has never won the World Cup goes against them.

* The flip side of India's poor performance in New Zealand is that Saurav Ganguly has been advised to defer the opening of his restaurant.

* However, the little master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar was spotted at a racing event - perhaps to get tips on how to improve his reflexes against pace bowling on fast tracks.

* The "ambush marketing" battle stakes has seen the entry of high profile lawyer-politicians who have been appointed by the affected sponsors and advertisers.

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