In the 2007 World Cup, Sachin Tendulkar's endorsement of Reliance Communications' services did not go down too well with Hutch ? the official sponsors of the tournament, calling it an ?ambush marketing' tactic.

Ambush marketing

And eventually Reliance Communications, which was not a tournament sponsor, had to pull out its advertisement. This time around, while the International Cricket Council (ICC) has tried to protect the rights of sponsors and prevent non-sponsors from riding the World Cup wave, its guidelines relating to use of cricketers by competing brands appear to have been relaxed, keeping in mind the ?commercial value? of players.

Team jersey, colours

During the last edition of the World Cup, the ICC had come up with strict guidelines on the use of cricketers during the tournament. No player could endorse the products of competitors of the World Cup core sponsors 30 days before, after and during the event. But the guidelines for the 2011 edition come into play just seven days before the event and till the players leave India. Till a week before the World Cup, non-sponsor brands can even use the team jersey (subject to clearances) and team colours.

During the event, players ?can appear in advertising or endorsement in their generic cricket whites or casual formal or leisure wear provided they are not appearing in the national colours of a team and there is no direct association with the event or use of ICC logos.?

Exception for IPL advertising

In regard to use of team colours during the World Cup, ICC has made an exception for IPL advertising. With the IPL event to be held just a week after the World Cup, ICC is allowing IPL teams and their sponsors to use cricketers in their official IPL clothing, provided the IPL team logo is prominently displayed and ?there is no expressed or implied attempt to create confusion with the player's national colours.?

For instance, the blue sported by Mumbai Indians is similar to the Indian team jersey colour, as also Chennai Superkings' yellow and Australia's ? but this has been allowed as long as the Mumbai Indians or Chennai Superkings logo is distinctly displayed on the clothing and in the advertising.

Says Mr Nandan Kamath, legal counsel to Copyright Integrity International, the firm appointed by the ICC to protect the tournament's IP rights: ?While ICC is keen to protect the rights of sponsor brands and prevent ambush marketing tactics with regard to use of cricketers in endorsements, the cricketing body is also keeping in mind the commercial value of players ? after all endorsements are another form of livelihood for them and the World Cup in the sub-continent is one of the biggest stages many of these players will ever play on,? says Mr Kamath.

The flexibility in guidelines gives greater choice to both brands and cricketers as they capitalise on the build-up to the big event, says Mr Ramanujam Sridhar, a marketing analyst. According to Mr Gurdeep Singh, Chief Operating Officer, Aircel, which has Dhoni as its brand ambassador, this gives more scope for being creative.

The official sponsors of the World Cup include LG, Reliance Communications, Pepsi, Reebok, Castrol and Hero Honda. Interestingly, Sony has signed up Dhoni and Tendulkar has been lapped up by Coke in a Rs 20-crore deal.

All these nitty-gritty related to ambush marketing does not really matter to the public. Says Ms Anuradha Ramesh, an avid follower of the game. ?To me Tendulkar is Tendulkar. I do not care if he plays for India or Mumbai Indians or endorses Coke or Pepsi.? Are brands ? official and unofficial ? queuing up to sign on cricketers listening?

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