Most Indians are crazy about 2 things in their lives. Cricket and Bollywood. Well, chances are that you might just run into a ‘triangle love story’ here.
For a connoisseur of cricket and Bollywood, both are pure love. For advertisers and corporates, they are money-spinning entertainment themes. As a lover of the mundane game of cricket, you would enjoy M.S. Dhoni’s unorthodox batting style or Kevin Pieterson’s reverse sweep.
But when the cricket becomes a marketing tool, Dhoni would smash a ‘helicopter shot’ and Peterson go for a ‘palti hit’ for a cola major.
HUGE MARKET
Cricket and Bollywood have been money earners for a majority of stakeholders for many years. The pace of selling the game for profit (huge ones, at that!) gathered momentum with the launch of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Pepsi won the five-year IPL title sponsorship deal this year for almost double the amount that DLF paid in 2008. The team franchises also shelled out several crores of rupees.
Brand valuation of IPL done by BrandFinance, a consultancy involved in the valuation of intangible assets, has remained at around Rs 10,000 crore or above that in the last four years. In fact, the valuation went up to around Rs 18,900 crore in 2010.
In such a situation, imagine the days when you played cricket in your street with that rudimentary bat and rubber ball. You also hit a six then. Didn’t you?
The same rudimentary bat and ball was the main theme for Aamir Khan’s blockbuster Lagaan . The movie went on to gross crores at the box office.
If that was in reel life, some actors ventured into business of cricket in real life by owning IPL teams. But this time, bats and balls were not rudimentary. They were packaged in such a way that anything related to cricket started becoming a product. School-going kids to grown-ups would ask for Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata team jersey or products associated with other teams.
Unmindful of all this, your love for cricket and Bollywood may continue. At the same time, the market forces dominating the game and Bollywood are on a continuous run to find more avenues to market and increase their revenue.
Now, when you sit down to watch your favourite team on TV or head to a theatre/multiplex to enjoy your favourite movie, remember, your ‘love’ is a marketing platform for many.