First Sahara bowled a bouncer – threatening to disrupt IPL 5 by pulling out its sponsorship of Pune Warriors. Then Team India came a-cropper in Australia. Already, allegations of corruption and illegal deals had pulled down IPL's brand value from $4.13 billion in 2010 to $3.67 billion in 2011. The average cricket fan – and advertiser – here is fast becoming dismayed, disenchanted and disengaged with the sport.

Can cricket's big bucks tournament manage to shore up its brand equity and get viewers back into the game?

Well, Sahara is back with Pune now, having patched up with the Board of Control for Cricket in India. And the IPL franchises are already padding up, trying to whip up passions through some smart marketing and fan engagement programmes.

From rolling out contests and reality shows to tapping the power of digital and Bollywood, different strokes are being played to woo fans. All are also trying to find new ways – rather than just depend on sponsorships, media rights and gate collections - of raking in the moolah.

Here's a whiff of the action from the dressing rooms.

Building brand loyalty

The bulk of the revenue for most IPL franchises comes from sponsorships and media rights. But efforts are on to ramp up gate collections, merchandise sales and search out new cash streams. Everything, however, hinges on how strong the franchisee brand is, and how strong the connect with fans. This explains the motive behind the high-pitched campaigns.

As Venkat Reddy, Chief Operating Officer of Deccan Chargers, the team from Hyderabad, says, “We are going full throttle to be visible at every possible corner.”

Deccan Chargers' way of grabbing more attention this year is to do a Telugu version of its team anthem. A rock band contest to identify musical talents in Andhra Pradesh is also on the cards. “Fans will find themselves more engaged and closer to their favourite team,” says Reddy.

As for Kings XI Punjab, it's opting for the flavour of the day – reality shows – to hook more fans. It has tied up with Indraprastha All India Sports Foundation to come up with a cricket-reality show where budding cricketers can showcase their talent to millions of viewers.

To add glamour, it has roped in cricketing legends to mentor the wannabe players. Viewers can vote and select their players and captain.

Stars from the Kings XI Punjab franchisee will be in on the action, providing inputs. And, of course, there's a cash bait of Rs 10 lakh and the lure of getting a chance to train with the team's players. As Col. Arvinder Singh, COO, Kings XI, says, the show will not only groom talent but lead to more engagement with the team.

Meanwhile, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), which, despite its flops on the field, has consistently scored high on the brand equity quotient, has unveiled its ‘New Dawn New Knights' campaign launched by King Khan – Shah Rukh - himself. The team sports the traditional team colours of purple and gold, but incorporates a striking new logo created by global branding agency Lambie-Nairn.

Says Sophie Lutman, Creative Director at Lambie–Nairn: “The KKR identity had a lot of quality but it was not designed for use across the wide range of platforms that are used today. We wanted to retain the existing heraldic imagery and purple and gold colours as these features differentiate the team from competitors and ensure they are instantly recognisable.”

There's been a rejig in GMR Sports-owned Delhi Daredevils too. Leo Burnett, the agency that handled the team is out, and South Korean agency Cheil, which has had experience in sports marketing globally (Olympics and Chelsea Football Club) is in. Cheil's strategy is to build a loyal fan base for the team through offline and online engagements.

Says Alok Agrawal, COO, Cheil WW SW Asia, “We understand that a brand like Delhi Daredevils is built with engagement and not advertising.” Hemant Dua, the head of marketing and commercial for GMR group, says that on February 27, when Daredevils unveils its marketing plan at an event in Delhi, “you will see something unique in terms of brand ambassadors we have chosen that will resonate with our fans.”

Digital Play

Even as the shrill anthems and music videos continue, almost all the team franchises are going in for heavy digital play. Cheil's strong digital pitch was one of the reasons it could bowl out the other 11 agencies in the fray to bag the Daredevils mandate. Hemant Dua describes how a new Web site in a user-friendly format is being launched. Deccan Chargers too has tied up with two agencies to provide a “unique” experience for the Internet and mobile-savvy people. “DC Mobile App (on IOS, Android and Blackberry platforms) is under development, which will also feature exclusive videos and photos of DC players and staff,” says Reddy.

KKR's CEO Venky Mysore points to how the team's Facebook fan following has grown from 25,000 last year to over 700,000. “We've become number one on Twitter; we are number one on YouTube right now. Monetising this community is difficult, but it can be done,” he says.

Filling up the stands

In the very first IPL edition, several franchises goofed, giving out far too many free passes. Result: They barely got any gate collection revenue and were slapped with a service tax to boot. Wiser now, most franchises are thinking of innovative ways to fill up the stands.

For instance, defending champions Chennai Super Kings, one the first teams to get off the crease this year, is batting on consumer loyalty programmes. Kings Club, the official fan club of CSK, has opened up its “exclusive” membership to the masses with the launch of a basic membership for just Rs 100, which can later be upgraded for more privileges. Every ‘yellow card' member gets a host of benefits: match tickets, special deals on merchandise and meet-and-greet activities.

Earlier, the entry level was a high Rs 1,200. Though the team had 4 lakh registered fans, only 4,000 were paid members. The latest Kings Club drive ended on February 15 and CSK managed to capture 10,000 paid members across Tamil Nadu in just a month. There are plans to link the membership to small local businesses in TN where the yellow card can be used for discounts.

The idea to lower the entry level was actually a suggestion that came out of a management contest in IIM-Kozhikode on ‘How to make the CSK brand a global brand and get revenues.”

Royal Challengers Bangalore has formed a ‘fan advisory board' to co-ordinate the various activities of the RCB Fan Club. The Board will consist of 20 “die-hard” fan-members who will facilitate activities such as running contests, organising fan meets, driving green initiative programmes, recruiting and engaging with fans on the RCB Web site and across social networks. This board will be retained until the next IPL in 2013 when new members will be inducted.

The revenue game

Sponsorship is key to the revenue game. Rakesh Singh, Joint President – Marketing, India Cements, which owns the CSK team, claims that CSK, which has a long-term association with Aircel and Gulf Oil, gets the highest revenue from sponsors among all teams. A few more slots are available, which have been pegged at a premium.

“This is to avoid clutter and ensure that the brands which are spending several crores on us do not feel short-changed,” says Singh. CSK broke even in the third year of IPL, but is hoping for a big jump in central revenue (from sales of broadcast rights) next year.

Deccan Chargers is also sewing up deals with more brands, though it is a bit tight-lipped on details. “We've tied up several brands with national presence for co-branding activities, says Reddy.

KKR's CEO Venky Mysore too admits efforts are to add more value to their sponsors, and also raise non-sponsorship revenues. We keep trying to find new streams, he says, pointing to merchandising and licensing. According to him, non-sponsorship revenues are currently around 20 per cent. This season, they should be slightly more than 20 per cent. He claims ticket revenues have been pretty good – “We have the biggest stadium to fill up (Eden Gardens)”. KKR hopes to close this March on a profitable note.

Merchandise Mania

Globally, for sports teams, 67 per cent of revenue comes from merchandise sales. But in India, it's still only a small fraction.

All the franchisees acknowledge that merchandising presents a huge opportunity, and each is sewing up new plans. “We will be the very first to create our own back-end systems for merchandising,” says Dua of Delhi Daredevils. “We have decided to invest in it long-term rather than look at it as a one-time project every year,” he explains.

KKR's Mysore describes how they have a contract with Reebok to sell team jerseys, but is now looking to expand the product range. “It's all about the range, price points and touch points. When you can get that formula right, returns should start kicking in,” he says.

CSK too is raising its revenue targets from merchandise this year by launching products in every price point. “Till now, we were banking too much on Reebok and Peter England – with shirts starting at Rs 600 and going up to Rs 2,000 for the replica team jersey,” says Singh. This year, CSK will launch jerseys for Rs 200.

It is also looking at setting up an exclusive store at the Chennai airport, and is in advanced talks with Café Coffee Day to set up ‘CSK zones' in major cities. Regional distribution will be beefed up. And the product portfolio stretches beyond apparel. “We will expand our current range of mugs, napkins, caps and friendship bands. We will also look at ties and cuff links as they can be good gift ideas.”

Deccan Chargers' Reddy too talks of going beyond “the usual popular stuff such as bugles, horns, bandannas, flags and key chains”. He claims the Deccan Chargers merchandise has sold not just in Andhra Pradesh but all across India and in countries such as South Africa, the US, UK and UAE, “But we want to make our merchandise more appealing to fans,” he says.

Whatever critics may say about the dampened mood, the game is certainly on.

(With additional reporting by V. Rishi Kumar and Gokul Krishnamurthy)

Related Topics