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This study attempts to analyze the marketing strategies employed by IPL and
interpret their effect in modelling Consumer behavior.
The Idea
The format started with ICL (Indian cricket League). The league was comprised of
senior players from around the globe who were nearing their retirement and
young budding regional players.
A brief Introduction
Conceptualized as the Indian avatar of EPL and NBA (USA), IPL was launched on
14th September 2007. The brain child of controversial figure Lalit Modi (then VP of
BCCI), IPL was launched to promote T20 (twenty20) cricket in India. IPL worked
on a franchised framework like its overseas counterpart, the procedure was as
follows
The franchisee will pay a sum to BCCI for gaining the right to participate in
the event
The franchisee will also share its revenue with BCCI
The franchisee will own the team for perpetuity for a period of 10 years
At a later stage, the franchisee can also lists its team on the stock
exchange and trade
In the IPLs franchise model the team can be owned by a corporate house,
individual and the team had to be named after a city.
The IPL started with 8 teams which were later to be increased to a
maximum offering of 10.
Although IPL was created and promoted by BCCI, IPL is an autonomous body
recognized by ICC (International Cricket Council). BCCI was instrumental in
setting up the Governing framework for the T20 body in the form of a virtual
company.
IPL introduced a concept a ICON player where a particular cricketer is marked for
a particular region and he can circumvent the bidding process. The icon player
had the advantage of getting paid atleast 15% higher than the next top earner in
his team.
IPL Marketing Story
The sport angle:
Moreover IPL gave opportunity to budding cricketers for whom the only
recourse earlier was the coveted Indian national cricket team. IPL was
thus instrumental in making the long road to cricketing fame a bit shorter.
The new format had everything Time efficiency, nail biting action, global
cricketing icons. In short this was cricket 2.0
Cricketainment
Celebrity Gala
Glamour
Advertising
Merchandising
Regional Sentiments
Controversies
Like any Indian reality show IPL has had its share of controversies which
to some extend has furthered its cause. For Example Harbhajan
Sreesanth spat
It has been rumoured that most of such controversies were pre-planned,
but nonetheless such incidents still helps in getting media attention which
ultimately leads to increased brand awareness.
Match Timings
IPL matches were scheduled keeping the working class in mind. For
example on weekdays the match would start at 8 pm and on weekend the
scheduling would start at 4 PM, thus ensuring maximum ownership.
IPL revenue (only Ad revenues displayed) growth has also witnessed steady
growth over the years excluding few bumps [2]
Few salient points on how the the IPL experience was realized
IPL rather than relaying the message to consumer subtly, penetrated the
mind of consumer through ubiquitous presence, which through the route
of Ad Liking leads to Brand Liking
The marketing matrix / viewership groups for IPL can be divided as follows
IPL taking a leaf from festival marketing kept bombarding customer with one
brand promotion after another. FE suppose a batsman attempts a six, if he
succeeds it is a DLF Maximum, if he gets caught it is a Karbonn kamal catch
and thus yielding a Citi moment of success. [5]
IPL manages to hit the sweet spot in the four realms of an experience
model by Gilmore and Pine [3]
Entertainment: This section includes viewers who are watching IPL from the
comfort of their
home and mainly fall in the 2 nd and 3rd category of marketing
matrix.
Educational: This generally includes viewers from 1st category of marketing
matrix and may have some level of participation from the 2 nd group as well.
These are the people who are in the stadium or are directly engaged in the event
in one form or the other like after match party passes etc.
Esthetic: IPL ensures this type of experience by offering special seating in the
stadium like VIVO Hi Wi Box, another example of this experience is Vodafone
superfan where one lucky fan gets a signed ball from the man of the match.
Conclusion
IPL was seen collectively has been a well marketed entertainment event.
Although its effect on cricket as a sport is questionable, it has been able to
achieve the goal for which it was conceived. It does face few challenges in the
form of prevalence of unethnic practices both on the inside and outside and the
featured content which has started losing its freshness and perhaps is need of
another Eureka moment.
References
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