The most memorable thing from last year’s advertising for Indian Cricket League must be ‘Jujubi’, the parting shot in the Chennai Superstars ad. The theme ad for ICL the brand or what it stood for is perhaps missing from public memory. In contrast, IPL set the tone for the tournament with their ‘Karmayudh‘ ads and then let the individual teams do their numbers.
This year, there is an attempt by ICL to give a thematic message to the tournament. Playing on the perception that there was too much tamasha associated with the IPL, there is a subtle repositioning of IPL as ‘nothing to do with cricket’. The tag line ‘Cricket hai meri life‘ lends an element of seriousness to the game, which is perhaps a good thing. The first time I saw the ad, my reaction was ‘Hey, where’s the gooseflesh?’. Frankly, it was not emotional or stirring.
However, there is an element of simplicity and honesty in the films that makes it endearing. It may not have the same firepower as the IPL ads; the lack of big names may not get the buzz going as yet. But if last year’s ICL final is anything to go by, the quality of cricket may surprise many. And the change in personality may have come at the right time.
4 Comments
The film was simple and nice..Message loud and clear..I am sure it will touch some hearts..but will that increase the ICL viewership..Doubtful.
It reminded me of the new Tata Indicom commercial about this small town girl who gets a call from her coach telling her that she is selected.
Yes, I agree that ICL viewership may not be high. But that is a function of several factors including channel promos, PR, on ground activation, the media budget and so on…
In our quest for creativity ( read advertisements) somewhere we are forgetting the final product . It is definitely a package and advertisement is only 20% ( remember 5 P’s of marketing). In Sports it is the actually prodcut that matters. Yes, you may need awareness to talk of the existence of the product. But advertisement deciding the success is a little far fetched.
On ICL, my personal view is that viewership may be very high atleast for the initial matches as there will be a positive ruboff from the IPL matches. To sustain it, the quality will have to be on par.
Biju, thanks. Yes, in Sports the product matters – but so is the case with all else that needs marketing. There are tennis tournaments and there is the Wimbledon & US Open. Similarly, packaging the ICL plays a critical role and this attempt to give it a distinct positioning should be seen in that light.