It?s the biggest blockbuster in the history of Indian television, and it?s going to last more than a hundred days.
With the Cricket World Cup being played in India beginning in February and the IPL to follow immediately after, 2011 might also turn out to be the most unproductive year in offices across the country!
The marketing and advertising world will, of course, be on overdrive. Cricket has the highest impact when reaching mass audiences and World Cup and IPL happening back to back presents a huge opportunity for a brand to make its mark.
Brand managers are aware of this, and they will get together to prepare briefs for innovative campaigns they believe will bring people closer to their brands. Already one brand has billboards splashed across cities announcing that you could win a chance to sit on a sponsored throne in the stadium and enjoy the World Cup, and there will be many more to come.
The planning-creative nexus in agencies can look forward to some stressfully exciting times over the next four months!
The varying nature of these two beasts will also pose an interesting challenge from a branding perspective. While the World Cup is an elephant, universally loved but slow to pick up pace and liable to have a big fall (an early exit by India, god forbid) the IPL is a racehorse, glamorous yet steady, providing guaranteed entertainment over the course of its run.
And it is in this ability to provide brands with a safety net of guaranteed star Indian cricketers in every match that the IPL manages to slice a slightly bigger piece of the advertising pie, although with the optimistic mood around the World Cup, categories such as TV will be betting big hoping that their growth hits the roof as India progresses further in the tournament.
Media spends are usually high in the cricket season, but with the double dose this year, brands could end up using more than half their annual advertising budgets in just these four months.
The question they would be asking themselves would be, ?How do I justify this spending??
Categories like colas can still point to thirsty youngsters in need of refreshment and the seasonal nature of their business as a convincing argument, but how does a telecom operator or an automobile company ? whose brands are purchased throughout the year ? justify the splurging in such a short period of time?
The answer could lie in creating memorable acts which will allow brands to establish an inseparable bond with their consumers for the rest of the year and create a change in their behaviour, much like the lovable zoozoos did for Vodafone during the earlier editions of the IPL.
Here?s to a win-win situation for not just the marketers, but also the cricket fans around the country.
These are exciting times. May the best team/brand win!
The author is national creative director, Leo Burnett India.