Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), the Indian Premeire League (IPL) team bought by Shah Rukh Khan Juhi Chawla and Jai Mehta for $75 million has only had two victories in the T20 matches. Despite the bad performance of the team, KKR has been successful in attracting viewers and fans by applying various strategies.
Viral Oza, head, activation, media and online marketing, Nokia (India) in an interview with Priyanka Akhouri reveals the marketing strategies and efforts undertaken by the company that further add value to KKR. Excerpts:
How has this partnership with KKR benefited Nokia in reaching out to the people?
We feel that cricket and IPL unites Indian youth and gives us an opportunity to create an exciting and interactive platform to connect with young consumers.
As a company we are always innovating, reinventing and looking at initiatives that will strengthen our youth connect.
Consumers and fans can now track KKR?with the help of Nokia Nokia mobile application available on all Nokia handsets?by way of getting updates, viewing match schedules and latest scores on their mobile phones.
Has the sponsorship deal with KKR helped Nokia to recover the ROI?
Nokia tied up with KKR as their presenting sponsor for IPL. This is the second year of our association with them. Our efforts this season focussed around supporting the team and enhancing involvement among fans.
ROI can be measured in many ways and as a brand this association has given us an exciting and interactive platform to connect consumers with their passion?Cricket and Bollywood.
We have also gained as a brand as according to a study done last year, Nokia had the highest recall after DLF.
What marketing strategy did you apply?
Nokia took a 360 degree approach towards marketing and consumer initiatives. As a part of this association over the past year we have sponsored KKR?s cricket development programme and identified local talent across the country.
Consumers buying select Nokia phones would win assured gifts ranging from Nokia KKR branded phone accessories to an opportunity to fly to South Africa to watch an IPL match.
The ?Nokia KKR T20? game features direct integration with Nokia maps to help the consumer zoom into KKR match locations and get match schedule.
The game has been a resounding success with consumers and to date has been downloaded more than 60,000 times.
Has KKR?s bad performance impacted Nokia and do you plan to stick with team next year also?
Winning and losing is a part of every tournament but the passion for the sport supersedes all.
Despite not winning, KKR has a strong fan following base and Nokia has benefited from it.
We feel we have strong synergies with KKR and Shah Rukh as a brand and IPL as a platform and we will continue to connect our young consumers to their passions.