Gujarat Titans (GT) may be the winner of its maiden IPL outing, but still is a late entrant into the branding game. In the run-up to the 2023 season, the franchise is clearly focused on its fan base, with a mission to become the “most entertaining and engaging franchise”.
The team has thus far amassed a following of close to 4 million across its social media channels, though Colonel Arvinder Singh, COO for the Gujarat Titans, insists that he is not as concerned with the numbers as he is with creating impactful fan experiences.
GT has its work cut out, when viewed in comparison with IPL franchises that have been around since kick-off. As per reports, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Mumbai Indians (MI) have a following of over 40 million each, nearly 10 times that of the Titans. Singh contends that its late entry to the IPL notwithstanding, there is no reason why GT will not command a similar, large following in a few years.
“The fact that we are a new franchise allows us to do new things rather than following in the footsteps of the others. For example, this year, we conducted on-ground engagement activities during Gujarat’s kite festival, Uttarayan across key cities like Ahmedabad, Surat and Rajkot,” he says.
Last year, GT was one of the first IPL teams to make its way into the metaverse, creating properties like a locker room and home stadium, where it enabled fans and players to interact with each other. It also launched its own streetwear apparel line at the Lakme Fashion Week last year in October.
Singh says the franchise will be active through the year. Engaging with female fans will also be important since women make up less than 10% of its current fan base, a figure the colonel hopes to increase.
The franchise also launched its app, Titans Fam, which has over 50,000 downloads so far. Singh points out that moving forward, GT will make its app the hub for everything it does.
“Fans can become members of the Titans Fam without any fee, and earn points for engagement, which can then be used to procure merchandise or get discounted tickets. We also plan to enable ticket bookings on the app, as well as allow people to upload their own videos and content,” he elaborates. GT will roll out contests to let fans win a chance to stay or meet with the players, and also watch the team’s IPL fixtures at the stadium.
The one thing that nearly always guarantees fan loyalty and brand interest is winning, points out Jigar Rambhia, COO of Sporjo, a sports management firm. This is the case with both MI and CSK, which have been champions on multiple occasions and whose performances have been fairly consistent.
On the brand collaboration front, GT collected `65 crore in brand partnership revenue in its first year. Singh notes the franchise has already earned 30% more this year than last year. The team had over 15 brand partners on board last season, including Ather, Jio, Astral Pipes, Meesho, Amul, FanCode, boAt and Dream11.