Performance and Popularity may not go hand in hand

Now, popularity in IPL 2010 is guaranteed. You know that, or you should! What I am here to tell you, that it will be guaranteed even if the teams never perform. Why am I saying this? Because I have empirical proof for this.

 

 

The above table that you can see is the points table that was created at the end of the league stage of IPL 2010, after the coverage of IPL 2010 at All Padded Up.

 

Now, look at the following table:

 

 

This table was created at All Padded Up through a poll, a poll in which 973 votes were cast for the most favoured team as determined by the readers of All Padded Up. The readers were allowed more than one vote in the poll. This was done so that the choice of the readers, and the popularity of the teams is not confined. This is the reason that the % figures add more than 100%.

The poll was conducted during the league stage of IPL 2010. Thus, the two tables were being created at the same time.

Thus, while the first table was a measure of performance of teams in IPL 2010, the second table is a measure of popularity.

The following points are something that we note:

• Kolkata Knight Riders is the most popular team, inspite of the fact that they were placed 6th in the performance team. In fact, the votes cast for KKR (68%) is higher than the votes cast for all the four top teams combined (59% combined).
• Delhi Dare Devils (Placed 5th in Performance table) has got more votes, that is more popular that 3 of the four teams that made to the semi finals of IPL 2010. Only Mumbai Indians have got more votes, among the top 4 teams.
• Mumbai Indians, which were the runners up in IPL 2010, must have lost the IPL 2010, but they were clear winners in terms of popularity beating the winners (34% as against 10%)
• Kings XI Punjab show that performance still matters. They are the last team in the points table, and have also received only 2% votes. That is because their performance was horrible right at the start of IPL 2010.

Thus, we come to the conclusion that while popularity is not confined to performance of the teams, performance of the teams does act as a parameter.

We are in the process of determining our own methodology of rating teams and brands. Wait for it!

Innovative IPL

Any guesses as to what is the biggest mantra for this mind-boggling success of IPL is..... Well according to us it is....”Jo Dikhta Hai Wo Bikta Hai “. It is well said that “Nothing succeeds like SUCCESS!” No matter where (we are talking about the change of venues from India to SA), no matter rain or shine (difficulties faced in SA) the IPL has been a tournament to watch. The major factor contributing in the success of this tournament is that it has been successful in exploiting the EMOTIONS of us the INDIANS (For whom Sachin is no less than a GOD and cricket is a religion).

Strategy, Marketing, Advertising..... You name it and IPL has it for you! With this post we will be analysing the strategy being followed by IPL so as to promote the entities related to it and the event itself.

When it comes to strategies, a company can follow one of the two ways:

Ø To do something innovative which gives them the first movers advantage (Such companies are visionary in nature and comes up with the things which are totally new to the world, we will not be wrong if we call such companies to be CRAZY)

Ø To blindly follow a strategy which is already tried and tested but others present in the industry. (Companies following such strategies are traditional in nature and are adamant to any kind of change)

IPL according to us is following an innovative strategy wherein the different entities involved in it (broadcasters, team franchises etc) are very cleverly selling off their rights and other publicity instruments to the sponsors so as to get a greater return on their investment (and why not you get such an opportunity once in a blue moon). Our previous article Related Rights of Broadcasters – IPL threw some light on how the broadcasters are selling of their rights to gain maximum profits. Teams like Kolkatta Knight Riders are becoming the first choice of the sponsors because endorsing such a team provides them with two of the biggest celebrities of India: The Dada of Bengal and The undisputed King of the Bollywood at the price of one brand in the form of Knight Riders.

In order to understand the attractiveness of IPL from the sponsor’s point of view or rather the people who are pumping in money in it let us do a SWOT analysis of IPL.

To end with we can say that IPL and innovation are going hand in hand at present. New and new strategies are being employed by the different entities involved in it so as to get more and more return on their investment.

Brand Kolkata Knight Riders - Sponsorships

What is it about Kolkata Knight Riders, that despite the fact that the team has performed poorly in both the seasons, it has been able to garner sponsors, and a lot of them at that, at will?

What I mean here is that any corporate player (and these sponsors, all of them, are just corporate players at the end of the day) would wish to get associated with a brand that is a winner in its field. It is a basic rule which we call the "Implication by Association Rule (IBA)". This attitude of the corporate to get attached to a winning team is to send out a message to its audience that the corporate is a winning outfit as well.

But KKR has not been that, at least not in the past. So, what is it that gets corporate players, all market leaders in their own way, to sponsor a team that is not a leader in its field?

The answer lies in the table of this post. You remember the table of facts, don't you?!

Couldn't find it? Well, let me spell it for you then.

The answer is the first eyeball factor, given in the table. The answer is Shah Rukh Khan. No, IBA does not fail in the case of KKR, either. However, in the case of KKR, IBA is not signified by the association with the team, but with the owner of the team, who is a leader in his field of entertainment.

You don't agree with us? Figure this:

Nokia, Belmonte, Tag Heuer were associated with Shah Rukh Khan before KKR existed. Star Plus had an association with SRK from the KBC 3 times. Reebok got product placed in My Name is Khan (MNIK), a Hindi film released by Fox worldwide, as it got associated with SRK. Sprite, XXX and Lux Hosiery feature SRK in its advertisements and simply because they are associated with KKR. SRK needs to make an appearance on the advertisements to promote his own investment in the team of KKR. 

Yes, the team has got a load of sponsors. But aren't these players really getting associated with Shah Rukh Khan and that is about it?! You tell us.

Ankit Chabbra talks about Positioning of KKR brand in another post. Find out how KKR have positioned themselves.

Brand Kolkata Knight Riders - Positioning

Well, the team of the week requires an extension to another week folks !! .. just couldn't post the last week a hectic one for both of us.

So, it is KKR (Kolkata Knight Riders) an excellent brand nurtured by high face values of ShahRukh Khan ,Juhi Chawla and bollywood star power. Plus, the cricket crazy( or say "DADA" crazy) Kolkata crowd,one of the best cricketing grounds in India - The Eden Gardens and yes a successful brand positioning.

Brand Positioning, is what I would emphasize in this post.

• The team KKR is positioned to be the "People's Army" - an army of soldiers with their king as the "Badshah of Bollywood" and their commander as the "dada of Kolkata"
• The Armour designed jersey of the team further positions it right as an army.
• The battleground of EDEN GARDENS.

This is exactly how the company want to position the brand, but it is important to know how to position it the way you want; so let's put up some efforts of SRK through these 3 IPL seasons

It all started with the 'Dubbing the Knight' ceremony ( an ancient ritual in which the knighthood was presented to a soldier by gifting him a sword) when all the players of the KKR team were presented the gold plated Knight helmets as was done in ancient days by the kings to their knights.

Next, the team song "kerbo,lodbo,jeetbo re" , the video and the lyrics both inspiring the army to victory !!

Finally, the arena of battle - EDEN GARDENS ,a well decorated ground with iron grills at the boundary as it used to be in the ancient arena.Then, the king inviting his friends and foes to view the battle - his bollywood star power.
All have positioned it right as the people's army - the bengali army - KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS.

Kolkata Knight Riders - The Brand for The Week

For those who are reading Brandistics would know, that Brandistics is the first Indian blog to treat players as brands, and teams as mother brands. Indian Premier League, by that analogy, would probably then become the grandfather brand of them all.

Yes, IPL is a huge brand name today, and Ankit Chabbra has told you that it is so, because it is the 22nd most innovative company in the world today. This company gives us some awesome entertainment, some brilliant cricket, a lot of glamour, and stars that become so, almost overnight.

But if there is something that IPL gives us, apart from all of this, that makes the marketers very excited is the 8 established brands other than itself that IPL brings along. Yes, I am talking about the already established 8 teams, which would soon be joined by 2 more (Pune and Kochi) from IPL 2011.

For the sake of KISS (Keep it short and simple), Brandistics here will be taking one brand a week, and talk about it from all perspectives. Of course, if there is a lot more that we wish to discuss about that particular brand, we could extend that brand to the next week too.

So, the Brand for the Week is:

Kolkata Knight Riders

The team hasn't had the best of runs in IPL 2008 and IPL 2009, and while the performance has been better in IPL 2010, it is certainly not enough for the side to be counted as one of the favorites.

But the side definitely is a favorite among the public, which makes it a favorite for the marketers. We know IPL is a Mecca for Marketers, and KKR is one of those most desired seats.

So, this week, we would be talking about what makes KKR such a strong brand, in spite (or because of, as they case might turn out to be) of poor performances on the field.

But before we get down to any of that, let us find out a few facts about the team.

Owners:	Red Chillies Entertainment Pvt. Ltd
Franchisee Fee:	US $75.09 mn
Sponsorships and Brand Associations	Nokia, Belmonte, Star Plus, Gitanjali Jewellers, Sprite, Boomer, Reebok, Bilt, Tag Heuer, PlanetM, Next, XXX Energy Drink, Lux Hosiery
Income in Sponsorships (2008 and 2009)	Rs. 125 crore.
Income in  Central Pool	Rs. 111 crore
Eyeball Factor	Shah Rukh Khan (Co-owner of the team) Sourav Ganguly (Captain for IPL 2008 and IPL 2010)
Team Logo

Data Courtesy: Live Mint

The facts are out of the way, our opinions will now hit you. Wait for our opinions and come back for the same. Till then....