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.

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....