FIFA 2010 Sponsorship - Importance to USA, Germany, India, China, Japan and South Korea

FIFA 2010 is on, and Brandistics is trying its best to report on the World Cup, whether it comes to the schedule or the betting odds (see widget at the top). But considering that we are a sports marketing blog, my attention on FIFA 2010 has involved the sponsors to the FIFA 2010 World Cup, more than a lot of things.

Figure this:

FIFA Sponsorship can be broken down into FIFA event partners and international sponsors apart from the local sponsors. Considering that the local sponsors should be belonging to the African continent, we decided to find out which countries do the other sponsors belong to. It is a huge event after all, the returns on this investment for the companies, might as well make or break them.

FIFA Partner	Home Country
Adidas	Germany
Coca Cola	USA
Emirates	UAE
Hyundai Kia	South Korea
Sony	Japan
Visa	USA

FIFA WC Sponsor	Home Country
Budweiser	Germany
Castrol	UK
Continental	Germany
McDonald's	USA
MTN	South Africa
Mahindra Satyam	India (Yeah!)
Seara	Brazil
Yingli Solar	China

Now, you see what I meant with the title. USA has got 3 companies, Germany has got 3 companies, UAE, China, Brazil, India, South Africa, UK, South Korea, Japan have each 1 company. Certainly, FIFA World Cup 2010 is more important to these countries than the other ones like Argentina or Spain who are poised to fight hard this World Cup!

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.

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....

IPL - 22nd Most Innovative. Globally.

Wonder why IPL has made its way into the list of most innovative companies at the 22nd Position? Well, if you haven't then you should have. After all, it started only in 2008, and it is already on a prestigious list.

Now, that you have wondered, or rather, now that we have forced you to wonder, here are some answers.

IPL defined a new economy of cricket through the success of its first season in 2008.The idea was to target the primetime audience who were now bored of the monotonous saas–bahu soaps and present them a shorter form of entertaining cricket buttered with glam from bollywood.

The innovation did not stop here; there is more to it – the business side of the game. IPL is a revolution in sports marketing, starting with the high bids on players, to huge sponsorships, broadcasting rights, ground tickets and most importantly a theme for marketers to promote their brands through co – branding strategies, all of it generates huge revenue.

If we are talking revenue, let us give you some figures!

IPL is expected to generate revenue of over Rs. 10,000 Crores ($2 billion) in its first decade. I said ‘over’ as the world’s richest cricketing body BCCI [Board of Cricket Control in India] is going to be richer by Rs. 750 Crores ($150 million) in IPL3, up 25% from the last season. So, with such a season on season (sos) growth in revenue it might reach the target well before expectations.

With so much money being fished out by the leading global marketers in this sport, there must be a lot to talk on this subject which is what the upcoming posts will describe you:

• How has IPL taken over the entertainment industry giving a huge platform for marketing?
• How do the business minds investing in the teams find it a valuable proposition?
• How are the various big brands co–branding with IPL?

You want to know the answers, don't you?!