Dear Readers,India is all set to witness its first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Buddh Circuit in a few weeks’ time. It is good to see the amount of buzz being generated for F1 racing in a traditionally cricket crazy country like India. Hosting a big ticket event like a Grand Prix is the surest way of popularising the sport in a newer country and the Airtel Indian Grand Prix will do just that for the world of motorsport racing. The idea of having an F1 race in India was first mooted by the then Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu in 2003. The deal fell on the backburner after he lost the next election and also due to anti-tobacco legislations. In 2007, Noida was finalised and the venue and in just 4 years India is ready to host one of the world’s most popular sporting events. This is a good sign for Indian Sports and one can only hope that such premier events are brought to India across other sports as well.
The other sporting event, closer to us here at Shillong is the 4th Season of IIM Shillong Golf Cup. This unique initiative started in 2009 aims to bring together the world of B-schools and the corporates providing a platform for budding managers to connect to the corporate leaders. We are very proud to have been the first ones in the country to come up with a Golf Cup and this year promises to be bigger and better than the previous editions.
All the sporting activities going on around us made it easier for us to zero in on the theme for our cover story. The cover story for this month ‘Sports Marketing’ analyses the business going on in the world of Sports. As Sports fans, we are usually unaware of how serious the business of sports is. The cover story dives deep into different aspects of Sports Marketing and brings in analogies of Sports Marketing with how products and services are usually marketed. We are sure the readers will find the story an interesting read.
Our Vartalaap for the month is in sync with this month’s theme. Team Markathon interviewed Mr. Harsha Bhogle, perhaps the most famous presenter on Indian Television today. Mr.Bhogle talks to Markathon about his career as a commentator, tv show host, author and a host of other roles. He also speaks about how the Indian Sports scenario is changing and the fact that Sports being seen as a business is good for the development of Sports in the country. We thank Mr.Harsha Bhogle for taking out time from his busy schedule and accommodating our requests for an interview. We also have Mr.Pradeep Bhardwaj who is Assistant Professor in the Marketing Division at the Sauder School of Business. We are pleased to have his interview in Markathon.
In the articles section, we have a fascinating article which examines the recipe for the success of Anna Hazare’s hugely popular Lokpal Bill campaign. The article breaks down the ‘ 7 sutras’ that contribute to its success and looks at each one of them closely. We also have an article ‘ Branding at Different stages of the Lifecycle’ which elaborates on different tactics used for branding a product throughout its lifecycle.
As always, do send us your feedback and suggestions for the magazine on markathon.iims@gmail.com .
Sit back and enjoy this edition!
Jitesh Pradeep Patel
