Markathon May 2012 Edition

Dear Readers,

With the scorching heat of summer and the daily routine becoming tiresome, the ongoing IPL is one thing that is keeping us occupied, to some extend for sure. Though the craze has faded over the years with shuffling players and unanticipated performances, but the cricket crazy nation that we are living in, nothing can make it less popular, not even its overdose. Marketers are utilizing it to the fullest to reach out to their targeted consumers, be it the cellular phone service providers like Vodafone or the leading soft drink providers like Coca Cola. In lieu of the ongoing craze, we too have highlighted IPL in few of our regular sections, hope you like it.

From the innocent days of galli cricket to the youthful college days spent in canteen, from the night outs in hostel to the coffee breaks at the ever demanding work place, life has never been easy. Something which has helped us keep going are the small entertainment packages that come along, be it in the form of the cartoon corner in newspaper or the recently released animation flick - The Avengers. In this issue, we have tried to cover one of the biggest source of entertainment to kids and youth alike i.e. the Animation industry.

As we try to adapt to the dynamic business requirements in this competitive scenario, captivating the customers holds the key to every challenge. Animation comes handy under such scenario where innovation is the lone driver. Thus animation having moved beyond entertainment is catering to the needs of many industries and businesses and helping them achieve monumental growth. The cover story “How animation drives businesses” explores this aspect of the appealing and engaging Animation industry. Emphasizing its use in the much talked about movies and advertisement space and the hidden applications in the form of content development and online marketing, it takes you back to your Disney days, gives you a ride with ZooZoos and leaves you with after thoughts on its unlimited scope in business application.

Our Vartalaap for this month features Mr. Sachin Gupta, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Johnson Cornell University and Professor of Marketing at the Johnson Graduate School of Management. With an expertise in Data driven marketing, his research focuses on interesting areas like measurement of returns on marketing investments. With special interest in prescription drug, consumer goods and hospitality industries, one among his many awards has been the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly's best paper award for his article on customer satisfaction in the restaurant industry. With valuable inputs on different industries and quantitative marketing techniques, readers would definitely not want to miss this interview.

With busy schedules for those enjoying their work lives and lazy vacations for those relaxing in the luxury of their houses, hope this issue brings about some variation in your daily routine and takes you back to the good old days of Mickey Mouse and Tom and Jerry.

Do give us your feedback about this edition and suggestions for the magazine at markathon.iims@gmail.com.

Sit back and enjoy this edition!

Regards,
Team Markathon

Markathon April 2011

Dear Readers,

It is that time of the year again, when the B-schools students find themselves undergoing the Summer Internship, exploring the world of marketing on a first hand basis for probably the first time. The experience is surely going to be one filled with learning and understanding how the ground reality is different from what we’ve read in our books- Kotler and the likes.

The one question that was on all Media Buying companies, WC or IPL, seems to have been answered for now. The IPL viewership figures have not been very encouraging compared to the WC which was a runaway hit. Maybe the latter part of the IPL might see some better numbers.

One campaign that has caught my eye during the IPL has been that of Cadbury’s rejuvenated “Kuch Meetha ho Jaaye” one. It is a very smart move by Cadbury which is trying to position Dairy Milk as a post mean dessert snack which might reap rich dividends. This moves away from the normal positioning as a chocolate for special occasions and festivals.

Markathon has always strived to bring you the best analysis and content related to the domain of marketing. In continuation with this singular objective, Markathon is proud to announce that we are starting a brand new feature from this edition. We have Mr. Martin Lindstrom, Bestselling author and premier Brand Consultant, giving us his wonderful insights about Brands and buying behaviour of consumers. In this month’s edition, we feature his thought provoking article, Smash Your Brand, which talks about how a brand’s logos should be designed to maintain its identity even when smashed into pieces. We are bringing this feature as syndication in association with The Martin Lindstrom Company Ltd. Markathon thanks them for giving us access to the wonderful article base.

Our cover story for this month is on Brand India. Much has been talked about how India is emerging as a brand after liberalisation. In our story we explore what Brand India means and how it is evolving. We dig deep to identify the meaning of a Country brand and the origin of the term Brand India. We also look at how the Government is working for Brand India as well as what it has done for the ‘Aam Aadmi’ of the country. I am sure you will find the story a fascinating and informative read.

In this month’s Vartalaap we have a very special guest, Mr. Vivek Mehra who is the MD and CEO of Sage Publications India Ltd. He gives us a wonderful interview running us through the world of publishing and also SAGE publications’ Legends of Marketing Series.

Happy Reading!

Jitesh

Jitesh Pradeep Patel

IPL

Ritul Singh | IIM Shillong

Indian Premier League; a twenty- twenty cricket format; is a competition created by BCCI. Chairman and Commissioner of this league is Lalit Modi; VP of BCCI. It was started as in competition with Indian Cricket league but now it is far ahead of ICL and is most viewed T20 game. The first season was started on 18th April 2008, in which Shane Warn lead Rajasthan Royals won the tournament. The second season is in progress and is being held in South Africa because of Indian General Elections in India. There was a large hue and cry for this decision but IPL pointed on UPA lead government for this decision. Though the matches are being held in SA but the timing of all the 59 matches are as per last season.
IPL a Round Robin Tournament
In the round robin format, every team has to play against every other team. IPL and IPL2 both follow two rounds of round robin. Hence there are a total of 56 matches. For every match the winning team gets a 2 point and the losing team gets no point, if the match is a no result or a draw then both the teams gets one point each. Every team also gets a Run Rate (RR), based on how well they won or how badly they lost. Based on the points each team gets, they top four team advances to the next round which is the semi-finals and from then on it’s a knock out method that is being followed. The schedule of IPL2 was such that it coincides with the start of the first round of IPL (April 18). But this the time the schedules were made a bit tighter with two matches almost every day and hence the tournament ends on May 24th as against June 1st of the previous time.



Future Expansions
IPL is planning to have 11 teams in its next season. Ahmadabad and Kanpur teams are most likely to play in next season. Anil Ambani and Sahara Group have shown interest in these teams. A North East team is also likely to be formed as to promote cricket in this part of India. Again in 2012-13 season two more teams are likely to be formed. They may be another Delhi (Localized to Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida and Greater Noida) and Mumbai (Navi Mumbai, Pune).

Revenue
The total revenue of this competition are directed towards a central pool and then it is distributed to IPL, franchises and prize money; 40%, 45%, 6%accordingly. After 2017 this share will be 50%, 45% and 5%. For each franchise revenue comes from Broadcasting rights, Team sponsors and gate receipt while the expenses are in form of franchise fee, team expenses, advertising, promotion and administrative expenditure. So total profit or loss can be calculated from following formula:
P/L= (Broadcasting Rights + Team Sponsors + Gate Receipt) - (Franchise fee + Team Expenses + Adv & Admin Expenses)



Tough Road for IPL
For IPL road ahead seems to be a tuff one as BCCI has found itself with many conflicts with other cricket boards and clubs. Many boards have feared that sponsors of the IPL (and its teams) that directly competed with their sponsors would jeopardize already existing arrangements. Few smaller boards like (WCB) feels that players are more motivated to join IPL as compared to their national teams because of high payouts by IPL sponsors as compared to cricket boards. Media rights also seem to create problem for IPL as Print media objects putting still images on websites of the broadcasting media. It also seems to have some problem with the location of organizing as it is being organized in South Africa; few people have started doubting on its name and motive.

The Power of Forces
As we have seen this year that government has a crucial role in this and if it imposes same thing again in future also then it will lose its charm as already many people reacted negatively towards this change of location. ICC is also planning to have a world T 20 League if this concept clicks then it will create problem for the IPL. The regional acceptance is very crucial in this as if teams will focus on not only the city but a region whole then we can have increased viewer base.

Is it local having Global touch?
As each teams are having many local players who haven’t even played at national level so the biggest question arises that people watch IPL matches just as a game or to support their home team? Marketers are trying their best to give it a global touch as teams are having big names in teams and many coaches are foreigners. Marketers are treating it as an opportunity to promote their own brands. As we know in India cricket is like a religion and marketers like Malya (Royal Challengers: Promoting his famous liquor brand Royal Challenge) and India Cements (Super Kings: Promoting its brand Coromandel King) are using this pitch for their own benefit. Broadcasting channels are also treating it as an opportunity to gain market share as viewership of traditional form of cricket is decreasing significantly. Approximately 80% of viewers like this three and half hour of cricket formats. These channels are also betting on the fact that big players in franchise like Malya, SRK who have put in money will build their teams
into mega-brands and ensure ample drama and media mileage for IPL. There will be ample opportunity for entertainment channels in for of Shah Rukh Khan or Preity Zinta putting on a show.

Future Outlook
Over 98% of the revenue for IPL is generated through the television viewership and so the organizers are feeling that overall revenue will not take a hit. Also this year the television spot rates have been almost doubled and over 70% of it is already sold out. But does this signify that this will continue in the future? Most of the viewership is created due to the success of first year IPL. It will only take a couple of foreign tours to tarnish this image, if it could not keep up with the local touch. It is vital that every team has to connect to his audience, and distance is not going to make this job any easier. The need of the hour is to connect to the local audience as much as possible. Although television is doing its bit, it is vital to leverage on various other forms of marketing activities to spread the awareness especially among the rural community. For example, Chennai Super Kings should reach its appeal to entire Tamil Nadu. They need to bring the ground experience by projecting the games on big
screens either in the colleges or cricket stadiums etc. These kind of activities must be carried out by all the teams to increase the overall viewership which will increase the brand awareness, which I feel is the first and the foremost step to be taken by any brand to increase its brand equity.