Cricket first? Not always

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ICL is using Bollywood star power to pull audiences & advertisers. Will the strategy work?

It’s the amalgamation of cricket and Bollywood again, the only two religions that can claim to capture the heart of Indians. The extravaganza and the deadly combination of cricket and showbiz do seem to stump one and all.The stars of both the worlds are like demi-Gods and Goddesses for their ever growing fans, who can give away anything to have just a ‘dekko’ of them. Trying to cash in this chemistry is the so called rebel league, the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Strategically making the audience dance to the duel tunes by providing them the best of both the worlds as welll as to entice advertisers to play ball. To what extent can this ‘Bhelpuri’ of cricket and tinsel town masala succeed in stalling the march of big brother IPL, which is already threatening to destroy all prospects of ICL’s survival?

Incorporating performances of movie stars like Kareena Kapoor, Neha Duphia, Rakhi Sawant, et al during matches seems to be a valiant effort to redeem itself from failure of the earlier editions of its tournaments, which failed to get desired attention. Kapil Dev, former Indian cricket player, who heads the ICL’s Executive Board, states, “Entertaining the audience is the main motive. The concept of clubbing together two diverse entertaining sources seems to work wonders.” Adds Ashish Kaul, Executive Vice President, Zee Networks, “India as a country is not a sport crazy nation, cricket being an exception. Thus it becomes imperative to put forward a right mix of both entertainment and sports to pull the crowd to the grounds.” Well the idea as of now seems to move in line with the objective, but the real dilemma is for how long? And at the end of the day, wouldn’t the game and the players matter far more than some lame frills in between play time?

India’s only World Cup ODI winning captain clarifies further, “Well, ten to fifteen minutes of fun filled performance do not take away the entertainment; the game is there to provide over a period of three to four hours.” Well, that’s exactly the moot point! But with the Indian Premium League (IPL) getting all the big names in cricket, Bollywood as well as India Inc. it’s anybody’s guess as to which 3-4 hour time slot (ICL/IPL) the audience is more likely to be looking forward to!

The stars of the ICL galaxy failed to shine and twinkle to draw the audience to the stadiums the last time, which had cast serious doubts on the sustainibility of the league. “With performing star galleries, we also plan to adopt other marketing and advertising strategies like puppet shows, clown performances, et al to attract a larger number of eyeballs,” explains Ashish Kaul of Zee.

Of course, with IPL already having the backing of big names like DLF, Hero Honda & Pepsi, it remains doubtful if ICL can really attract media planners with such moves. Agrees Pravin Nair, Senior Executive, ACNielsen, “When you have Kareena dancing, there will be a number of eyeballs attracted, thus advertisers would benefit from showcasing their advertisements, but it won’t be able to outdo IPL.” For now, IPL reigns supreme in the Indian cricket sweepstakes. For ICL, it appears to be more a battle for survival. And as cricket is being watched more for its entertainment value, adding a few extra doses of star power surely wouldn’t harm.

Ratan Lal Bhagat

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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2008

An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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