In-charge of CHANGE: Cricket 2012- The Businessmen’s Game

Cricket 2012- The Businessmen’s Game

The game of cricket which is otherwise known as the Gentlemen’s game has been evolved in the southern England in late 1500s has become the new mantra of entertainment today. From the 5 days long test matches to 50 overs a side one day matches to the newest avatar, the Twenty 20 format, the game of cricket has certainly come a very long way.

Cricket, whenever this word is uttered, many bats are wielded in a hurry to play, as the striker goes ahead to smash the balls. This is the game of “cricket” which is another name of religion in a country like India. In India, every child is given a bat and a ball on his/her birthday, and this is something which has been followed traditionally all over the country. And in tune to that, the branding process in cricket has also evolved in a dramatic manner over the years.

From the beginning of the human civilization, the process of communication or what we say delivering one’s understandings to another person seems to be very vital in every stage and every age. From the days in the caves to this modern day ultrasonic jet age, it is the one by virtue of which the man has proved its mettle against the time and against all other creatures. From this very concept of sending or spreading the understandings from one to another the concept of

Advertisement has taken birth.

And to advertise or simply spreading the news or views about a product or service in this hyper-competitive market place is very important to survive and thrive for modern day marketers. And to rip on this, now-a-days marketers have started to exploit every opportunity as they are starting to attach their brand names with various products, services and events.

Branding which is known as giving a unique name, sign or term to one’s product so that it will acquire a specific position on the minds of the consumers and differentiate the product of various companies.

In this post I am trying to focus on the same branding effect on the new kingpin in the world of entertainment, the game of cricket!

A flashback into the Gentlemen’s game

If not long, only we can go back to some 20 to 25 years back, we can see the very classic and very cleanly image of cricket. With scenic arenas, large spans of green grasses, clean wickets, clean stadiums, unbranded equipments like bats, wickets, boundary ropes, perimeter boards, spotless white clothes, basic score boards, simple presentation ceremonies…etc. In addition to that the players, be at a national or International level were also involved in very few endorsements.

The Change

With the advent of liberalization and the growth of television viewership have given a huge popularity boost to the game. With the birth of cable and satellite television came a deluge of programming options for Indian advertisers. Cricket stood alone, as a means to cut through barriers of age, gender, geography, language and socio economic class classifications. It is today a medium by itself; one which accounts for approximately 15-20% of total television advertising in a given year.

Cricket has allowed marketers to effectively combine the power of television and the potential of the sport. And the result is that today, astronomical sums of monies are being pumped in to garner a slice of this highly lucrative pie.

So seeing this big opportunities, the marketers need to disregard the old ways of advertising and bang out to mega advertising efforts both on ground and on television which will help them to stand out and get noticed. Whether the brand is relevant to the spot it is getting advertised or not, it has added value to the whole game; both on ground as well as on television resulting in involvement and consumer appreciation. We can say here that, pockets do get deeper when it comes to cricket.

The Changed

The painted Playground on all four sides