Business Today Web Exclusive

Cup Of Whoahs

Now that the cricket World Cup's over and done with, a look at the brands that made the most of it.

By Shailesh Dobhal

WC '03: Raking in the big bucks

Okay, so the Men In Blue left the 'cup laaoge, cup laaoge, kab aaoge' (will bring the cup, will bring the cup, when will you come) question open for at least another four years. India lost... sigh.

But be assured, almost every Indian cricketing eyeball stayed glued to the screen right till the bitter end, and not only because 52 per cent of Indians expected India to win, according to a survey conducted by AC Nielsen India Customised Research Services. By any business measure, this has been a remarkably successful World Cup.

The satellite broadcaster, SET Max, of course, made off with pots of advertising money - thanks largely to the cricketing action, even if studio hostess Mandira Bedi's sense of fashion played a role too. As India advanced to the semi-finals, the channel reported sold the remaining tenth of its airtime (held strategically) at a near 200 per cent premium, according to reports.

Self-satisfaction is not the sole prerogative of the broadcaster. Despite all the grumbling about the gamble they took on cricket, the advertisers have done quite well for themselves. Broadly, fizzy drinks, durables and telecom brands stole most of the recall. The top performers? Pepsi, LG, Hero Honda and Reliance IndiaMobile. "Across brands, Pepsi and LG top the list of brands recalled spontaneously during the third week of the World Cup," says Sarang Panchal, Executive Director, AC Nielsen Customised Research Services.

Reliance IndiaMobile started relatively weak, and then scrambled up the charts as the Cup progressed. Other match-to-match gainers include Cadbury's Dairy Milk, which overtook Nestle's Polo as the most recalled confectionery advertiser, by AC Nielsen's findings. Among CTV brands, Samsung, Onida and Videocon also managed to score fairly well - though LG had the advantage of its logo on the field (as did Pepsi), not to mention the slow-but-sure rhythm of its 'Cricket First' drumbeats.

On unaided spontaneous recall, however, the World Cup was stolen by Pepsi, with an astounding score of 91 per cent. The match-to-match intuitiveness of its ad campaign ... from the aye-o-yeah number and blue skygazing to the lion's roar and Tendulkar's plane parting quip... gets much of the credit.

Next up on that attribute is LG, which got itself quite an eyeful with 49 per cent unaided spontaneous recall. Next is Reliance IndiaMobile, with 35 per cent, which ran a sort of split-run campaign, with batsman Sehwag's mother-on-the-phone doing the mass-appeal part of the job and the bedtime story commercial doing a more specific task.

What about Coke? Isn't this the brand creating waves at the moment? Yes it is. On unaided recall, it scores just 30 per cent - but the 'thanda matlab paanch' appeal goes far beyond the cricket audience, making it one of India's most unforgettable campaigns in recent years. In fact, this is one campaign that has people everywhere mouthing its dialogues, even at city-slicker parties. Expect its charm to last long after everyone forgets the Cup.

Hero Honda also scored 30 per cent, though it kept switching commercials back and forth, to rest finally on 'Team Ambition'. Then came Samsung (29 per cent), Onida (20 per cent), Britannia (16 per cent), Videocon (14 per cent) and TVS Victor (11 per cent).

The use of cricket-celebrities (Pepsi, LG, Reliance, Hero Honda and Britannia) seems to have worked well for brands, by and large. But brands that didn't have access to cricket, such as Coke, Samsung and TVS Victor, have done remarkably well, given the constraints.

All in all, the brands that have succeeded seem to be those that did one thing - think what the viewer is thinking. Especially the view who's most relevant... the one with sharpened sensibilities. Empathy, as always, is the real victor.

Issue Contents Write to us Subscription Syndication