ipl

BRAND MANAGEMENT
A PROJECT ON BRANDING IPL TEAMS AND PLAYERS

PGPM 2012-13
Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

By Group 1:
Sonal Dengle (P122044)
Prarthana Verma (P122034)
Pooja Gupta (P122033)
Pashupathinath Rajan (P122032)
Charles Cherian (P122008)

Indian Premier League Report

1. INTRODUCTION
India has a long-standing love affair with a game called cricket, a quintessentially British sport played as
"creckett" in the sixteenth century, and popularized by the British Empire in the subcontinent since early
1800s. Today, three in every 10 TV commercials will carry a cricketing theme or endorsed by India's cricket
heroes. In the new millennium, cricket went through an overhaul, truncated to 20 overs a side and a result
could be obtained in three hours -- about as long as a baseball game. The Board of Cricket Control in India,
muscled its power to trample Indian Cricket League (ICL) launched by Zee Group calling it unlicensed and
banning many international players, and borrowed many ideas from the English Premier League (UK),
National Baseball Association (USA) and the first ICC T20 World Championship hosted by South Africa to
form its own glitzy version, the Indian Premier League (IPL).

In this project report, we would be investigating the role of branding in professional team sports in India.We
would also be discussing about how a team contributes to the branding of a player and what does a player
contribute to the branding of a team.We would then be contrasting situations of a new (rookie) player
versus an established player, and a proposed new (expansion) team verses an established team. Finally
we would be providing some marketing advice to the rookie player in choosing a team and advice to an
expansion team in picking players for future matches.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW
“It is not just marketing hype. There is significant substance with top players in the teams. It is a good
product which is now getting marketing support. Indian cricket is certainly headed in the same direction as
football in the UK and baseball in the US.”Sridhar Samu, Professor, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad,
in March 2008.

The IPL was set up to imitate the franchise model of American sport -- a very cosy family business. And
even if India's biggest film stars and richest hard-nosed tycoons who own many of these cricket clubs
continually crave for the spotlight on themselves, the effulgence of IPL seized every cricket lover's
attention, and was subsequently appraised at a whopping $3.7 billion by Brand Finance, a London-
basedconsulting firm that specializes in brand valuation. India's rising middle class embraced this hit-and-

Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon – Group 1


giggle version that was devised by
England in 2003, as a way of reviving
interest to its county cricket after five
straight years of failing attendances.
With this new acquired brand of T20
cricket, India's city-based franchisees
had truly come of age with one clear
winner: Chennai Super
Kings (CSK).From a branding
perspective, CSK, declared as the most valuable IPL franchisee began to differentiate itself, and amply
benefitted from the high level of identification of power symbols and a sensory palette of unique visual,
verbal, and digital expression. CSK , if we observes its trend as an IPL team in terms of in branding and
specializing on consumer insight and technology ,should be awarded full marks in every facet of the
complex branding process. Especially the team’s potential to build equity by capitalizing on the emotional
relationship it shares with CSK fans that derive strength and a sense of identity from their affiliation with
their team. Branding definitely plays a very important role in the sport industry in India today. We can again
say this because in the last two years established brands such
as Pepsi (The Game), Idea (Oongli Cricket), Havell’s (lighting
major), and of course, Vodafone (Zoozoos) have campaigns
designed specially for the upcoming seasons.As Rajeev Rao,
national creative director, Ogilvy & Mather, creator of the Zoozoo
campaign along with Prakash Varma of Nirvana Films, said in an
earlier interview to Business Standard, “It is all about a clutter-
busting idea.”Over the seasons, there have been marketing circles
which are abuzz with talks of a brand overload around the Twenty20
tournament, thanks to the numerous advertising and sponsorship opportunities floated by the IPL, ranging from
television (Sony Max and Colors) and Internet (YouTube) to team sponsorships, ground sponsorships and theatre
rights.Before every IPL season, each of the eight franchisees sells every possible sponsorship property including
apparel, kits, beverages and even post-match parties which helps to increase IPL’s brand value to a great extent.
IPL, sports marketing is coming of age in India.Many brands do not fail to associate with the league due to the sports’
popularity.Clutter is a reality outside IPL as well. IPL has roped in HSBC, Royal Challangers and HP as main
sponsors, while Coca-Cola, Airtel and Samsung are associate sponsors.YouTube even stuck a separate advertising



deal for the UK which tells us how international branding also plays a very important part in the sports industry in
India. UFO Moviez, which has exclusive rights for screening of matches at theaters and public places, is currently
eyeing an estimated Rs 40-50 crore in revenues.PVR Cinemas president PramodArora say revenue streams in terms
of branding will be small for multiplexes this year but will become more significant in the coming years.Hotelsmostly
expect Rs 40-50 crore revenues through room occupancies and food & beverages sales. Rajeev Menon,area
VP(India,Malaysia and Maldives) believes that IPL has always come at a good time for hoteliers, , with teams, other
delegates and fans coming in large numbers.

Despite it being offered on several mediums, most viewers are catch the matches on TV and Sony Max
and the official broadcasters pulled in Rs 850-900 crore through advertising deals from the previous
season."There are various ways IPL content can now be consumed though I believe television will remain
the largest platform by which consumers will watch IPL matches," says L K Gupta, chief marketing officer at
top consumer electronics firm LG India.Hence, we can successfully say that branding of professional sports
in India, is slowly gaining momentum day by day,or shall we say,season by season with IPL!

We shall now see as to how a team contributes to the branding of a player and what does a player
contribute to the branding of a team.
In IPL each team has a mix of players from India and other nations. There is a mutual contribution of a
player to the team and vice-versa. As far as the branding of the team through the player is
concerned,with the involvement of players from several nations, IPL has become a global brand. Also
each team is liked and promoted keeping in mind the mix of the players (both national and international).
Additionally the organizers of the game believe that though a domestic league, IPL will be a global business
with global investors, global players, and a global broadcast.In this global level game which is promoted
also keeping the cities at the heart has certain rules for the franchises before the auction for individual
players started (since 2008). It had selected a few senior players as icon players and they represented the
city they hailed from.The rule made it mandatory for the icon players to play for their cities to increase the
fan base and loyalty for a particular franchise intheir respective city.The strategy to keep the icon players
from the respective cities helps to promote the whole event from the patronage of the followers from the
place of the teams. Then the anthems, songs, & merchandises in the presence of these players only add to
the feeling of patronage in India.

As far as the team’s brand endorsement through the players is concerned, IPL has created a
benchmark of being the high point of the cricket odyssey in India. It has become an expression of the



emerging new reality of world cricket and of the growing Indian influence in International League games.In
general, celebrity endorsers may draw attention to ads, increase awareness of the brand, and help to
differentiate one brand from another. Advertisers hope that positive attitude toward the endorser will
transfer to the ad and the brand. Source credibility is an important influence on the formation of attitudes
toward endorsers and the transfer of this affect toward the endorsed brand. The superstar players have
high brand equities due to many reasons. From the behavior perspective, the brand value could stem from
the cultural meanings with which these celebrity players are endowed. Such cultural meanings may include
status, class, gender, and age as well as personality and lifestyles. Players brands are valuable because
these cultural meanings can be passed from the celebrity players to consumers through services provided
(e.g., games) and products endorsed. Such superstar effects arise because of joint consumption
technology and imperfect substitution of consumers’ preferences. The joint consumption technology
indicates that a large number of people can consume the “celebrity” service together, thus implying great
economies of scale for superstars. The imperfect substitution means that quantity cannot substitute for
quality; that is, the value of watching a superstar player is higher than the value of watching several
mediocre players. And this is the one of the vital reasons as to why branding in Indian Sports has increased
drastically.Most importantly, it is also ensured that celebrities are chosen accordingly whose image fits
properly with the sport they are associated with.This can be explained by seeing the framework on brand
alliance as follows:

Conceptual Framework on Brand Alliance
The above diagram explains that there is certain value added by the player to the brand of the team.
Further, there is certain value which is added by the team to the brand equity of the player. Thus, both
together form a brand alliance to add value to the complete system.



Now we will see as to what a team contributes to the branding of a player.
Opportunities in International level Cricket
The major advantages of IPL are that many unknown players across the country get an opportunity to
prove their talents.Times where Ranji Cricket was considered as a gateway for entering International
Cricket arena has been overshadowed by IPL cricket now.

Players who have outperformed in IPL have been given a shot to showcase their talent in International
Cricket.The most important players in any side are the ones who perform in big match situations – the
knockouts (or playoffs) in a tournament and the deciders in bilateral series. They are the ones who relish
the big challenges and produce their best when their teams most need it. They are the real gems of any
side when their teams go on to lift the trophy – they are the ones who define the tournament (or series, in
bilateral encounters) – this is the real legacy of a player.
Amongst the 9 squads in IPL 2012, there were 57 players who have a history of series/tournament-defining
performances. It is perhaps not a coincidence that amongst the teams that have made this year’s
knockouts, the team with the maximum series/tournament-defining players have made the playoffs– all four
of them.
Table 2 contains the complete list with the respective teams (arranged as per their positions in the final
league table) and the number of players in each team who have had such performances in their T20
careers.

IPL: A Money Game :With the example of England batsman Kevin Petersen’s shocking retirement, it is
said that players are tempted to play in the Twenty 20 competitions to earn more money in less time. The
influence of the IPL in most of these decisions is massive. Players will always choose maximum income
from a minimal time commitment if they have the chance.The major advantages of IPL are that many
unknown players across the country get an opportunity to prove their talents.Times where Ranji Cricket
was considered as a gateway for entering International Cricket arena has been overshadowed by IPL
cricket now.Being associated with an IPL Team for any cricketer can be substantiated by the survey result
conducted by the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA). They took an opinion among 150
players and came to the conclusion that IPL is the most important game for them professionally. The poll result:

32% players aim to quit the international cricket early for IPL and other T20 leagues.
40% say that they imagine putting IPL above country as international schedule is usually very
hectic.



94% feel that the budding cricketers will train themselves mainly for T20 pattern as IPL offers a
huge fee
39% point out that spectators are losing interest in One Day Internationals as many tournaments
are being held every year.
Thus, IPL's advantages are remarkable but one must see that commitment towards country does not suffer.

IPL teams keep changing with time with the removal of old, under-performing players and addition of new
players in the team. These new players are added in the team to make the team stronger and to fill up gaps
that were left in the previous year’s game. Adding new strong players in the team also increases the brand
equity value of the team. Some new players that got involved in IPL 2012 are: Sunil Narine and Marchant
de Lange joined KKR; Thisara Perera, who has played for CSK and KTK in previous IPL seasons, played
for MI in IPL 2012; Mahela Jayawardene who has played for KXIP and KTK previously, joined DD. Rookies
are taken into team to bring in new energy and to promote new talent. They are trained under experts and
experienced cricketers. Rookies are also taken in team when team has certain budget issues. For eg:
Graham Napier from England was selected in IPL season 2 2009 to play for MI.
Since contribution of player towards the team is crucial and so is team contribution towards branding the
player, let us now look at few contrasting points between a new (rookie) players who joins a team
versus a player who is well established and has been playing in the team for a while.
Some differentiating points are:
Brand Identity: The new player has to establish its brand identity in the team using his strengths
and qualities while an established player had already done so over a period of time. Bidders,
viewers and owners of the team look at the past record of the player to access what his strengths
are and how that strength can be leveraged in the team for building up a strong team. The new
player has to always prove his capability as a player even though he would have played matches
elsewhere but his performance may tend to vary in the IPL team.
Core Competencies: There might be players with same core competency i.e., bowling, batting or
wicket keeping. So a new player has to compete in the team against an established player in order
to emerge as a stronger player compared to the other one. Competing against each other would
also result in better performance in the team.
Team Culture: An established player is well aware of team’s culture and its values. A new player
has to make the efforts to understand the team’s environment and get adapted to it. Also, IPL



brings players from other countries in a team to play with each other while some of these players
were playing against each other in other matches. It becomes difficult to adjust to the new values
the team has built up. So a new player sometimes requires time to gel in the team’s culture.
Trust/Creditability: Generally trust/creditability is more on an established player than a new player
because the team knows his performance, skills, competencies and experience with the current
team. A new player has to work on gaining trust in the team.
Performance: A new player will also have pressure to perform well in the team otherwise critics
may question his selection in the team, while the scenario is different for an established player. An
established player could risk not performing well in the team as he might have performed well in
past proving his capability and loyalty to the team. The challenges are more complex for a rookie
as compared to that of an established player due to prior exposure to the game.
Growth: A new player in the introduction phase of the game has to adapt to the new changes
while an established player at the same time would be in the growth or maturity phase of the game.
Energy levels: Energy levels might be high in case of a rookie as he has new experiences and to
prove his identity in the team. An established player would be an enthusiast and keeps
encouraging the team to work hard while a rookie works on developing his own self and getting
adjusted to the team.
“Icon Player”: While an establish player can get benefit of relating his image to that of an “Icon
Player”, a new player might not get it soon. Because association of that player with the state and
show casing strong talent is necessary this would have already been served by an established
player.
Experience and Associations: A rookie lacks experience and associations with the brand. While
an established player can boast of having international and varied experience like that of one-days,
test matches, playing and performing under pressure, etc. Since the player is new to the game, he
doesn’t have many brands associated with him, so the team as a whole might not see many
benefits out of him.

With ever changing IPL, not only new players are getting involved in the event but also many new teams
are being formed. New teams increase the competition and thrill of the game. Hyderabad is planning to
introduce its team for IPL 2013. Likewise, Pune and Kerala added their teams namely Pune Warriors India



and Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the year IPL 2011 and gave tough competition to all the established teams.
Lets us look at some contrasting points between a newly formed team and an established team.

Players: New teams bring in new players, who didn’t participate in IPL previously and some players who
have played IPL previously. But the difficulty that a new team faces is to bind the team together. Again
here, players have played against each other at some point in time, so it becomes essential for the players
to work as a team towards a common set goal.

Vision/Goal: A new team lacks vision and goal. The team as a whole has to form a common goal that
everybody must follow. An established team already has clearly defined goals while the it takes time to
define goals in a new team.

Culture: The newly formed team has to define a culture that it wants to inculcate in its team players. Also
some of the players might be new to IPL. So the culture has to be developed to share knowledge with
fellow cricketers. An established team has well defined culture, a coach and experienced players in the
team.

Enthusiasm in Team: The newly formed team is full of energy to perform in the IPL for the very first time.
This energy level is different from that of an established team.

Pressure to Perform: The newly formed team has to face more pressure than an established team to
prove its identity. The defeat can also result in loss of faith of public and sponsors. It becomes extremely
difficult to bring in sponsors next time when a newly formed team has performed badly the first time.
Pressure is also to deal with critics that may come up with formation of a new team. An established team
can afford to perform badly in a couple of matches or in a season because it has some past evidence to
prove its existence.

Since we have now analyzed the role played by sports teams and sportspersons in branding a competition
and vice-versa, and what challenges a new player and a new team faces, it’s important to also understand
the consideration(s) which may make a player choose a sports team and sports teams choose a
player. Since IPL has been the context all along, this would also be using the same case-based examples.

Generally, rookies are spotted and taken into training by junior level coaches of these sports teams from
amateur level competitions created specifically by these sports teams within their cities. The second way is



the traditional selection that happens from first class cricket matches. It is during this time that the players
get observed closely and continuously by these coaches and are referred to the senior coach. Finally, the
senior coach decides to observe one performance of the rookie and make the decision. However, there are
also cases of talent spotting happening across states and offers being made to rookie players of different
states. The case of Ravinder Jadeja and IPL team Rajasthan Royals is one such example. Once they start
performing and putting in good situation defining performances he is slowly promoted as the face of the
brand itself through merchandising, advertisements and events. It is at this point, when he comes to the
limelight of the nation, other brands and consequently the national team. Hence, it becomes very important
for a rookie to choose his team and for a expanding team when choosing players.

We have also learnt from our previous findings that how a local player can break the clutter for the team by
either an icon status or putting season defining performances. So in the first part we present our marketing
advice to a rookie player in a choosing a team without using brand jargons.

1. He should consider the team’s performance for the recent few years on the pitch.

2. He should look at team’s off-the-field image especially in terms of player conducts and
controversies. Sometimes negative marketing helps to bring the team to national attention, but has
a reverse affect on popularity among general population of cricket fans, which would never benefit
a rookie.

3. He should look at the composition of the team in terms of foreign players, Indian national team
players and rookie players. He must see how many rookies have been given front-line
opportunities within the team, how has the association benefited their careers and how would it
benefit the learning/experience he would get out of joining this team.

4. He should look at the way the rookie players are contracted which typically should be performance
oriented and never fixed.

5. He should look at the team’s visibility nationally and globally. We have learnt that IPL is a global
brand now and teams are promoted on all forms of media channels, hence it becomes important
for a rookie player to see the presence of the team it chooses throughout all mediums of reach.

6. He can also look for sponsors associated with the team because later on it’ll help him build up
public relations in the media.



In the second part, we try to present our advice to a expanding team when choosing new players. We
understand that the team and their owners as well as BCCI follow a tried and tested way of player auctions.
This is already popular in sports like football and basketball all over the world. We have also learnt from this
research that icon players and top performing players form the face of the team in advertisements and
other promotions. Therefore indirectly the revenue channel for the owner.

1. The relation can be understood from the brand framework alliance described previously when
choosing a new player in terms of equity addition measured directly against the cost of buying and
contracting the player.

2. A healthy mix of foreign, national and rookie players is necessary not only as per rules but also to
keep the authenticity of the team in front of supporters of the game. A healthy mix will ensure
varied experience that the players will have that’ll the team to face challenges.

3. Due to relaxation of icon player rule in recent times, many teams now scramble to get the big
players in their roster. This may adversely affect the development of rookies and its brand value as
the new player was the face another team for a number of seasons. Supporters do not change
associations very quickly. A good example here is the New York Yankees or Manchester United
where players are never promoted to be larger than the club itself. This is the reason the recall of
the team happens first and then the players associated with it.

4. The player’s on-field and off-field image also plays an important part in the team’s decision to buy
him. This is because of the direct relation it has on the brand equity of the team.

5. Brands associated with a player also matters as this can help the team arrange for sponsorships.

6. Select players who will be able to align well with the culture that the team wants to build.

To conclude, in this report we have tried to reflect our understanding of the Indian Premier League, as to
how branding in Indian Sports have shown a tremendous increase, how the teams in IPL and players are
contribute to each other, different situations of rookie and established players and what marketing advice
can be given to IPL teams when they want to expand. IPL is a sport or should be say, a brand by itself
which is still nurturing and has brought India into the spot light. This phenomenon of IPL would surely keep
showing its fame down the years.



Appendix
Table. 1 shows the selected icon players in the year 2008.

Table.1 Icon Players in IPL (2008)

PLAYER FRANCHISE

Rahul Dravid Bangalore
Sachin Tendulkar Mumbai
SauravGanguly Kolkata
VirenderSehwag Delhi
VVS Laxman* Hyderbad
Yuvraj Singh Mohali
Source: www.indiatwenty20.com.

* VVS Laxman voluntarily opted out of icon status so that Hyderabad franchise would have more money for
bidding. Chennai and Jaipur had no senior players from those cities to be awarded icon status.

Table 2: List of players in the IPL for 2012


ipl

More Related Content

What's hot

Viewers also liked

Similar to ipl

More from Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon

ipl