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Modi bowled out; will brand IPL continue to score high?

Pallavi Srivastava April 27, 2010
 

Amidst all the dark clouds of cricket, controversies and allegations, the question to ponder is will Modi’s ejection from IPL have an impact on this billion dollar property? MediaWorldBuzz’s Pallavi Srivastava probes further…

‘I am still chairman of IPL. Just suspended. Wait - we have just begun.’ This is what Lalit Modi tweeted at 7.35 pm. yesterday, after spending a restful day at spa (also mentioned in his tweet). But nevertheless, as per the BCCI it is gameover for Lalit Kumar Modi. But amidst all the dark clouds of cricket, controversies and allegations, the question to ponder is will Modi’s ejection from IPL have an impact on this billion bucks property?
 


Harish Bijoor, HBCI
"If the murmurs of match fixing come true, brand IPL will be dead”

Industry experts are unanimous on one note that Modi has been a fabulous marketing brand manager. The way he has developed this entire property, within a span of three years, is phenomenal. The media veterans also believe that IPL is one of the most successful marketing case study in the Indian marketing space till date. Modi has been the face of IPL and thus there may be some decline in brand IPL on a temporarily basis but his exit may not have a disastrous impact on the league.

Harish Bijoor, CEO of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc says, “If there was one brand ambassador for the IPL it was Modi. And when the brand ambassador goes missing people will start looking for a new brand ambassador and anybody who steps into Modi’s shoes (whether it is Chirayu Amin or anyone else) will be compared with Modi for the next six months. And most of the times the consumers and viewers tend to like the old brand ambassador so till a replacement of that brand ambassador status is done people will miss Lalit Modi and his inspiration.”
 


L.K. Gupta, LG

"We are not concerned who is running IPL as long as it is creating value for viewers and for us."
 The ratings of the final match of IPL3 hint that viewers are bothered with the controversy and Modi’s exit. The final match of IPL3 recorded a TVR of 7.3 as compared to 8.7 in season1 and 8 in season 2. Also, the final match of the third season was watched by approximately 9.7 million viewers; whereas the finale of the second season was watched by approximately 11.7 million viewers.

However, marketers feel that this dip in vierwership is temporary and may not continue till the next season of IPL.  It is believed that there are fewer chances of a dip in viewer interest. Media planners feel that the Modi’s absence will not affect the TRPs and GRPs by the next season. And if the ratings aren’t affected, there are fewer chances of ad spend and advertiser plans being impacted. LG’s Marketing Head L.K. Gupta admits, “As an advertiser we are concerned with the sport and not with who is running it. All this doesn’t bother us as long as the sport is being run properly and it is creating value for the viewers and in turn for advertisers like us.” Other major advertisers on IPL like Samsung India, Tata Teleservices etc. too took a similar instance and reaffirmed that till the time the game is generating audience interest and eyeballs and resulting in good visibility for their brands, they will continue investing in the property. And thus advertisers don’t seem really bothered by the controversy or Modi’s exit.
 


Naresh Gupta, Dentsu Marcom
"IPL is far too bigger a brand than Lalit Modi..."

 As per a Brand Finance report, IPL’s brand value in the year 2010 has doubled to $4.13 billion as compared to $2.01 billion in 2009.  But will this controversy and Modi’s exit from the league erode its brand value? Naresh Gupta, Director- Strategy and Planning, Dentsu Marcom feels otherwise, “IPL is far too bigger than Lalit Modi and I am sure that eventually the Game will take over all the controversies. IPL followers will not stop following the game because Modi is not running it.” Surbhi Murthy, Deputy GM, Allied Media, echoes a similar tune. She asserts, “Lalit Modi is there because of India’s love for cricket and that is why IPL was born and not the other way round. Thus there is no chance that the game will get affected in Modi’s absence. But whether there will be an impact on the franchisee owners, for that you have to wait and watch.”

But amidst this Modi mess betting and match fixing related allegations for IPL too have been surfacing every now and then. And if the controversies related to match fixing in the league are proven to be true then that can prove fatal for brand IPL. Sample this: Media reports suggest: Rs. 5000 crore were on bet for the IPL finals alone. A bookie whom we contacted said that the overall betting turnover of IPL 3 will be roughly around Rs. 18000-20000 crore. When quizzed about the blame of match fixing and the rumours of all IPL matches being fixed, this bookie said, “Madam, every single ball bowled in the IPL was fixed. And it keeps on changing after every few overs.” He pointed out the Kolkata Knightriders (KKR) and Kings XI match where KKR scored a 200 in first innings and still lost the match. He said that after KKR made 200 in the first innings, a lot of money was put on KKR. Thus towards the end of the match we were informed [through our information link called ‘Dabba’] that KKR will be loosing so that most profit can be made out of that match.
 

Subhi Murthy, Allied Media
“Lalit Modi is there because of India’s love for cricket and  not the other way round."

 The point in case here is that if these match fixing allegations are proved, viewers will feel cheated and  sentiments linked to the game may get hurt resulting in a severe decline in the game following and eventually killing the league. Bijoor agrees, “If the murmurs of match fixing come true then the brand IPL will be dead and we might as well give it a burial for the next four or five seasons.”

However, Jagdeep Kapoor, Chairman and MD, Samsika Marketing Consultants believes, “All the action on the field will affect brand IPL, but anything off-field will have zero impact.” For the good of cricket and for the sake of billions of bucks invested in the property we also hope the same. For now we can say: though Modi is bowled out, brand IPL will continue to bat and hopefully will continue to score high!