The Hindu Business Line : Sponsors put up brave front; fans look to cancel Windies trip

New Delhi/Mumbai March 24 Mr Harit Nagpal, Marketing Director, Hutch, one of the official global partners of the World Cup, has still pinned his hopes on the World Cup in spite of India's impending exit.

"Even if there is a drop in audience share, we will take it in our stride. Television rating points (TRPs) will rise and fall and even if audiences drop by 20 per cent, people will be interested in the game, especially in Australia and South Africa matches," he said.

A stand taken too by Mr Girish Rao, Head, Sales, LG Electronics, one of the other global partners, apart from Hero Honda and Pepsi.

"Our advertising strategy remains unchanged. We were not betting on India's performance, we are betting on the game of cricket. Our targets remain unchanged and we are using our Bollywood brand ambassador (Abhishek Bachchan) for our campaigns and will continue with it," he said.

However, other advertisers are not so sure. As Mr Subhinder Prem, Managing Director, Reebok, said, "These things keep happening. We plan to tone down the number of our ads during matches, now that the Indian team is out, and focus instead on our new campaigns."

Mr P.S. Raman, a Senior Advocate in the Madras High Court, is disappointed that he had to cancel his trip to the Caribbean now that India has been virtually eliminated.

Mr Raman and his brother were planning on flying to New York and onward with a group on a private charter to Barbados. While he has cancelled his international flights, the hotel charges of $500 a day for 10 days is lost as they had to pay up front. The tickets for the Super 8 matches too, are a lost cause, unless, he says, Irish or Bangladesh supporters wish to buy them.

Mr P. Srinivas, Vice President, SOTC Sports Abroad, Mumbai, said, "Till now, we have not got any cancellations. Our customers are not going only for cricket but also for family vacations, sightseeing, or going on a cruise in the Caribbean."

Usually, group tours to the Caribbean are not offered by Indian travel agencies so this is an opportunity for people to go not just for cricket, he explains. He says that SOTC had made it clear in its brochure that there would be no refund if packages were cancelled.

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