The Hindu Business Line : The World Cup clutter

To overcome the clutter created by several companies running contests and promotions based on the World Cup, brands need `big ideas' which links their communication with the event.

With the World Cup approaching, almost every other company is jumping onto the bandwagon. Even companies like BPCL are hitching onto the World Cup fever with a contest for its new generation fuel, Speed. Companies like Visa have a contest and each company is striving to come up with a different contest related to the World Cup. Sure, cricket is perhaps the biggest event in the country, but is there a danger of your brand being lost in the clutter and the money ill-spent ? What could a brand do to not get lost in the clutter? What would you suggest ?

- Krishna Kumar, on e.mail

ONCE every four years we have the Summer Olympics. The largest advertisers in the world, from Procter & Gamble to Nestle, from Korean white good manufacturers to Japanese makers of televisions sets and radios, American car makers, British clothing manufacturers, Italian fashion and French wine - all become sponsors of the greatest show on earth. This means, perhaps, a hundred advertisers.

Once every four years there is a carnival event bigger than anything else that the world has ever known. This is the real World Cup. Football. The world's most popular sport attracts beer brands from Netherlands, motor car brands from Germany, airlines from England, a galaxy of different advertisers from clothing to insurance from South America, Spanish fashion, French men's toiletries and holidays in Italy. Perhaps a hundred different advertisers.

The Super Bowl in the United States, the Wimbledon Final in the United Kingdom, the European FA final in France, the bulls in Pampalona; each one of these one day events attract over a hundred advertisers.

So what is so big about the World Cup?

First let us get the facts clear. While the World Cup is played between 12 and 16 nations, the bulk of its markets are the one billion individuals in the Indian sub-continent. If cricket vanishes from this part of the world it would no longer be one of the major games. No matter how big we think the World Cup is, the truth is it is a pygmy in the world of international sport.

To the best of my knowledge the (cricket) World Cup has a limited number of sponsors, possibly twelve in all. Many of the sponsors are South African companies not known in India. Indeed, the official sponsor is South African Airways (SAA), a relatively minor airline (in India), which flies between Mumbai and South Africa.

There are three other main sponsors - Pepsi, the cola drink, Hero Honda, the world's largest two wheeler company, and LG, the white goods company from Korea.

No matter how much advertising these three companies do, it is hardly likely to result in clutter. What has happened though, is that a large number of companies have run contests and schemes which revolve around cricket and offer prizes which include tickets to the World Cup; such contests are being supported heavily on television and is resulting in a plethora of similar sounding advertisements. Yet, amongst these advertisers there are a few which are `clutter-busters', such as the Britannia biscuit advertisements featuring Sachin and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

This campaign is also supported by hoardings in major cities and at the point of sale where the brand is being retailed. There is no doubt in my mind that one of the main gainers of this campaign would be this very successful advertiser. So, the simple answer to your question is: there is a danger that money will be `ill-spent' by several advertisers which use the World Cup as a theme. This has, however, nothing to do with the number of sponsors (which are few) nor is it in any way unique to cricket, but mainly a case of an advertiser,doing a poor job.

What could a brand do so as not to get lost in the clutter? Think of a big idea, which links the World Cup communication with the brand communication both in terms of the brand identity and the brand positioning. As long as this is not done the advertisement risks being either not noticed or not being understood. It is important for the big idea to be so creative that it makes the brand promise relevant in the context of the topical World Cup backdrop.

Finally, what would I suggest? I would use the best talent in my agency to craft an advertisement which makes an offer which the consumer cannot refuse, and reflects both the mood of the Cup along with strong branding and a relevant proposition. Having created the advertisement I would ensure that I do not spend 40 per cent of my budget next year to create the Cup fever. I would have to make sure that I have money to support my sales team post the World Cup when there is likely to be a dip in the consumer spending. Unless, of course, we win the Cup in which case my brand should have enough funds left to take some of the credit for India's extra-ordinary win.

(The author is CEO, Quadra Advisory, a strategic marketing consultancy. Readers can send their questions on marketing issues to The Editor, The Hindu Business Line, Kasturi Buildings, 859, Anna Salai, Chennai 600002 or email them to bleditor@thehindu.co.in)

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