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Ramanujam Sridhar

The game is unpredictable, so is our team. Is it good strategy for your brand to associate with cricket?

Which image would viewers rather see? This? Or this?

IT is Friday, the 26th of August, 2005. India is playing New Zealand at Bulawayo. I watch in shock and disbelief as the Indian score card reads 44 for eight wickets. I stop watching. I switch off the TV. I certainly don't want to watch my team getting humiliated. If that is the case of a diehard cricket fan like me, I am sure it will be the same situation for a whole lot of other Indians too. So there goes the viewership of all those commercials with the credit lines of sponsors. There go too all the other commercials featured in the programme. I would be really interested to see the TRPs of this match and of the highlights package too, not to mention newspaper reports that appeared the following day.

Contrast this with the NatWest final when India chased a huge target to beat England. Even today the programme India Glorious which features Indian moments of triumph keeps showing this match. Images of our Prince of Kolkata brandishing his shirt and mouthing expletives are etched in our mind. People want to watch and remember happy sporting moments such as The World Cup of 1983, Australia in 1985 when Ravi Sastri won the Audi and in Kolkata when V.V.S. Laxman's brilliance was in clear evidence. Not the debacle at Bulawayo.

This makes me ponder on the wisdom of companies that seem too keen to jump on to the cricket bandwagon given the unpredictable nature of the game and the even more unpredictable nature of our team's performance. The reality is that people want to see their country's team win. Just look at what's happening to cricket watching and viewership in the UK. Cricket has displaced football from its premier position. And pray, why is that? England (strange as it may seem) is winning!

Which is why I believe associating with cricket in India is a bit of a lottery. It reminds me of the stock market and the title of Anthony M. Gallea's book Bulls Make Money, Bears Make Money, Pigs Get Slaughtered. My fear is that some of the companies and brands with hazy strategies attempting to ride the cricket wave might get badly hurt, if not slaughtered.

Strategy? Is it long-term?

The word strategy is the most abused in current management jargon. Books are written on the subject, management seminars are attended and professors keep spouting it. In fact, I light-heartedly keep telling students to keep track of the number of times the word `strategy' is used in their entire tenure at management school. The figure is sure to be so mind-boggling it could intimidate even Einstein.

Students too tend to internalise this. I overheard two (male) students discussing a strategy to meet one of the junior girls at 5 p.m. I felt like telling them that all they needed was a watch but wisdom prevailed and I desisted. This, to my mind, is the problem. All of us analyse so much and yet end up almost being paralysed if our final strategies are any indication.

There is a similar feebleness about several companies that are on to cricket. And yet there are brands such as MRF and Pepsi that have consistently stayed with cricket, and benefited. They have experienced a boom time when the viewership has skyrocketed and have been able to withstand the downturn too, because they have balanced their risks with other interests like entertainment. Sadly, though, many of us have not pockets that are as deep. And we get hurt when we flit in and out of interests, a bit like some of our cricketers - who seem to be flitting in and out of form.

Blinding flash of the obvious? Hardly!

Tom Peters' "Blinding flash of the obvious" made a lot of us sit up and think. Yet, I do believe the obvious strategy could easily be the most expensive. For in whichever way you wish to package or jargonise it, there is a `cost' and a `benefit' to every management decision. The `obvious' decision, to me, costs more.

While still on the subject of cricket, let's talk about celebrity endorsement. It's doesn't take rocket science to think of Sachin Tendulkar as a celebrity for your brand. Just look around you and you will find that you are not alone! Lots of sponsors are thinking like you. And yet, I admire Timex for using Brett Lee. I have said this before and will continue to say it till the cows come home; international cricketers cost less. And yet Brett Lee with his charisma gets media attention and coverage unlike some of his more expensive Indian counterparts.

It is interesting to note that the rates of some of our Indian cricketers are going south, just like their batting averages. Britannia in the early days of Fifty-Fifty used fringe cricketers such as Robin Singh and Kanitkar. If one of them had struck gold, Fifty-Fifty would have benefited too.

I do remember that when Virendra Sehwag started to make waves and clobber sixes into the stands, his sponsors were smiling all the way to the bank. If my memory serves me right, Sehwag was Sachin Tendulkar at 90 per cent discount! In other words, his price was so little, at that time. I wonder if the same luxury prevails today! Probably not.

But what is the alternative?

I can almost hear you saying, "So what's the alternative?" There are no simple answers. It is really a matter of the product category and the consumer group. If you are talking to young people, you have a few options. VJs and (locally) RJs, whom young people admire, cost far less than better-known and over-used celebrities. And what about other sports?

I believe the herd mentality can be difficult to resist. Be prepared to see more of Sania Mirza! I assure you the task is far from simple and easy. There is, however, a sense of achievement to being a successful pioneer. Resist the temptation to follow the herd and your competition. If you use one celebrity and your competition uses another then your consumer will end up confused. We must woo the consumer, not confuse her.

So, where do we go from here?

Management is never simple. It is always a struggle against odds and for resources. It is worthwhile to ask a few questions.

What are the "costs" and "benefits" associated with your decision?

Are you looking at the obvious solution?

Is there a better and a cheaper way? By way of alternative interests? Alternative celebrities? Alternative programmes like the Ashes Telecast, which, I believe more people in India are watching than you would expect.

Are you continually monitoring your decisions? And looking at exit options?

Is it worth promoting a new interest?

Are you listening to your customer? She may be giving you some cues.

And one final question: Will you still watch the tri-series final in Zimbabwe if it looks like India will lose? And will English fans watch the Sky TV telecast of the Oval test with the same avidity and zeal if England is losing?

(The author is CEO of Brand-comm.)

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