The Hindu Business Line : FIFA fever

Though India's trailing at the 117th spot in the latest FIFA rankings, it has not proved to be a deterrent for corporates to pump in money to promote the event here. On the contrary, major companies have kicked off several marketing schemes and promotions worth crores of rupees in anticipation of higher sales during this period. From colour television to gaming consoles to sporting goods firms, most companies have raised the FIFA pitch to a never-before decibel level.

And with viewership of the sport no longer restricted to specific regions such as West Bengal and Goa, local companies, taking the cue from their Western counterparts, now see the event as a potential money-spinner.

In fact, around 100 million Indians are expected to sample the FIFA cup telecast this time around, up from almost 75 million during the last telecast in 2002. And though this may not seem like a big figure when compared with cricket, advertisers point out that it gives them the advantage of targeting a homogeneous audience (which consists predominantly of males living in the metros). The frenzy about the event would be more intense in States such as West Bengal, Kerala and Goa where the sport's popularity is quite high.

ESPN has sold airtime during the matches for Rs 80,000-1 lakh per 10 seconds. There is about 12 minutes of advertiser time available per match and there will be a total of 64 matches.

Estimates suggest that ESPN would be able to get revenues of Rs 40 crore - 45 crore by selling airtime alone. This is significantly higher than FIFA 2002 when Ten Sports made about Rs 10 crore.

Further, ESPN points out that soccer viewership has been on the rise in India. The FIFA World Cup in 2002 put soccer in a different league, reaching out to a cumulative audience of 30.3 million. This was backed up by ratings of 9.1 TVRs (among males, 15+, SEC A, B & C, cable & satellite households) which is comparable to top performing soaps and ODIs. The Euro 2004 also contributed to the growth and had a cumulative audience reach of 32.3 million.

This interest in soccer now touches even the European Premier League (EPL) which had a reach of 42.8 million for the season till date. Market analysts add that with quality domestic football coverage being telecast live, the viewership for football is increasing by about 20-25 per cent annually.

Says Sricharan Iyengar, Vice-President (Marketing and Sales), ESPN Software India Pvt Ltd, "We are very confident that many viewership records will be rewritten during the forthcoming FIFA World Cup. More and more Indians are getting hooked to the most beautiful game in the world."

Joint promotions

ESPN has already roped in Coca-Cola and Bharti Cellular as the joint presenting sponsors while the four associate sponsors are Adidas, Motorola, Mirc Electronics and IndianOil Corporation. The channel has rolled out joint promotions to build excitement for the event.

To begin with, ESPN and Coca-Cola have announced a joint contest, Gyarah Hindustani, to search for 11 winners who will get an opportunity to see the soccer World Cup live in Germany. Adidas too, along with ESPN, has initiated a nationwide search for four lucky kids from the country to represent India as FIFA Fair Play Flagbearers in Germany. The promotions are being facilitated by Airtel through its SMS services.

Adidas, one of the official sponsors of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, has also rolled out its global + 10 campaign in India. The sporting goods major has further introduced the official licensed product range in India targeted at both men and women.

Nike will also be launching its Joga Bonito (Play beautifully) campaign in India.

LG's golden boot

Not to be left behind are consumer electronics firms. In fact, with sporting events being a major driver of CTV sales, major consumer electronics firms are betting on the forthcoming World Cup to provide a fillip to sales.

LG Electronics, for instance, has rolled out the `Golden Boot' scheme for the World Cup period and is targeting sales of two lakh televisions through this offer. The scheme is valid on the entire range of LG CTVs.

Says Girish V. Rao, Vice-President (Sales & Marketing), LG Electronics India, "Historically, LG has been associated with the World Cup ever since 1998 and has been offering exciting schemes to its valued customers. It is only natural to start the `Golden Boot' offer on colour televisions in West Bengal and the North-East, as the people here have a real passion for soccer and avidly watch the game on television. We are very enthusiastic about this scheme and are targeting sales of two lakh colour televisions through this offer."

The offer will be valid between May 20 and July 9, 2006, to coincide with the month-long World Cup matches starting from June 9. The offer entitles every customer who buys an LG colour television to get a scratch card with his purchase.

The card will reveal a certain number of goals, depending on which the customer can win soccer merchandise such as jerseys and soccer balls. Also on offer are LG DVD players and cameras.

Samsung too has rolled out the `Goals and Gifts' offer with assured gifts on purchase of select Samsung CTVs.

Philips has also kicked off the `Free Kick Offer' — a consumer promotion in football enthusiast States during the FIFA World Cup. The offer ensures an assured gift to the consumer on the purchase of a colour television. Further, the company is setting up giant screens in select cities for telecast of the matches. According to a company spokesperson, it is looking at a significant jump in CTV sales during the period. Nokia India has announced a national-level Futsal Challenge, a free-style football game where budding Indian soccer players will match their skills against players from Brazil.

It will feature a five-a-side street football to be rolled out across Delhi, Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata and will culminate with the national champions defending their turf against the Brazilians. "Through the championship we are aiming to connect the Indian youth through their shared passions and desire to take on big challenges and achieve great accomplishments," Director-Marketing, Nokia India, Devinder Kishore, says.

Meanwhile, even Microsoft Corp has said that it will launch a limited FIFA edition of its gaming console Xbox 360 in India.

Surely, even as the Indian football fan has much excitement to look forward to over the next month, it remains to be seen how many goals advertisers are able to score in this period.

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