The Hindu Business Line : It's just not cricket anymore

Dream big and you will at least come up with a handful of mud! Couldn't be more true for the Indians and the Indian cricket team. They did dream big and have mud all over their faces and have left one billion scarlet in the face.

Now that a national calamity has hit the country it's time we look at its implications, most importantly from a marketing, media and viewer perspective. Over Rs 3,000 crore across media was parked in the 51 matches, and this would be about 30 per cent of the total amount spent by across media to advertise all those products. When a planner evaluates the World Cup as an advertising medium the real price rationale springs from the Super 8 matches as that is when the teams qualify and all cricket-playing nations build up the frenzy. India is out before all this and hence this column will attempt to outline the reasons for this madness of the so-called Bloodline of Sport and the stark realities between myth and reality.

Cricket, apart from Bollywood, is one of the important hot buttons proudly displayed whenever overseas visitors venture into this country to gauge the growing market prosperity. They often are spellbound at the size of these phenomena and the fanaticism they generate.

Cricket has evolved, grown and matured over the last two World Cups. It is in a significant decline but all advertising pundits seldom will acknowledge this decline and will always cite qualitative and impactful reasons. Over the last two World Cups there has been an inverse relationship between audience growth for cricket and the price the sport charges for advertising in it. An India vs Pakistan match has seen an average TRP (television rating points) of over 25 with a lower advertising tariff and today we peak at 7 or 8. So it's declined one-third but the asking price for advertising has only increased as the bidding and broadcasting costs have increased. If we talk of a non-India match it will be one-fourth of an India game and this makes it a pathetic competitor. So, why is it a favourite with advertisers still and why is there such a shortage of ad inventories?

Two attitudes decide altitudes

The answers lie in the two types of companies and their attitudes: Companies whose priority is to analyse how best to spend their monies and companies who wonder where all to spend monies. You will find the latter breed being tormented by cricket, and the beauty is that they think that they are the smartest innovators of return on investments. This will result in the fiercely competitive categories patronising the game. They have deep pockets and the diktat very clearly is to get it before the rival competitor gets it. This makes the pricing rationale completely inelastic but the market forces are set in place for all others to quietly adopt.

Marketer's viewpoinT

It's a marketer's darling as he sees it as a short cut to stardom. This later emerges as the main catalyst for his career as headhunters chase client decision makers as they come onto their radars as super-achievers. Such marketing hotshots seldom last for more than a couple of years at their job as they prefer switching jobs to answering tough questions from the sales guys at regional conferences. All this happens right under our noses but nobody complains.

Agency perspective

Agencies will swear cricket is the best thing to have happened to brands. They will argue and convince clients on the differences of audiences, on quality viewing and make it a judgmental and gut-feel decision.

The reasons are far from this as it's the unhealthy balance sheet that does the talking here. The business reality in a cut-throat world ensures that revenue is earned as fast as it can be spent and there is no better tool than cricket. Just look at the top 30 advertisers on cricket and you will figure out that their advertising gets released by the top four or five media independents. The revenue earned by advertising agencies for the World Cup would be close to Rs 400 crore. That's not small change for six weeks.

Media network view

The media networks, the publishers and other media are the smartest in this game. They have understood the pulse of the market and have identified the gaps in demand and how to build `craving' value. Their trip always is to make the media buyer and the client a hero and hence they sound them out on sought-after properties as almost gone. Unless they commit now at a price which is non-negotiable!

Nine out of 10 are suckers for this trap as they are tight on time and want to make it big very fast in the corporate circuit. It's anyway not their money so where is the question of accountability? This results in the media laughing all the way to the bank. Now I am told there are serious incentives for the network's time-seller on a premium that the medium charges the advertiser. This is the real Viagra for the seller and he goes all out to drive ad sales.

Who all have seen this myopia?

Clients who want an optimal ROI on their media investments will abstain, and this trend is growing. This has resulted in the client mix for this World Cup changing from the last one. The FMCG majors are not present, neither are the consumer electronics giants nor some four-wheeler and two-wheeler clients. Big spenders all, but they have stayed away as there is good reason for them to do a cost-benefit analysis with other relevant genres and decide.

The real reason

Why are cricket audiences shrinking? For you to be successful in any discipline, it is imperative that the discipline dictate criticality. Which means that the discipline should be the main source of livelihood and in case less attention is paid to it you might starve. In the case of our cricket team, the top players make their livelihood not from the game but from the ambience around it. These superstars make more money cutting ribbons and emoting on screen for brands and in the process playing serious cricket has become a stepchild.

What could happen now

Now that India has been shown the door, what will the networks do, what will media buyers tell brand managers and what will brand managers tell their bosses on the investments accountability? There are no answers as it was not in anybody's control, but what will emerge is sheer bitterness in all these relationships. Clients will pressurise media buyers to cancel or get better deals. The networks are protected here and the maximum that will get done is additional inventories on the channel for the rest of the year. This will result in serious losses for the channel and teach media buyers the importance of an exit clause when mega deals are done.

(Gopinath Menon is Vice-President (Media), TBWA India.)