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Chennai Super Kings and the Tamil Nadu Premier League are good products that “have the ingredients to become great brands,” said N Srinivasan, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, India Cements.
Addressing participants at a meeting on the theme ‘Playing Big: Building Brands from South India’, he said, “you do not set out to build a brand” but to offer good products. The fundamental thought in both was to “give good cricket for the people of Chennai”.
That clicked in both cases whether it was the Indian Premier League franchise CSK or the State-level league, the TNPL. Both have made an indelible mark in cricket.
If the lasting impression a product makes is illustrative of the power of a brand then CSK has certainly aced it, he said. Despite not being in the field for two years after it was “unfairly banned” even though “not a single player was accused”, he said, referring to the betting controversy, CSK continues to be missed.
It has built an aura around it.
CSK will be “back with a bang” in 2018, Srinivasan assured, “hopefully with MS Dhoni leading it”. Absence from the field has not in any way affected CSK, he said.
Recalling India Cements’ decision to bid for IPL’s Chennai franchise, he pointed that the company had a history of nurturing sports particularly cricket. Chennai was a knowledgeable cricket hub and a permanent test centre under the BCCI.
On the process that had gone into building CSK, he said the franchise name, selected with public involvement, and the logo, were chosen for the aggressive image. Decision was taken to get MS Dhoni “at any price”, which was a game-changer move. His image had contributed to the growth of CSK and he had also grown along with it, Srinivasan said.
Dhoni was a leader who could bring together international players many of them who headed their own countries’ teams.
“Chennai too, adopted Dhoni and he too took to Chennai,” Srinivasan said.
In addition, the team’s Tamil Anthem, Whistle Podu song and the team colour yellow contributed to an ardent following with over 12 million fans on facebook and three million on Twitter.
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