Was The IPL Well Marketed?

-Kishan Prasad FT204047

Introduction

Cricket is a sport that dates back around 400 years and is now officially played in over 104

countries. With time, the game has evolved in all aspects possible, namely: equipment, venues,

rules, formats etc. As the world changed, so did the requirements of cricket fans all over the

world. Attention spans of people became shorter and cricket enthusiasts have become impatient

as compared to what they used to be. The traditional format of cricket, Test Cricket, is a five-day

affair and expecting fans to sacrifice almost five entire days to watch the sport has become

unreasonable. This realization gave birth to the idea of a newer format called One Day

Internationals, in which, matches last for an entire day. While this format required cricket fans to

invest little time compared to Test matches, it was missing the factor of excitement. To create a

sense of excitement and to cut short the investment of time that was required by the game’s

followers, the 20-20 format was introduced. This format of the game is enthralling, lasts for

about four hours and results in competitive games due to the high scores and attacking mindsets

of players. It became an instant success and spread like wild fire.

The IPL

In 2007, India, the shrine of cricket, quickly adapted to the 20-20 format of gameplay and

created its own domestic league called the Indian Premier League (IPL). Though India has a

number of cricket leagues, the IPL is the most successful league in the country. Lalit Modi and

the BCCI came together and created this 48-day long tournament. The intention of creating this

league was solely done to capitalize on the commercial success of the 20-20 format of the game.

What the IPL included was not just eight teams, but each team representing a city or a state

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backed by major businessmen. This created an enormous impact on supporters as it instilled in

them a sense of belonging or an attachment to a team that was pitted against another.

Consumer Behavior in IPL

The game of cricket was on the verge of undergoing a case of marketing myopia as the

stadiums were not filled to the capacity they once used to be. The makers of IPL sensed the

trends and habits of the cricket fanbase shifting. They realized that people weren’t as interested

as they once were in spending a day to watch a game of cricket. The IPL doesn’t just sell a game,

it sells entertainment. The product is a well packaged deal for its consumers as it includes a fast-

paced action-packed experience. If including teams that flaunted cities names was not enough to

get eyes on this spectacle, the involvement of Bollywood superstars such as Shah Rukh Khan,

Akshay Kumar, Preity Zinta and Juhi Chawla certainly did the trick for the tournament.

The IPL was a first of its kind tournament across the globe that took place at such an extravagant

scale. While there were many leagues before the IPL, none of them had the flair that the IPL

created for itself. Even though the tournament was scheduled to take place in India, to cater to

the global fanbase, the IPL included a chock-full of top international talent. A team comprising a

mix of established Indian, international and up-and-coming players was something that viewers

must have never expected. We have learnt that while marketing a product, the product is

compared to something that the consumer has heard of or used earlier. It’s all relative. What

consumers used as a reference point for these matches to were the monotonous ODI format

matches and when compared to those, the IPL matches sound thrilling. Who would have thought

that a hard-core supporter of the Indian team would be praying for Sehwag to be bowled by

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Akhtar as soon as possible? Or for Sangakkara to hit Zaheer Khan for a six to win the match?

(depicted in an IPL ad). All of this was unthought of.

The advertisements of the IPL implemented different theories that have been discussed by

consumer behavior experts. One such ad implements the ZMET(Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation

Technique). The ad starts off with two kids in school uniform entering a carnival where rides

are named after players. Everyone present at the festival takes turns on all rides are enjoying

themselves wholeheartedly. The carnival is used as a metaphor for the IPL wherein everyone

enjoys every aspect of the game irrespective of whichever team one supports. Another ad that

uses ZMET is the one for IPL 3. The ad portrays a red carpet rolling out over borders and

entering ending outside a stadium with fans eagerly waiting for the players to arrive. This

showed how excited viewers were when it came to the IPL.

The IPL is entirely based on the usage of affect in its audience. Since every team is named after

a city or is promoted/owned by the big names of Bollywood, every citizen of India is wholly

devoted to one team. The bond formed between an individual and a team is so strong that when

the IPL auctions are telecasted, one is drawn to watch it to see what the selectors have planned.

Every move of the selector is scrutinized and criticized by each and every follower. This highly

affectionate sense of involvement has brought in the use of the term “we” for a team one

supports. “We are on top of the table” and “We should have played X instead of Y” are not

uncommon terms to hear during the IPL season. To further instill involvement of fans and to

demonstrate that the league wants maximum participation of fans to support their teams, matches

are played in the evening on weekdays and two matches take place on weekends. This ensured

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that the IPL garnered maximum viewership and that the stadiums were filled to their maximum

capacity. This also warranted the fact that the entire family could enjoy the matches together. It

was a wholesome family entertainer.

The action of the game didn’t pertain to the grounds. Viewers were also made a part of the

experience through online polls, taking part in competitions to meet the players or be present for

the toss or catch the ball to win the match ball signed by the winning captain. For cities that

didn’t have stadiums, there were fan parks made where the game was telecasted live for

everyone to enjoy together. Not just that, teams made efforts to increase city-level patronage.

Chennai Super Kings went ahead and complied videos shared by its fans on social media to air

whenever a CSK match was played. This showcased how passionate the team’s fans were.

Continuing on this drive, the team inducted two fans into its online team to manage its official

Facebook page. These activities increased a loyal fanbase and grew active participation on a

whole. Other teams weren’t far behind on growing an immersive environment for their

supporters. Delhi Daredevils and Rajasthan Royals signed up with a website to give their fans a

personalized picture with a message from their favorite players. Kolkata Knight Riders too

created its own fan club called the Knight Club where fans were entitled to benefits such as

tickets to matches and merchandise. In addition to such engagement techniques, every team has a

unique war cry such as KKR’s Korbo,Lorbo,Jeetbo and CSK’s whistle podu. These personalized

war-cries enhance every fan’s participation and he/she feels like a part of the team.

To influence the attitude of the fans, the IPL aired many ads that made sure that every person in

India, at the very least, does just one thing when the IPL season is on and that is watch the IPL.

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Ads that illustrated a “bharat bandh”, “kya aapne kabhi 100 crore logo ko ek saath ek he cheez

krte hue dekha hai?”, “Koi nahi bachega” and many more tag lines instilled in viewers an

attitude that the IPL is a must-watch can’t-miss spectacle. There are many more ads that depict

the IPL as a festival of India, focusing on bright colors, celebrations and attractive hoardings. All

of these tactics encouraged viewership and made sure that the IPL was the only thing on

everyone’s minds whenever its season came around. Furthermore, not only the ads, but also the

tagline of every year’s IPL was made in such a way that the fans felt important and overjoyed

when the tournament took place.

Overall, the IPL has been a huge success. This can be measured by the popularity it has earned

over the 12 years since it has been inaugurated. The latest edition of the IPL had over 462

million viewers and the tournament’s reach grew over 12% than the previous year. If these

metrics aren’t enough, the fact that every stadium is filled to its capacity and that there are

always people around the stadium that are looking for deals to get in the stadium and support

their teams. The IPL has managed to grow at such a fast pace in such a short amount of time due

to the importance it has given to the behavior displayed by consumers in searching for, choosing,

using, evaluating and disposing products and services.

What next for IPL?

The IPL must try to make the game more engaging and thrilling by introducing a wild card rule,

in which a player may play for more than one team based on the requirement of the owner or

coach. Another way to increase its fanbase, the tournament must try to implement a few tactics

that could make it a hedonic one. An option that I see is have fans get a dressing room

experience when the team prepares for games or allow fans to be present during the practice

sessions to interact with a few players and even play an over with them. These experiences could

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be charged a premium. For teams to increase participation of their fans even further, officials

could carry out a market research and build on the variables that are proven to be significant.