Mumbai Indians: a case on social media
marketing
Sanjeev Prashar, Harvinder Singh and Kara Shri Nishanth
Sanjeev Prashar is a
Professor in Marketing,
Indian Institute of
Management Raipur,
Raipur, India.
Harvinder Singh is a
Professor in Marketing,
Institute of Management
Technology Ghaziabad,
Ghaziabad, India.
Kara Shri Nishanth is a
Student in Marketing,
Indian Institute of
Management Raipur,
Raipur, India.
Disclaimer. This case is written
solely for educational purposes
and is not intended to represent
successful or unsuccessful
managerial decision making.
The author/s may have
disguised names; financial and
other recognizable information
to protect confidentiality.
DOI 10.1108/EEMCS-02-2013-0014
‘‘We are honored to be the preferred social media partner for the Mumbai Indians. Red Digital
has provided and executed the strategy of integrating social media with gaming for deeper
fan engagement on the digital space, leading to this massive accumulation of 2.2 million fans
in only 18 months. Red Digital’s work on social media has been exemplary to date and we are
now targeting the 3 million mark by IPL-5,’’ said Harsh Jain, Managing Director for Red
Digital[1]. Red Digital is the social media partner for the Indian Premier League (IPL) team,
Mumbai Indians. The company connects the team with its fans with viral activities such as
trivia games, polls, promos and contests on the team’s fan page. The page also keeps them
abreast of the latest developments in the cricketing world and also shares events in the
personal life of their favorite cricketers. Mumbai Indians was really upbeat on the use of social
media for garnering the support of its fans and was ranked seventh in NM Incite India Social
Media Brand Equity ranking 2012[2]. The team realized that social media was a more effective
and potent innovation for connecting with an audience as it provided instant feedback and
developed a direct connection with the audience. However, others in the industry were not
sure whether social media was truly a boon for communication and marketing or whether
Mumbai Indians was adopting a ‘‘me-too’’ approach in adopting social media.
IPL: an introduction
Sports leagues are popular all across the globe for a number of sports; be it the English
Premier League (EPL), National Basket Association US (NBA), or the US National Football
League (NFL). A cricket league in India on similar lines was envisioned by Lalit Modi, ex-Vice
President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The league was named the IPL
and the inaugural edition commenced on April 18, 2008[3]. Market response was
tremendous as three-hour long Twenty-Twenty (T20) cricket matches were considered
exciting as compared to five day and one day cricket formats that were perceived to be too
long. A T20 game involved two teams playing single innings batting for a maximum of 20
overs. The league was based on a franchise model in which sponsors bid for players for an
amount for a stipulated period of time[4]. Apart from Indian players, the league solicited the
participation of a large number of foreign players who were part of cricketing and
management teams of several franchisees[5]. The tournament was structured in a manner
that each franchise team played an equal number of matches against other teams at home
and away locations. The IPL was conceptualized as an annual tournament. The details of
various IPL tournaments over the years are depicted in Table I.
IPL attracted significant attention and funding from the world of business and entertainment.
Investments in IPL ran into multi-billion dollars[4], giving birth to the concept of
‘‘Cricketainment’’ positioning the tournament as a combination of the game of cricket and
entertainment. The first edition of the league (IPL-1) had eight franchises representing teams
of eight Indian cities. The franchisees included business icons like Mukesh Ambani
(Reliance India), Vijay Mallya (UB Group) and Bollywood (a term for the Indian film industry)
VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013, pp. 1-21, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1
 Table I Various IPL tournaments over the years
IPL Period Number of participating teams Winners of the tournament

IPL-1 April-June 2008 8 Rajasthan Royals

IPL-2 April-May 2009 8 Deccan Chargers
IPL-3 March-April 2010 8 Chennai Super Kings
IPL-4 April-May 2011 10 Chennai Super Kings
IPL-5 April-May 2012 9 Kolkata Knight Riders

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.espncricinfo.com/ipl/engine/series (accessed

December 9, 2012)

celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Preity Zinta, Juhi Chawla. Involvement of these personalities
enhanced the glamour quotient of IPL. Out of the eight teams, Mumbai Indians was the most
expensive, costing Mukesh Ambani over US$111.9 million[4]. Table II provides the details on
the franchise along with the costs, owners in the first IPL.

The league was regulated by a governing body comprising senior BCCI officials. The term of
the council’s membership was one year. Within a short span of three years, valuation of IPL
touched US$4.13 billion as against the much older and established international leagues like
the EPL, which was valued at US$12 billion. Innovations kept blooming at IPL as its third
edition (IPL-3) became the first ever sporting event to be broadcast live on YouTube in 2010.
With an average annual salary of US$3.84 million for a player, IPL became the second
highest paying league in the world, next only to the NBA. All the franchises gained
tremendously with the team being valued at a high premium with respect to the original
price[6]. Experts predicted that valuation may go even higher in future[7].

However, the IPL saw a down-turn due to allegations of spot fixing and non-sporting glitzy
behavior of owners of franchises, resulting in erosion of the brand value of IPL[8]. During its
fourth season in 2011, the valuation of IPL went down to US$2.92 billion. Mumbai Indians
also felt the shock with its valuation sliding down to US$48.21 million from US$57.13
million[9]. In 2012, the fifth edition of IPL witnessed a 19 percent drop in television viewership
during the first week itself[10]. Even the glitzy and glamorous opening ceremony could not
attract people as ratings for the ceremony touched a low of 1.16 as against 3.03 the previous
year (in IPL-4)[11]. Though there was nothing exciting about the ratings for IPL-4 as well, the
slide could be attributed to the fatigue set-in by the cricket world cup that immediately
preceded IPL-4. However, there was no such reason for the slide in the ratings for IPL-5.

DLF, an Indian real estate major had won the title sponsorship rights in the year 2008 for the first
five years of this league by paying over INR 2 billion (US$51.124 million). Global media and
production rights were awarded to Sony Max and World Sports Group for US$1.026 billion[12].

Table II Various teams in IPL-1

Team Cost
(city) Franchise owner (US$ millions)

Royal Challengers (Bangalore) UB Group 111.6

Chennai Super Kings (Chennai) India Cements 91.0
Delhi Daredevils (Delhi) GMR Group 84.0
Deccan Chargers (Hyderabad) Deccan Chronicle 107.0
Rajasthan Royals (Jaipur) Emerging Media-led consortium 67.0
Kolkata Knight Riders (Kolkata) Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment 75.09
Kings XI Punjab (Mohali) Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Dabur’s 76.0
Mohit Burman
Mumbai Indians (Mumbai) Reliance India Limited 111.9

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.techinasia.com/social-media-india/ (accessed

December 14, 2012)

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PAGE 2 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013
Mumbai Indians: an introduction
The franchise for the Mumbai team (Mumbai Indians) was won in 2008 by India Win Sports, a
part of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) a Fortune Global 500 list company. RIL held 98.3
percent stake of India Wins Sports whereas the remaining stake was with an associate
company of RIL[13]. The franchise had an objective of promoting and nurturing cricketing
talent. For doing so Mumbai Indians focused on identifying talented players and succeeded
in nurturing and harnessing their potential to play at the highest level. ‘‘Chasing Excellence’’
– was the value that the team had imbued since inception[14].
The team had millions of fans across the globe who followed it keenly. The team could solicit
commitment and support from its fans due to the strong team values that it manifested both
on and off the field. The franchise identified and promoted togetherness, team spirit and
cohesiveness, the attributes reflecting the core values of Mumbai city. The franchise and all
its players preached and practised ‘‘Play like One’’ as their most prominent value[14].
The logo of the team portrayed a wheel, drawing inspiration from the Sudarshan Chakra, the
weapon/armament of one of the Hindu Gods. The light blue team colour reflected a ‘‘Blue
Chip’’ company indicating that the team had the best of talent from across the world[15].
Indian cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar was the captain of Mumbai Indians till 2012 when he
handed the mantle over to ace Indian spin bowler Harbhajan Singh[16]. The team had a
good pool of experienced and young cricketers from India and abroad. The team was further
strengthened after a string of transfers and auction buys[17]. The Mumbai Indians team in
various IPLs is shown in Table III.
Four of the prominent players with the team were:
1. Sachin Tendulkar. The biggest cricket icon in India, the most prolific run-maker in the
world and the only person to have scored a 100 centuries in international cricket, Sachin
Tendulkar was the first captain of Mumbai Indians. Sachin was ranked as the world’s
second best batsmen in one-day cricket[18]. After relinquishing the captaincy he
remained a member of the team.
2. Kieron Pollard. He is one of the most sought-after players in T20 cricket due to his ability to
hit every ball[19]. Originally not a part of the team, Mumbai Indians bought his services by
paying a record amount in the player’s auction in 2010.
3. Harbhajan Singh. One of the most successful off spin bowlers of India, he was the captain
of Mumbai Indians during IPL-5. Harbhajan Singh had been honored with Padma Shri,
India’s fourth highest civilian honor[20]. He was an attacking bowler and became famous
for his great ball control[21].

Table III Mumbai Indians team over various IPLs

IPL Major players (countries)

IPL-1 (2008) Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Robin Uthappa (India), Lasith Malinga, Sanath
Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), Shaun Pollock
(South Africa)
IPL-2 (2009) Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan (India), Lasith Malinga, Sanath
Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), JP Duminy (South Africa)
IPL-3 (2010) Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan (India), Lasith Malinga, Sanath
Jayasuriya (Sri Lanka), Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), JP Duminy
(South Africa)
IPL-4 (2011) Harbhajan Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha (India), Lasith
Malinga (Sri Lanka), Andrew Symonds (Australia), Kieron Pollard (West Indies)
IPL-5 (2012) Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Sachin Tendulkar, Rohit Sharma, Pragyan Ojha
(India), Herschelle Gibbs (South Africa), Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka), Mitchell
Johnson (Australia), Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Smith (West Indies)

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.espncricinfo.com/ipl/content/squad (accessed

December 9, 2012)

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VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 3
 4. Lasith Malinga. The Sri Lankan cricketer who was the first bowler to take three
international hat tricks was famous for his yorkers. He was also vice-captain of the T20
team.
Team Mumbai Indians could attract corporate giants like Hero Motocorp, Master Card
Worldwide, DHFL, Bridgestone, Kingfisher, Royal Stag, Coca-Cola, Godrej, Adidas, Air
India, Loop Mobile, Disney, Bookmyshow.com, MSN, etc. as sponsors or partners[22].
The franchise was handled by Nita Ambani, wife of Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and CEO of
Reliance Industries. She was very active in the social sector, making significant contribution
in education, healthcare, environment protection and support. This was done to support five
NGOs namely Akanksha, Nanhi, Pratham, Teach for India and Ummeed[23]. Apart from
handling this franchise, she was also the Chairperson of Reliance Foundation, Dhirubhai
Ambani International School and IMG Reliance.
Taking a leaf from her, team Mumbai Indians also supported the cause of education by
supporting the ‘‘Education for All’’ campaign. ‘‘One of India’s big needs is for every
underprivileged child, especially girls, to know how to read and write,’’ Nita believed. ‘‘This is
a cause that’s very dear to me, and Sachin, Harbhajan and Zaheer were happy to endorse it
in the promo’’[24].
For the year 2010-2011, the franchise posted a loss of US$2.9452 million on an income of
US$21.544 million, with total assets worth US$12.46 million[25] [26]. The team had the
distinction of being crowned as T20 Champions League champions in 2011[27].

Marketing Mumbai Indians

Mumbai Indians aggressively used multiple promotional tools to market its team and brand.
The famous Indian song ‘‘Mumbai meri jaan’’ (translation: Mumbai my life) was rewritten and
remixed by Loop Mobile, one of the sponsors of Mumbai Indians to cheer on the team[28]. It
was accompanied by an on-ground activation song by the company involving 20,000
people across various shopping malls and amusement parks. It was also played at cinema
halls and on digital media. Thousands of fans downloaded the song at match stadia and
across road shows. Loop Mobile also planned to launch a special video for this song with a
story[29].
Mumbai Indians used famous India bollywood film star Hrithik Roshan for an ad film ‘‘Duniya
hila denge’’ (translation: let’s rock the world). The ad featured star players of the team like
Sachin, Harbhajan, Sanath Jayasuriya with Hrithik Roshan in a two minute theme song ‘‘ala
re ala’’ (translation: here we come)[30]. The team succeeded in involving more than 600,000
people at different locations in the town through road-shows which emerged as the mainstay
of the promotional activities.
Mumbai Indians also entered into a licensing and revenue sharing agreement with Walt
Disney for launching co-branded products[31]. Under the agreement the franchise
launched apparels, footwear, stationery and toys featuring five Walt Disney characters[32].

Mumbai Indians: social media

With the advent of the internet as a communication technology, people freely exchanged
their views and content through social media of internet sites and portals. Bulletin Boards
invented in the late 1970s were the precursor to social media. This further graduated to the
formation of online community portals and blogging. The first genuine social network
‘‘Friends Reunited’’ was founded in Great Britain in 1999[33]. More social networks came
into existence as the internet spread its reach over millions of computers and users.
Prominent social networks like Myspace, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube came into
existence after 2003.
In India, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) started internet in 1995 and National
Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) was constituted in 1998[34].
Though India experienced social media at the same time as the world did, its experience

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PAGE 4 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013
was confined to very few users owing to the poor penetration of the internet. However, the
number of social media users grew significantly due to rapid penetration of the internet over
the period. By 2012, nearly 76 million people in India were using social networking, posting a
52 percent growth over the previous year. It is expected to touch 129 million by 2014, though
it would still comprise only 10 percent of India’s population[35]. Penetration of social network
users in India for the years 2012-2014 is the key indicator in Table IV.
Realizing that social media was rapidly increasing its reach and had developed a huge fan
base in India, Mumbai Indians felt the need to create and manage its social media presence.
For this, it hired a digital marketing agency named Red Digital. The agency initiated a
number of activities for creating an emotional and personal connect with the team’s fans.
Various social media tools used by the agency enabled the fans to interact with one another
and also with their favourite cricketers. Mumbai Indians became the largest Indian sports
brand in social media with nearly 2.2 million fans on Facebook[36]. The performance of
Mumbai Indians on various social media marketing platforms such as Facebook, Twitter,
YouTube is depicted in Table V.
Red Digital used a range of viral activities like trivia, games, polls, promos and contests to
engage fans of the team. It also kept the fans up-to-date on the latest happenings in the
world of cricket and on the personal lives of their favorite cricketers[37].

Facebook
The response of the fans to these activities was tremendous. On November 10, 2012, the
team’s page on Facebook had 2.8 million ‘‘likes’’ and more than 54,000 ‘‘talking about
this’’[38]. The official fan page of the team highlighted the team’s victory in the Champions
League 2011. Each team player had a separate page, where fans could interact with them
individually. The page had been named as ‘‘name of the player MI’’ (like Sachin Tendulkar MI
or Lasith Malinga MI) and the profile picture was a sketch of the player with a ‘‘Hi Buddy’’
message. The players could also post their personal videos and images along with
messages which garnered huge likes and comments[39].
Mumbai Indians’ fans were collectively referred to as ‘‘MI Paltans’’ (translation: MI brigade).
The Facebook page ensured that the fans would receive personalized messages on their
wall from the cricket icons. It increased the level of active engagement of the fans and also

Table IV Penetration of social network users in India (2010-2014)

Year Social network users (millions) % change % of internet users % of population

2010 33.1 38.8 52.3 2.8

2011 50.2 51.5 60.3 4.2
2012 76.1 51.7 71.0 6.3
2013 105.0 37.9 78.9 8.6
2014 129.3 23.2 83.0 10.5

Source: eMarketer (2012, August)

Table V Mumbai Indians social media statistics

Facebook: number of likes 2,863,411
Facebook: number of people talking about this page 50,093
Twitter: number of tweets 4,237
Twitter: number of followers 74,839
YouTube MI Paltan: subscribers 568
YouTube MI Paltan: video views 295,472
YouTube MI Paltan: number of uploaded videos 91

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.facebook.com/mumbaiindians?fref¼ ts (accessed

December 9, 2012)

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VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 5
 resulted in a rapid surge in the number of likes on the team’s Facebook page. Table VI
depicts selected engagement activities on Facebook and its performance indicators.

Twitter
Twitter had been one of the most popular social networking web sites, as indicated by the
Alexa ranking of 8[40] (refer to the Exhibit). Mumbai Indians had been active on Twitter
resulting in more than 80,000 followers for the MI page and more than 4,500 tweets[41].

Google þ
Mumbai Indians had a strong presence and a significant following on Mumbai Indians
Google þ page as more than 2,960 fans þ ’ed it. The page showed Mumbai Indians’ caption
‘‘Duniya Hila Denge’’ as its cover picture[42].

Activities
Mumbai Indians conducted a series of activities to enthusiastically engage fans and to
connect with them on a more vigorous basis:
B Polls. A number of polls were conducted by the team on Facebook, Twitter and Google þ.
Some of the questions put to a poll on the team’s Facebook were – ‘‘Which MI player
would play a vital role for their national side in World Cup T20?’’ or ‘‘Who was the best
all-rounder in the Mumbai Indians team?’’[42] These polls also mentioned special innings
played by Mumbai Indian team members.

Table VI Select engagement activities run by Mumbai Indians

Number of Number of Number of
Engagement activity Date likes shares comments

Participate in upcoming contests and win such exclusive MI merchandise. August 29, 2012 1,251 33 194
Tell ‘‘which of these MI merchandise would you like to win?’’
Join in wishing ‘‘Slinga’’ Malinga a very Happy Birthday! August 28, 2012 12,944 836 1,307
Guess the correct location of the ball in the image! August 26, 2012 9,132 1,187 7,582
VICTORY! Congrats to U-19 team for bringing the cup back. Indian captain August 26, 2012 17,823 3,954 947
Unmukt Chand led India to World Cup glory as U-19 team lifted their third
World Cup title. Like, share and comment
Who should bat at #3 for MI in the 2012 CLT20? August 25, 2012 2,893 317 1,040
James Franklin credits IPL for reviving his career. Read more August 22, 2012 3,151 185 86
In the upcoming 2012 CLT20 in South Africa, which pair shall be the most August 21, 2012 3,764 442 760
excited to watch bowling?
Do you think this pair should open for MI in the upcoming CLT20, in August 19, 2012 7,801 408 706
South Africa?
Mumbai Indians wishes a very Happy Independence Day! ‘‘Share’’ the pride August 15, 2012 5,066 548 159
of being Indians today, and forever!
Congratulations to Yogeshwar Dutt on winning the Bronze medal for India at August 12, 2012 17,641 1,459 729
the Olympics! Flow wishes for Yogeshwar through the comment box below!
Yohan Blake, who finished second to Bolt in the 200 metres at the London August 11, 2012 6,013 1,101 645
Olympics, said that he wanted to play in the IPL as he thought he could bowl
out Sachin
Star batsman Herschelle Gibbs passed on few fitness tips to a group of August 10, 2012 2,203 141 73
young children
Mumbai Indians ranked 7th among the Social Media Brands, and was the August 6, 2012 5,698 541 227
only IPL franchise among the top 10. Thanks for continuous support, love
and affection
Mumbai Indians wishes a Happy Friendship Day! August 5, 2012 7,510 566 342
Follow MI on Twitter and participate in #MI World contest to win some cool August 1, 2012 1,360 96 45
autographed MI T-shirts
MI congratulates Yuvraj Singh on his speedy recovery and his inclusion in July 18, 2012 8,574 1,061 323
India’s 30-man squad for the WCT20!
Congratulations to West Indies on winning the 2012 WT20! October 7, 2012 7,774 74 309

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.facebook.com/mumbaiindians?fref¼ts (accessed December 9, 2012)

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PAGE 6 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013
 B Trivia. Another prominent way to engage the audience on the Mumbai Indians Facebook
page was the ‘‘Trivia’’. Questions like ‘‘Who is the top scorer in the semifinals of the
Champion League T20, 2011?’’ and ‘‘Who is the Man of the Match in Champion League
T20, 2011finals?’’[42] caught the attention of the audience and generated millions of
responses.
B Videos. The most frequently used activity to grab fans’ attention was uploading videos on
the MI Facebook page. The team shared YouTube videos such as greetings from Nita
Ambani for the team and its players with the fans. There were brief video snippets like
‘‘How I started playing cricket seriously?’’ by Sachin Tendulkar that attracted thousands of
likes and comments. Similarly, the team’s official YouTube channel and Facebook page
carried videos on Mumbai Indians’ TVC Bus Yatra[43]. The team also uploaded videos
containing Mumbai Indians team members’ interviews. Likes, comments, debates and
tagging emerged as a daily hobby for the fans. Table VII depicts selected engagement
activities on YouTube and its performance indicators.
B Contests. Contests organized by the franchise created mass euphoria. They frequently
organized contests like ‘‘Tell us how you cheer for MI’’[43] or writing slogan for the team.
Prizes for these contests were in the form of Mumbai Indians jerseys, autographed bats
and autographed T-shirts. These contests were propagated on the official Twitter page of
Mumbai Indians and the links were shared on its Facebook page. For the second edition
of IPL (IPL-2) that was organized in South Africa, the franchise offered two tickets to the
match venues under a MI Biggest Fan Hunt contest[43].
B Celebrations. The franchise also used activities like celebrating birthdays, displaying
celebration photos and images of Indian medal winners for fans who were closely
tracking the team. Moments of practice sessions engaged the audience with the team
and created huge amounts of ‘‘shares’’ on the Mumbai Indians’ Facebook page.

The social media activities of the team went beyond the actions of Mumbai Indians and also
covered cricket activities across the globe and other sports. Mumbai Indians celebrated the
world cup victory of India’s U-19 (under 19/junior males’) team. The MI fan page on
Facebook invited its fans to ‘‘like’’, ‘‘share’’ and ‘‘comment’’[43]. The fan page also carried
compliments and congratulatory wishes for cricket players doing well against other foreign
teams in one-day and five-day international matches also. These comments were posted on
Mumbai Indians’ Facebook, Twitter and Google þ pages[43].

Table VII Select YouTube run by Mumbai Indians

Number of Number of Number of
Engagement activity: YouTube video Date Views Comments Likes

Robin and Shaun at the ‘‘Arrival Press Conference’’ in South Africa October 9, 2012 210 0 3
Be careful when you challenge me for Table Tennis May 22, 2012 974 0 3
My happiest IPL moment. No prizes for guessing May 22, 2012 278 0 2
A happy and proud player of Mumbai Indians May 22, 2012 90 0 0
If not a cricketer I would have been a [. . .] May 21, 2012 490 1 2
Mumbai Indians is the best April 14, 2012 3,261 5 8
Mumbai Indians TVC: Bus Yatra (30 seconds) April 9, 2012 366 0 4
Mumbai Indians TVC: Bus Yatra (60 seconds) April 9, 2012 8,118 3 16
Play like one – what it means to Slinga Malinga April 9, 2011 1,053 1 6
Relive the winning moments of the Champions League T20 April 4, 2012 6,567 Disabled 18
Mumbai Indians Anthem March1, 2012 1,340 1 6
Pratham March 23, 2012 47 0 0
Akanksha March 23, 2012 97 0 2
Robin and Paras argue over players for the IPL 5 Auction February 1, 2012 678 0 1
Play like one – what it means to the MI Captain April 9, 2011 1,930 0 5
Mumbai Indians Anthem 2010 March 10, 2010 44,836 22 75

Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.youtube.com/user/mipaltan (accessed December 9, 2012)

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VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 7
 Social media activities of other IPL teams
Other IPL teams were also aggressively pursuing social media marketing activities. In terms
of fan following on Facebook, Chennai Super Kings was second after Mumbai Indians,
followed by Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders. Chennai Super Kings,
despite being second, had 725,000 fans on its unofficial page which was less than one-third
of the fan following for Mumbai Indians. Kolkata Knight Riders had 570,000 fans whereas
Royal Challengers Bangalore had 505,000 fans[44].
Chennai Super Kings launched a social media campaign in 2012 to name the mascot for the
team. According to Rakesh Singh, Joint President (Marketing), India Cements Ltd, the
owners of Chennai Super Kings franchise:
There is no dramatic change in how we approach the medium. But it makes a lot of sense to be
active on social networks. We are, for instance, the second most followed team on Twitter after
Kolkata Knight Riders[45].

Rajasthan Royals teamed up with Empire Spices to take its brand to the interiors of
Rajasthan and to the rural areas. For Rajasthan Royals, the core idea to engage fans in its
social media sites was to increase interaction between Rahul Dravid, the captain of the
team and the fans[46]. Delhi Daredevils engaged fans by crowd sourcing the mascot[47].
Hemant Dua, Head (Marketing) of GMR Sports, the owners of Delhi Daredevils
franchise said:
Social media is not cheap. You either spend a lot of money or use it intelligently. We are trying to
integrate both[47].

Conclusion
The challenge around use of social media was summarized by Jehil Thakkar, Executive
Director, Media and Entertainment, at consulting firm KPMG India Pvt. Ltd:
Social media will be an additional spends over and above the usual promotional activities. It is an
engagement medium and can’t be a replacement for other mediums[45].

The Mumbai Indians team proved to be a leader in terms of engaging its fans through social
media and it was upbeat about increasing this lead further. Still, the questions remained
whether Mumbai Indians was really using social media most effectively or was it using it only
because others were doing so.

Notes
1. Digimouth (2011), ‘‘Mumbai Indians become India’s No.1 Sports brand on Facebook’’, available at:
www.digimouth.com/news/mumbai-indians-become-indias-no-1-sports-brand-on-facebook.html
(accessed August 27, 2012).
2. Nielsen (2012), ‘‘Maruti Suzuki tops NM Incite India’s Social Media Brand Equity ranking Q2 2012’’,
available at: www.nielsen.com/in/en/news-insights/press-room/2012/social-media-brand-equity-
ranking-q2-2012.html (accessed August 27, 2012).
3. ESPN Cricinfo, ‘‘Indian Premier League 2007/08’’, available at: www.espncricinfo.com/ipl/content/
series/313494.html?template¼fixtures (accessed August 27, 2012).

4. Delhi Daredevils, ‘‘About IPL’’, available at: www.delhidaredevils.com/about-ipl/ (accessed August

27, 2012).
5. ESPN Cricinfo (2008), ‘‘Big business and Bollywood grab stakes in IPL’’, available at: www.
espncricinfo.com/ipl/content/story/333193.html (accessed August 27, 2012).

6. IPL T20, ‘‘Governing Council’’, available at: www.iplt20.com/about/2012/governing-council

(accessed August 27, 2012).
7. PTI (2010), ‘‘IPL Brand value doubles to $4.13 billion: study’’, available at: www.timesofindia.
indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl-2012/news/IPL-brand-value-doubles-to-4-13-billion-Study/
iplarticleshow/5713042.cms (accessed August 27, 2012).

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PAGE 8 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013
 8. The Economic Times, 2012, ‘‘Brand IPL poorer by $750 million’’, available at: www.economictimes.
indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/brand-ipl-poorer-by-750-million/articleshow/
13461879.cms (accessed December 9, 2012).

9. India Television (2012), ‘‘Brand IPL plummets to $2.92 bn: franchise brand value down to 15-20%’’,
available at: www.indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k12/may/maymam118.php (accessed
December 9, 2012).

10. Business Line (2012), ‘‘IPL-5 is not grabbing eyeballs’’, available at: www.thehindubusinessline.
com/industry-and-economy/marketing/article3303257.ece (accessed August 27, 2012).

11. DNA (2012), ‘‘IPL gets off to its worst start’’, available at: www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ipl-gets-
off-to-its-worst-start-lowest-trp-in-5-years_1674751 (accessed August 27, 2012).

12. Rediff (2008), ‘‘DLF win IPL title sponsorship rights’’, available at: www.rediff.com/cricket/2008/feb/
13ipl.htm (accessed December 9, 2012).

13. News Reporter (2011), ‘‘Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd owing Mumbai Indians IPL team posts loss of
Rs15.42 crore’’, available at: www.newsreporter.in/indiawin-sports-pvt-ltd-owning-mumbai-indians-
ipl-team-posts-loss-of-rs-15-42-cr (accessed December 9, 2012).

14. Mumbai Indians, ‘‘Club profile’’, available at: www.mumbaiindians.com/About-MI.aspx (accessed

December 9, 2012).

15. Financial Express, available at: www.financialexpress.com/news/sachin-as-krishna-mukesh-s-ipl-

team-has-sudarshan-chakra/282084/3 (accessed August 27, 2012).

16. The Times of India (2012), ‘‘Sachin Tendulkar hands over captaincy of Mumbai Indians to Harbhajan
Singh’’, available at: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl/news/Sachin-Tendulkar-
hands-over-captaincy-of-Mumbai-Indians-to-Harbhajan-Singh/articleshow/12506723.cms
(accessed December 9, 2012).

17. ESPN Cricinfo (2012), ‘‘Mumbai Indians strengthened: Kings 11 look weak’’, available at: www.
espncricinfo.com/indian-premier-league-2012/content/story/552130.html (accessed December 9,
2012).

18. PTI (2002), ‘‘Tendulkar second only to Bradman: Wisden’’, available at: www.expressindia.com/
news/fullstory.php?newsid¼ 17654 (accessed December 9, 2012).

19. ESPN Cricinfo, ‘‘West Indies player’’, available at: www.espncricinfo.com/westindies/content/

player/230559.html (accessed December 9, 2012).

20. ESPN Cricinfo, ‘‘India players’’, available at: www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/player/29264.

html (accessed December 9, 2012).

21. BBC Sport (2001), ‘‘The renaissance of Harbhajan’’, available at: www.news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/
cricket/1638947.stm (accessed December 9, 2012).

22. Mumbai Indians, available at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-10/tale-spin/

29528602_1_ril-ipl-franchise-ipl-player-auction (accessed December 9, 2012).

23. Mumbai Indians, ‘‘Club profile’’, available at: www.mumbaiindians.com/About-MI.aspx (accessed

December 9, 2012).

24. The Times of India (2010), ‘‘6 for education’’, available at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/2010-07-05/people/28277139_1_nita-ambani-mumbai-indians-underprivileged-kids
(accessed December 9, 2012).

25. The Times of India (2011), ‘‘Mumbai Indians IPL team posts full-year loss of Rs15.42 crore’’,
available at: http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-10/tale-spin/29528602_1_ril-ipl-
franchise-ipl-player-auction (accessed December 9, 2012).

26. Currency, ‘‘Conversion rate for Indian rupees to US dollars’’, available at: www.currency.me.uk/
convert/inr/usd (accessed December 11, 2012).

27. Mail Online (2011), ‘‘Mumbai Indians crowned new T20 Champions League champions’’, available
at: www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2047177/Mumbai-indians-win-Twenty20-Champions-
League.html (accessed December 9, 2012).

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VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES PAGE 9
 28. Business Line, ‘‘Mumbai Indians in a Loop’’, available at: www.thehindubusinessline.com/industry-and-
economy/marketing/mumbai-indians-in-a-loop/article1718496.ece (accessed December 9, 2012).
29. Telecom Online, ‘‘Loop Mobile’s Mumbai Meri Jaan campaign strike a chord in Mumbai’’, available
at: www.telecomindiaonline.com/loop-mobile-mumbai-meri-jaan-campaign-strikes-a-chord-in-
mumbai.html (accessed December 9, 2012).
30. Televisionpoint (2008), ‘‘Mumbai Indians names Hrithik Roshan as team Ambassador’’, available at: www.
televisionpoint.com/news2008/newsfullstory.php?id¼1208169248 (accessed December 9, 2012).

31. Outlook India (2012), ‘‘Disney, Mumbai Indians eyes Rs14Cr via merchandize’’, available at: http://
news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid¼758864 (accessed December 10, 2012).
32. DNA India (2012), ‘‘IPL 2012: Disney, MI eye Rs14crore via ltd edition merchandise’’, available at:
www.dnaindia.com/sport/report_ipl-2012-disney-mi-eye-rs14-crore-via-ltd-edition-merchandise_
1673042 (accessed December 15, 2012).
33. University of North Carolina at Pembroke (2013), ‘‘The brief history of social media’’, available at: www.
uncp.edu/home/acurtis/NewMedia/SocialMedia/SocialMediaHistory.html (accessed May 9, 2013).
34. Amit Ranjan, 2008, ‘‘Milestones in India’s internet journey’’, available at: www.amitranjan.com/2005/
08/31/milestones-in-indias-internet-journey/ (accessed May 9, 2013).
35. The Realtime Report (2012), ‘‘Social networking grows 52% among India’s internet users but reaches just
6.3% of population’’, available at: http://therealtimereport.com/2012/09/06/social-networking-grows-52-
among-indias-internet-users-but-reaches-just-6-3-of-population/ (accessed May 9, 2013).

36. PTI (2011), ‘‘Mumbai Indians No1 on Facebook’’, available at: www.thehindu.com/sport/
article2526071.ece (accessed December 9, 2012).
37. India Infoline, 2011, ‘‘Mumbai Indians winner on social media with 2.2mn fans’’, available at: www.
indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Mumbai-Indians-winners-on-social-media-with-22mn-fans/
5262758116 (accessed December 9, 2012).
38. Facebook page of Mumbai Indians, available at: www.facebook.com/mumbaiindians?fref¼ ts
(accessed December 9, 2012).
39. Facebook page, available at: www.facebook.com/SachinTendulkarMI (accessed December 9, 2012).
40. Alexa ranking, available at: www.alexa.com/siteinfo/twitter.com (accessed December 9, 2012).

41. Twitter page of Mumbai Indians, available at: https://twitter.com/mipaltan (accessed December 9, 2012).
42. Google þ page of Mumbai Indians, available at: https://plus.google.com/113685752366455116113/
posts (accessed December 10, 2012).
43. YouTube page of Mumbai Indians, available at: www.youtube.com/user/mipaltan (accessed
December 10, 2012).
44. India Today (2011), available at: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/mumbai-indians-no.-1-on-
facebook/1/154433.html (accessed December 10, 2012).
45. Live Mint (2012), ‘‘Ahead of season five, team banks on social media to lure fans’’, available at: www.
livemint.com/Consumer/BfiXKptErqB3LyuFKB28UK/Ahead-of-season-five-IPL-teams-bank-on-
social-media-to-lure.html?facet ¼ print (accessed December 10, 2012).
46. Live Mint (2012), ‘‘Ahead of season five, IPL teams bank on social media to lure fans’’, available at:
Keywords: www.livemint.com/Consumer/BfiXKptErqB3LyuFKB28UK/Ahead-of-season-five-IPL-teams-bank-
Online marketing, on-social-media-to-lure.html (accessed December 10, 2012).
Social media marketing, 47. Social Media and Digital Marketing Blog, ‘‘IPL5 social media case studies and strategies – the fever
Indian Premier League, begins’’, available at: www.soravjain.com/ipl5-social-media-case-studies-strategies-fever-begins
Mumbai Indians (accessed December 10, 2012).

Exhibit. Alexa ranking

The Alexa ranking was a system provided by Alexa.com, which was a subsidiary company
of amazon.com. This reflects the number of visits on various web sites.
Source: Compiled by Authors (2012) from www.alexa.com/company (accessed
December 9, 2012).

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PAGE 10 EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES VOL. 3 NO. 5 2013