Consumer Behaviour

Is the Indian Premier League success or failure?

Submitted by-

Aalok Singla

DM22101

Page | 1
S. no Particulars Page no.

1 Introduction 3

2 How cricket made a way into Indian hearts 3

3 The need for T-20 3

4 Indian premier league is born 4

4.1 Emotions 5

4.2 Advertisement 6

4.3 Underlying need 6

4.4 Social Media 7

4.5 Location 7

4.6 Bollywood entertainment 8

4.7 Technology advancement 8

4.8 Promotion by others 8

4.9 Merchandize 9

5 Conclusion 9

6 What should be the next step? 10

7 References 11

Page | 2
 Introduction

In India, cricket is just not a sport but it is worship like a religion. India has a long history

related to cricket, the Britishers brought cricket to India in the 18 th century and the first

match was played in 1721. After two centuries, in 1932, India played their first-ever

international test match against England. India didn’t win a single match for 20 years.

Nevertheless, it was a start. India was the sixth team that was granted test cricket status.

Test match is a long game because it would take 5 days and back then it was a 6-day test

match. In 1971, a shorter version of this fantastic game was introduced in the cricket world.

One day international (ODI) match was played between Australia and England. India played

their first-ever ODI in 1974.

How cricket made a way into Indian hearts

In 1975, the Cricket world cup tournament started and it was won by West Indies. West

Indies was a great team back in the days. It was a furious and difficult tournament for a

team like India. The tournament was played with a gap of 4 years. In 1983, India won the

cricket world cup tournament by defeating the mighty West Indies team. It wasn’t an easy

task to defeat West Indies as they were so good. It changed the way every Indian feel about

cricket. As Sachin Tendulkar said, “A Day that changed Indian cricket history forever”. If we

see an Indian fan as a consumer/customer, we can see how emotions play everywhere.

The need for T-20

In the late 1990s, the England cricket board (ECB) notices that the footfall in the cricket

stadiums starting declining. They conducted large-scale market research to find the reason

behind it. They came to know that people felt toward the game is changing that they feel it

Page | 3
is too long & boring and often the game ends up in a draw. ECB was focusing on the

underlying need or value of a cricket fan to make the game more interesting for them. As

the game progressed from 5- or 6-day test cricket to ODI. From the market research, ECB

found people would be fine if the game ends up in 3-4 hours which they can watch after

their school or work timings. In 2005, Australia and New Zealand played first ever T-20

international.

Indian Premier League is born

Like an ODI world cup tournament, the international cricket council introduces the T-20

world cup tournament in 2007. Indian cricket fans were outrages as the Indian team ends up

on the group stage in the ODI world cup tournament in 2007. On top of that, India lost

against Bangladesh which hurts the sentiment of Indian cricket fans in such a bizarre way

that they threw stones at the houses of cricketers. But, In the T-20 world cup tournament,

India comes strong and won the title by defeating the arch-rival Pakistan. It was a big

moment for the Indian cricket team and Indian cricket fans. The same fans who pelted

stones at the houses of cricketers were partying, dancing, and cherishing the victory of

India. In my opinion, the victory was more enjoyed not just because it was a big tournament

but the victory against Pakistan.

Considering the happiness and enthusiasm towards the T-20 of an Indian cricket fan. BCCI

saw an opportunity and in 2008, they introduce the domestic league called the Indian

premier league. It is the affect that Indian cricket fans loved the format so much. As India

won against Pakistan. Indian cricket fans were affected by a positive feeling state. They

connected with the game emotionally. And it was more intense and fans had a strong

reason for it.

Page | 4
The concept of IPL is that they bought different players from different nations and put them

together in one team. They spent a lot in marketing and endorsing. It becomes an

entertainment source as well as the big Bollywood celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa

Shetty bought the teams. There were many reasons IPL become so successful that it was

included in the Top 10 most popular leagues in the world. As one way of thinking, we can

see marketing played a huge role in the success of IPL. So here are the reasons behind it-

Emotions-

There is a huge Indian cricket fan base and the victory of their team in the world cup gives

them a sensual pleasure which makes IPL a hedonic product. And when a person is under

sway of positive effects they counter-argue less. And it has become easier for BCCI to

market the IPL. Indian fans liked the concept of the T-20 very much. What BCCI did, they

divided the Indian cricket fans into various categories like they named the teams after

famous states/cities, Bollywood celebrities, famous foreign players, etc.

As it is a hedonic product, they tried to have an emotional connection with a consumer. For

a fan, there was ample reason to support a particular team like if they are from the state a

team is named after, their liking towards a Bollywood celebrity or a foreign player. As

consumers are provided with many choices. They tried to engage with a customer.

Remember the songs like “Halla bol”, “Korbo lorbo jeetbo re”, etc. Some songs were so

catchy that one keeps repeating the tune or lyrics in their mind again and again.

Page | 5
Consumers are so attached to IPL and cricket. A person in Tamil Nadu has painted his home

yellow in colour and made a poster of Mr Dhoni on the walls of the house. He dedicated his

home to Chennai super kings and its captain.

Advertisements-

They did many advertisements for the IPL. Even the big brands/companies like Pepsi,

Vodafone, etc. They were pouring huge amounts of money to advertise in the IPL. The brand

logo on the jersey of the players and whatnot. As people are emotionally attached to the

game. As they say, emotions are used in marketing for advertisement. The marketing

strategy flows from the customer needs and values. The Vodafone “zoo-zoo

advertisements”, which were cute and interesting. They link the advertisement with the

cricket. Now, IPL has become so big that they got huge sponsorship from the companies.

Player’s jerseys are full of company brands logos.

Underlying need-

As the need for a T-20 arises due to the long format of the game. T-20 is the way to tackle

the problem. Now, the consumers need to have some entertainment and in the fast-moving

world. They need the action in less time. So, the timings of the game are decided very

considerably that on the working days (Monday to Friday), the game will be started after 8

and on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday) there will be two games. One in the afternoon

and one in the evening.

Page | 6
If we are talking about needs and values, believe me, or not, cheerleaders would also

consider as an entertaining factor for some fans.

They also focused on the part of language as well. In India, there are many languages, and

marketers want to focus on as many people as possible. The IPL broadcasted in English,

Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Marathi as well.

Social Media-

In the modern era, if a marketer is not using social media. They are losing many

opportunities. But IPL uses social media in the best manner possible. They have made social

media accounts of every team on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc. They even have a

special page dedicated to fans as well. They connect with the fans through social media

showing them what their favourite team players are doing before the matches, after the

matches, in the breaks, etc. It will increase the Customer lifetime value.

And there are fans battle as well which make things more interesting. They give hampers or

gifts to fans as a part of their social media campaign.

Location-

Most of the stadiums in India are in Tier-1 cities and some in Tier-2 cities. So, what about

other Tier-2 cities and Tier-3 cities?

IPL didn’t leave this stone unturned. They come up with a concept called Fan parks. So, what

they have done is to set up a screen in the other Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Making an

environment like a fan enjoys in a stadium. Live commentary, food, merchandise, etc. It is a

Page | 7
very effective way to connect with the customers. Customers feel special and having an

actual-like experience made it more fun.

In India, they are covering 21 states and 36 cities.

Bollywood entertainment-

There are many Bollywood celebrities who are connected with the IPL i.e., Shah Rukh Khan,

Preity Zinta, Shilpa Shetty, Juhi Chawla, etc. By this, they are making non-cricket fans as

their customers as well. To influence customer behaviour, they are not just focusing on the

taste and preferences of the customers but they are influencing them to be a part of this

tournament.

Many woman followers/fans of the IPL or Kolkata Knight Riders not just watch IPL just

because they like cricket but they like the owner of Kolkata Knight Riders who is Shah Rukh

Khan.

Technology advancement-

As consumers are moving from the traditional mode of watching cricket (television) to OTT

platforms. IPL also made advancements in this area. As Star network purchases the

broadcasting rights of IPL. They are broadcasting IPL not only on television but on Hotstar as

well.

Page | 8
And they made it more interactive as it is possible like they have a comment section or

emoji to show one emotion.

Promotion by others-

IPL becomes so big that other brands start promoting them. Like Dream 11 which is a

fantasy game. It has now become the title sponsor of IPL. Like this application, there are

many applications that are promoting IPL on their platform.

Merchandize-

Merchandize of the specific players and specific teams plays a very important role in

marketing. To think, there are three advantages of merchandise, one is monetary because

customer has to buy those. Second, a customer associates himself/herself with that specific

person or team. Third, if a customer purchases it, wears it, they are themselves start

marketing for the brand.

Conclusion

Talking in monetary terms, IPL has a huge success. Before 2007-08, BCCI is not paying a

single penny as a tax to the government of India. Since then, they have paid around 3,500

crores as a tax to the government of India.

We can say that IPL success is possible due to its marketing techniques. In my opinion, they

surely have a free-rider effect or second mover advantage. As there were T-20 domestic

leagues before IPL which are not as famous as IPL. It might be a possibility that they have

learned from the mistakes of others.

Page | 9
 What should be the next step?

IPL 2021 is conducted at the time of the Covid 19 Pandemic. And the government ordered

to stop the IPL in between because of the rising cases in India as well as they have found

some players have breached the social distancing protocol. It impacts another player as well

and BCCI and government have to stop the play. It also impacted some of the players as

they were left stranded in India. Now, it will arouse dissatisfaction felling among the players

and they might not be a part of the upcoming tournament. So, it will impact the whole

thing.

As there were many allegations of spot-fixing and betting cases on some of the players and

teams involved in the IPL. So, IPL has to come up with the rules and regulations which may

clean the image of IPL players and teams. It affects the emotion of fans attached to the

sport, players and team. Thus, affects the overall brand.

Page | 10
 References

1) https://www.business-standard.com/article/sports/ipl-2021-broadcasters-

announce-team-of-100-commentators-across-8-languages-121040801235_1.html

2) https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/the-twisted-whisper/the-

economics-of-ipl-26767/

3) https://www.iplt20.com/news/152263/vivo-ipl-fan-parks-to-cover-21-states-36-

cities-ipl-jamboree-reaches-sikkim

4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_national_cricket_team

5) https://www.indiatoday.in/sports/cricket/story/sachin-tendulkar-1983-world-cup-

win-a-day-that-changed-indian-history-forever-kapil-dev-1819360-2021-06-25

6) https://www.surveypolice.com/blog/how-market-research-transformed-cricket/

7) https://rapidleaks.com/sports/10-most-popular-sports-leagues-in-the-world/

8) https://www.kreedon.com/ipl-advertising-all-you-need-to-know/?amp

Page | 11