Thursday, April 14, 2011

IPL opens on a strong note

IPL opens on a strong note


Team

(13 April 2011 11:00 pm)


MUMBAI:IPL opens on a strong note Looks like the World Cup hangover does not exist for the Indian cricket fan who just wants more. The fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has delivered an average TVR of 4.82, according to data from Tam Sports c&s4+ all India.

By comparison, the first three matches of the World Cup had delivered an average TVR of 3.15. Two of those matches did not feature India.

29 million viewers watched the first match this time around compared to 13 million viewers for the second match and 21 million for the third match.

The opening match between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders got a TVR of 7.14, an increase over the 7 TVR that the opening match between Deccan Chargers and Kolkata Knight Riders had got last year.

Last year, the IPL had managed an average TVR of 4.6 across the event. Overall, the recently concluded World Cup had a TVR of 3.83. The nine India matches gave a TVR of 12.

The IPL matches' ratings are showing a similar pattern. The second match between the Deccan chargers and Rajasthan Royals got a TVR of 2.39 as it was played early in the evening. The third match between Kochi Tuskers Kerala and Royal Challengers Bangalore got a TVR of 4.94.

Meanwhile, in the Metros c&s4+, the three matches got a TVR of 5.15, a slight drop compared to 5.7 last year, 5.37 in 2009 and 6.25 in the first year.

Interestingly in six metros c&s4+ the digital homes are showing a better TVR, although the reach is much less. The three matches have averaged 6.71 TVR compared to 5.15 otherwise. The opening match got an impressive 9.42 TVR in digital homes compared to 7.77 otherwise.

A media buyer notes that the ratings are in line with what had been expected especially among males. "While one match might have delivered a lower rating, overall the rating is what had been expected. Having said that, it is too early to take a call on the IPL's delivery," he said.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

IPL’s value down 11% to $3.67 bn as honeymoon period is over: BrandFinance

IPL’s value down 11% to $3.67 bn as honeymoon period is over: BrandFinance


Insearchindia.com Team

(11 April 2011 4:20 pm)


MUMBAI: As India's cricket board is trying to clean up its biggestcricket-entertainment property, there are still questions looming over the business model of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The addition of two teams has only added to the financial woes as the overall brand value of the IPL has eroded.

The IPL is valued at $3.67 billion, down 11 per cent from $4.13 billion a year-ago, as there are dark clouds raised over governance policies, according to BrandFinance India, the company which specialises in brand valuations.

“The IPL juggernaut has hit a speed breaker with an erosion of $460 million of its long-term value. As costs like players' wages rise, the early commercial success of IPL will be tested and the honeymoon is well and truly over,” BrandFinance India MD M Unni Krishnan said.

The IPL branded ecosystem’s long–term sustainability is being subjected to a “stress test” from various forces. IPL’s sustainability will, thus, largely depend on infusing governance policies to align all the stakeholders towards win–win relationships and thereby preserving the value in the long run.

The BrandFinance report noted that much of the brand’s initial value was built through a range of attention getting activities, which now needs to be consolidated through values driven patronage across all stakeholders.

The report chalked out various factors on which the business model as a whole will be dependent. These are:

Ability to institutionalise governance processes to safeguard IPL’s ability to inspire trust flows across stakeholders which will sustain the business model’s cash flows.
Prudent financial management and corporate discipline to ensure commercial success at an individual franchisee level as costs like player’s wages shoot up.
Nurture and establish new, or improved, revenue streams so that franchisees can leverage their popularity through more diverse merchandising or new income streams.
Retaining the engagement levels with current and potential fan bases even as young Indians get exposed to new game formats and interest in other sports.
Stickiness of sponsors who may have more options. Initial enthusiasm could wane in the light of IPL’s own economic performance.

The report, however, conceded that despite all the challenges, the IPL has remained a robust asset. "Its owners face a choice. Either they can reform the system inside out or face a meltdown in the not so distant future," the report cautioned.

At a broader level, the IPL is emblematic of Indian commercial and sporting prowess to the world. Oddly enough, the IPL also represents the dark microcosm of an epidemic of corruption and short–term frenzy to make a fast buck which has swept India like an avalanche over the last year,” the report added.

IPL Franchises:
The combined trademark value of all the eight franchisees for 2011 is pegged at $355.22 million, slightly higher than $333.35 million in 2010.

BrandFinance, which took the eight original eight teams into consideration, categorised the teams into three brackets. The ‘breakaway brands’ consisted of Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers. BrandFinance said that these franchisees seem to have worked out the secret sauce of sporting success. “Consistency and coherence across various dimensions of cricketing and marketing excellence along with governance holds the key,” it said. (For valuation, see the table).

Mumbai Indians has made significant gains due to meticulous focus on nurturing a core team under Sachin Tendulkar, strong fan engagement efforts, sponsorship and merchandising. What makes it stand out is also the strong commitment to use the platform for the larger good like “Education for All’. It is not a mere coincidence that all the three ’breakaway brands’ are owned by large business houses, the report noted.

Meanwhile, Kolkota Knight Riders, Delhi Daredevils and Deccan Chargers are the “middle of the road brands”. They are in a state of flux and seem to have lost their balance in key areas of cricketing excellence aka the product.

The third in the category are the "Stragglers" and consist of Rajasthan Royals and Kings XI who have their work cut out in getting their houses in order.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

WC: Tale of record ratings and advertisers

WC: Tale of record ratings and advertisers


Team

(6 April 2011 10:00 pm)


MUMBAI: When MS Dhoni hit a towering six to seal India's victory at the World Cup final, it was mass India watching a piece of history being created after 28 years. In a whole new era of India's superpower status in the cricketing economy, what counted was how many television viewers the game attracted and to what extent sports broadcasters could turn profitable amid high acquisition costs in a country that views a single sport with religious frenzy in constant regularity.

The ratings created history. The 'Men in Blue's' final battle drew in a record 135.4 million viewers and it peaked with a TVR of 35.91, demonstrating to advertisers that if there was one mass medium available it was cricket.

The final contest fetched an average rating of 23.21, surpassing the classical duel between India and Pakistan that got an average TVR of 21 and peaked at 34.46 with 115 million viewers tuning in.

The semifinal between New Zealand and Sri Lanka got a rating of 4.31 and a peak TVR of 12.87, making it the highest rated for a non Indian match. Seventy million viewers watched it, according to data from Tam Sports (C&S4+).

The 2011 World Cup fared better than its 2007 edition. The final between Australia and Sri Lanka had earned a TVR of 4.53 and a reach of 33 million. The two semi finals had got an average of 2.55 TVR in 2007.

Overall, the event got a TVR of 3.86 compared to 2.02 in 2007. The India versus Sri Lanka final this time around got a rating of 11.1 TVR on Star Cricket, 8.13 TVR on Star Sports and 4.35 TVR on Doordarshan.

Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal watched the World Cup tournament the most this time. India's nine matches delivered a TVR of 12.07 TVR. In 2007, the three India matches had got an average of 10.33 TVR. The non India matches got a TVR of 1.29 compared to a TVR of 1.43 in 2007.


Click here to zoom image

Source:Tam Sports

Dentsu Media CEO Sai Nagesh said that the performance of the event has been exemplary. "The amount of time that people spent viewing a game has been a revelation. It was thought that people would only watch the last couple of overs. That has not been the case. The non India games also did well. The fact that India was in a tough group which saw teams like Ireland do well boosted the event's performance.

What about the ad rate hike after India stepped into the semifinal stage? "The incremental increase in the performance of the final over the India versus Pakistan semifinal was expected. The rate of Rs 2.2 million a spot was worth it for the final for clients who came in at the last moment," said Nagesh.
Top Five India Matches Top five non-India matches
Final India versus Sri Lanka - 23.21 TVR
Semifinal New Zealand versus Sri Lanka - 4.31 TVR
Semifinal India versus Pakistan - 21 TVR
Pakistan versus Sri Lanka - 3.28 TVR
Quarterfinal India versus Australia - 12.34 TVR
Quarterfinal England versus Sri Lanka - 2.92 TVR
India versus England - 10.97 TVR
New Zealand versus Pakistan - 2.45 TVR
India versus South Africa - 10.11 TVR
Australia versus Pakistan - 2.28 TVR

From the advertiser point of view, the series has been a rewarding one with most of them reaping a good return-on-investment. PepsiCo India executive VP - marketing, Cola Sandeep Singh Arora expressed satisfaction about the response it got for its 'Change the Game' campaign which ran during the event.

"The campaign broke the clutter and connected with the youth, which is our core audience. Innovative cricket shots such as the Helicopter Shot, Palti Hit and Upper Cut have become a part of today's cricketing lingo, underlining the campaign's success and helping brand Pepsi take ownership of everything that is unorthodox about the game of cricket. Going forward, we will continue to come up with exciting concepts and game changing campaigns that connect with Youngistaanis," he said.

The success of the World Cup has shown that there is enough steam left in the ODI format and it won't get killed by the T20 invasion. "What this event has shown is that all three formats will be viable for a long time in India. There is no danger to ODIs from the Twenty20 format," Reliance Communications group head brand and marketing Sanjay Behl said.

Behl said the delivery of the event as a whole was 40-50 per cent more than what had been expected earlier. "It delivered more efficiency. We were the most visible brand during the World Cup. We did innovations in terms of digital boards. The future brand recall of India winning will be attributable to Reliance," he claimed.

Now with the Indian Premier League about to begin, will advertisers be willing to put big monies there also?

Media experts believe more advertisers would walk into the sport over the next few months. "There will be a premium paid. However at the same time, it is not that clients will stop spending on other genres. What the World Cup has shown is that cricket is a huge platform," a media buyer said.

For brands involved with the World Cup, there has been a big rub off in terms of brand loyalty. "The performance has been spectacular. Companies in categories like telecom already do a lot around cricket. This will continue. In some cases, this could intensify," a media analyst said.

Many of the advertisers have already booked slots on IPL. LG CMO LK Gupta said, "We already have our hands full. With the IPL, we are an on-air sponsor and the aim is to have the media share of voice. With the World Cup, it was about building a consumer connect on the ground and creating engagement."

Gupta said that throughout the event LG brand got good exposure. "It wasn't just about the fact that India won the final. The respect and stature of the brand grew, thanks to our association with this event."

The World Cup has thrown up an iinteresting trend with FMCG companies betting their ad monies on cricket.

"Brands will want a piece of the pie. More companies will want to ride the bandwagon. Already you are seeing some FMCG companies advertising on cricket, which they did not do earlier. This is due to the fact that increasingly women tune in to cricket. While this is due to the rise of T20, the effect has spilled over to the ODIs. You are also seeing categories like cement and inverters starting to use cricket to generate eyeballs. This activity might speed up due to the World Cup win," Gupta said.

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Indo-Pak duel peaks with 36.22 TVR in six metros

Indo-Pak duel peaks with 36.22 TVR in six metros


Team

(2 April 2011 2:30 pm)


MUMBAI: As India gears up to play the final to claim the 'Cup that Counts', it is the semifinal combat with Pakistan that mattered for many Indians.

The India-Pakistan blockbuster semifinal ratings peaked at a humongous 36.22 TVR in the six metros, according to Tam Sports data (C&S 4+).

The match created a curfew like situation on the roads and got an average TVR of 22.07 for over a 484-minute telecast. The match also reached to a 39.15 million population.

The other semifinal that was played between Sri Lanka and New Zealand, meanwhile, got an average TVR of 4.36 and a peak TVR of 12.68 in the six metros.

This compares favourably to the previous time the two sides met in an important World Cup fixture. The Twenty20 World Cup final in 2007 got a TVR of 14.43.

However in 2003, the encounter between the two sides, which was a group match in the South Africa edition of the World Cup, got a TVR of 24.48. it is pertinent to note here that the reach in 2003 was much less than what it is in 2011.

In fact, the semifinal of the 2003 edition where India played Kenya got a TVR of 19.26 due to the quality of the opposition. In 2007, the two semifinals had managed an average of 2.8. The final in 2007 where Australia beat Sri Lanka got a TVR of 5.43 which was nearly double.