If you are in India, you stand very little chance to not know about IPL, the most happening thing in India right now. It is highly debatable to understand whether it is entertainment, gambling or a mere sport. However, we would like to say IPL is all about Money, Cricket and Branding. IPL is similar to the Super Bowl in the US when weighed in terms of popularity and branding strategies. In its sixth season, IPL has come up with new branding strategies to create hype among the masses and retain its sheen. Here are two things marketers should perceive and implement from this 53 days sports fest.
When we asked people about the best branding concepts of IPL6, here are few of the responses we got:
“the new title song and the dance steps. Dil jumping japang jampak jampak”
“jumping japang Song”
“I guess the THEME SONG – Jumping japang…”
“Jumping Jepang Dance”
So here we clearly have the top branding concept we should take note of… ‘Jumping Japang’
It has become very common for sponsors to come up with branding strategies that too with mediums like videos and audios to get the audience to shake it up. Like ‘Wakka Wakka’ for FIFA World Cup, this IPL season, we ‘Jumpin Japang’. The IPL theme song has been choreographed by Farah Khan, one of the top choreographers in Bollywood. Even non-cricket lovers are going dil jumping japang listening to the song. It has been driving cricket lovers crazy and making them dance to the beat every time there’s a boundary or a wicket in the field.
Take away: Creating a brand is easy, but creating a brand image needs lot more effort. Video and audio are top media on the charts when it comes to viral marketing. So if you want to take your brand to the masses, you need to create a brand concept with which the masses can easily relate and apply in their daily lives. This does apply even to B2B companies. Be it B2B or B2C it is all about people to people. So, break the barricades of B2B and B2C and think about people to people marketing.
Cheer leaders:
The second thing any IPL lover/follower loves is ‘cheer leaders’ at IPL, first being ‘cricketers’. It includes hot celebrities like Shahrukh Khan, Shilpa Shetty, Katrina Kaif, Priety Zinta, Nita Ambani, cheering and encouraging players along with typical cheer leaders, swinging, swaying and sizzling to the beats. There are quite a few socialists who oppose the concept of cheer leaders as they consider them to seduce the crowd. But as the saying goes, “Everything is fair in Love and War (and Marketing).” So what is wrong in trying out surefire marketing tactics!
Take away: Although you cannot take the cheer leaders concept in a literal way, you can anyways check out for ways that can lure your audience to buy your products and services. Remember that every business has a niche audience and so does yours. To understand what attracts your audience, you need to conduct in-depth market and marketing research analysis. On understanding their behavior, you can choose on the best bait that could make them buy from you.
If you’d like to keep your marketing pace with innovative and working marketing strategies…
