Pitch April Issue 2018 by Adsert Web Solutions

`100

Volume 12 | Issue 8 | April 2018

SPORTS

MARKETING

#LETSPLAY

COVER STORY April 2018

Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Annurag Batra Director Amit Agnihotri Director Nawal Ahuja EDITORIAL TEAM

Executive Editor

Jyotsna Sharma

Contributor Ruhail Amin Nishant Saxena DESIGN TEAM

Art Director

Shivaji Sengupta

Senior Graphic Designer

Joby Mathew

Photographers Vilas Kalgutkar (Mumbai) Suresh Gola (Noida) Cover Design

Shivaji Sengupta

AD SALES Runa Sinha (National Business Head)

runa.sinha@exchange4media.com - 9810497903

What can sports marketers do to further increase engagement and the value of their athletes/teams/ leagues?

Sneha Walke (VP Special Projects & South Head) sneha@exchange4media.com - 9845541143 Ashish Kudalkar (Regional Manager West - Sales & Business Development) ashish.kudalkar@exchange4media.com - 9820541742

DIALOGUE

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OPINION

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COMMUNITIES, CONVERSATIONS AND COMMERCE

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ANEESH MADANI,

An exchange4media Publication

4 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Head of Asia Pacific Sports Partnerships, Twitter

SPORTS IN INDIA: CONSTRUCTIVE DISRUPTIONS TENZING NIYOGI ,

Segment Leader â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Sports Business Advisory Services, Ernst & Young Services Private Limited

ATHLETE SPEAK

DIALOGUE

BUNTY SAJDEH

MARY KOM

BOXER

VIJENDER SINGH BOXER

SOUMAVA NASKAR

Head of Business Development (India), hummel

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: THE CHANGING FACE OF SPORTS MARKETING

24 NEERAV TOMAR is the CEO & Managing Director of IOS Sports & Entertainment. IOS manages top athletes like Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom among others.

SANIA MIRZA

TENNIS PLAYER

30 NIPUN MARYA

Director, Brand Strategy Vivo India

INDRANIL DAS BLAH

Indranil Das Blah is the founding partner of celebrity management firm Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, and the CEO of Mumbai City FC.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 5

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE India’s impressive wins at the Commonwealth Games 2018 goes to prove that we as a nation have recognised the need for sports, not only in showcasing our potential to the world, but also, in the development of our country.

abatra@exchange4media.com @anuragbatrayo www.facebook.com/anuragbatrayo

“Sports is an important means of personality development and Khelo India is not a programme, it’s a mission. The Games will highlight India’s young sporting talent and showcase India’s sports potential,” said Hon’ble Prime Minister Modi at the launch of the Khelo India School Games earlier this year. Khelo India, a noteworthy effort by the Government is the start of a bigger movement towards making India a sporting nation. The Government has made a start but still has a long way to go in terms of providing better infrastructure, technical support and funding for the development of our athletes. All this will be achieved in time under this noble initiative, is what we hope for. 2017 in general was a good year for the sports industry. Sports sponsorship grew by 14% and overtook the $1 billion mark. There was overall growth in sponsorships– in terms of on-ground sponsorship, teams, leagues and athlete sponsorships and even media investments. The forecast is that the industry is going to continue its growth in 2018 and this is great news for brands and sports marketers. The key however, is for brands and sports marketers to get creative and initiate deeper engagement with fans. Digital will no doubt be the major driving force in this quest to build lasting relationships with the sports fan. For this issue, we spoke to some the most well-known sports marketers and brands in India to gain insights into where we are currently at in terms of engagement and associations, and also where we are headed. Leading athletes such as Mary Kom and Vijender Singh, among others, spoke to us about the key changes that can be brought about for the development of athletes at the grassroot level. Leaders from the industry have written about various aspects of the industry as guest columnists. I hope you enjoy reading the issue as much as the team did putting it together. Warm Regards,

Annurag Batra Chairman & Editor-in-Chief

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Twitterati

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IN CONVERSATION

INDRANIL DAS BLAH Indranil Das Blah is the founding partner of celebrity management firm Kwan Entertainment & Marketing Solutions, and the CEO of Mumbai City FC.

The growth of non-cricket sports in India

Over the last four years we have seen a sea of change, but thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just the tip of the iceberg. I think it started with the emergence of the Kabaddi League and the ISL, before that we used to see periods where other sports were highlighted, for instance, the Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and the Olympics. This started to change with the Badminton girlsSaina Nehwal started doing well on a regular basis, then P.V Sindhu came, so that sort of set the wheels in motion. When the leagues came in, brands, advertisers and even audiences realized that there is a sporting spectacle beyond the IPL.

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As a sports marketer I would say, earlier 80% of our business would happen through cricket sponsorship or endorsements but today that’s down to 50% because sportspeople from sports other than cricket are doing well on a consistent basis. Nowadays, we see digital engagements with players like Dipika Pallikal - the squash player (who is regarded as an important influencer), also there talks by Vishwanathan Anand and many other methods in which non-cricket sports are engaging viewers.

Endorsements & Sponsorships

Even in terms of endorsements the view is that cricketers earn the most, that’s not entirely accurate. If you set aside cricketers Virat Kohli and M.S Dhoni you will see that Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza and P.V Sindhu earn significantly more than cricketers like Rohit Sharma for instance.

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IN CONVERSATION

Virat Kohli obviously is different, he is among the top three celebrities across Bollywood, the music industry and sports. There will always be people who are bigger than the game, but generally it’s not the case that cricketers earn the highest in endorsements. It will still be that the largest pie of endorsement money will be with cricket but other sports are catching up. In terms of endorsements & sponsorships what’s worked for non-cricket sports is that there is a lot more media coverage.

Digital media has made sure that consumption is easier. Secondly, Cricket is cluttered and very expensive. Cricketers don’t have too much time because of their game schedules so brands are now looking at other sports. A Sania Mirza and a Saina Nehwal reach a larger audience, they are panIndia plus their dates are more easily available. For brands now, viable options other than cricket are available and they are happy to explore these.

Data and analytics

Data and analytics are being heavily used these days. The first question that brands ask when we pitch an athlete is, what is his social media following? For athletes, brand management on the digital sphere is extremely important. For performance also, data is critical. You can’t compete on the world stage without performance metrics. Just to give you an example, we manage Mumbai City FC, we have two full time analysts who monitor the heart rates, the

Data and analytics are being heavily used these days. For performance also, data is critical. You can’t compete on the world stage without performance metrics 12 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

amount of distance the athletes run, and also the strain on various body parts while they are playing.

The Government & Sports

With the current sports minister who is a sportsperson himself, we feel the government will be able to do good work in the area of sports. Honâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ble

minister Rathore tried to make a difference, Khelo India was his initiative and he tried implementing various schemes as well. We are hoping for a change but as sports marketers we are not dependent on the government for our athletes, infact, we will do everything we can for our sports people and luckily there is the support of corporate India to help us in our endevours. Sports has come a long way, there are sports management courses available in India now and there are over 150 agencies that hire sports management executives. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good time for Indian sports.

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COVER STORY

Sports sponsorship grew by 14% in 2017. Media investments contributed to the largest portion of the pie, followed by ground sponsorships. Sports advertising grew to INR 7,300 crore, a significant increase from the previous year. 2017 was a milestone year in sports sponsorship, as the US billion-dollar mark was crossed for the first time. This is good news for the sports marketer. The business of sports will continue to grow and this means there is plenty of sponsorship opportunities. So, what can sports marketers do to further increase engagement and the value of their athletes/ teams / leagues?

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Jyotsna Sharma

ary Kom won a gold at the Commonwealth Games 2018. This gold adds to her already impressive record of wins - an Olympic Bronze and five World Championship titles. During the CWG 2018, at the womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s table tennis event, India won its first gold; Heena Sidhu won a gold at the 25m pistol event; In the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s freestyle wrestling Sushil Kumar (Olympicmedallist) won a gold. Such wins are what will move India to a sporting nation from a cricketing nation. A change has come about recently and sports other than cricket have gained prominence with audiences and in turn with sponsors. According to the latest GroupM report, sponsorship of non-cricketing sports grew significantly in 2017. Football showed an increase of 64% (INR 179 crore) in on ground sponsorship. ISL (Indian Super League) Sponsorship has grown by 22% from the previous year. The gap between PKL (Pro Kabaddi League) & IPL (Indian Premier League) TV ratings is narrowing - PKL delivered 1.5 TVR with a 312 million reach and IPL delivered 2.7 TVR with a 411 million reach.

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COVER STORY

Harmeet Desai and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran (Source: Creative Commons Ittfworld/ Robert Cianflone/ Getty Images)

In fact, even in title sponsorship, Hero MotoCorp renewed ISL Title Sponsorship till 2019 at 196% incremental value and Vivo secured PKL Title Sponsorship for 5 years at 100% incremental value. Overall sports sponsorship grew by 14% in 2017. Media investments contributed to the largest portion of the pie (55% of overall spends), followed by ground sponsorships. Sports

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advertising grew to INR 7,300 crore, a significant increase from INR 6,400 crores in the previous year. 2017 was a milestone year in sports sponsorship, as the US billion-dollar mark was crossed for the first time. As per Group M’s ‘This Year, Next Year’ advertising investment forecast, Indian advertising expenditure in 2017 was INR 61,263 crores, and the report estimates 12% contribution to the overall

ad spends were from sports sponsorship alone. This is good news for the sports marketer. The business of sports will continue to grow and this means there is plenty of sponsorship opportunities. This also means athletes will get a chance to increase their endorsement portfolios. As per the report, cricket endorsement grew by 15%, with Virat Kohli leading the pack with 19 brands

Manika Batra

(Source: Creative Commons Ittfworld/ Robert Cianflone/ Getty Images)

& INR 150+ crore worth of endorsement value. In noncricket sports, PV Sindhu led endorsements with 11 brands and over INR 30 crore worth of endorsement value. Cricketers got a total of 90 brands whereas, non-cricket athletes got 78 brands endorsements. So, what can sports marketers do to further increase engagement and the value of their athletes/ teams / leagues?

Sports marketers should take advantage of the fact that a large part of our existence has moved on to the digital sphere. Recent reports have shown that OTT players like Hotstar have led to a significant increase in sports engagement especially for non-cricket sports. The increased usage of smartphones and reduced data tariff has led to an increase in online consumption of sports.

Sports marketers and managers should consider launching their own OTT platforms. With this, they can monetise not just the live footage but also behind the scenes footage like on the training field. They should look at leveraging data collected from their fans to increase engagement with their brand (team/ athlete). Sports fans in a sense are already engaged

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COVER STORY

Summary

Celebrity Brand Values CELEBRITY NAME

2017 BRAND RANK

BRAND 2016 VALUE BRAND ($MILLION) RANK

Virat Kohli

$144

Shah Rukh Khan

$106

Deepika Padukone

$93

Akshay Kumar

$47

Ranveer Singh

$42

Salman Khan

$39

Hrithik Roshan

$38

Amithabh Bachchan

$36

Alia Bhatt

$34

Varun Dhawan

$32

New

Ranbir Kapoor

$27

Priyanka Chopra

$22

Mahendra Singh Dhoni

$21

Anushka Sharma

$16

P.V. Sindhu

$15

New

Source: Duff & Phelps Celebrity Brand Valuation 2017

consumers, and perhaps more loyal than consumers of FMCG brands. Therefore, targeting them, or personalising content and other offerings based on the data they offer up will lead to increased ROI. Interactive event apps, VR (Virtual Reality) / AR (Augmented Reality) tools, access to key players, and bespoke experiences etc.

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can also be utilised albeit, in a more effective manner with the power of big data. Sports marketers should look at Fantasy sports or gaming as a way to keep their audiences engaged. Fantasy sports platforms are a great way to stay connected to fans. These platforms allow fans to pick

players, and make their own teams to compete against each other. The NFL (The National Football League) and the NBA (The National Basketball Association) have successfully used such platforms to engage their fans, and in fact, have seen an increase in their fan base because of such platforms. These platforms should be

Team Sponsorship & Franchise Fee •

Team Sponsorship Sponsorship up by 17 % in 2017 – from from INR 700 crore to INR 819 crore

•

Oppo secured Team India Sponsorship at INR1,079 Cr (Apr’17 to Mar’22) - 21% (INR429crore to INR 518 crore) growth in Cricket Team Sponsorship

•

Football Team Sponsorship has grown by 41% (INR98 crore to INR 139 crore) - ISL Team Sponsorship grew by 22% due to increase in the number of teams & matches - International Football Club Sponsorship by Indian brands to teup to INR 75–80 crore

•

25% (from INR 548 crore to INR 684 crore) up side in Franchise came from developments on the Other Sports, as Cricket remained unchanged - Five New Franchise based leagues were started–UTT, SBL, SFL, Cue Slam & Power boat P1 - 2 New Teams added in ISL - 4 New Teams added in PKL

Source: ESP- SportzPower, India Sports Sponsorship Report 2017

engaging for not just the fantasy gamers but also those who are loyal fans but not gamers through news, forums and discussions along with sale of merchandise etc. The key to their success however, is the fact that these should be easy to use and have a great interface. As mentioned above, Virtual Reality (VR) is a tool that can be used to further engagement. Fans can be provided with VR headsets, which would make them have a more intimate experience of the game. The

Cavs (Cleveland Cavaliers), a basketball team that competes in the NBA teamed up with Budweiser to give their fans a VR experience. In order to provide an immersive 360 degree VR experience, the team gave away specially designed Budweiser-cardboard viewing headsets to fans attending a game. The Cavs were the first in the NBA to have VR natively built into their official team mobile app. The Cavs produced exclusive VR content which could be consumed via the mobile (through their app) or

the headsets that were given out. When watching these videos on their mobile device, or enclosed on the headset, fans felt like they were actually in the environment and a part of the game. They had the ability to pan and rotate their device or headset to view the panoramic videos from different angles and perspectives, simulating a reallife experience. Football fans had a pleasant surprise in store when the Patriots released a new VR experience for fans that was

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COVER STORY

Cleveland Cavaliers, that competes in the NBA teamed up with Budweiser to give their fans a VR experience.

launched by Google Cardboard, in partnership with VISA and Bank of America, named ‘Travel Inside the game’. Ten thousand customised Google Cardboard (VR headsets) were handed out to fans, allowing them to follow the Patriots training directly from the ground from the perspective of a real player. In addition to all this the marketer has to keep in mind that his audience has changed, in fact it has broadened to include a number of women and children, this is a shift he should be mindful of when charting his engagement strategy.

The Cavs (Cleveland Cavaliers), a basketball team that competes in the NBA teamed up with Budweiser to give their fans a VR experience. To provide an immersive 360 degree VR experience, the team gave away specially designed Budweisercardboard viewing headsets to fans attending the game. The VR content could be consumed via the mobile (through their app) or the headsets 20 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Another trend that should be leveraged is that has athletes and sports people are now perceived as celebrities akin to those in the entertainment sphere. This is because of devoted fans who want to know everything about their sports heroes, right from their training regime to their feelings, and even the private details of their lives. Astute sports marketers have taken advantage of this celebrity and merged sporting with fashion, entertainment and lifestyle. In 2016, Manchester United kit sponsor Adidas teamed football star Paul Pogba with grime singer Stormzy in a music video to make the transfer announcement. This video went viral super-fast and had 3 million shares, 30 million views and close to 400 news articles written about it. Collaboration of athletes with top entertainment stars is a winning formula for brands as both sets of powerful influencers come together to endorse the value of the brand. In fact, even in India the celebrity of athletes has increased manifold and as per the recent Duff & Phelps report on celebrity brand value, cricketer

Patriots released a new VR experience‘Travel Inside the game’, in partnership with VISA and Bank of America

Manchester United kit sponsor Adidas teamed football star Paul Pogba with grime singer Stormzy in a music video to make the transfer announcement

Virat Kohli has overtaken Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan as India’s top- ranking celebrity brand. “For the first time since we began publishing our rankings, Shah Rukh Khan has slipped from the top ranking and been replaced by Virat Kohli. Kohli is now the first choice of brands to engage and attract consumers, fuelled by his extraordinary on-field performances and off-field charisma,” said Varun Gupta, Duff & Phelps Managing Director and Region Leader - India, Japan and Southeast Asia. “While Bollywood celebrities continue to dominate the top 15, sportspersons are providing tough competition as Kohli,

Dhoni and Sindhu, collectively valued at US$180 million, account for almost a quarter of the total celebrity brand value of the top 15,” said Aviral Jain, Duff & Phelps Director.

• Millennials currently endorse 64 percent of the total brands endorsed by the top 15 celebrities and constitute 63 percent of the total brand value.

Key findings from the report include:

• The top sectors using celebrity brand endorsers included personal care, food and beverages, automobiles, smartphones and clothing.

• Overall brand value of the top 15 celebrities is US$712 million. • Virat Kohli tops the list with brand value of US$144 million, followed by Shah Rukh Khan (US$106 million), Deepika Padukone (US$93 million), Akshay Kumar (US$47 million) and Ranveer Singh (US$42 million). • New entrants to the top 15 celebrities included Varun Dhawan debuting at number 10 and P.V. Sindhu at number 15.

While sports marketers will be employing a number of methods in the near future to increase the brand value of their teams, leagues and athletes, there is a burning need for the Government of India to up their game and support the development of sports in the country by providing better infrastructure, technicians and funding right from the grass root level.

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MARY KOM BOXER

d aching an o c l, a r u t tes Infrastruc r our athle fo s ie it il c y the other fa creased b in n e e b e e hav India in th f o t n e m ed to Govern but we ne s r a e y w ct last fe very aspe e in e r o our improve m pment of lo e v e d g e for th for gettin d n a s n o s sportsper globally. s lt u s e r r e bett re velop mo e d o t d e e root We also n the grass t a e r u t c infrastru letes. uture ath n o t l e e v le eed to giv n a o ls a the There is athletes in o t s b jo more PSUâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nt sector, e m n r e v rage o g will encou s b jo e s e start etc., th people to g n u o y e r mo orts. playing sp

22 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

w years we In the last fe orporates have seen c ort ard to supp coming forw h c tes. But su Indian athle comes after support only r dals in majo e m g in n in w mpic like the Oly tournaments monwealth Games, Com n Games or Games, Asia pionships. I World Cham st rporates mu o c t a th l e fe t rd and adop come forwa ns at the sportsperso port vel, and sup grassroot le nding in the them with fu ers, of their care s e g ta s y rl a e elp e of great h which will b te. for any athle

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IN CONVERSATION

NEERAV TOMAR

is the CEO & Managing Director of IOS Sports & Entertainment. IOS manages top athletes like Vijender Singh, Saina Nehwal and Mary Kom among others. Jyotsna Sharma J - Tell our readers about how you got into sports marketing, what the scenario like at that time and how has it evolved since? N - I started in 2005. I met Sanjeev

Khandelwal who is my business partner, he was the angel investor at that time. My entry into sports marketing was purely passion driven because I was a sports person myself. Throughout my teenage years I played squash, and it made me want to do something related to sports. I wanted to contribute to the sports industry and promote athletes. It was with this idea that we started off, in fact, there was no certain business plan. I still remember the date we signed Vijender Singh, it was 15th September 2005. We have introduced pro boxing in this country with Vijender Singh. For the first time in hundred years of pro boxing history, a proper system and a channel is being created. We took him to UK , got him to sign up with Frank Warren, he had six fights there, four fights in India and now we are going back for a fight very soon.

J- Tell me about how you picked Boxing to back ? N-We thought about which sports have

potential in this country and which would have an audience in terms of viewership, sponsorship, and global potential. We

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identified a couple of sports, one of them was boxing. The other was Football, Of course, with Football now the whole scenario has changed with Nita Ambani - IMG Reliance coming in, at that time there was nothing. For us with Boxing, it was largely following our intuition. We attended a camp in Pune where there was an Indian team of 30 boxers of which, we signed up 20, and one of them was Vijender Singh. From 2005 to 2008 we were absolutely non-commercial, and a completely loss making company.

MARY HAS BEEN WITH US FOR TEN YEARS AND NOW SHE IS A MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT. ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BEEN QUITE A JOURNEY!

J- Would you say that this was because you picked boxing? Had you picked up another sport, perhaps something more mainstream like cricket, things would have been different? N- Yes, but we had

decided not to be a part of the cricket ride. We wanted to create our own niche and somewhere we knew that this market will evolve. Luckily, in 2008, we got three Olympic medals.

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IN CONVERSATION

J- So you stuck with it? N- Yes. We are sticking with

it till now except for the fact that we did two years of IPL where we managed the Gujarat Lions. We managed Suresh Raina for two years but it was not because we wanted to get into cricket. We havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t been doing anything cricket related post Gujarat Lions. We are currently the official agency of the Indian Olympic Association, 64 Federations report in to the IOA. We are the official agency for the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, National Games leading up to 2020. For me as a sports entrepreneur, it is the adrenal rush from our sports stars winning, us doing path breaking and innovative work that drives me.

J- Tell me about the Mary Kom movie. How did that happen? N- We signed Mary Kom in

2008 , nobody knew her at that time. In fact, BBC did a big story on her, and that was a story which a lot of people followed. Herbalife , one of our clients was the first to support Mary Kom, they are still there,

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Credit : Edelweiss Group

and now in a big way are also contributing to her foundation. When the movie was coming out we licensed the movie to Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Omung Kumar. Omung reached out to us before the Olympics and we agreed, I was very certain that she will get a medal because of her five times World Championship win. However, she qualified right at the end, when we were almost out of it. And then in August in London, she got the medal. India got six medals. Mary has been with us for ten years and now she is a Member of Parliament. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been quite a journey! In fact we have signed a deal / licensed for a movie about Saina Nehwal too, which is yet to start. It is being made by T-Series, Shraddha Kapoor (Bollywood actor) will be playing Saina.

“WE HAD DECIDED NOT TO BE A PART OF THE CRICKET RIDE. WE WANTED TO CREATE OUR OWN NICHE AND SOMEWHERE WE KNEW THAT THIS MARKET WILL EVOLVE”

J- Would you attribute your success to part intuition and part perseverance? N- I think it is largely intuition. It’s that whole gut feeling you get. I’m sure Bunty (Sajdeh) also had an intuition that Virat Kohli would be a star. He knew Virat would make it. You just know it.

J- What is it that you feel that the Government should be doing in terms of supporting our athletes? N- What they have started with the Khelo India is fantastic. It is a perfect model but the execution, implementation and then keeping it alive and doing it with the same energy which they have started off with has to be followed. Also, I feel that they should have an open mind in bringing the best

Chinese, Russian, American, and Australian coaches. This mind set of we don’t need a foreign coach needs to be let go of. In fact, we desperately need the best top level international technicians, not just coaches. Look at Dipa Karmakar , the whole country has woken up to gymnastics because of her. We have excellent talent and we need to adopt the best technology and training to nurture these athletes.

J- Let’s talk a little bit about sponsorships. Brands now want to associate with certain sports, specific players and athletes because it’s good for the product. In the beginning,

especially, when you were starting out, how difficult was it to sign them on? N- There was no market.

There was nothing. 2008 was a game changer for sports. Firstly, In 2008, IPL came in and changed the dynamics of the sports industry in this country and gave cricket a commercial global angle. The second was that India won three medals in Beijing, China. We had associations with the three athletes who won and then we reached out to the market. We were able to sign Pepsi, Bajaj Allianz and Eicher Tractor for Sushil Kumar (wrestler) and then Sushil joined us.

J- And what is it like right now? N- Right now it’s an ocean

out there now, the sports market has developed considerably. It’s going to go up for the next ten years and brand managers now understand this. We have closed approximately 40-50 deals for our athletes, which was unheard of five to seven years back.

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OUTLOOK

NIPUN MARYA, Director, Brand Strategy Vivo India

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“WITH FOCUS COMING IN ON THE NON-CRICKETING SPORTS, I THINK IT’S EXCITING TIMES FOR BOTH PLAYERS AS WELL AS FOR THE ADVERTISERS”

Growth of non-cricket sports market in India from a brand perspective NM: I think with focus coming

in on the non-cricketing sports, certainly we see renewed interest, we see more excitement. Badminton, Kabaddi and other non-cricket sports are gaining popularity. And I think it’s exciting times for both players as well as for the advertisers.

Digital players like Hotstar increasing engagement for noncricket sports NM: I think the more we

reach out to people, the more engagement there will be. The key is for the whole package to be presented well in order to engage audiences.

Evolution of brand associations with sporting events over the years NM: Some things have

changed and some haven’t. What hasn’t changed is that we still have title sponsorships, which were there from the beginning.

What has changed is consumers have now started asking for more. For instance, we run digital contests around IPL. People these days want more content, and especially with digital, content is king. It’s not just limited to ‘I watch it on television and it finishes there’. It’s not just brand awareness so to speak. Now people can really feel the brand, what it stands for, what its values are, and what the tone is.

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E SPORTS

MARKETING SURVEY Decode Research and Analytics

Sports, short for “electronic sports”, transforms online gaming into a spectator sport. It has gotten really big in the last few years. eSports will generate more than £1bn in global revenue and almost double its audience to nearly 600 million people by 2020, forecasters predict. Traditional sports companies are also engaging with eSports actively. Football team Paris St-Germain

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has created its own eSports franchise. The sponsorships and tournament fundings are multi-million dollar prize pools. The International Dota 2 Championships in 2017 had a prize pool of more than $20 million. According to Newzoo, an eSports market research organization, in 2017, the audience of eSports reached roughly 385 million people globally. eSports has now been included in the 2022 Asian

Games. According to a “fan report” published by Nielsen, 28% of fans in the West think eSports belong in the Olympics. India has been a laggard, but eSports is picking up. AFK Gaming is an eSports community with focus on South Asian Dota 2 scene. NODWIN has been organizing India’s largest gaming tournaments. JAGS (Just Another Gaming Site) is a popular gaming news and review portal. They

LET’S PLAY ON!

AN eSPORTS INFOGRAPHICS Where do you foresee the Maximum Money coming from?

Sponsorship 50%

63%

Advertising 30%

22%

Do you expect endemic brands to put efforts to educate consumers, and focus on Market Development?

Strongly Agree

Technology and Gaming Consumer Electronics Lifestyle Food / Beverage Automotive

Which Industries Do You Think are the Best Fit for eSports?

Strongly Disagree

Merchandise 14% Ticketing 6%

How Would You Rate the Growth fo eSports in India yoy over the Last 2-3 Years?

What is your on Investing in eSports? Very Bad

Wait and Watch 52%

Actively searching for opportunities 32%

Already in talks 16%

Bad Average Very Good Excellent 0%

have also added livestreams and hardware reviews. Nvidia organized GamerConnect symposiums across India. According to reports, it is also partnering with gaming cafes and offering certification programmes, as well as, creating clubs to organize tournaments.Ronnie Screwvala’s company U Sports created U Cypher, which has bagged a deal with MTV to broadcast 37 episodes of the first season, where six teams from across the country will compete. Culture has a large part to play. Kids in other countries have freedom to wait for a few years and try to be successful, unlike India where a career in sports - let alone eSports - is highly frowned upon. The Khelo India School School games has been launched to much fanfare, but its impact towards building a sports culture will only be visible in the long term. While eSports is recognized by

Olympic Council of Asia, and the world increasingly starts to take eSports seriously, India is still a long way behind. eSports Federation of India (ESFI) is a Non Profit organization aimed at building and sustaining the eSports ecosystem, but the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is not focused on eSports. Marketers would definintely not want to

10%

20%

30%

40%

miss out on the opportunity to associate with eSports. Lifestyle brands as well as non-endemic brands (those not inherent to the gaming industry) are also showing interest. Fans of eSports are deeply engaged, are millenilals and young working professionals with purchasing power. The survey is aimed at gauging the marketer’s sentiment towards eSports.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 33

50%

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME: THE CHANGING FACE OF SPORTS MARKETING

34 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

The Religion of Cricket

SOUMAVA NASKAR

Head of Business Development (India), hummel

India has come together in living rooms, outside shops, on the streets, in stadiums and every other possible location, irrespective of villages or cities, to cheer and encourage the Indian cricket team during matches. From cheering for India, to cheering for IPL teams, the face of cricket alone has seen a massive change. So much so, that the change has finally started spilling over on to other sports. In the recent times, the Indian sports diaspora has seen a monumental shift.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 35

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

League-alization of Sports in India

In the past, when we talked about sports in India, the reference was always cricket. Of late however, courtesy factors such as initiatives of the government, accolades of Indian players in sporting tournaments across the globe, Bollywood and also of the “league-alization” of various sports; many other sports have also seen a little or more limelight. Non-cricket sports such as Hockey, Badminton, Tennis, Golf, Kabaddi, Wrestling, Boxing and many others are now gaining momentum. There are now more avenues for all stakeholders, from players, to audience, to the federations and most importantly for brands.

Enough with entertainment, let’s play Unfortunately, the sports franchise game plan has rendered sports to mere entertainment, totally overriding the actual spirit of sport. At hummel, we believe in the sport. We believe that the world can be changed through sport. In the past, true to this motto, hummel created the first ever hijab jersey and gave women in Afghanistan the encouragement to indulge in football. The team has won some and also lost some matches, but they are making a much larger impact in the world than just being champions. They have championed a cause and broken a barrier. That in itself is an achievement.

Social Activism: The thin line between Campaign and Policy A very prominent campaign mechanism used by brands is that of social activism. There are campaigns that curb racism, gender bias and even poverty; campaigns that

36 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

HUMMEL CREATED THE FIRST EVER HIJAB JERSEY AND GAVE WOMEN IN AFGHANISTAN THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO INDULGE IN FOOTBALL. THE TEAM HAS WON SOME AND ALSO LOST SOME MATCHES, BUT THEY ARE MAKING A MUCH LARGER IMPACT IN THE WORLD THAN JUST BEING CHAMPIONS. THEY HAVE CHAMPIONED A CAUSE AND BROKEN A BARRIER. THAT IN ITSELF IS AN ACHIEVEMENT.

promote women in sports, campaigns that recognize the efforts of the people behind the sports, from mothers to coaches to nutrition experts, etc. The focus of these campaigns has always been on winning. Sports isn’t about finishing first, it’s about finishing together. Under the leadership of Christian Stadil, who took charge in 1999, hummel has incorporated “Company Karma”, a business model which looks to utilize sports to promote change in some of the world’s most disadvantaged communities. This move has transformed the company from a simple sports brand into one of the most socially responsible corporate entities on the planet. The brand’s tagline, ‘Changing the world through sport’, has an immense scope and there is a lot that can be done.

Sponsorships that leave an impact

All hummel’s sponsorships are driven by Company Karma. Hummel has been the agent of hope, to fight crime, racism, fascism, homophobia, sexism or even an identity crisis. Be it the Tibetan National football team or the National Amputee football team of Sierra Leone, hummel’s initiatives have been path breaking and we are looking to replicate our magic in the Indian terrain. ......................................................................................

The author, Soumava Naskar is the Head of Business Development (India), hummel. He was previously the Head, Brand Marketing at Jabong. hummel is a Danish footwear and sportswear brand, currently available in India on Jabong & Myntra.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 37

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

COMMUNITIES, CONVERSATIONS AND COMMERCE Keeping the fan at the heart of the digital evolution in sports ANEESH MADANI,

Head of Asia Pacific Sports Partnerships, Twitter

It was a moment to remember. At the recent England vs Australian women’s cricket ODI in Pune, a little girl named Durga sat outside the commentary box, hopeful but unsure if she would get a chance to catch commentators Mel Jones, Isa Guha and Anjum Chopra, who she had skipped school to meet that day. Shortly after, Women’s CricZone (@WomensCricZone) on Twitter alerted the commentators to the fact and within a few minutes, they came out to meet her. Mel Jones even Tweeted hoping she’d be around to call a game when Durga eventually made it to the Indian team. The immediacy of the response is what makes being a sports fan on Twitter today so special. What might have taken an entire fruitless day at the ground for this young fan in an earlier era turned into an unforgettable experience set up in minutes, all made possible by the presence and response of the commentators on Twitter.

38 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

TODAY, THE SPORTS THAT LEAD THE PACK ARE THOSE THAT ENCOURAGE AND HELP A DIVERSE COMMUNITY OF ATHLETES, EXPERTS AND EXECUTIVES BUILD AN AUTHENTIC VOICE ON SOCIAL PLATFORMS LIKE TWITTER.

Today, the sports that lead the pack are those that encourage and help a diverse community of athletes, experts and executives build an authentic voice on social platforms like Twitter. Passionate communities drive conversations, and connecting the broadcast to the conversations that your community is having is a great way to win millions of hearts, one fan at a time.

For instance, Star Sports is surprising fans on Twitter every day this IPL season with personal video replies from commentators. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exciting to see from fan reactions how a 30 second response from a pundit in the studio can turn into a treasured memory for the camera roll, and a compelling reason to lean in and talk about the broadcast. Growing conversation volume is now a currency for commerce, and rights owners or holders have multiple ways to monetize their presence on digital channels. In addition to rapidly growing digital license fees, avenues like In-Stream Video Sponsorship on Twitter pave the way for additional distribution

and revenue from existing and new sponsors. Over the last year alone, publishers like ICC, CPL and Cricbuzz in India, Channel 7 in Australia, BallBall in Indonesia, and NBA in the Philippines have grown revenue by giving sponsors the opportunity to promote their video into the Twitter timelines of sports fans, making sure fans donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss the highlights from the biggest sporting events. Ultimately, when a community is built and conversations flow, commerce will follow. For leaders in sport, it comes down to one question. Are you making a dream come true for a fan today?

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 39

VIJENDER SINGH BOXER

e to improv We need s, n ing patter h c a o c r u o the states in e r u t c u r infrast res e SAI cent h t o ls a e d an y. We hav r t n u o c e l across th ore menta m e id v o r to p to our g training in n io it d t n co overnmen G e h T . s e the athlet ajor role in m a y la p can letes ent of ath developm ign more fore g in id v o r by p to them. exposure

40 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 41

DIALOGUE

42 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Abhishek Bachchan-owner Jaipur Pink Panthers along with Bunty Walia of GS Entertainment.

Bunty Walia is an Indian film producer. His company GS Entertainment Worldwide manages the Kabaddi team Jaipur Pink Panthers, which competes in the Pro Kabaddi league. Jyotsna Sharma

unty Walia spoke to us about his association with Kabaddi and the team he manages- Jaipur Pink Panthers. “Four years ago, when Abhishek (Bachchan) called and told me that he had bought a Kabaddi team, I asked him

if he had lost his mind.”Charu Sharma, the director of the Pro Kabbadi League took Abhishek for a game. He loved it. And that pretty much started Abhishek’s association with the game. When we came on board to manage the team

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 43

DIALOGUE

“FOUR YEARS AGO, WHEN ABHISHEK (BACHCHAN) CALLED AND TOLD ME THAT HE HAD BOUGHT A KABADDI TEAM, I ASKED HIM IF HE HAD LOST HIS MIND.”

44 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

(Jaipur Pink Panthers) we didn’t know much about the game, we picked up the nuances of the game slowly and today are happy with our team.” Talking about getting sponsors on board he mentioned that in the early days it took a lot of persuasion and effort to get sponsors even with Abhishek being a celebrity team owner. “We didn’t have a title sponsor the first couple of years till the figures came out that it

was the number one watched sport after IPL in India. Another factor that worked in our favour was that Kabaddi was a big hit with the women and children. Sponsors realised it was a cool sport and decided to back it, you could see the difference in sponsorship in season four and season five. Look at how far we have come, Kabaddi has now become a longer season , from 40 days it is now up to three months and has 12 teams, and Vivo is the title sponsor. “

The interest in Kabaddi is catching up, Walia attributes a part of the increased interest to digital players who he believes have been instrumental in increasing viewership of the game. In fact, hotstar viewership of the game has gone up nine times (from season four to season five). Talking about the Kabaddi players , he said, “during the initial player auction, the highest bid for a player was for INR 15 lakh, and today the lowest bid for a player is INR 15 lakh. In the last season the highest bid was for Nitin Tomar, a sailor in the Indian Navy , he went for INR 93 lakh.”Kabaddi certainly has the audience hooked and the engagement is only set to go up with the upcoming season in October. When asked about what else GS Entertainment has planned for the near future, Walia mentioned “We are launching an annual Football All Stars Corporate Cup, where 32 corporates from India can register and be a part of the game. The finals will be played against movie stars from Bollywood. A percentage of the money from the game will be donated to the charity Magic Bus.”

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 45

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

SPORTS IN INDIA:

CONSTRUCTIVE DISRUPTIONS

A year of positives — From national to local to international

TENZING NIYOGI ,

Segment Leader – Sports Business Advisory Services, Ernst & Young Services Private Limited

46 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

As the industry defrosts after the IPL global broadcasting and digital rights sale for INR 16,347.5 crore for 2018–22 and the BCCI media rights sale for INR 6138.1 crore, there is perhaps no better time to assess the magnitude of the Indian sports sector and the wider economic benefits. Whether it is the watershed moment of Khelo India School Games, and its allocated INR 1,756 crorefor 2017–18 to 2019-20, Team India’s golden run at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) securing Vivo as a five-year title sponsor at an estimated INR300 crore or the 17th edition of the U-17 World Cup in India becoming the most attended in the history of theevent, the year 2017-18 has seen many positives and there have never been more options to circle on the Indian sporting calendar.

The sports genre is widening its appeal – Non-cricket consumption crosses 30% Sports in India is no longer just about cricket. The number of sports channels that BARC India measures went up from 17 in 2015 to 25 in 2017. While cricket still holds a major share in viewership, other sports contributed to around 31% of the genre viewership in 2017. Of this, approximately 50% of the viewership came from the PKL. Moreover, female audiences have reached up to 38% of total audiences, helped by notable performances by women in sports during the past two years across cricket, golf, boxing, badminton, tennis, gymnastics and athletics. Similarly, rural audiences have grown to up to 47% viewership in 2017.

League mania:The

number of sports leagues has grown significantly on the back of private investments. According to the TV

Advertising Mapping Report by SilverPush, the fifth season of the PKL in 2017 saw a surge in viewership by 59% as compared to the inaugural day of season. The rising popularity of the event has resulted in an increase in the number of advertisers wanting to own ad spots in the event.

Sports on digital will grow exponentially Broadcast rights are likely to remain an industry priority through the next deal cycle, but sports properties are focused on innovative digital and immersive products to reach new audiences, deepen engagement and differentiate OTT offerings. During the 2017 auction for IPL rights, players such as Facebook, YuppTv, Reliance Jio, Airtel, Star and Times Internet were among the bidders for digital rights. The highest amount bid was INR39 billion (Facebook), followed by INR 32.8 billion (Airtel) —a growth ofover 6x as compared to the winning bid value less than three years ago. The game-changer is the meteoric rise of social broadcasting. Both Twitter and Facebook are

pushing their “live” functionality, which is increasingly becoming the first place many fans, especially younger ones, go to witness live action. Social media channels are a crucial factor in the growth in IPL’s viewership, making it one of the fastest growing sports leagues on Twitter with 4.9million followers and over 1.8million fans on Facebook during IPL 10. Further, the average time spent on Hotstar watching IPL has goneup from 30–35 minutes (IPL 9) to 40–45 minutes (IPL 10).

The road ahead Future trends: • Big data will continue to influence marketing efforts using social engagement as a mechanism to identify and grow fan base and drive the reach in non-penetrated markets • eSports will continue its seemingly unstoppable rise as digital advertising will enable companies to look at gaming in a big way, embedding commercials

through games. • Fans want insider’s view to be closer to the action. As a result, generating constant, captivating, exclusive content will become a modern marketer’s priority. • Grassroots formats will be implementedwhich have the potential to be clubbed with CSR initiatives. • Creating a hierarchical system of sports participation and corresponding feeder tournaments will become critical for growth of sports. • Smart ticketing technology will use sports fans’ social graphs to increase the pull of live events at the stadium by connecting friends before and during games. While India has a long journey ahead towards becoming a successful sporting nation, current trends point towards a positive future. It is pivotal for all stakeholders in sportsto join forces with a common goal of building an ecosystem and sporting culture that India needs.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 47

DIALOGUE

Jyotsna Sharma How does Virat Kohli select the brands he wants to endorse? B- The process is pretty simple. Being an agent itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s my job to filter through a lot of proposals that come in almost on a weekly basis. We have several people who are trying to engage Virat in different ways. It is my job to evaluate which of these fit his personality and his profile. It is equally important to see if by being associated with the brand he can make a difference and then the whole time availability aspect comes into play. And then obviously last but not the least is the commercial aspect, regarding whether it makes commercial sense for him to lend his name to and be associated with the particular brand. I update him on offers and give him my point of view, he is quite experienced himself, so at the end of the day we take the decision together.

Virat has stated that he refrains from endorsing brands he doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t believe in. Tell me about this. B- Virat is very aware of the kind of following he has and also of his stature. So of course, he does not want to give out wrong statements in terms of associating with or endorsing brands that he does not believe in or personally consume. This is also a part of his evolution I feel. He was with Pepsi for about six years. We had a great relationship and a good equation with the brand. In fact, we worked

48 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

VIRAT KOHLI Cricketer

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 49

DIALOGUE

together on some really good campaigns. However, at one point Virat did sort of realise that he needs to be at the top of his game in terms of his health, to be able to perform the way he is performing today. So he revamped his diet and that did not include drinking carbonated soft drinks. Since he himself wasn’t consuming the product, him endorsing it would have been questionable. Even though he is very health conscious, he does enjoy snacks. Therefore, he is endorsing Too Yumm! , which are healthy snacks. The whole pitch was made to Virat, he was made to understand the product, what its ingredients are, and how it’s made. He actually consumed the product before he started to endorse it.

How didOne8 come about? B- We are working on creating businesses around Virat’s identity. It’s quite similar to the international model, something like what Michael Jordan did with Nike. That’s the most successful sort of partnership in history and still continues to grow very strongly. Although Michael Jordan retired 15 years ago, he’s still the highest earning athlete in the world because of the identity that he’s created with Nike. Similarly while working on creating an identity for Virat, One8 came into existence. The name came from his jersey, number 18.

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WE ARE WORKING ON CREATING BUSINESSES AROUND VIRAT’S IDENTITY. IT’S QUITE SIMILAR TO THE INTERNATIONAL MODEL, SOMETHING LIKE WHAT MICHAEL JORDAN DID WITH NIKE. WHILE WORKING ON CREATING AN IDENTITY FOR VIRAT, ONE8 CAME INTO EXISTENCE. THE NAME CAME FROM HIS JERSEY, NUMBER 18

BUNTY SAJDEH,

CEO, Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd.

MOHAMMED ALI Footballer, FC Goa

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

The corporate sector can work in tandem with the government to help develop infrastructure and the basic necessities. Also, they can help the best athletes/footballers by sponsoring them and help the players compete at a global level.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;

52 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

COACH DERRICK PEREIRA

Head of Youth Development, FC Goa What kind of support can the Indian Government provide to athletes/football players? There has been significant work done in the area of improving infrastructure however, there is more that can be done. In addition to improving existing infrastructure, the government can explore the possibility of leasing out football fields or land to corporate houses and existing clubs who are interested in developing football. Young players can thrive on the right kind of encouragement and motivation. Scholarships for deserving and promising athletes coupled with exposure trips to footballing centres of excellence, for players and coaches to gain experience at the highest level would be appreciated. The government could look into securing the future of football players and coaches post retirement who have dedicated their time and effort for the development of the sport by laying down policies and programmes where they can contribute a wealth of knowledge gained over the years back to the footballing community. And lastly, coaches are the architects of the future of football. Investing in the education of a coach is critical to the development of football at the grassroot level with a vision towards the future.

What kind of support can the corporate sector provide to Indian athletes/football players? Corporates can look at the possibility of offering assistance and aid to sports personnel post retirement who have dedicated a significant part of their professional years to the sport. Additionally, investing in the future of young sporting talent is always a welcome move.

OUTLOOK

AKSHAY TANDON,

PRESIDENT, FC GOA

FC Goa is an Indian professional football Club founded in 2014, which plays in the India Super League. Akshay Tandon, the president of the club shares his opinion on the growth of football in India, brand association and increasing engagement for the sport.

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“WE NEED TO PUT OUR OWN BOLT OR MESSI OR FEDERER ON THE MAP”

Does football have an audience in India?

I would say that there is an ongoing evolution as far as the sports market in India is concerned. The audience for other non-cricket sports, not necessarily just football but also other sports like athletics, tennis etc., is more youthful and as such global in their consumption. The presence in these sports is more of global superstars as opposed to regional superstars. It’s more a question of who’s your hero? For the market to develop more and for deeper personal investment from fans, we need an Indian superstar in the global arena. We need to put our own Bolt or Messi or Federer on the map.

Well said! What are your thoughts on brands moving towards non-cricket sports?

Truth to be told, live sports today is the only medium that guarantees the kind of viewership that brands require to make a significant impact in the mind of the consumer. With the development of digital vehicles making live sports accessible, just advertisements alone are no longer getting brands the visibility they desire. In India, historically marketers haven’t supported any sporting property except for IPL because of the big numbers and money. As broadcast number for sports such as football, kabbadi etc. increase, brands will align themselves more with such sports. This, unfortunately, is not due to innovation on part of the brands but because there will be no other place where the numbers will be.

What kind of support do you think the Government should provide for football?

The Government has been making efforts and slowly doing more than what has been seen before. However, there is a lot of work to be done. We need a national & state-wide mandate to be able to make India a sporting nation. There are 90+ stadiums across the country being developed but there isn’t much thought behind it. Infrastructure is being developed in much the same way. The investment is there but it needs to be better planned and implemented.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 55

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

FITNESS BECOMING A LIFESTYLE, WOMEN

SPORTSWEAR

POISED TO GROW DEBOSMITA MAJUMDER, Head of Marketing, PUMA India

he times have changed. Today, dressing up is all about wearing the right attitude and is a representation of an individualâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lifestyle. With people becoming health conscious and opting for a fitter lifestyle, fitness is now no more a luxury but is a way of life. Sportswear, a category thought to be dominated by men, is witnessing a paradigm shift. Women are growing their engagement with fitness and now they have become key consumer targets for sportswear brands across the globe.

A joint report by Assocham and MRRSIndia.com anticipates the Indian Retail Industry is slated to grow 60 per cent to hit USD 1.1 trillion in the next three years. This growth can be easily contributed to increase in disposable income, urge for a better lifestyle and growth of the fitness industry driven by fitness conscious women consumer. India is a young country with almost half of its population under the age of 25. With globalization and westernization, the youth in the country have become experimental when it comes to fashion and trends. This population is what we call Generation Hustle, they sit in cafes’ browsing social media and following people who share the same interest and are quick to adopt new cultures, music, tastes & preferences that prevail globally. This gradual obsession with social media has paved the way to a new set of celebrities who are termed as social media influencers. They talk about fashion trends, fashion blunders and fitness, which is the new fad. According to reports, the total retail market in India for

fitness is valued around Rs. 4,670 Cr and is growing at 17-19% with fitness chains and gyms expanding their product and services. The retail market was quick to tap on to this fitness revolution and actively launched sportswear to provide consumers with the right fitness gears. Slowly and gradually, the fitness industry diversified itself

PUMA’s ‘Do You’ campaign encouraged women to follow their instincts, adopt physical activity and also made its way to the Guinness Book of World Records by inviting the largest number of women to hold the longest plank and create a new world record.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 57

OPINION | GUEST COLUMN

and was not any more restricted to gym, but became all about health and wellness and women became the key focus here. Resistance training, aerobics, Zumba, aerial yoga, Pilates, MMA, kickboxing became the new trend and women were quick to explore newer avenues of fitness. It did not take brands long to realize the potential of sportswear for women which led to the concept of athleisure, which made sportswear more versatile, comfortable, and fashionable. Women athleisure wear or sportswear has contributed to the overall growth of the retail sector. With increased focus on fitness and health amongst women audience, there is an increase in the demand for comfortable and multifunction clothing. For women, athleisure reflects a lifestyle shift as much as a fashion trend. Liberalization of thoughts led to a whole new movement amongst women who were ready to challenge their

58 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Generation Hustle-they talk about fashion trends, fashion blunders and fitness, which is the new fad

capabilities and strive for excellence. They are ready to unfollow the rules laid by others and are opening up and believing in being themselves. Brands today are marketing heavily to encourage more women to push their limits, come out and lead an active lifestyle. They are experimenting with digital mediums to reach out and communicate their message. PUMA’s ‘Do You’ campaign was aimed at inspiring women to express their core strengths that stem from one’s own beliefs and individuality.

Through this campaign PUMA encouraged women to follow their instincts, adopt physical activity and also made its way to the Guinness Book of World Records by inviting the largest number of women to hold the longest plank and create a new world record. The ‘Do You’ line up was very well received by consumers and was a huge boost to the women sportswear segment for us. Sportswear brands have also gained immensely through associations with international women celebrities

and influencers. The recently launched En Pointe collection by PUMA in association with Selena Gomez is designed for bold and confident women. Such associations help brands create aspirations amongst our women audience. With increase in the number of fitness studios, adoption of a more active lifestyle and brands offering a plethora of desirable products, the women sportswear segment is poised to grow. This growth is expected to be the next giant leap in the retail industry.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 59

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Source: Creative Commons Ogre a little turtle

SANIA MIRZA

TENNIS PLAYER

“Even today, women have a hard time taking up sports because of social taboos. There is an urgent need for society as a large to help overcome this challenge, especially since, India has produced excellent athletes who have gone on to shine globally.” “There is thin line between having an attitude and being arrogant. To be a successful person you have to believe that you are successful. You have to have the attitude of a winner.” Excerpts form Sania Mirza’s talk at the Goafest 2018

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 61

IPL

IPL & BCCI MEDIA RIGHTS:

GAME OF NUMBERS Ruhail Amin

aving bagged the media rights of the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) as well as the International Cricket Council matches till 2023, which includes the two World Cups, Star India has paid a whopping Rs 320 billion in all to own these rights. By any stretch of imagination, this kind of spend is unseen in Indian sporting history. If we look at the figures closely, Star

62 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

India has paid more than two and a half times for the IPL and BCCI rights together than what was paid earlier. Recovering such a big investment is bound to be a challenging task. However, given Star India Chairman & CEO-Uday Shankarâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s credible leadership, everyone is convinced that Star India has its game plan in place and the network will make a big cut

out of this investment in time to come. While Star India has increased ad spot rates by 50 per cent this year, its revenue from IPL 2018 is already significantly higher than last year. The IPL and BCCI media rights have made cricket a game of big bucks. If we look at the numbers closely, cricket currently attracts Rs 30 billion in revenue, the bulk of

STAR INDIA CRICKET RIGHTS • Star Sports Total investment in IPL & ICC Media Rights: Rs 320 Billion • Total expected Ad spends on TV and digital in 2018: Rs 280 Billion

• Tenure of IPL contract: (2018-2022), Total Value of Contract 163.47 Billion, annual payment Rs 32.69 Billion • Tenure of ICC Rights (2015-2023), Total Value of Contract 128.67 Billion, annual payment Rs Rs16.08 Billion • Tenure of BCCI Contract:

(2018-2023), Total Value of Contract Rs 61.38 Billion, annual payment Rs 10.23 Billion

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 63

which comes from advertising, almost over Rs 20 billion, while the remaining comes from subscriptions. Digital revenue is only Rs 1.5 billion but it is slated to grow significantly in the coming time. Star India expects to earn Rs 40 billion from the two properties in the first year and Rs 5-6 billion from subscription revenue for the IPL and an additional Rs 6-8 billion from the BCCI rights. To recover this big investment, Star Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game plan involves targeting regional viewers in a way that has never been done before. The biggest learning from the 10 years of IPL is that the regional viewership has been under leveraged. In order to address it, Star India is offering advertisers seven feeds, including in Bengali, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, as well as Super Fan feed on STAR Sports Select, apart from English and Hindi. As a result, it is expecting that viewership on TV will increase by at least 20 per cent from 250 billion minutes to at least 300 billion minutes in this IPL.

64 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

STAR INDIAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S REGIONAL FEEDS

Bengali

Tamil Telugu Kannada

First IPL 2018 match viewership:

42 million Jump over IPL 2017 opening match:

37%

Moreover, with Star India having control over the major cricketing properties across platforms, experts believe that they could also explore new content creation and monetisation opportunities. This, according to experts, could involve doing short mobile content on cricket or doing cross promotions and even creating games.

Making the Strategy work While we are already in the first few weeks of the IPL 2018, so far Star India’s game plan seems to be working in its favour. If we look at the IPL 2018 season opener between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, it has reportedly registered a reach of 42 million. This is a growth of 37 per cent over last year’s opening game.

Increase in Hotstar viewership in 2018: 2.3 times more than 2017

Uday Shankar, Chairman & CEO, Star India The 2017 opening match was at 5.26 rating percentage (for the same target group). These are simulcast ratings of the original telecast aired across 10 channels (Star Sports 1; Star Sports 1 HD; Star Sports Select 1 SD; Star Sports Select 1 HD (English); Star Sports 1 (Hindi);

WHILE STAR INDIA HAS INCREASED AD SPOT RATES BY 50 PER CENT THIS YEAR, ITS REVENUE FROM IPL 2018 IS ALREADY SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN LAST YEAR. Star Sports 1 HD (Hindi); Star Sports 1 Tamil (Tamil) along with Suvarna Plus (Kannada); Jalsha Movies (Bengali) and Maa Movies (Telegu). On Hotstar, the platform posted a 42 million reach on opening day which was 2.3 times higher than that of last year. While these initial days of IPL have shown that Star India’s game plan is working, the coming days might totally prove the critics wrong who had raised doubts about the rationale behind Star India’s IPL & BCCI bet.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 65

IPL 2018: STAR INDIA CREATES HISTORY BY SIGNING 85 SPONSORS A

fter spending over Rs 16K crore to bag the Indian Premier League (IPL) media rights, Star Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s game plan seems to have shut up its critics. Latest estimates have shown that the IPL 2018 sponsorship sales for Star Sports and Hotstar have reportedly surpassed Rs 1,750 crore for television broadcast and Rs 200 crore for the OTT digital platform Hotstar. These numbers are 33% higher than the Rs 1,300 crore that Sony Pictures India earned from IPL 2017. Vivo and Coca-Cola are the biggest ad spenders on IPL followed by Reliance Jio and Kent. The deal between Star and Kent RO alone is pegged at Rs 30 crores. Star India has signed 85 brands this season. The associate sponsors for IPL 2018 include brands like theFuture Group, Polycab, Parle Products, AMFI, Make my Trip, Vimal Pan Masala, Asian Paints, Dream 11 and Haier.

66 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Brands like Jio, Vodafone, Amazon, Pepsi Co , Mondelez , Samsung, AMFI, Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Blue Star, Ceat Tyres, Crompton, Dollar, Dominoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, Ford, Haier, Luminous, Pidilite, Sleep Well, Vanessa, Vimal Pan Masala, Voltas, Vivo, Colgate, Amul, Coca-Cola, Dream 11, Elica, Kent, MakeMyTrip, Parle Agro, Parle Products, Polycab, Vu TV, PayTm, Airtel, Nokia, TVS Motors, Tata Motors, Byjus, Naukri. com, Nerolac, Phone Pe, UB, Nivea, MRF, Honda Motors and Scooters, Policybazaar.com, Swiggy, Shaadi.com, Hitachi, HP, Arvind Lifestyle, Titan, Burger King, 99acres, Cars24.com, Magicbricks.com, Mahindra, HMSI, Skoda, Renault, Jeep, Apollo Tyres, Bisleri, ITC, Reckitt, HUL, Pernod, USL, Relaxo and Madhura Garments among others, have taken the roster of brands on Vivo IPL 2018 on the Star Network to 85. Star India for IPL 2018 is targeting 700 million audience with six language broadcast over 10 network channels and the simulcast on the Hotstar OTT platform.

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INTERVIEW

Q&A with

HARSH JAIN Chairman, Indian Federation of Sports Gaming CEO & Co-Founder, Dream11

What is the role of fantasy gaming in amplifying sports engagement and viewership? Real-life sports & fantasy format games have a symbiotic relationship one drives the other. Fantasy sport is the perfect catalyst, it helps convert a casual sports viewer into a core sports fan. It gives the sports fan the right to create his own team using his sports knowledge & feel like a team owner/ captain/manager. Further, it drives active participation, deepens fandom, and gradually increases viewership as it aids sports consumption - making users live the action by the minute. Why are sport leagues/ operators increasingly looking at fantasy gaming to engage with sports enthusiasts? Fantasy Sport gives rise to fan affiliation. The sports fan has more things to care about than just his favourite team/player. It drives community building among existing fans. In fact, at the recent IFSGâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Annual Sports Gaming Conference,

68 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GamePlan 2018â&#x20AC;&#x2122;, leaders of popular sports leagues such as NBA India, ISL, CPL and the ICC media discussed the merits, & contribution of FS to augment sports consumption & increase fan engagement. With IPL around the corner, how is fantasy gaming enhancing fan experience? There are a plethora of matches on offer, non-stop action & plenty of playing opportunities, constant stickiness. Daily fantasy format deepens engagement, consumer connect and drives interest, helps in instant gratification. Tell us about the popular tournaments across Cricket, Football, Kabaddi exploring this format? Most major sports leagues in the world

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 69 APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 69

INTERVIEW are using fantasy sports as their primary tool of fan engagement. CPL, ISL, NBA have official partnerships with fantasy sports platforms such as Dream11. Whereas, EPL, IPL have their own fantasy game platforms. How is technology breaking the online and offline sporting divide? Sports & technology converge to provide Indian sports fans an immersive and engaging viewing experience. With availability of affordable smartphones and high-speed internet, access to favourite matches anytime from anywhere, on the go is possible - sitting in the comfort of their living rooms/ cars etc, sports fans can now consume sports from anywhere. Add to this the advent of new age gaming formats such as fantasy sports, which results in a highly engaging sports experience and in turn converts the casual sports viewer into a core sports fan.

70 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

What are the growth drivers for fantasy sports gaming in India? What makes this format popular amongst both users and sports operators: • Immersive experience for sports fans - Converts a casual viewer to a core sports fan. • Makes them feel like a team captain/manager/owner. • High user engagement - 42 minutes a day is spent on Fantasy Sports Apps. • IPL, NBA, ISL, PKL etc. rely on fantasy sports as their primary tool for fan engagement. • IPL, EPL also offer their own Fantasy Sports games. (In the US all major sports leagues have partnered with Fantasy Sports operators to offers Fantasy Sports to their fans) • IFSG’s GamePlan 2018: Leaders of popular sports leagues - NBA India, ISL, CPL and also the ICC’s head of media rights - discussed the engagement potential, merits, & contribution of Fantasy Sports to augment sports consumption & increase fan engagement Opportunity for industry: • Symbiotic relationship - In the US - fantasy sports fans consume 60% more sports than regular sports fans • Target market size: 800 million (80 cr) TV sports viewers in India 429 million (43 cr) internet users, 180 million (18 cr) online cricket fans.

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APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 71

KHELO INDIA

GOVT ENCOURAGES KHELO INDIA, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE FEAR OF BEING ABANDONED? Nishant Saxena

hey say “a good start is half done”, the Khelo India programme, launched by the government of India, in 2016, received a perfect start. With a noble thought behind the programme, it embraced a huge budget allotment of over Rs 1700 crores, it has an encouraging motto ‘Kheloge kudoge toh banoge lajawab’, mascots (Vijay the tiger and Jaya the black buck) and a quite touching anthem “Aur khel nachahte hain hum…Khel mein hi masti hai….khel se abaad honge hum”. However, the biggest question, if the programme’s remaining journey would be as brilliant as the start was or if it will go down the same lane

72 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

NATIONAL SPORTS TALENT SEARCH PROGRAMME, WAS INTRODUCED TO REVIVE THE SPORTS CULTURE IN INDIA AT THE GRASS-ROOT LEVEL BY BUILDING A STRONG FRAMEWORK FOR ALL SPORTS PLAYED IN OUR COUNTRY AND ESTABLISH INDIA AS A GREAT SPORTING NATION

as many other government programmes which end up giving false hope, remains.

Rathore’s dream

It is no more an unknown fact that Khelo India is Colonel Rajyavardan Rathore’s, (Minister of State, Ministry of Youth Affairs And Sports) dream programme which would encourage the culture of sports in India. The programme, which was formed by merging three schemes--the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan, the Urban Sports Infrastructure Scheme and the National Sports Talent Search Programme, was introduced “to revive the sports culture in India at the grass-root level by

IT IS THE SAD REALITY OF INDIA THAT MANY SPORTSPERSONS, INCLUDING THOSE WHO HAVE REPRESENTED INDIA AND EXCLUDING CRICKETERS, HAVE NOT RECEIVED MUCH FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN THE LATER PART OF THEIR LIVES building a strong framework for all sports played in our country and establish India as a great sporting nation.â&#x20AC;? The initiative aims to prepare talented athletes for world competitions by awarding one thousand scholarships worth Rs 5 lakh each, for eight years and promote 20 universities across the country as hubs of sporting excellence, which would enable talented sports persons to pursue the dual pathway of education and competitive sports. It would cover about 200 million children in the age group of 10-18 under a massive national physical fitness drive, which will not only measure the physical fitness of all children in the age group, but also support their fitness related activities. In addition to the above mentioned, the Khelo India Programme also aims at creating an active population with healthy life-style.

Day dreaming or will the dream come true? Currently, there is dearth of supporting infrastructure, absence of encouragement to young people to participate in sports, and lack of organized system of talent search, the ministry specifies in the objectives of the Khelo India Programme.

It further talks about mass participation of youth in annual sports competitions through a structured competition, identification of talent, creation of sports Infrastructure at mofussil, Tehsil, District, State levels, etc and providing guidance and nurturing of the talent through existing sports academies and new set up either by the Central Government or State Government or in PPP mode. By and large, these are almost all the issues raised by the experts in the field. If the objectives are fulfilled, it could create a strong foundation for the youth working hard to participate

in international sports events including the Olympics. To be precise, the Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved Rs 1,756 crore for the programme for the period 201718 to 2019-20. Even in the Union Budget 2018-19, Khelo India Programmes received a budget allocation of over Rs500 crores. However, the previous three schemes were also aimed at achieving similar objectives. Where, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Abhiyan was aimed at providing infrastructure in rural areas and to encourage sporting culture in the country through competitions, Urban

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 73

KHELO INDIA

KHELO INDIA AIMS TO PREPARE TALENTED ATHLETES FOR WORLD COMPETITIONS BY AWARDING ONE THOUSAND SCHOLARSHIPS WORTH RS 5 LAKH EACH, FOR EIGHT YEARS.

Infrastructure scheme looked at providing quality sports infrastructure in urban areas so as to provide facilities for talent to hone their skills and National Sports Talent Search’s objective was to identify young talent. The most difficult battle that Rajyavardhan Rathore will have to fight to make his ‘dream’ come true is to fulfil the objectives on ground unlike previous governments which have utterly failed in doing so.

Truth of reality

It is the sad reality of India that many sportspersons, including those who have represented India and excluding cricketers, have not received much financial assistance in the later part of their lives. Even most of the youngsters who dedicated their youth to sports failed to make a livelihood out of the skills they learnt. All these issues have discouraged youngsters from taking sports as anything else other than recreational purposes. SitaSahu, two-time bronze medal winner in the Athens Special Olympics in 2011 had to sell golgappas and papdichaat; Shanti Devi, kabaddi player from Bihar sold vegetables in Jamshedpur to feed her children and there are in numerous such tales of the hardships that sportspersons in India face.

74 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

There is a popular saying, “all’s is well that ends well”. Only if Rajyavardhan Rathore can earn the trust and confidence of the masses that the country will not abandon its sportsmen in the end, his ‘dream’ initiative can become a success story, otherwise it will be one of the many government programmes that looked well on the paper but never worked practically.

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CAMPAIGN

#POWERLESSQUEEN - AN

INITIATIVE TO HIGHLIGHT THE PLIGHT OF WOMEN IN INDIA

WITH THE GAME OF CHESS

The Campaign:

Chess originated in India in the 6th Century. In the game of chess, the queen is the most powerful piece. But today in Indian society the queens are the least powerful. Not only are they violated in the name of religion or gender but many times their basic rights of education, health, safety, etc are not given to them. Nanhi Kali and WATConsult, the digital and social media

76 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

agency from Dentsu Aegis Network India, created an online chess game where one had to play with a Powerless Queen, i.e. a queen who couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t move. Queen being the most powerful piece on the chessboard, #PowerlessQueen was a metaphor for how real-life queens i.e. women in India are treated and rendered powerless. Indiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s #2 ranked chess player Tania Sachdev launched the campaign on social media via

a video where she challenged people to take up the #PowerlessQueen challenge to try to win the game. The core objective was to create awareness about the plight of women in our country today and generate donations for the education of underprivileged girls by Nanhi Kali. The game was picked up on Facebook & Twitter by Twitterati, chess players around the world and the media. People

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 77

CAMPAIGN

“

QUOTES:

Speaking about the same, Rajiv Dingra, Founder and CEO, WATConsult said,

78 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Sheetal Mehta, Trustee and Executive Director, Project Nanhi Kali and K. C. Mahindra Education Trust, said,

“We are happy to partner with WATConsult for this innovative campaign, the Powerless Queen. We support campaigns that give out a message about the importance of ensuring equality for women and it is a winwin situation given our objective is to educate and empower girls.”

“

took the challenge and also nominated their friends to take it up. Global chess players including, World Chess Champion and Current Rapid Chess Champion Vishwanathan Anand; five-time Danish Chess Champion and current coach to World number one and Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen, Peter Heine Nielsen; Hungarian Woman Grandmaster Anna Rudolph; four-time Dutch Chess Champion Anish Giri and two-time United States Women’s Champion Jennifer Shahade also took the challenge and endorsed the campaign. A chess club in France even hosted a #PowerlessQueen themed game at their monthly tournament. Anna Rudolf was so impressed by the initiative that she has uploaded a YouTube video of her losing the game. A hard hitting campaign on women empowerment, #PowerlessQueen was the top trending hashtag in India on the day of launch and generated over 7,465 Tweets. Within just a few days, the campaign empowered Nanhi Kali to sponsor over 40,000 hours of education for underprivileged girls.

“As an agency we are very proud of this campaign. Chess is a game of power and we thought of utilising this game to let people realise how in the 6th century we made the Queen the most powerful and yet in the 21st century we fail to empower women. It is an absolute challenge to win any battle with a ‘Powerless Queen’ and this campaign illustrates just that.”

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For clariďŹ cations regarding categories, entry fee, materials, please contact: Priyanka Bhadouria: +91 9540085059 | priyanka.bhadouria@exchange4media.com Nikita Vig: +91 8860302087 | nikita.vig@exchange4media.com Amisha Shah: +91 9979972990 | Aamisha.shah@exchange4media.com For Partnerships, Please Contact: Delhi: Runa Sinha (National Sales Head): +91 9810497903 | runa.sinha@exchange4media.com Mumbai: Ashish Kudalkar (Regional Manager-West): +91 9820541742 | ashish.kudalkar@exchange4media.com APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 79 Bangalore: Sneha Walke (VP Special projects & south head): +91 98455 41143 | sneha@exchange4media.com

PITCH CMO SUMMIT 2018, MUMBAI THE 10TH EDITION OF PITCH CMO SUMMIT IS A FLAGSHIP PROPERTY OF THE EXCHANGE4MEDIA GROUP. IT WITNESSES A GATHERING OF THE BEST MINDS IN THE BUSINESS OF MARKETING. ‘WHY SELL IF YOU CAN GET CONSUMERS TO BUY?’ WAS THE THEME FOR THE PITCH CMO SUMMIT 2018. LEADERS FROM THE INDUSTRY EXPLAINED HOW TO CONCENTRATE ON ‘THE BUY’, AND UNDERLINED THE CHALLENGES, AND HIGHLIGHTED THE OPPORTUNITIES IN DOING SO

1 Suresh Balakrishna , CEO Kinetic in conversation with C K Venkataraman, CEO - Jewellery Titan Company Limited

2 C K Venkataraman, CEO - Jewellery Titan Company Limited

3 Ravi Desai, Director, Mass and Brand Marketing, Amazon India

4 Veejay Ram Nakra, Chief of Sales & Marketing, Automotive Division Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

5 Vivek Sharma, CMO, Pidilite Industries Limited

6 Ram Mehrotra, Vice-President,

Decorative Sales and Marketing, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd

7 Vivek Nayer , CMO , Mahindra&

Mahindra at the CMO felicitation ceremony

8 Sanjay Behl, CEO, Raymond Ltd. 9 Lavanya Nalli, Vice Chairperson Nalli Group

80 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

GALLERY

10 Panel : Interfacing with the

11 12

connected consumer. (L â&#x20AC;&#x201C; R) Vikram Tanna, Discovery; Bhaskar Choudhri, Lenovo; Amit Tiwari, Havells and Siddharth Banerjee, Vodafone Silvia Tallon - Senior Marketing Director - Reebok at the CMO Felicitation ceremony. Annurag Batra, BW; Mannan Shah, Truecaller; Vivek Nayer, Mahindra & Mahindra; Ravi Desai, Amazon; Sam Balsara, Madison World; Silvia Tallon, Reebok; Anjana Ghosh, Bisleri; Amit Tiwari, Havells; Rahul Kansal, Future Group; Nawal Ahuja, exchange4media Group and Deepak Lokhande, DNA

12 APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 81

GALLERY

PUBMATIC C-SUITE ROUND TABLE SEES KEY INDUSTRY STAKEHOLDERS IN ATTENDENCE Big characters and big opinions were the spotlight of the PubMatic C-Suite Round Table where leaders from top publishing houses joined Rajeev Goel, co-founder, PubMatic to debate the key challenges and opportunities facing digital and programmatic in India today. The discussion highlighted how Indian publishers were quick to embrace ad tech like header bidding to drive efficiencies and revenue, but educational challenges still remained on the client/agency side in moving direct spends to programmatic. The drive for greater transparency in the ecosystem was welcome and at the top of the agenda for everyone. Facebookâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recent scandal was the focus of a discussion on the power of data, the responsibility it commands and what imminent regulatory changes there may be. Finally, there was also excitement about the future and how programmatic is key to scale native advertising.

Gyan Gupta - CEO Dainik Bhaskar Digital; Rajeev Goel -CEO Pubmatic; Jyotsna Sharma - Editor Pitch; Shouneel Charles - COO Times Network; Sudipto Das- Regional Director Pubmatic; Sandeep Amar â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Founder INAAJ; Salil Kumar - COO India Today Group & Nigel Kwan - Marketing Director, Pubmatic.

82 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

GALLERY

On Programmatic Shouneel Charles SVP& Business Head – Digital Times Network “We are in the early stages and are setting up. We understand the importance and that a significant amount of ad dollars are moving towards programmatic. Programmatic has evolved and become much better than what it was a year back, with some amount of science and method behind it. Partners like PubMatic are educating and evangelizing the market on the opportunity.” Gyan Gupta CEO DB Digital “I think programmatic is just a way to serve ads. There is a client that has a need and a publisher who can service that need. Over the last year we have seen a huge

Rajeev Goel co-founded

PubMatic in 2006 based on the belief that publishers are underserved from a technology and services perspective. PubMatic now offers leading omnichannel revenue automation technology for publishers and enterprise-grade programmatic tools for media buyers. What are the key factors behind the rapid growth of programmatic in India? Advertising in India is around $10 billion industry and digital is around 15% of that. Within that

growth in programmatic, a lot of guys pushing for programmatic, including PubMatic. Programmatic is pitched as more efficient. In the traditional way there were a lot of inefficiencies especially from the perspective of the client. Programmatic allows the client to be more efficient and effective, getting a good ROI for the money they’re putting in.”

On Transparency SalilKumar COO India Today Group “Fee transparency was one of the biggest questions globally (what ad tech vendors charge publishers and advertisers percentage wise) and PubMatic were one of the first to acknowledge it and restructure the contracts to reflect full

programmatic is a small portion –around $250-$300 million. But it is definitely the fastest growing segment of advertising. Some of the key drivers behind it include huge growth of mobile user base, the other is growth in disposable income, which means marketers want to target those consumers and finally as programmatic grows to now more than a majority of digital spends in many mature markets of the world, the benefits that marketers, advertisers and agencies are seeing, they are now expecting those benefits all over the world. What kind of limitations do we see in the contemporary usage of programmatic? How is it being re-imagined? There are always bottlenecks. As I see, there are plenty of areas in programmatic which can be improved. One among them is video. Now we are witnessing a huge shift in video budgets, which have traditionally gone to TV. So

transparency on fees. Fees (from ad tech vendors) include cost of sales, the opportunity of servicing that order, technology and their ability to get us higher yield structure. If you get higher yield structure, then you don’t mind paying.”

On Native ads Rajeev Goel CEO- PubMatic “Programmatic native is very nascent. I would say globally, less than $50 million. In India, less than 1 million. I think the big problem is that advertisers and agencies typically deliver the creative complete, not in components like it should be, and that’s the big bottleneck we see. Agencies have to change the work flow on their side, to deliver the individual components as well.”

there is a lot of work going on about how we can improve in that area. Moreover, as programmatic spend is increasing, marketers are increasingly looking at having a guaranteed ability to reserve inventory. While we talk about the use of programmatic and growth of digital ad spends, how would you explain the recent move by Procter & Gamble (P&G) which drastically cut down its digital ad spends? What P&G came to believe is that they were not spending their marketing budgets in the most productive way. So they came up with a code which stated that a checklist of items was necessary before spending the ad budgets. And they worked across the supply chain to put a lot of changes in place. This checklist approach has had a good impact in terms of cleaning up the supply chain. So I think it was a necessary measure to kind of step back and assess that the industry has grown rapidly and there are some elements which can be improved.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 83

adverts we loved

#ADVERTISEMENTSWITHAMESSAGE 1.

All Out- #StandByToughMoms

The advertisement aims to show that you must stand by a mother when she is being tough towards her child for that is always to teach the child something right.

Ariel- #ShareTheLoad

The advertisement aims to promote equal involvement of both husband and wife in doing household chores.

84 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

Dove- #RealBeauty

The advertisement aims to show that there is so much more to be admired in a woman and that is beyond beauty.

Vicks- #TouchOfCare

The advertisement focuses on a mother daughter relationship and through it aims to promote equal rights and status for the transgender community.

APRIL 2018 | PITCH | 85

Manforce- #ShutThePhoneUp

The advertisement highlights the importance of privacy by not involving the use of technology for personal moments.

Mirinda- #ReleaseThePressure

The advertisement was intended to put across the message that parents should avoid putting pressure regarding good results as that would lower the morale of their child.

86 | PITCH | APRIL 2018

`100

Volume 12 | Issue 5 | Dec 2017

Charting our

Digital Future

FASHION

AI is the new black!

Mobile Marketing

IN CONVERSATION

Shopclues | Big Basket

Game Changers 2017

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