India won the twenty twenty world cup. The record is set straight for India to be the first team to conquer the youngest concept of cricket. Now what does that translate to in terms of branding and brands for India or Indians. The simple logic is that the value of casting the Indian cricket team members will go up. India gains more respect for some fabulous gaming at the 20-20 world cup and so on.
What excites me about this new format of cricket is, what most of the Indians have grown up with. The amazing fact is that the teams that reached the finals are neighbouring countries where 'gali cricket' is the most favoured sport, where matches last for anywhere between 5 to 20 overs. The teams had players who have grown up playing such matches all through their life and now it has gone international. Globally accepted. The kids who played great matches on roads for just a couple of overs are playing the same as in the grounds of international stadiums.
The great show and excitement put up by the the best cricket teams just makes the game hotter. Although many experts and cricket lovers feel that twenty twenty world cup is not right cricket. But, all said and done the form has caught up well and now marketers will be busy making plans on how to push such events as it had great acceptance by the cricket crazy countries worldwide. As an event, it has succeeded in positioning itself as a great innovation. And when the buzz is so much around it becomes relevant to have more of them.
The newspapers and TV channels were flooded with the covergae of the entire event. ESPN did command a premium price for commercial space on the day of the finals. All goes well with what ICC has done to position the game. The same time saw the brand makeover of Hutch mobile services becoming Vodafone and the placement was excellent with people actually talking about the same. Marketers have made their impression during the 20-20 world cup in a big manner. Thanks to the response this new format had.
When it comes to brand recall for the duration of the 20-20 world cup, I just cannot forget Vodafone, Mountain Dew and Havells, that immensely utilised the popularity that 20-20 world cup was gaining within the short time period. But now, the issue that drives marketers crazy is that,"will the brand recall of the match period will be converted to sales?"
There are no answers to it till the sales figures for the respective brands are out. What can we do about it, just wait and watch the action that follows the multi million expenditure that companies have made during the first twenty20 world cup.
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