The third edition of the IPL tournament is in its final stages and the teams are battling the heat and the dust. Hitters find it easier to sweat a lot than to run. Teams seem to have a strange affinity for the number “12”, as five teams seem to be stuck in this magic point figure. Stadiums seem packed, at least in Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. TRPs are skyrocketing, IPL post-match tickets are selling for Rs 50,000 if the rumors are to be believed. But things are not as good as they should be. Attention shifted slowly but surely from cricket to franchisee ownership, outbursts, confusion and more, taking its toll on Shashi Tharoor. Reports say that Lalit Modi will also be forced to resign. In short, whatever is happening with the onboarding of new teams is, to borrow a phrase as old as the game, “just no cricket.”
IPL a revolutionary brand
I have no doubt in my mind that IPL definitely revolutionized the face of cricket in India and the world. It’s an idea whose time had come, and whether the inspiration was Kerry Packer, the NBA, American baseball, or the fact that twenty-twenty cricket was, like David Warner, waiting to explode, the concept took off. It was brilliantly packaged, wonderfully touted, and successfully executed, even if it was a little ‘in your face’ for my liking. But let’s give Lalit Modi his due for creating a global brand in a very, very short period of time.
The western world tried to ignore this for some time, and then reluctantly had to accept even when its own players came running to be a part of it. Even if many of the global players sat on the bench like our software engineers of yesteryear, they didn’t seem to mind. Bollywood’s unique mix, team owners crying in the stands, cheerleaders who had no idea who was playing, aging cricketers showing their younger counterparts a thing or two, whether it was the zooter or the bat. mongoose, some outstanding. Emerging Indian talent, some tight endings, some impressive innings, some shocking bloomers all contributed to the huge success of the format.
Too Much Too Soon?
While JM Keynes said that in the long run we are all dead, Jack Welch said that while any fool can make money in the short term (and here I am paraphrasing) and any fool can make money in the long term, he needs real skill. to make money both long and short term. There is no denying the phenomenal success of IPL in the short life it has had thus far. Not only has it built a following (if not for local teams), it has gotten people to buy hugely expensive tickets and advertisers to buy dubious ad properties at outrageous prices. The climate is already building for ad rates to hit an all-time high. For the next IPL, the world’s Max mobiles and Karbonn mobiles are already licking their lips with anticipation, even if I’m dreading what lies ahead for me soon.
Lalit Modi must easily be the most photographed and televised person in the country (Shah Rukh Khan, kind apology) as all newspapers, TV channels and websites seem to love or hate him. No half measures with our man, right? In fact, if we were to do a “share the voice” analysis, compare and contrast the coverage that Lalit Modi has with, say, a gentleman named Manmohan Singh, who is the Prime Minister of the country, the latter would be a distant second. This, of course, is a comment on the sad state of news coverage in this country that I will get to later, but let’s stick with the IPL mark and the current mess it seems to have gotten into.
Trouble in God’s own country
Kerala is an absolutely lovely place to visit and vacation. But despite Shashi Tharoor’s outspoken and often misplaced enthusiasm for the place as a business destination, investors have been wary of going there, and I think it is irrelevant (at least for this author) to find out whether perceptions about investing here are correct or incorrect. But I have no doubt that the latest investment from an IPL franchisee has put the cat among the pigeons.
It has all the makings of a media boiler. An affable and sophisticated minister who tweets into trouble with the ease with which the Indian team used to get into corners; a lady who, according to the media, is close to the (now ex) minister and who has sweat from shares in the company; owners who are not as well known as some of the other franchise owners; rumors that a current cricketer is part of the team; an accusation by the CEO that Lalit Modi offered him a bribe (whose indiscreet statement has already cost him his job); tweets from Lalit Modi about the uncertainty of the owners, accusations and counter-accusations, questions about the original franchisees … Thank goodness newspapers are only 16 pages long!
One of my learned clients made a very interesting observation. He said that previously, in the news capsules, he had clearly delineated time slots for different aspects: local news, international news, sports, entertainment, etc. But if you look at today’s broadcast, it’s all about entertainment and sports, and if the news doesn’t entertain, it won’t. Well, IPL is certainly entertaining, and franchisee confusion is certainly entertaining, but what about the brand that had a chance to be an icon in the future?
Controversy is king
A few years ago I was teaching some international students from the UK who were visiting IIM, Bangalore. I showed them the commercial for the Fair and Lovely stewardess, telling them that it had been controversial and that I had to take it off the air. They were very excited that the controversies, they said, kept the brand in the news and were valued in the UK. It was also interesting to read the opinions of some advertisers today, who said that the controversy is good for the IPL brand. Unfortunately, I do not agree. It is true that brands reflect the personality of their owners. Kingfisher represents the “king of good times” and what better exponent of good times than Vijay Mallya. But that example is different in that it is a pretty good beer, it has the right image and as long as the climate in India remains as healthy as it is (!), The brand will perform brilliantly.
IPL is a different pot of fish. Lalit Modi is someone you love or hate. Without the benefit of formal market research, I can only say that he seems to have pissed off an enormous number of people in the wrong way, and he is the IPL brand, at least for many of us. And while being in the news is great, I’m not sure if making headlines with a tax raid on their offices is great publicity for your brand.
Circumspection is the key
Lalit Modi runs the risk of being trapped in an open wicket the day after the night rain. Your brand is under scrutiny. You should try hitting like Jack Hobbs or Geoffrey Boycott with your eye on the ball. Sadly, he’s hitting like Robin Uthappa. I am sure you have the confidence to handle anything, after all Indian businessmen believe they can handle anything including the law. But you should think about the brand you have built so quickly, and a brand that is the envy of the world. Marks are hard to build and easy to dent. They are like fine pieces of glass that need careful handling, affection, and even affection.
It is the moment of objectivity, for Lalit Modi. It’s time to tweet less and it’s time to think more. A time not to fight someone else’s political battles, but a time to remember the things that made IPL such a phenomenal success and get back to basics. It’s about entertainment on the sports field, not in newsrooms and television studios. Again it is time to look at the consumer. Lalit Modi would do well to remember that there are many people who wish he would fail and he must prove them wrong, not just for his own sake, but for the sake of the brand that he has built himself.
Will? Won the? Only time will tell.