 We are going to be talking about brand building via sports and for that I would like to invite Mr. Ruhil Amin our editorial lead exchange for media group. He's going to be moderating this session and Our panelists for this session are Anita Nair group CEO India and South Asia Havas Media Group Anupam Bokeh VP marketing CMO FMCG brands RP Sanjeev Goenka group to please join us on stage Along with Sai Narayan associate director and head marketing policy Bazaar.com and Paisa Bazaar Thank you, Tejal. I think after you I'm the second most seen person on stage. So, thank you Thank you so much and over to you now, Ruhil. Thank you So I'm lucky privileged to be talking to The brand experts here in front of me and we'll be talking about how sports as a platform Has become an unfallow channel for brand building Can you hear me? Okay before we head into this discussion. There's an AV that we need to play Then we would kind of start. Yes sport Has the power to change the world It has the power to unite people it will be some can-can on the shores of these a tonight spot can create hope How many of these historic moments do you remember? Sport leaves you dazzled Sometimes on cloud nine and sometimes in tears Nothing can prepare you for the drama of sport sports separates as much as it might New rivalries and friendships are formed in seconds The father might be a fan of the precision of a federal back end But the son would adore the never-said-die spirit of Nadal But one thing is for sure They both be sitting there glued to their screens United by their love for sport The spectacle of sport can bring time to a halt Nations come to a standstill roads become empty Statems and living rooms get back millions watching around the world sport conjures of gods and legends from their humans Years of sweat and blood unraveled in a matter of seconds general Poor a rich sport doesn't differentiate the joy sport gives the passion it evokes The goose bumps that delivers Now are the sphere of life care Thank you very much for making it so special because sport is life I'll start with you Anita ma'am if we look at this a V It sums up the deep emotional connect, you know all sorts of emotion excitement. You get really emotional about things All these could be evoked only through a sporting platform And this probably explains why it has become such a big platform for brand building in your view What are the factors that make this platform so effective for brand building? See I think as far as sports goes and there's again Nothing new that I'm going to talk about the fact is that cricket rules the roost and you know There are brands here who've been absolutely you know patronizing cricket for a very long time and We see a lot of sports emerging now the new emerging sports, which has wrestling which has got Kabaddi which has got You know soccer and and of course I mean with Mary come doing the sixth on the medal You know boxing and the Olympics and all you know Everybody getting the medals in I think as Indians, you know, there is there's something that touches the hearts here I think we are a little more passionate than many more other countries and we are far more patriotic You know, so it's that feeling here of of really winning and you know getting up there Which really connects sports beautifully to the to the hearts of the audiences, you know And from times immemorial you've seen how cricket is spanned out, you know and how it's a religion You know and I mean not to talk about India Park where it is war and religion and God knows what all, you know all put put into one and and Everybody making good use of it whether it is the the brands and the audiences and you know even even the sporting Authority is doing that so I think the reach of cricket the fact that we are, you know We connect very well with cricket the fact that we have pride in winning are some of the factors which make Sporting events very very close to our hearts and there is so much more in emerging sports where so much more needs to be done You know the classic case is Kabaddi, you know today. I think after Cricket it's ISL and Kabaddi which are the which are the two main sports which are doing extremely well You know, so I think there's a lot that also needs to be done in the other areas But at an overall level I think we were very soft at our hearts And I think that's the connect with the sport and the winning of this has the elements to make us emotional I mean I also want to come you have chosen Virat Kohli over Bollywood superstars and this kind of underlines the importance of sports But how do you sum up the importance of this platform? No, actually it all depends on what is the requirement for the brand and When we were designing to your communication The platform was guilt-free snacking. So we actually wanted to as a purpose Liberate the Indian youth of unhealthy snacking, which the whole country is used to so we needed somebody you actually who espouses those values who is very health-conscious and He can become the face of the brand because it will only promote the brand in a very powerful and a very focused way It was always also on the backdrop of him Very publicly announces his departure from unhealthy snacking So I think that was also the platform which which helped us. We will also start a brand 2M was just launched in April of 2017. So we are just about a year and a half old So it was also about Establishing a credibility And we needed a some somebody who could help us do that otherwise a company coming from the east which is very large by the way, but ourselves going and Pitching a brand to the trade to the consumers especially on a platform of health Where there are so many failures in the past in the healthy snacking range and I can list down so many examples So I think the the odds were huge against us but we had as a purpose decided to go ahead and pursue this route of Liberating people from unhealthy snacking. So we needed a credibility driver, which we are brought We needed to engage with the youth who are far more health conscious these days as are every is everybody else So actually he epitomizes all of it and that's why The values of what we are trying to create versus the values that Virat himself espouses There was a perfect fit to be honest We just didn't start with you know cricket and Virat We actually started with who is the celebrity who will help us solve this marketing challenge And they were certain youth icons in the Bollywood industry as well So they were on there also on the list, but you look at the visibility that cricket provides It's about 305 days of cricket that happens in a year Which is like massive and when you watch cricket to watch a one day you watch it for eight hours You watch out e24 like four hours and it is full-on and high-profile engagement. So I think it all worked very well That's the reason why we chose him As I if I talk about policy bizarre We know very well how you have used this platform at the same time you have not only helped the brand You have helped the category, you know, so how do you? See this platform, you know from from the way it helps you leverage you know your brand so for us, it's a you know, it's some first I like to say If you when I look at sports as a platform Obviously cricket comes to the mind immediately Not just as a marketer But even when I was a student we used to watch cricket passionately and you know We've seen brands being built around cricket The the best piece of communication so every all market used to put out the best pieces of communication on cricket used to use cricket as a platform to launch the new communication or be the Vodafone zoos or Ferry call or all iconic campaigns have launched. So the clear thinking is that it's a cricket loving nation and the sport is watched extremely passionately as Anita shared and for us especially it is the platform where the entire male audience aggregate For insurance as a product. So for us, it's it's an extremely important platform because sports is where Exceptional IPL where both male and female audience aggregate, which is also good for us But if you look at so the entire male audience aggregate for us in that one platform, which is sports Be cricket or non-cricket. So for us, it's becomes extremely more important to be present on sport on Sports on and on cricket. So so that you know, we can reach out to the real Total audience also the other other important factor as I see is that the entire content viewing landscape has Seen a radical change over the past five six years. So television is Is still there is still the largest to reach medium, but it's also but also the Rise of oddity platforms have the catch-up content has increased a lot. So far as a marketer than I when I when I look at In order to reach out to the audience If I have to look at all the genres available for me be DC be it Hindi movies There is a slight Poliferation of audience happening, but cricket or sports is the only Platform which exists where there is an appointment viewing happening where my audience I know that my audience going to reach because a catch-up content does not Is not serve a great purpose for the audience I have a follow-up question on it actually from the same but before that I'll just come for the for the Brand story. There's a story for example, Swiggy story If you could lie, we'd love to hear that story a bit how Swiggy was built using the sporting platform Especially IPL if you could share a few words on that. So I think interestingly And Swiggy we all all know the the case as to the fastest delivery platform that they have and You know sports as an event and as SI said a live And be the fact I think they are far more open to integrating far more open to giving you a platform Where you can do so much more where the brand benefits actually come out very very beautifully So we on IPL for Swiggy We did this pedometer because it was the fastest delivery thing, you know And it it kind of gained ground very very quickly because you're talking about Swiggy as being you know a platform Which delivers very fast and you're talking about the fastest delivery in in in the the matches as well So that was one very very relatable Attribute which had synergies with the game as well as the the benefit that the brand was bringing to the audiences And the second thing was I think during the the non-live sections interestingly. We could actually demonstrate You know where during a discussion in the non-live section during IPL. They were they were actually ordered You know Rasgulla's for example from Calcutta have like the minimal order something yes, so that was what it was attributing to that you can order I mean, there's no minimum cost to an order So during the the the studio a discussion They actually ordered mishti and Rasgulla's there and the Swiggy guy came in and actually delivered You know that so I think the brand proposition Of various benefits that it is going to bring to the consumers is something that Swiggy did beautifully there I mean we are very very happy to be associated with IPL and with Swiggy and being able to you know bring this to forefront and Interestingly today as you're quoting. I think there are lots of brands who are looking at you know the way Swiggy actually made use Of what does it become a unicorn because of this point? I wouldn't say Swiggy gets into unicorn only because of IPL Because it plays a huge role in that and there is I think I mean I think every element has played a huge role And I think the offering itself from the brand and the way they are going about capturing the market I mean does lead them to you know the unicorn club for sure What would you say the experience of your brand's story with to yum and Sporting platform. How has it fanned out for you? I think it has worked out brilliantly as I said we needed a credibility builder for a new brand So Virat's present helped us achieve that and I think the way the brand's proposition was articulated on paper Executing that through Virat and through cricket became easier I think The there were some key criterias which we had to necessarily keep in mind when doing communication also that you know we are not using him just as a Clutterbreaker celebrity, but also to try and marry the values bring his life space into communication So it's always in the gym is in a cricketing field, etc Attributes like okay, you are eating so much yet. You are so fit so actually that helps build the brand's reason to believe we're being healthy and And you can indulge without any guilt So I think those values were able to be brought out very very well just coming back to you know Relationship with cricket and how we I think on sports some of the properties are very well established There are fours. There are sixes. There are fastest deliveries. There's man of the match, etc So you know really the properties and what they stand for and if your brand has something similar You can very easily create co-create and do a very strong brand integration whether it is fastest delivery or on on to him We said you know a cut on those rush rule And that's why we took the fall of wickets property because you could binge to your hearts content through the match Without feeling guilty because it's healthy. So I think there are established properties It helps you so many points to integrate. Yes Tell me about traditionally insurance is a category looked at during that tax saving period And you have moved it beyond that, you know, you cut that orthodox approach to insurance How what is the role that sports played in building that perception about insurance? Yeah, so So I think of this one point. I think it's a beautiful marriage of you know getting Virat to open a packet of chips is a Fantastic thing. I wanted to compliment on that. But also, you know, there's one point before that if you look at if you think of the innovation that's we get it and You guys did This innovation can be done on other Medium other genres as well But the kind of reach and visibility and the kind of clear integration sports give its it just takes it to a different level That's where the consumers interact more. That's the power of sports. So having said that on the question of Insurance overall the category Advertising mainly on Jfm, but they did sports actually help you change that perception Kind of you know, you had that captive audience You had that, you know the buyers where they're the young people were there. Did it actually help you? Impact that I'll give you a very very clear example. So I feel usually happens in the month of April May and For the longest time we never used to be on IPL because that's the those are the months where you know It's it's impossible to Spend in those period because the sale the down the traffic is down You you really can't the consumer is not even the thinking minded like to be honest No one wakes up in the morning thinking of no buying insurance as a product So no one think no one is thinking so So it's a very difficult category, especially after Jan 5 March where the maximum sales happen When the consumer is just done is filing tax filing everything. So April May are the the leanest month for us So when we thought of you know buying IPL It was an extremely difficult decision because if you look at lot of insurance categories are not there on IPL, but but if you look at our strategy, we are present throughout all all 12 months But when we did that what we saw was We we've had the highest traffic Because we couldn't easily measure the same month the same day we can measure so the moment We put our new piece of communication with Akshay Kumar. We signed up the brand ambassador and we put on IPL We got the highest traffic in a month, which is supposed to be The worst month for us in terms of traffic in terms of women in terms of everything so clearly it's like, you know Building a new category building a category and getting the consumer in thinking about insurance in months where He's not even thinking So if you look at 2019 In advertising lingo, it is like double the mark. You have an IPL followed by a World Cup How are you looking at leveraging this kind of combination? It's a cocktail of like, you know building brands in an instant How do you see this? Are you already strategizing on it? I mean, how is it for you? Yeah, I think the strategy has happened much earlier. So so it's a great year, frankly, you know with with so much of For the lack of another word overload of cricket But you know IPL for example, it's a question of the objectives of the businesses that are the brands that you're talking about And it's also a question of timing, you know, so for for World Cup coming absolutely after IPL I think the brand strategy is like I said very from category to category and IPL brings a very different kind of Audience and an environment to the table and World Cup brings also a very different kind of an audience In fact to my mind, you know, just to answer size question. There is 40% with female viewership now on on IPL So don't only don't only look at cricket as a sports where you aggregating only males and interestingly for you because you know Coming from an FMCG area, you know, you can actually leverage that very very beautifully because both IPL and World Cup Have close to 40 to 45 percent female viewership and the female viewership is also in tier two tier three towns By the way, you know, so it is very interesting if you look at these stats and actually I mean it comes It doesn't come every year right IPL and World Cup together So our recommendations to brand is to actually in cash on both because the the environment that IPL brings to the table is more of Entertainment as well as you know fast playing cricket and and and various other, you know The the regional the teams which are not really India Park or whatever It's a it's a combination of various countries Whereas if you look at World Cup from the attributes of it, it is really all to do with, you know Team India team Australia team England or something like that. So I think Reach as reach platforms both of them are phenomenal, you know, you look at, you know, the kind of reach that IPL does I think over the two years IPL is almost doubled its its reach and World Cup also gives you a decent reach So I it doesn't give you the reach of IPL for sure It's a little short. I think about 20 30 percent less than than IPL But I think the strategy is to take on both specifically, you know in a year when both are there because I feel will continue every year Yeah, and World Cup doesn't come every year. So I think the strategy is there are really to in cash on both, right? The fact with World Cup is that it unites the non-believers of cricket even they would because there's national pride involved in it Which is not an IPL I build more of a festive loud Indian cultural mix of entertainment everything else so So these two different natured slightly different nuanced properties How is to how is how are you looking at? Having them, you know work for your brand. I think from a media point of view both the properties are very powerful The difference between IPL and ICC World Cup is by the way The thing is even for the ICC World Cup more than 80% of the audience is from the subcontinent So I think that is a great thing. So you can still leverage that from a media point of view What I feel allows additionally is basically on-ground activation and getting a stronger engagement with your brand And that's why between the two if you see IPL We still feel being an Indian brand is more relevant for us but World Cup also is equally true where you can actually have more emotion and You know national Emotion associated with with your team, but both are equally large properties. They are very expensive both the properties So I think for brands may have to make a choice whether you want to go with one or two But if you could do both then you have the resources I think it's a fantastic opportunity in one particular year. So say what kind of opportunities are you looking at? You know at this this kind of a combination I think it's it's going to be very difficult decision It has to be one or it has to be both because both are going to be very extremely expensive properties Extremely expensive and effective also at the same time. Sorry. Very effective. Also, obviously obviously very effective, but It's a very well months and limited monies So it it has to be very thought-through decision Like for example, I was telling I've been telling star that if IPL was in JFM then you would find all the insurance companies advertising at that point of time But unfortunately, that's not the case It it has to be a combination of both as I see right now, but it's Because it's a and you know unlike other advertisers We advertise 12 months. So last time when I checked we were 250 days on air Last 27 2016 17 2017 18 the number is going to be more So for us The way we view television advertising is very performance driven When we put a communication out there, we get the traffic and that translates into a customer than acquisition So we need to sustain our media monies for 12 months across the two brands so It's real difficult to think but I can't Pick one but I think as we get closer to the tournament then we'll take a call. I'll take I have two more questions I am a little over time, but I'll just have to ask these two important questions one is Apart from cricket. There is this rise of leagues. You have pkl your isl. You have come wrestling leagues so The one sporting nation has changed into a multi sporting nation itself and again a very great Peace for you know marketeers when they look at sporting properties Are you how important are the rest of the leagues apart from IPR and ICC? World couple how important have the other leagues become for brands because they have this They cut through linguistic barriers also sometimes even you know how IPL polarizes, you know a father and a son You know, that's a beautiful like positive polarization. How are you looking at these rise the rise of these leagues? Which are beyond cricket? I'll start with you, ma'am. Sorry ladies. Was I go with this order following this order? Gender biases Okay, so I think there is a lot of opportunity In the non cricket part of it and we've seen that as I mentioned earlier in both Kabaddi wrestling as well as Soccer, I mean you guys have a soccer team as well You know what is interesting about these sports is the it also has and we're looking at some data It also has a lot of following in the tier 2 tier 3 towns, you know both wrestling Kabaddi and even soccer because you know They are the street plays there or the Akhara plays there, you know So you and in again interestingly because as you mentioned linguistic barriers, so there aren't any of those there We found we find again that there is a large chunk of female viewership So if for a brand if you are actually wanting to reach out tier 2 tier 3 towns where you also and specifically for FMCG's Where you also have you know look at? Sports as as as a platform. You can just close your eyes and you know go on to A Pro Kabaddi league or a soccer league or whatever because it's got mixed audiences Both there so I think the it's important for these sports to actually emerge and hats off to all the brands and the players Who are actually sponsoring these leagues? You know, I mean if you I think 2017 or 2016 the hero Soccer League when they opened up in Goa hati and it's a classic case of Amazon using You know the opening ceremony as the the the entry point where they announced they are the great festive sale of you know the early October that happens which clearly me shows that it is not only You know Large brands who are using cricket? Who who are not looking at other? Opportunities but brands like Amazon where they are talking about about large reach not and it's gender neutral because you're looking At males and females both who do online shopping and for them to actually get into an opening ceremony of a of a soccer You know event was was amazing So I think there is a lot that you gain from here and also they are far more efficient. You know we all know cricket is Exorbitantly, you know Saturated Then they deliver you know cricket you can close your eyes and say delivers You know it brings in those efficiencies, but yes the the entry or the is The cost of entry is very very high and if brands can afford that great But I think there is a lot of opportunities in the upcoming sports Absolutely absolutely I think it just makes Sporting options available to more brands than just the large brands Cricket is of course very large and you know what we are also seeing in sports is it's it has a very high affinity with you It also has a very high affinity with NCCS a b soap operas and movies, etc. Start to have a stronger affinity downstream to SEC and also actually if you are a slightly premium brand These are fantastic properties and again Different sports typically today even cupboard delivers half the reaches what cricket delivers Wrestling also delivers a quarter reach of what cricket delivers. So there are depending on what is your reach requirement? What is your budget? What does your brand stand for? Where are your audiences where you need to engage them? All those options are available and I think this is only want to grow the rise of cricket that we've seen and all the leagues Actually bring in a different aura to the whole sport rather than just bought by itself So cricket is high because we are a champion team Elsewhere it becomes more of a national team. We are but I think all these leagues, etc We will will increase the stature and level of the game the quality of the game the quality of the players itself Money is coming into these so actually there are there are opportunities for them to earn and develop even further So it's going to become very large very very large and vis-a-vis sports versus Gc if you were to take that comparison there's the other option available to market years I think the affinity and the engagement is much much higher in sports So more options for many brands and we'll only see the activity increase Quickly one word, which is I think life sports might end up saving television as a medium because Five seven years down the line. I see the audience is moving towards newer unless Other Jonas really reinvent themselves To be honest, I spend a lot of money on TV But I fear every day because the audience is moving and you can look at you can check with the audience here So people are moving towards so if you look at America, I don't know the exact number But a huge amount of audience has already moved to Amazon And Amazon is making great inroads in India Though I am worried about other non sports content On TV already and as a marketer, but but at the same time it is it's a great challenging period So that's why the rise of live sports becomes extremely important To be honest, no, we have not been investing very heavily on non cricket, but we keep doing very efficient buys But would I think brands like us should come together to support live sports, but and also also Non cricket sport should be slightly rightly priced also at times. It is not rightly priced But that's that's that's different, but I think life sports will will save TV I think I think what live sports has done if correct me if I'm wrong The appointment viewing which we used to speak about it has kind of given a strong argument against it because Without appointment viewing you just go and wherever whichever screen you have you've watched live match And you don't want to miss it, you know I think it has posed the serious challenge to that concept that we only go for the appointment viewing so my last question to you is What is the future of sports marketing given the kind of experiences it creates for example all of us remember When doni hit that sex when arm is so hail had a tiff with the Venkat press when cat Prasad, you know I mean those memories. I think are indelible when it comes to sports platforms keeping this in mind What do you think is the future of sports marketing in India according to you? If you have to do something it goes without saying, you know, I mean Whatever is happening today in this year or previous years actually Mentioned a lot about the future of sports marketing, you know while cricket will always stay mainstay I mean India is a country where probably the only country where cricket is is mainstay for the simple reason like I said You know, we are very passionate about the game. Yeah, and there are icons there whom we worship right right from I think Tabaskar and Couple they have to Sachin Tendulkar now to Virat Kohli and Dhoni So we their icons were worshipped in the country, you know So so you will not be able to move away from that unless of course it becomes You know absolutely unreachable or it is only The reach is only for some brands who have actually they were with all to pay, you know that kind of monies But with the advent of newer sports and as you said the live Part of it where you want to see it there and then rather than waiting for you know watching the episode of You know so para see the letter much later today because you have the OTT platforms which are driving it So it is there and then the viewing and also I think people are becoming as a country We are all becoming very very conscious of the fact that it is not only cricket You know the heroes are heroes are not only in cricket I mean for the first time this year I think the women's World Cup which was happening you heard you saw a lot of chatter on social media on the women's cricket Violet did not you know it did not get its do yeah, but with Mary come winning the the medals You know there was so much of sense of national pride So I think it is in in the interest of not only the sports the sportsmen And also the brands who should come together to actually build this was look at hockey and it's supposed to be a national Example, you know and today with the World Cup happening there I think it's fantastic the way you know so many countries are coming in and and you know somewhere, you know In in the interiors of India not only you know, you know a metro So I think there is a huge Scope a huge potential and I think the brands were who will be in a position to catch catch up with this Barring cricket if they're able to catch in really really fast. That's when you know it should really Get results for them in years to come Absolutely, I think there are more heroes emerging in every sport I mean seeing him others the way she ran just gave you goose bumps or actually Looking at nearer Chopra throwing the javelin and getting the gold medal and he's only 18 And you know his pores his heart out and I think these are iconic moments in sports Which makes you feel more engaged, you know, we still get goosebumps when you see couple there lifting the 1983 World Cup Oh, don't he hitting the last six or to win the 2011 World Cup So I think these are these are fantastic Opportunities what the sports marketing channels, etc. Also doing is they have made the game very interactive Yeah, you just don't watch a soap opera or a movie. There is a lot of engagement texting happening and I think Star changed the game entirely last year where there was so much of engagement beyond just watching the game So I think it just allows you to engage to a completely different level the other thing that you know Anita was saying is the game ends in whatever two hours three hours versus and TV serial, which kind of goes on and on and never know what where it will end and where it will start the next That's quite boring. So I think high level of engagement No high level of anticipation Also emotional alignment supporting the team supporting the players I think this engagement will only going to grow and you know sports marketing and sports Stages likely to become very very big coming going forward So your last words about the future of sports marketing. How important? Yeah, I think They really shared the real insight, but I just want to share just one point, which is What will I'll talk about non cricket sports? Who will really drive the? Popularity of non cricket sports is the audience if you look at the amount of social media chatter that happens around the non cricket sports Obviously cricket will still do the rules, but there's a huge amount of chatter that happens So there are two kinds of audience then with which exist one is people who really follows these sports and There will be other audience who will want to join the conversation Because these new sports are emerging. So the the conversion that are happening about the sports People are generally making so they will pull the people who want to join the conversation So if you look at today, everyone wants to join the conversation because there's a lot of chatter that happens So the real fans will also pull more audience and therefore the overall Sports is a property would Perfect and sorry we're taken Over time, but we have to play this last AV and then it's over. Yes Thank you once again for your time. Lovely talking to you. Yeah, thanks You