Was IPL Marketed Well? History of IPL IPL is the Domestic professional league for T20 in India.

Envisioned by Lalit Modi, it came into existence after India won the T20 World Cup and to counter the unofficial Indian Cricket League. IPL is a multi billion dollar league, and is now valued at over $4.5bn. It has been created on the lines of the English Premier League. There have been 3 editions so far in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Due to issues over safety because of elections in India, the tournament was held in South Africa in 2009. The first 2 editions had 8 teams, namely, Chennai Super Kings of India Cements, Mumbai Indians of Reliance Industries, Kolkata Knight Riders of Red Chillies Entertainmen, Royal Challengers of Bangalore of UB Group, Rajasthan Royals of Emerging Media, Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra; Deccan Chargers of Deccan Chronicle, Delhi Daredevils of GMR group, Kings XI Punjab of Ness Wadia, Preity Zinta, Mohit Burman, Dabur, Apeejay Surendera Group. The 4th edition will have 2 new entrants the Sahara Warriors Pune of the Sahara group and a team from Kochi of a consortium of investors.

Success of IPL

The tournament was a runaway hit. The following factors can be attributed to the success of the event. * The IPL was a big success because India is a cricket crazy nation and anything with cricket sells. * The IPL also tacked the regionalist mindset of Indians by having a team for major cities in the country. * The IPL was positioned not merely as cricket, but as cricketainment . * It packed entertainment with cricket. * India was exposed to cheer leaders for the first time. * The concept of international and local stars rubbing shoulders with each other was a big draw. * The tournament was held in April during summer vacation. * The matches were played in the evenings at 4:00PM and at 7:00PM. * Even when the tournament moved to South Africa, the timings were not changed. * The heart of the success of IPL, is, however, the fact that their core offering was of supreme quality. Many matches were very close and went down to the wire, adding to the hype over the tournament. IPL marketing strategies

There were teams Structured around states which ensured team and brand loyalty. Auctioning of the players participating in the IPL tournament was quite an attraction. There was also a plethora of advertisements on various TV and radio channels about the event. Worldwide telecast of the event made the popularity of the event even more widespread. The rivalry between ICL and IPL had been one of the reasons for the publicity and emergence of IPL. Having the movie stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Preity Zinta and Shilpa Shetty as team owners provided lot of attraction and enthusiasm. Packages such as DLF maximum sixes and Karbonn Kamal catches ensured the involvement of the sponsors in the event .Cheerleaders especially being foreign girls attracted huge crowd. Live streaming of IPL matches in YouTube ensured the entertainment reached even the online community. Nita Ambani the owner of the Mumbai Indians team was involved in social initiatives (such as HEAT) that were linked to the IPL. The event was marketed as cricketainment and hence pulled in huge crowds than that is usual for the 50 overs format of the game. The event happening during the summer vacation period was key towards attracting the school and college children which form a major part of the cricket enthusiasts. The TRP rating as well reached unprecedented heights and was a major boost to the related media. After match parties also were quite enthralling to the players and the owners involved. Attitude

Attitude is defined as a mental, emotional or rational predisposition with regard to a fact, state, person or an object. In the context of consumer behaviour we are studying the attitude of consumers towards all the relevant attributes of IPL. The attitudes that have significant influence on an individual s behaviour and personality have certain characteristics. Attitude is formed on the basis of learning, knowledge, information, education, upbringing, thinking, lifestyle, experience, predisposition, belief, faith, outlook, communication, observation, etc. It can be good or bad, optimistic or pessimistic, positive or negative, broad or narrow friendly or unfriendly and so on. It may be consistent, may change with several external factors like time or environment, may be influenced or even can influence another attitude. Attitudes are formed based on the three theories

* Classical conditioning Attitude about IPL is formed over the years by continuous tutoring & exposing the consumers to its attributes. Thus slowly the consumer s attitude is reinforced. * Instrumental conditioning Sometimes this attitude is formed out of an incidence. This is not intentional, but due to some reason if the consumer tries some new product other than IPL & develops a favourable or unfavourable attitude, which lays the foundation of future strengthening of attitude. * Cognitive learning theory This is similar to classical conditioning, with a difference that it is associated with learning through mental processing and evaluation, experience of using/watching the IPL product over a period of time.

These theories are based on the extent of IPL penetration into consumer s mind. Penetration happens through Advertisement bombarding (Law of 29) which states that on average a prospective customer will not purchase a good or service until they have been exposed to a marketing message 29 times , hoardings, IPL images in cell phones, in railway station, Airports, Companies computers screensaver, through organizing various contests/events etc. We have presented the matrix (Attitudinal aspect Vs Behavioral aspect) based on consumer reactions in India and we have segmented according to the gender wherein youngsters are a majority in watching IPL, followed by middle aged men, followed by women and the rest, the switchers. We have also evaluated the fishbein model which fits in the study. Leaving out the attitude part, there is subjective norm which is the perception and belief of others about the intention or behaviour that are very close to the buyer. In the case of IPL, the references and the beliefs of others almost always strike chord and hence norms play a major role in influencing the buyer.

Consumer Behaviour and IPL

a. OSL: IPL was exciting to the core and promised unlimited fun and entertainment which provided enough stimulation to consumers across the OSL spectrum. Everyone had something to look out for. The hype was created months before the actual tournament and the build-up was inflated to culminate in the tournament s inaugural ceremony. IPL was a complete package with right amount of cricketing action and entertainment. DLF maxi and Karbonn Kamaal catches became household sayings. b. NFCL: Fast sports have always been a hit with the sport enthusiasts around the world. Football always held an upper hand over cricket due to the succinctness and compact package of the game. Cricket was largely a one-day affair until T20s came to the fore and it was an instant hit. IPL capitalized on this consumer s growing desire for NFCL. c. IPL as a brand: IPL as a brand was seen as: i. Exciting & Innovative a. One of its kinds Never before was a domestic tournament marketed or modeled like IPL. It was fresh on concept and provided complete family entertainment. IPL proved a lot of cricket purists wrong. b. Cricket + Entertainment = Cricketainment ii. Competitive

a. Crushed its rival league ICL ICL that started as a 100 crore venture was cornered by the IPL and ICL is non-existent now. b. Close matches in all three tournaments IPL delivered what it promised to. The matches were all high scoring and many went up to close nail biting thrillers. iii. Sophisticated 1. One of the richest leagues in the world 2. Highly glamorous event Bollywood and the who s who of the Indian business class were involved with the IPL.

Thus we can say with conclusion that the IPL was marketed very well.