KISHORE AMATI
PANJIM: In terms of returns, what do you think is more profitable – cricket World Cup or the IPL?
Definitely IPL, because no matter which franchise wins, it is India that wins. The World Cup is also profitable provided India is in the finals; then it will get fantastic viewership. But because the advertisers are asked to book the ad slots in advance, many advertisers are wary of doing that. Most people are not interested in cricket but in India winning. We, as Indians, are world champions in only cricket and not any other sport. So we are very proud of it and we follow our teams. Yes, we may have taken over chess as well and our sharpshooters – both women and men and archers may have become world champions but they don’t get the kind of following cricket gets. So when it comes to advertising, I would say that a lot of advertisers want to make the most of cricketing events. But I’ll also say that cricket is a very ‘chancy’ game. If the advertisers take their chances and book the ad slots during the finals, but, say, if India is not in the finals, maybe Zimbabwe or Afghanistan is, then nobody wants to watch the World Cup.
How about India-Pakistan matches, even if it is in early stages of the World Cup?
India-Pakistan, yes! And today, for some reason, India-Australia matches have also become popular. People watch it. People want to beat the Aussies. The Australians are known to indulge in sledging and insulting us on the field, so there’s a kind of hidden anger and we would like to watch Australia get a beating from India. Wouldn’t you?
Anthems during the football World Cup are quite popular. But we haven’t had any anthems for cricket World Cup. Why?
I think it is a great oversight. We should have it. At one time, when the movie ‘Chak De!’ was released, the title song became quite popular and was played at the stadiums whenever India won. Even the song ‘Jai Ho’ from ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ was used as a substitute for the anthem. The slogans or anthems have to have a catchy quality to become popular. So far no one has come out with a catchy one, but you’re right. So I say to your readers, put on your thinking caps and come up with a good slogan or anthem for the Indian team.
Not anthems, but what came closest were jingles like ‘Yehi hai right choice baby’ by Pepsi or the Kingfisher jingle perhaps?
No no. What Pepsi did was that they came up with the tag line, ‘There’s nothing official about it’ when they were not the official suppliers of drinks to the Indian team. Coke was, and Coke kept saying that they were, ‘The official drink suppliers of the Indian cricket team’ and it was quite successful with the Indian team doing well under the captaincy of Kapil Dev. But that’s a different matter.
How do advertisers monitor sporting events in order to decide the budget for the ad campaigns?
I remember when Sachin was in his form, advertisers paid anything to – one, have him as a brand ambassador and two, to follow the matches that Sachin was playing in. As soon as Sachin went out of form, I remember, it was horrible. In Mumbai, when Sachin came out to play, the spectators booed him because, I think, he had scored a duck in about three consecutive matches. Advertisers are just like the public. They follow heroes but they don’t like defeat. Cricket as an advertising vehicle is not reliable.
Then what is?
Bollywood is. Bollywood brand ambassadors are more reliable. Even if they have a flop or two, their image is still huge. Cricketers have to rely entirely on their performance. If Amitabh gives a lousy performance even in three films consecutively, no one bothers because he is still ‘Amitabh Bachchhan’. It is the same with Salman Khan or Shahrukh. The difference between cricket and Bollywood is that the former relies on form whereas the latter cashes in on the glamour. That is why we prefer putting our money on glamour because it is everlasting. Marilyn Monroe is still one of the most popular movie-stars in the world. How can that be? She died about 30 years ago. So, in sports, if your form is good then great; if not, then the advertisers don’t want to back you.
Don’t you think that although in cricket, it depends on the form, the money spent on cricket in India is more than that spent on Bollywood?
Not at all! Bollywood as far as brand ambassadors go is far ahead of cricketers. Tendulkar was very big for quite a while, Dhoni also came close. But I can’t say that about any of the other cricketers. An Akshay Kumar could outclass any of them. Of course, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan or Shahrukh Khan are way above anyone else. But that’s the luck of the game and that is Bollywood for you.
