Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Sunday Dec 15, 2024
Monday, 29 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
The world of marketing has intrigued me, not only because I have spent most my life in this profession and managed powerful global brands like Dettol, but because it is the only discipline in business that makes one close to the end customer. It is the key business function that tells the company ‘unless we change we will lose the customer’. 
In this perspective, one of the most successful brands that our part of the world has developed that has captured the changing customer of today is the Indian Premier League (IPL).
IPL and politics
If we analyse IPL, it has captured the changing consumer need for entertainment and within just 12 years the brand has become a six billion dollar brand. In fact, IPL is already within the top 10 brands of India. It has become a case study to the world on how a brand needs to change to the changing consumer requirements.
The concept of selling cricket stars at a public money auction linked to the corporate world of India and Bollywood can be termed shrewd but this start by Lalith Modi has gone on to catch the world. Just like any other start-up the man who saw the future is no more in the company but Lalith Modi from the sidelines is giving definition to the brand with statements like “IPL will be more valuable than Manchester United,” which are absolute classics from the originator.
We see a similarity with Sri Lanka politics where the three brands MR, MS and RW are fighting to demonstrate who is meeting the voter needs better. If one analyses the traction on the brands we see how brand MR is out beating the rest on the key parameters of evaluation. The research was done by the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) based on the reviews/comments on the net.
1) Age is just a number
When the last IPL auction was done and dusted the Chennai Super Kings was lugged with nine cricketers over 30 years old. Given the intensity of the game and fast pace at which it has to move, many had written off the team as too old. But the captain, Dhoni, being an exceptional leader, had other plans as his ethos was ‘age is only a number’. The team went on to beat the entrenched competitive young teams and won the converted 2018 IPL edition.
Lesson for SL: It’s time that Sri Lanka politics listen to the youngsters and appoint a new set of leaders. Many names are coming into the fray such as Sajith Premadasa and Gotabaya Rajapaksa. By 11 August the brand names will be announced but we must remember that age is only a number. What is required is the radical changes that are required and Sri Lanka needs to be re-launched to the world. After all South Asia is growing at around 6% whilst Sri Lanka is struggling at 2.7%.
2) Process-driven approach
Having worked in India for almost three years and indirectly reporting to regional headquarters based in India for over 20 years, a statement that caught my attention was when at the post-match press conference Dhoni said: “We followed process.” His basic argument was that irrespective of the score the Chennai Super Kings were chasing, the team was expected to follow the process in batting, fielding and bowling, which took away the pressure and stress out of the team.
Lesson for SL: The focus industry of Sri Lanka that has resulted in the total economy crashing is tourism. What this industry requires is a ‘process-driven approach’ to building the brand. Giving free access to the country or giving incentives to the middle men is not the right way to build a brand. All we have to do is to look at a country that practices the ‘best strategies’ of tourism business development and then we can see how far away Sri Lanka is from the reality.
3) Roles and responsibilities
An interesting argument. Just like in office captain Dhoni mentioned that one of the key reasons for the victory by Chennai Super Kings was due to the fact that everyone knew their roles and responsibilities irrespective of the circumstances they were up against. As the leader he acknowledged that personalities like Watson would not recover in health as fast as youngsters given the T20 format. But, he said, “We must accept this reality and work around this limitation,” which is what he did and his side went on to win.
Lesson for SL: Good leaders do not stretch all employees in the same manner. Sadly if we track the ministers appointed to each of the key ministries we see the mismatch in their personalities and the task to perform. Hence we cannot blame the minister but the person who made these appointments, the most quoted example being tourism.
4) Create an environment – Coach
An interesting comment by champion captain Dhoni. He said the task of the coach is not only focusing on the skill but ensuring that the environment is conducive for players to enjoy the game. The exact words Dhoni said: “A happy team can bring happy results.” And they did by winning the 2018 edition.
Lesson for SL: From what we hear in the media it is very clear that the majority of the members of the UNP are not happy at the manner in which the party and the country are being administered. A classic example was how the post-disaster PR was handled post the Easter attacks. It’s time that the hierarchy picks up a lesson or two from IPL and see how at least now a fair chance can be given to the brand in the upcoming Provincial Elections or the Presidential Election 2020.
5) Accept the weaknesses of a player
At the post-match interview, Captain Dhoni mentioned that you cannot expect over 35-year-olds like Watson or Bravo not being able to stop a sharp single. But the reality had to be understood and appropriate fall-back was set in motion. Watson went on to win ‘Best Batsman’ even though he may have had issues on the other areas of the game.
Lesson for SL: Once you identify a weakness of a team member, let’s accept the reality. What is sad about the current Government is that a ‘scientific’ process was said to have been applied in the selection but those who had failed in the first two years or had serious allegations of corruption that were exposed in the media were reappointed. The best example is the Central Bank. Hence the pubic which was looking for ‘Yahapalana’ lost confidence in the system.
6) Shane Warne dumped by last year’s team
Even though Rajasthan Royals has dumped Shane Watson from the team this season, it was Chennai Super Kings who picked the personality on the second round. Dhoni believed in the talent when others succumbed.
Lesson for SL: In business too, there are times we must pick the winners even though they have been dropped by other companies. But picking people for political loyalty due to collusion for corruption cannot be accepted. The root cause for the communal backlash in Kandy was due to this fact but inaction by the hierarchy.
7) Rasheed was the find
Whilst there were interesting performances by different players, to my mind the find was from the back-of-beyond cricketing nation Afghanistan that produced the amazingly talented Rasheed Khan. He singlehandedly carried the team to the final. Dhoni accepted the talent and said he would have a great future.
Lesson for SL: It’s important to find the Rasheeds in the public sector. But sadly in the current Government, even they cannot perform due to the poor leadership on ‘bias for action’. A classic example was during the third month remembrance, many victims of the Easter attacks stated that they had not received any compensation on mass media.
8) Lucky 7
Whilst many of us do not believe in superstition, Captain Dhoni does. He said the lucky 7 was seen in the different permutations of the Chennai Super Kings.
Lessons for SL: It’s strange but most politicians look at the ‘good time’ before the commencement of any project. Looks like nothing is working for the Government.
9) $ 6 billion
Whilst the world was celebrating the Chennai Super Kings’ victory, the owners was speculating what the value of IPL would be in 2018 given that currently, the brand had hit $ 5.2 billion. Media was highlighting that BCCI is sitting on an asset which is worth $ 6 billion in 2018 and what will be the value of brand Chennai Super Kings and the commercial world will exploit such opportunities for branding and maybe even divestment.
Lesson for SL: Whilst the world is moving fast we must remember that we must not hold on to an asset but at the right time divest it. I would say the current issues on SOFA is one such example. Sadly it has not been marketed properly by the current Government that has led to the Speaker dictating the course of action in Parliament based on an uproar by minister, which does not augur well for the country.
10) Powerful ideas
When Lalith Modi decided to commercialise the 20/20 cricket by launching the IPL brand 10 years back, he believed that nothing was as powerful as an idea whose time had come. He passionately drove the idea when a few actually believed it. Today this is a $ 5.3 billion brand. One of the success stories the world has seen as a start-up.
Around three years into the championship, I still remember the day when it was announced that IPL could not be staged in India due to the Indian election. Modi took the high ground and said, “I am going to export this product to another market.” The event that was staged in South Africa was a masterpiece. It was an Indian-African mix that attracted the President of South Africa to be the Chief Guest at the final which tells us how hard this single idea was conceived and driven to. 
Lesson to SL: Things will never be perfect but what is required is to grab the opportunities in the market place as they emerge. In this light we can push the agenda with the Lonely Planet ranking but we are yet awaiting for the global marketing campaign on tourism that has not been launched for the last four years.
11) Know your eyeballs
It may sound a whipped concept but the reality is that IPL just like any other consumer brand is targeting your own brother or sister. They are your consumer. They are your eyeballs. When it came to the IPL the competitors were the target consumers spending two hours at the gym working out, a group of friends enjoying an evening drink at a club or watching that favourite TV program at home. Hence, the only way to lure them was to provide a carnival atmosphere with music, dancers and excitement with ruthless competitiveness that helped attract 40,000 eyeballs.
Lesson to SL: In parallel we can see that Sri Lanka post the tsunami once again had the world’s attention. Sri Lanka became a top-of-the-mind brand. But sadly we have once again lost the opportunity to capture the world as the culprits responsible for the inaction have not been charged. This led to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith taking the submission to the Vatican and having a full-blown press conference out of Italy. Even as we speak there is no light on this investigation.
12) Heavyweights behind you
If we track back Lalith Modi got the best talent to back him. Be it Shah Rukh Khan or Preity Zinta or Mahendra Dhoni at 1.5 million dollars, or the best young lifestyle TV presenters to be the voice for IPL. The franchisees were sold to focus on the 10-12 year olds as they will be the target consumers of tomorrow and they also have the power to influence the family. The brand will have a revenue turnover of over 1.6 billion dollars in the next 10 years which is the strength of the demand pull.
Lesson to SL: In my view SOFA with the US can be directed for investments to be made on manufacturing by US companies like Intel. This was done in Vietnam that has made this economy a 7% Plus GDP today. We must follow suit but given the focus on elections in the next three months we might lose this opportunity once again.
13) Performance over reputation
A key success factor at IPL was that big names did not count. All that mattered was performance. In fact there were many instances where the top names of cricket were spectators. The winners were those with the right attitude with skill. Age was also not a barrier. Shane Warne proved it by being selected as the ‘Most Valued Player’ in season one.
Lesson to SL: My pick from the political world is that someone must do a deep dive on how the 21/4 disaster took the total country to the wire, starting from tourism to the rest of the economy as one tourist that comes to the country creates five new jobs. The lesson is, how can the economy be diversified to avoid this situation in the future?
Conclusion
IPL is a case study of modern day marketing where guerrilla techniques of business work. But more importantly it tells us that with focus even with a two-year-toddler a $ 6 billion brand can be built. Sadly Sri Lanka has lost its total nation brand value which has collapsed from 30% to a challenging 4%.
(The thoughts are strictly the personal views of the author and he can be contacted on [email protected].)
