As the entire world including India is gripped by soccer mania, these are exciting times for broadcaster ESPN Star Sports, which has the Fifa World Cup South Africa telecast rights for the South Asia region. ESPN Software India director – business development & corporate communication Rathindra Basu tells SportzPower’s Javed Farooqui that the response from advertisers has been very positive and the ad inventory is almost sold out.
How has been the response from advertisers to the World Cup?
The response from advertisers has been very positive. We are almost sold out now. We have signed leading brands like Vodafone and Airtel DTH as Joint Presenting broadcast sponsors almost an year ago. This reinforces our belief that advertisers in India look upon Fifa World Cup as a seriously effective way of reaching out to their target audiences.
How many sponsors do you have on-board? Apart, from sponsors, how many spot buyers do you have?
We have also signed up Nokia, Samsung & Hero Honda as Associate Sponsors. Plus there are a host of spot buyers as well including Parle Agro, Pernod Ricard, Micromax, BPCL, Coca Cola & Jhaveri Industries.
What is it that you have planned in terms of programming? Is there anything innovative that you are trying this time around for the World Cup?
Our Programming Strategy around Fifa is based on creating the most comprehensive, engaging, relevant and entertaining presentation for football fans. This translates into identifying key areas for us to look at while we take fans through the most entertaining journey. A journey that begins much earlier before the kick-off in South Africa.
We looked at in two parts – pre-event programming and the live programming around the Fifa World Cup. The aim of the pre-event programming is to make the sports fans more aware of the key teams and stars so that fans can look forward to catching them in action during the tournament by being in a more informed position. This is being shown through a series called “The Contenders” which profiles the participating countries in the Fifa World Cup 2010. In addition, we are also showcasing many interesting encounters of the past taking fans through the memory lane and giving them a flavor of what’s to come. This is further supplemented by special programming on SportsCenter that is bringing the interesting stories about the World Cup covering various aspects of the tournament.
For the live programming, we will bring all the 64 matches of Fifa live to sports fans in India thus giving them the continued exposure of the tournament right from the start till the final. To further enhance fans’ enjoyment of their favorite sport, the live broadcast of all the games will be supported with engaging pre-game & post-game shows that will profile the teams, analyze the contenders, highlight the key players to look out for and preview and review the games. This will be close to 60 mins of top class presentation in the pre-game show and another 30 min presentation in the post-game show led by John Dykes and Mayanti Langer as our team of presenters. They will get opinions and viewpoints from our expert line-up including Gerry Armstrong, Ex-England International Paul Parker and our football pundits – Shebby Singh, Paul Masefield and Jamie Reeves. In addition to the stellar studio line-up, we have our talent in the form of Gautam Bhimani and Christy Simson at the event bringing in special reports and a flavor of the tournament from South Africa.
In addition we will produce a special daily highlights show to give fans a quick update on the previous night’s action on the following mornings. Additionally, we will be keeping fans up-to-date with the latest from the World Cup with our dedicated daily special coverage on SportsCenter. This well rounded and comprehensive presentation promises to further enliven the game for fans.
What kind of value will the World Cup deliver to brands?
The popularity of the tournament has percolated down into the marketing spends of big brands as well. It is evident as the markets today are flooded with Fifa related product launches, special consumer promotions, increasing marketing spends or doing up the points of sales with World Cup décor. Soccer mania has gripped leading brands in India who are expecting huge incremental sales from the Fifa World Cup. In addition, the fact that the forthcoming Fifa World Cup is happening in South Africa means that the broadcast timing of the tournament will suit Indian audiences and this should further prop up viewership and reach of the tournament making it one of the most watched editions so far.
How much of airtime will be used for ads per match?
Per game there are 30 spots available of 30 sec each.
What are the ad-rates you are looking at?
I am bound by company policy and cannot share financial details.
Could you outline the marketing strategy for this event? How much percent of your marketing budgets have you assigned for this event?
Our promotional strategy is built on getting fans to rally behind their favorite teams and stars and, is made up of the lead campaign that started on-air during the ICC World T20. Through a series of individual TVCs, we focused on highlighting key teams and stars including Rooney (England), Kaka (Brazil), Messi (Argentina), Torres (Spain) and Ronaldo (Portugal). This is supported with other innovative campaigns built around Fifa songs by K’Naan and Shakira. Through this, we are able to bring the entertaining and global appeal of the sport to fans in a new manner.
What kind of viewership are you expecting from the World Cup? In 2006 the World Cup had garnered 1.95 TVR and managed a reach of 48 million, how high do you expect the ratings to go?
Soccer is fast gaining popularity in India. Today, soccer stars are not just recognized but also idolized by fans across the country. The affinity has grown in the past few years as fans have sampled quality soccer properties like Barclays Premier League, the Confederations Cup, and the Euro Cup.
The last two editions of the Fifa World Cup have generated huge interest in the country. The 2002 Fifa World Cup was sampled by 34 million individuals and the 2006 edition saw a growth close to 50 percent with more than 50 million individuals watching the tournament. The ratings were impressive too and on an overall basis, the 2006 tourney generated an average rating of 1.95(CS M 15+ ABC). The love for the game has grown manifold when it comes to the biggest glory – where the world’s best compete for the ultimate honours.
