Demographics around TMM would help us reach our target audience better’

As the clock ticks down to the 2020 edition of the country’s biggest running event – the Tata Mumbai Marathon – a new partnership that will kick in for event promoters Procam International on race day is with Franklin Templeton. The fund house has come on board as Investment Partner for all of Procam’s four running events. 

SANJAY SAPRE, Franklin Templeton India president, spoke to Vivek Krishnan on his company’s first ever sponsorship of a sports event in the country. 

Edited excerpts from the interview:

Is this the first time you are sponsoring a distance running event? 
Actually in India, this is the first time we are sponsoring any sports event. Since we have a fairly big running culture in the country, where a lot of people run in the Mumbai Marathon, we thought this would be an ideal opportunity. Moreover, we found synergy between the discipline required to be successful in long distance running and the discipline required to be a long time patient investor.

Why have you chosen to sponsor a distance running event? 
We found so many common things that we felt the fit was very good. Beyond that it’s a marquee event. People are watching, reading and participating. Also the demographics around the event would help us reach our target audience better.

Is this the first time you are sponsoring a sports event? 
This is the first sports event that we are getting into as a sponsor. In the past, we have had interesting sports events as a company. We have been running a Golf event in India, where we invite our partners to play. Globally also we do it annually. In India we also have a cricket tournament– FT friendship series across cities. But yes, you can say this is our big banner event debut in India.

How do you think sponsoring a sports event like this can help your brand grow? 
What we want to do through this is always find a meaningful relevant platform to get our message to people. Reading an AD banner or an article won’t help much. But associating with a big event like the Tata Marathon & Procam, you can take the story in a better way to the public, which will also resonate well with them. The reach & the brand rub off can help us reach people in an emotional and personal way. The message we want to give is: successful investing is a marathon and not a sprint. The same qualities that a marathon runner should have.

Is Sports going to be a key area for your marketing? 
Not sure at this moment, we can comment on all sports. But we find synergy with long distance running and therefore we have partnered this event. Also, it is not a given that all of our promotions are going to be done through sports.

How much of your marketing budget do you allocate for sports? 
We don’t set aside any specific amount as such. Whenever there is a requirement, we make the move. We look at the platform and the synergy and then take it from there.

What activities will you be doing around the Mumbai Marathon to leverage your sponsorship? 
So obviously we will take our marathon of life message out. We also do Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore Marathon. We will use the social platform to interact and drive the message through.