TIME after time, Indian sponsors and investors take befuddling decisions within the sports domain. Cricket and its co-variants have been the recipients of intangible and unjustifiable benevolence and magnanimity from investors/endorsers over the years, with stratospheric sums that can only be attributed to philanthropy, altruism, or a vision where Cricket shall remain so far ahead of any other sport that to even question its premiums would be foolhardy.
It was this vision that clouded the judgment and decision making, preventing Indian corporates from investing in sports or event properties that would help build their brands, and also foster the growth of a global sport in India – either through viewership, or participation.
In a masterstroke, Pune’s Venkateshwara Hatcheries (Venky’s) has shown the Indian and international business of sports community how sponsorships and investments in sports should be made. For a long time now, there has been talk of an Indian corporate’s interested in purchasing a team in the English Premier League (EPL), with Liverpool, Tottenham, Arsenal and Fulham routinely in the mix for purchase by one of the Indian corporate powerhouses.
What ails the Indian corporate psyche is the need for instant recognition and payback – whether through newsworthy sponsorships or through high profile investments that glitter on paper and television, but then soak-in monetary losses like lava stones, resulting in a lose-lose situation for everyone around.
The Blackburn Rovers purchase has managed to garner international headlines and interest – this makes the Indian corporate takeover of an EPL team appear a justifiable investment. However, there is sound logic, long term strategy, and a g-local focus on not only making an international footprint in the sports domain, but also to target its demographic – where Venkys is exporting its products to.
Elena Dementieva.
Venkys’ brilliant marketing strategy and vision first made ripples during the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, when Elena Dementieva (the extremely popular Russian tennis player who has just retired) took on Sam Stosur in an epic battle on Arthur Ashe stadium. The duel ultimately concluded later than any women’s match had ever finished at the US Open, at 1:37 a.m. on a Wednesday night. And although Stosur emerged victorious, a star was born: Venkateshwara Hatcheries. To bolster its brand in Russia, Venky’s had signed Dementieva as its brand ambassador in 2009 – a move that went unnoticed by most of us.
The eagle-eyed broadcasters of CBS Sports, who were broadcasting the match in North America (I happened to be in Toronto at the time), noticed the logo on Dementieva’s leading arm. The on-air conversation between them, where they speculated on what Venky’s was, why Dementieva was sporting its logo, and the eventual realization as to how Venky’s was an Indian poultry exporter with a large presence in Russia, was the perfect example of brand building and free advertising, rivalling Li Ning’s swoosh across the Beijing Olympics.
Domestically, the purchase of Blackburn will help generate significant brand/team loyalty, to the extent that if the Rovers actually field players such Chhetri or Bhutia in the playing eleven, they might actually have an entire nation supporting them each time they compete against the best that the EPL has to offer.
And this is why the Rovers takeover is sound. A team such as Liverpool or Manchester United, not only comes at an exorbitant price, but it also comes burdened with unrealistic expectations. To not be in the top 2 or 3 of the EPL is considered a marked failure for the team, with rumblings, grumblings and revolutions that could mirror the storming of the Bastille in 1789, were the Gunners, Bombers, or the Spurs to not perform as well as they could.
Blackburn on the other hand has cost less than a tenth of what a better known EPL team could cost, and additionally, is not saddled with expectation, especially in a year where it has 9 points from 9 games, and where not being relegated will be considered a success.
With this in mind, acquiring and trading for Indian players, and eventually making a splash in the Indian league and Indian fan base could lead to a sea change in the minds of the Indian EPL viewership – already said to be in the 60-70 million range.
And one should also keep in mind that Blackburn is a club with a proud heritage and history of success, which has only recently diminished. It is one of England’s oldest clubs, with five FA championships in the 1880’s, and in fact it last won the league title in 1995. Now it typically places in the middle to upper end of the EPL, a perfect place for it to be as it rebuilds. Adding further to the allure is that Blackburn is a city where Indians constitute the largest ethnic minority at 14%.
The loss of the World Series of Boxing to Incheon, Korea is one such glaring example of the Indian mindset when it comes to sports thus far. One should thank Venky’s for setting an example where each decision that it takes in the sports domain is well-thought out, global in nature, structured to have an impact on either their international footprints, or on creating a solid base for promoting sports or the Venky’s brand dissemination/awareness in India.
With a dedicated five year plan to bring football to India, probably out of its hometown of Pune – a vibrant and growing soccer pocket, and with an EPL team in its pocket, there is no reason to suppose that Venky’s will not be the main player in the emerging football fervor in India. At a manageable cost, where the investments are justifiable, scalable, newsworthy, international, and above all else, could actually benefit Indian/international athletes, and create global brand awareness. Sleight of hand and tryst with fate.
The author is a Sports Attorney with J. Sagar Associates.
(The views expressed here are those of the Author and SportzPower need not necessarily subscribe to them).
