Cricket has drove Indians to craziness since British finally bid farewell. Broken television sets, suicides, Emotional / financial breakdowns, unofficial half days and countless other dramatic events.
IPL a.k.a. Indian Premier League is the cleverest business idea of century, Hands Down!! Even though it didn’t work out in the long run @LalitKModi did a great job of unleashing a Brand which captured the hearts and soul of Indian everywhere.
What is IPL? IPL is based on one theme ‘The world is flat but emotions are personal’, it combines the best cricketing talent in the world with territory branding full of emotions and vigor. Some people critique IPL for being shallow and pretentious, power to them but IPL is REAL, it represents an evolved audience and business model. It proves the old needs to transform itself to be relevant or be endangered.
As the richest sports league in the world, it commands deserving attention to adapt and learn. Here are 10 lessons for businesses to aim for success
1. Never say Never before: Most business commit the cardinal sin of stating nobody has done it before us or focusing too much on the non-existent but IPL is based on the most popular sports of the country, BCCI always had regional cricket played. Everything was there before but @LalitKModi thought different and combined it with glamour, show business, bollywood, powerful business personality. Pretty much brought the ‘sexy back’ to cricket.
Tip: Look for the most popular trends in your industry and repackage it with vigor, aspiration and Boldness. This applies from accounting to manufacturing shoe laces. Your size doesn’t decide your success but your passion and hunger.
2. Sell the Dream: I mean it in the most sincere way, forget everything else you are in the business of selling dreams and this doesn’t applies to real estate and insurance only. Unless you relate to people’s better side you don’t stand a chance to be a ‘SUPER’ brand. IPL from the very beginning was all about selling the dream whether to its sponsors or its viewers. It’s a promise of better and bolder you.
TIP: Your business should be relatable to the better side of your consumer, if you give them power there will keep coming back for more.
3. Deliver: IPL was all about big and bold announcements and thrilling excitement but they did manage to deliver it to the mark and probably much more. IPL promoted itself as ‘Entertainment in Cricket’ not ‘Cricket in Entertainment’ and that’s what precisely its all about. Over the five years IPL has more or less delivered the public bonanza and is evolving to absorb the ever-changing and more so challenging variables.
TIP: Carefully develop a bold brand phenomena and then deliver value, don’t shy away from going the extra mile. Value is the only this which is going the build the bridge between you and your clientele for recurring business.
4. Everybody is accessible: IPL has brought the mightiest of the lot together and anybody can tell that franchisees are not just in for the profit. Its much more,it’s a ‘TAG’ which is so rare that owning it makes you almost invincible. You might be a billionaire; a superstar unless you own an IPL team your coolness quotient can not match the ones who do. A business model which is highly restrictive, elite and yet relevant for masses will never suffer from lack of interest.
TIP: Putting restriction for access will make your business desirable to the elite of the elitist. The model works for mass market too, if you build certain behavior driven restrictive checks.
5. Show me the Money: A recent report reveals, the revenue from tickets is lowest and franchisees make money from sponsorships , airtime, endorsements, promotions and merchandise. The report also reveled the old franchisees got way better deal than the new ones but do you see any lack of interest from the owners???. Absolutely not, IPL has become the ultimate brand promotion property. If you got it you flaunt it, money will automatically follow where energy flows.
Tip: If your product becomes the center of gravity for acquiring customers then let the business model evolve, don’t be rigid. Create synergy driven properties to bring value to all stakeholders and mostly to your end customer.
6. The Show must go on: IPL didn’t act like a wet cat when they got the obnoxious no for organizing matches in India for one of its season. It immediately went in to a overdrive and ultimately maneuvered it in its favour. IPL fans wanted a cricket feast and that’s what they got and in the process the IPL brand got a stronger foothold in its customers emotions. The travel industry got a huge supplemental benefit and so did other allied ones.
TIP: When encountered with sudden or unexpected challenges think different, think like IPL and look it straight in the eyes to turn it around in your favour. Be open to meet additional opportunities and relationships.
7. PR, PR , PR, PR & some more PR: IPL is one of the most PR savvy brand in India, it manages to remain in the news due to its high-profile franchisees almost all the time and it’s not aggressive PR like the one nearing the event, its soft PR embedded in the story pressing itself in the psyche of its reader. IPL has mastered the art of effortless PR and that has given them an outrageous advantage. IPL understands the significance of driving content instead of just developing content.
TIP: PR is always more valuable than paid advertising in mobilizing follower-ship and business development. Although, the days of classic Press Release are dead but PR today is about being news worthy and churning out useful content on consistent basis. Investing and Developing a culture of consistent value driver PR places you up front irrespective of your size.
Compared to global leagues IPL is still young and has a long way to go but nobody can ignore its impact and business model.
The extra Dough: Stuff you can do now to get on the IPL bandwagon:
1. Run time bound category specific campaigns relevant to your business. Indian Product league, India prospect league, Indian Chips League, Indian Make League. You catch my drift make it bold, make it attractive and put it up on your website, your email list etc.
2. Do a product launch nearing the end date of IPL and start the teasers right now
3. Run content relating to IPL on Social Media, Press, your website.
4. Organize IPL lunches, Cocktails, Dinners for your deserving clientele or potential one. Nobody can say no to cricket, food and drinks in India and it will give you an opportunity to open up and develop a cool relationship.
5. Run SEO Campaign: I searched a couple of IPL terms on google but got nothing for listing in terms of business. Why not run a time restricted SEO campaign this is especially crucial for restaurants, take away concept, sporting goods, Sports coaching and consumer goods. Get a feeling of the people who goggle IPL and accordingly show yourself to them.
6. Get some interviews with your industry peers and post it as IPL bonus on your site and other media.
7. Write a post like this if you are an individual and make it relevant to your industry.
8. Come out with a customer driven campaign featuring customers which can be used as testimonials.
