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Cricket is almost a religion in India. Though we, the Indians, have always been craving for any kind of cricket but since the inception of the 20-20 cricket, it could easily be said that fanaticism for cricket has gone to the next level.
With the masses already crazy for the format, it was not difficult for a certain Lalit Modi to come up with the legendary Indian Premier League. But the IPL is not just about the sport and the teams, it is also about what the teams have created in themselves, Brands.
The best example for this is the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). The brand strategy implemented has made the team the richest amongst all its competitors.
And not that KKR is the best team in IPL. This is despite a streak of poor performances at the IPL matches by KKR. The team has been deduced to have a brand valuation worth of US$ 22.1 million in 2009. This is as per Intangible Business which is a leading international brand valuation firm in UK. The study was conducted in association with MTI Consulting.
So what exactly does provide value to this team inspite of its degrading performances? What drives the brand KKR?
The answer is actually simple.
Playing It Right! Winning is just one aspect of the sports’ marketing. Another very important factor is that the team must be known. The team should be easily related to by the masses. This is where branding comes in.
Whether it is the launch of new jersey, or the introduction of the mascot Hoogli, be it the Fake IPL Player blog or the reality show for the cheerleaders, everything KKR do, people notice. Though some controversy is good for a healthy image, it has to be ensured that it is in the news for the right reasons.
Other important factors are the team owner Shah Rukh Khan and the captain Sourav Ganguly. Here, the important factor was for the audiences to connect which was easily possible with the two Mega Icons of the country. They are brands in themselves and strike a chord with the general public. So, with them in hand, it is not very hard to create an effective marketing communications or an efficient PR strategy. Presence of King Khan in the matches of KKR makes it even more lucrative for people to go and watch him cheering the squad.
Also, with a bagful of awards, KKR has caught eyes of all. At 4P (not to be confused with us!) BMA Power Awards 2009 Marketing Strategy was bagged by KKR
All in all, brand values could be defined as a forecast predicting the capability of a brand to generate income in the future. It is study which looks into the past performances to generate trends for the future and KKR seem to be the masters for it.
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The above article has been put by Akshat Jain, a student of MPSTME. Connect with him on facebook page.
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