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Commonwealth Games 2010, Delhi

11 August 2010 16 Comments

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Come the 3rd day of October this year, India will attempt to showcase its arrival on the world stage when the Commonwealth Games kick off in Delhi.  Given the attention which India garners in the international press these days, it’s enough to say that the world will be watching us to see if we can pull this off. This makes it one grand marketing spectacle, with a little bit for everyone. But has it been marketed enough?

A spectacle like the Commonwealth Games provides a unique opportunity for a nation to brand and showcase itself in better light. It’s a chance to make a firm and lasting impact on the world stage. However, we find that the run up to the Games has been marred by controversies, one after another, and this has certainly left a bitter taste.

Initially, there were fears that the stadium facilities and the city’s infrastructure projects would not be completed on time. This was followed by a good dose of criticism in the press about the inconvenience caused to folks in Delhi. Next, in typical neta style, we were witness to a good deal of squabbling between politicians and bureaucrats. Finally, allegations of corruption provided the icing on the cake.

Given all the negative publicity, how do we save Shera?

At home – Engage the crowds

To establish a favorable impression abroad, it is first necessary to woo our own citizens and attempt to develop a sense of pride and ownership among them. Currently, people in India seem to be a tad disconnected with the show in Delhi. With just a few months to go, this requires urgent attention. CWG merchandise, which has been delayed by some time now (sigh!), must be rolled out on a massive scale and made available to citizens at large. The organizers must look to step up print and media advertising to showcase the positives – the number of participants, the revenue neutral budget, the Green Games initiative etc. We want people to stop talking about the controversies and start talking more about the event. Also, given the lukewarm interest from corporates, it would also be a good idea to appeal to Indian industry leaders and seek their help for branding and promoting the event in better light.

Abroad – Talk to the athletes

To negate the damage to our national brand and to throw favorable light on the Games, it is again important to reach out to the masses in the Commonwealth nations.  However, people abroad are neither going to listen to our Honorable Sports Minister nor our Beloved Chairman of the Organizing Committee. Instead, we must let them hear it from their own athletes. For example, Annamay Pierse, the Canadian swimmer and World record holder in the women’s 200 m breaststroke event has expressed her keen desire and interest to be a part of the Games. Wouldn’t it help if the Canadian public got to hear this from one of their leading athletes? A concerted effort must be launched to engage the athletes, establish a favorable impression with them and communicate their eagerness and interest to the public. It would also be a good idea to reach out to NRIs and PIOs abroad and kindle their pride and patriotism, seek their help and use them as unofficial brand ambassadors within their respective circles. This would certainly influence popular opinion favorably among people abroad.

I know it is a touch too late for this, but it would help if we could couple the Games with our tourism promotion and come out with something along the lines of the Incredible India campaign. Our rich culture and heritage is one of our USPs and given the damage to our credibility, it would certainly be a fine time to play this card. With the right degree of push, it would definitely help overshadow the unsavory coverage which the event has received so far.

Playing host to the Commonwealth Games provides us with a unique and powerful opportunity, one which must not be squandered. A concerted effort to save Shera is needed in the best interests of our people. Think about the current level of enthusiasm and the expectation for the Cricket World Cup in 2011. Compare this with the Commonwealth Games to be held in less than 60 days from now. I rest my case.

Arvind(Arvind Ramachandran is a PGDCM (2011) student at IIM Calcutta. Write to him at arvindr2011@email.iimcal.ac.in)

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  • arvind

    Thank you Abhinav. Glad you like it.

  • Abhinav Bhargava

    Great post and even better follow-up comments. Cheers

  • arvind

    @Rana: Thank you Rana. Interesting ideas. I too read that letter and it certainly was appealing and caught the eye. The CWG committee could have followed it up by actively seeking similar messages and comments from other prominent members of society. A series of such letters and messages across a span of days would certainly have made people sit up and take notice.

    @Rahul: I must agree with Varun here. Given the fact that we are unaware of their strategy and goals with regard to this venture, I feel it would be presumptuous to comment at this stage. It would depend a great deal on how Central Bank manages to leverage this association in its advertising campaigns, both during and after the Games.

  • Varun

    @Rana: Some good suggestions there. The anthem was launched recently but still hasn’t caught people’s attention. While if u remember, songs like Wavin’ flag and Waka Waka had a huge following. One reason was that they were given enough time to reach that mass scale….I am not sure whether one month is enough for this anthem to gain that much popularity…I just hope things turn around for CWG!

    @Rahul: It would be very difficult to comment on Central Bank’s move. To start off, I did not come across any news item which firstly confirms that they are spending their entire ATL budget on CWG. Secondly, even if they are, it has to looked from the perspective of their goals; whether it is reach, awareness etc. Then what is their target segment and whether there will be enough eyeballs from that particular segment following the games. To simply call a particular campaign “good” or “bad” would be judgmental and erroneous, imho.

  • Rahul Pandey

    Central Bank would complete it’s 100 Years, It has spend its whole Budget allocated for ATL in CWG.
    Do you think is this the right move by Central Bank.
    Central Bank will setup mobile ATM’s in Stadiums and nearby areas.

  • Rana

    A very nice post to start of with….

    I think too much has been said about the dismal failure of our country to grab attention even nationally (put to rest the question of gaining eyeballs internationally!!) ; but neways lets look into the opportunities that could be availed of at this eleventh hour and we could still end up recieving a decent audience :

    1. The Games Anthem which is being designed by A.R,Rahman could be really catchy!!!….now wat we need to do is just have all the Bollywood celebrities discuss and come out with an eye-popping video too(the likes of Shakira’s WAKA WAKA). Combine this an advertising partner like Vodafone and the games would gain instant popularity.

    2.Another step that could be taken is by the State governments of all states by painting the town with huge banners and posters…everywhere…in buses, local trains…so that people all over india feel as connected as the organising committee or the people closely associated with the games….i know a lot needs to be done within a short span of time but this is the only way the usually dormant youth of india can wake up to the call of the pride of the country. We could also take help of various NGOs in doing this.

    I would like to mention the article that was published in all the national dailies a few days back by the Chairman of Sahara Group ; urging the youth to come together and take pride in invoking interest of the public in the Games. The article really made a mark but was all in wain, as it was not followed with consistent efforts to show the youth as to how it could help and really make a difference.

    The print media is the only means by which we can spread the word and make it heard too…!!

  • arvind

    Thank you Netika. Glad you like the post :)
    Lets hope for all our sakes that the recently set-up ‘high-level’ committee is able to pull the proverbial rabbit out of the hat!

  • arvind

    @ Sachin: Thanks Sachin. Perception is the key and the organization committee’s attempt at popularizing the event has been a dismal failure. And yeah, its ironical that the scandal surrounding the event has finally generated a lot of interest among our people :) Sad indeed.

  • arvind

    @ Shashank: I think all the reasons that you’ve stated have worked together and snowballed into one huge mess. In the IPL, the major stakeholders are large multinational sponsors, the team owners, the players and so on. Spectators derive entertainment from the event but their stake is comparatively limited. However, their involvement levels are remarkably high.
    Compare this to the Commonwealth Games. In this case, along with sponsors, our nation as a whole is a stakeholder in the event’s success. However, the level of involvement and exposure among common folk is significantly lower. Definitely food for thought.

  • Netika

    There is not only absensce of interest towards the game, there is, infact, total disregard now. We have’ONLY 50 DAYS TO GO.. ARE WE READY?” campaigns, but somehwere it’s yet to, you know, HIT us, STRIKE us.. that the games ARE HERE. Can’t really blame it on the junta, the feel of the games comes when we see progress and good progress. Here, the pit falls are seen as failures of gargantum proportion and progress, well, miniscule.

    Totally agree with Arvind and Varun, the possibilites are immense. and even if we are tapping the most effective ones, we aren’t perhaps doing it effetively.

    From the reasons you cited, Shashank, I’d say b) is of critical importance. Even if we drop the comparisons for a while, the question as to how much and how long lasting are the benefits we’re looking at, is to be seen. And we’re talking directly relatable benefits here.

    Lastly, they’ve forgotten the games are in DILLI.. We’re a mad lot. They could’ve capitalized on our madness, we’d have done the rest ;)

    Ofcourse, great post. ALso, I appreciate your level of interaction with the readers.In this post, or the others :) Ofcourse, this said, you don’t necessarily need to reply to this post.. It’s anyway too long to even read :P

  • Sachin Kaushik

    the day i heard dat CWG 2010 will be hosted by India(7-8yrs ago)…i thot chalo v may experience a shift from a cricketing nation to a nation which respects other sports as well… i mean by the construction of new stadiums…nd den der was delay in this whole system of taking approval, purchasing material, ………..finally constructing a infra for games.

    Now the success of the event shall lie only in “PERCEPTION PERCEPTION
    PERCEPTION” that the OC would hv made(but cud’nt) nd shall make(hopefully) about CWG 2010.
    This is an event for which every youth should get associated and feel proud. But youth(lifeline of India) always go by perception which OC has still not marked in their priorities. Just making the logo and mascot is not the end of making percpetion. It is the scale of interaction(verbal & non-verbal) that shall finally reap in making Indians finally realise and contribut to the success of the games.

    BTW a nice post…..

  • Shashank Bajaj

    this thought just crossed my mind… compare the advertising build up to the IPL (any of the 3 versions) with what we have for CW Games.

    Why is there such a huge difference in the two? I propose some possible reasons:

    (a) BCCI & Set Max have more funds to spend on advertising than Organising Committee for CWG
    (b) The IPL stakeholders have much more to gain from its success vis a vis CWG… which brings to the point- Who are the stakeholders for CWG
    (c) CWG Organising Committee does not realize importance of marketing the event
    (d) CWG Organising Committee marketing team is not good enough

    What do you think is the real reason?

  • arvind

    I totally agree with you Varun. The desire to promote this extravaganza and really make it big seems to be missing. And for an event of this magnitude, the possibilities are immense. It is difficult to ignore the missed opportunity. Let us hope we get our acts together in time and ensure a resounding success.

  • Varun

    I like the idea of taking the campaign international, and not just through the traditional media.
    CWG’s facebook page and youtube channel really disappoint me. Youtube, specially, has a lot of potential! Where is the passion, the energy, the spirit which we generally associate with sports? That raw power is missing and that totally puts me off!

  • Shashank Bajaj

    yes, the revenue neutrality and the ‘Green Games’ are two ideas with a HUGE potential to create buzz. however, communicating this idea through conventional marketing using OOH, print, radio etc would seem like ‘trying too hard’. i believe the best medium for at least these two ideas would be PR.

    further, as varun mentioned, huge hoardings talking about various aspects of the game should be leveraged to excite the home audience at least

    further, airport is a very good channel to communicate with the foreign audience. there are a few banners here and there at the Delhi airport. However, much more needs to be done at the airport itself; and why just Delhi airport… Mumbai might, in fact, be a more beneficial airport in attracting more foreign audience towards the games. if possible to implement within manageable costs, having a few ads at some of the airports outside India would really make them say, “Oh… it’s certainly something good”

  • Varun

    Great post dude! And a very pertinent issue to be touched upon. I always believe that no good marketing can lead you anywhere if the underlying product does not measure up. So first of all, the CWG committee has to get its act together; but yes, the level of buzz being created about the games is abysmally low! By this time the town should have been painted all black and yellow! Out of home media is a medium which should be looked into very seriously.
    This is also an opportunity to give some lesser advertised sports a much needed shot in the arm. If enough hype can be created about sports like hockey in schools and colleges, we might just be able to revive some of them.