Who is bigger ? Owner or the team ? .. If the ongoing KKR saga is anything to go by, its clearly a case of owner's megalomania. Any sensible businessmen would invest in a business only if his expected returns are higher that his opportunity cost of capital. If Shahrukh has a personal appeal , so does Cricket as a game, Sourav as a star and Kolkota as a city. If reality shows like Indian idol, Dance India Dance over the last few years are anything to go by, regional loyalties of Bengal and north eastern states are the strongest. Sourav has the strongest regional fan following, not even Dravid or Tendulkar had fans crying hoarse/ protesting in streets when dropped from the national team.
I am reminded of a lesson in brand management about value proposition. It talked about three different benefits - Functional benefit, Emotional benefit and Self Expressive Benefit. While tough game of cricket played and match won is an functional benefit, the emotional benefit comes from the fans associating themselves with Kolkota as well as the support for Sourav as the bengali representative. Shahrukh khan represented the self expressive benefit. All fans identify with Shahruskh, they want to be like him, they love seeing him on TV, but you wont miss him if he not there.
The fancy team dress and the hummable team song in bengali was excellent symbolism. While the performance of KKR in IPL 2008 wasn't great, it still was not as miserable as say RCB or DC. But that was not enough for Shahrukh. He started believing that KKR appeal extended across the country, across age groups. The glitz and glamour would haze out the raw passion of Eden gardens crowd cheering for their favourite bengali cricketer. Like EPL clubs, he thought a top ranked coach would dramatically turnaround the fortunes. An array of sponsors and a profitable first year, just added to the over confidence.
What he did not realise that, the ManUs and the Liverpool's of the world have been around for decades and have loyalties which transcend generations of players, viewers and fans. IPL is still in its infancy and KKR is still being evaluated by the audience. Niether IPL nor KKR can take the loyalties for granted. By rubbing sourav the wrong way, squabbling with bengal cricket association besides suffering the ignominy of being bottom placed team, KKR's business plan is in a complete disarray. Mere symbolism can't sustain the appeal of a brand.
Its high time KKR revisited its communication strategy, if it plans to retain any of its sponsors/supporters. First, get dada back at the helm. Bengalis love his mis fields , they adore the fact the he runs his opponents out, they can forgive his low strike rate. Instead of getting the local boys to warm the bench, get them a few games and a little more publicity. Any amount of good PR will only help salvage some pride, badly hurt by the fake ipl player blog.
As far as team performances go, they have been brave losers in many close matches, unlike RCB and DC last year. The fighting spirit has its own charm. Goran Ivanasevic or Jana Novotna were players better known for their brave losses than victories.
I am reminded of a lesson in brand management about value proposition. It talked about three different benefits - Functional benefit, Emotional benefit and Self Expressive Benefit. While tough game of cricket played and match won is an functional benefit, the emotional benefit comes from the fans associating themselves with Kolkota as well as the support for Sourav as the bengali representative. Shahrukh khan represented the self expressive benefit. All fans identify with Shahruskh, they want to be like him, they love seeing him on TV, but you wont miss him if he not there.
The fancy team dress and the hummable team song in bengali was excellent symbolism. While the performance of KKR in IPL 2008 wasn't great, it still was not as miserable as say RCB or DC. But that was not enough for Shahrukh. He started believing that KKR appeal extended across the country, across age groups. The glitz and glamour would haze out the raw passion of Eden gardens crowd cheering for their favourite bengali cricketer. Like EPL clubs, he thought a top ranked coach would dramatically turnaround the fortunes. An array of sponsors and a profitable first year, just added to the over confidence.
What he did not realise that, the ManUs and the Liverpool's of the world have been around for decades and have loyalties which transcend generations of players, viewers and fans. IPL is still in its infancy and KKR is still being evaluated by the audience. Niether IPL nor KKR can take the loyalties for granted. By rubbing sourav the wrong way, squabbling with bengal cricket association besides suffering the ignominy of being bottom placed team, KKR's business plan is in a complete disarray. Mere symbolism can't sustain the appeal of a brand.
Its high time KKR revisited its communication strategy, if it plans to retain any of its sponsors/supporters. First, get dada back at the helm. Bengalis love his mis fields , they adore the fact the he runs his opponents out, they can forgive his low strike rate. Instead of getting the local boys to warm the bench, get them a few games and a little more publicity. Any amount of good PR will only help salvage some pride, badly hurt by the fake ipl player blog.
As far as team performances go, they have been brave losers in many close matches, unlike RCB and DC last year. The fighting spirit has its own charm. Goran Ivanasevic or Jana Novotna were players better known for their brave losses than victories.
Will we see a reborn KKR next IPL ?. Anybody's guess..
PS: Is it sheer coincidence that Mumbai team was named Indians and the team blue jersey resembles the national team's colour the most?. May be its clever branding or just that RIL never had any mass consumer brand to advertise. Thankfully, the Maratha factor has also been underplayed.
PPS: Why have owners of the Delhi and Chennai teams keeping a low profile ?. No owners/No stars to be seen around to cheer the teams.
PS: Is it sheer coincidence that Mumbai team was named Indians and the team blue jersey resembles the national team's colour the most?. May be its clever branding or just that RIL never had any mass consumer brand to advertise. Thankfully, the Maratha factor has also been underplayed.
PPS: Why have owners of the Delhi and Chennai teams keeping a low profile ?. No owners/No stars to be seen around to cheer the teams.
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ReplyDeleteI'll start by saying that I don't have much respect for Shahrukh Khan or John Buchanan. But then everybody is a genius in hindsight. KKR is 1 of the only 2 teams in IPL which made profit last year despite a dismal showing. Wasn't that glitz and glamour? So what is the next logical step for Shahrukh Khan as the owner - improvement in team's performance. So he decided to do what the most successful coach in cricket history told him to do- which is not such a bad thing to do. McCullum is young and seemingly capable and not a bad choice for captain( even fake IPL player agrees!) and if Dada can't swallow his ego and is responsible for bad dressing room environment, it's Dada who has to be blamed, not Shahrukh Khan.
ReplyDelete"Only thing" I think they lacked were good players, but then the few good players they have are also not performing. That's plain bad luck.Who would know that the overrated rising star of India, the most dangerous fast bowler in the world would flop so miserably.
If KKR was at the top, would you still be writing this post?
Interesting view manan .. I would still be writing the post, as I said, the team winning is just one of the benefits. I am sure the treatment meted out to Sourav and off field events, would still rankle any KKR fan. Well the coach was most successful, when he was at the helm of the most talented team, who have come up through an awesome system. If he can bring in rookie new comers and turn them into consistent match winners, I would rate him high.
ReplyDeleteFrom a purely KKR brand point of view, I am sure its bound to get affected.
The reason that the Delhi Daredevils and Chennai Super Kings have been maintaining a low profile is the fact that they are owned by purely corporate houses such as the GMR Group and India Cements. These are reasonably boring real estate related companies who will probably never get a film star to endorse either their brands or their teams for that matter. Just as an FYI, the Mumbai Indians don't have any film stars rooting for them as well.
ReplyDeleteCheers.......Jam
Its the team Shreyan that should make-it-happen. But when you are owned by such a personality, then the communication strategy is bound to go askew ... simply because the owner's communication to the world is different from his teams. The alignment is simply not there ... although I wonder what would have happened had their communications aligned?
ReplyDeleteThanks! Jam and Kida .. happy to see your comments here .. I am completely hooked to IPL, not just for the matches but the other aspects as well :)
ReplyDelete