Marketing Idea No. 210 – Learn it from Shahrukh

How much is a true brand ambassador worth?

A lot actually, if someone like King Shahrukh Khan is what we are talking about.

The beauty of a good brand ambassador is he himself can win battles for you. The vice versa is of course always possible. Just ask those who endorsed Micheal Phelps just before his bong incident or Mike Tyson before he went on in his infamous ear biting rampage.

But lets focus on the good stuff. Even better, lets focus on what Shahrukh the brand ambassador has done.

1. When ITC was planning to launch Sunfeast in India in a market already dominated by Parle and Britannia, its the Shahrukh magic that made place for Sunfeast. In fact even though, Parle roped in Hrithik later on for its “Hide & Seek” line, it didnt work. Parle continued to lose share.

2. Its Sharukh Khan who was behind the turnaround of Compaq in India with the clever line “computer is personal again”. Lenovo brought in Saif Ali khan. Hrithik again was called in for Acer. But there is always going to be one winner in that battle.

3. Who was behind making an otherwise ordinary domestic cricket league called IPL into a money making bonanza? Its Shahrukh Khan and KKR. Infact, according to latest financial information, Kolkata Knight Riders are the most profitable franchise in IPL, despite not going through to semi-finals of any of the 2 IPL sessions.

4. When people thought Amitabh Bacchan cannot be replaced, who stepped into the shoes of Don and turned a film into a PR campaign success?   King khan of course. Again. 

There is so much a good brand ambassador can do for your brand. Ask Shahrukh. He can tell.

Marketing Idea No. 178 – Sports marketing

Sports and marketing has co-existed for a long time without one standing in the way of other. That held true, even when Janet Jackson had the greatest wardrobe mal-function of the history of sports marketing in the greatest stage of then all – the Super Bowl. All in the name of PR and ratings!

Whether we like it or not, marketing has done wonders for sports in general. What Kerry Packer and Channel 9 did some 30 years ago has surely sparked life into a rather boring game of cricket. And IPL and 20-20 cricket will definitely take this game to another level.

But none does it better that the Americans. What they are really good at is turning a game into a spectator sport. Hence wrestling became sports entertainment. Motor-sport became NASCAR (faster and more money of course). The greatest show for Americans are not soccer final, but the Super Bowl, which it self is a great marketing exercise. By tampering with sports to make it faster (So TV viewers can enjoy it), introducing rituals like Super Bowl Sunday, (More advertising), branding sports teams ( Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons etc.), making college level sports vibrant (NCAA), unlimited substitutions (None wants to watch tired players hopping around!!! They want fresh legs jumping and running) and having multiple breaks during the game (So people can buy more soda during breaks, hence more money for Coca Cola and Budweiser) – Americans have truly shown the world how to do sports marketing.

We may not like the evil spread of marketing in sports. But for sports in Bangladesh to go to the next level, this American style sports marketing will do wonders.