Indian Premier League Season 4 Goes Automotive

Whoever, thought that a 20 over format had the potential to surpass the popularity of an age old Test match and a well-structured 50 over game, that have pretty much been the foundations of the game of cricket right from its inception.

In any case, now that the world has opened it eyes wide for this new compressed version of limited overs cricket, it’s time to see what makes the Indian Premier League one of the most popular and expensive international T20 tournaments in the world, but from more of an automotive perspective.

With European auto major Volkswagen now very much a part and parcel of the Indian automotive scene, it was only a matter of time that it made its presence felt in a big way in India, and signing up to be the official automotive partner for the ongoing fourth and fifth season of the Indian Premier League was a great way to achieve this.

New Volkswagen Passat with BlueMotion Technologies

: IPL VERSION OF THE VENTO

However, unknown to many Volkswagen being the title sponsor of the league’s popular T20 matches gives the company the first right of refusal for television rights, and Hyundai being the television sponsor of the tournament, Volkswagen did well to back off and chose spot-buys over its television rights, thus allowing Hyundai to retain its sponsorship.

But having said that Volkswagen has most certainly made the most of its primal association with fourth season of the IPL with the launch of a ‘Limited Edition’ IPL version of its Vento sedan, and an all new Volkswagen Passat with BlueMotion Technologies here in India. While, the new Passat can be seen shining on a special stage flanking the grounds where the IPL’s matches are being played, Volkswagen’s presence in the form of Television commercials, Digital Signage around the boundary region of the IPL grounds and the massive Volkswagen logo around the 30 yard circle on the cricket ground has given the automaker an overwhelming brand presence in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League.

Moving on to the associate sponsors of the ten teams (including the two new teams) that are participating in the fourth season, it’s interesting to the see the sides that an individual automotive brand that has chosen to associate itself with. Starting from the top is India’s largest two wheeler manufacturer Hero Honda, which after successfully being the title two wheeler partner of the ICC 2011 World Cup now partners with the mighty ‘Mumbai Indians’, who under Sachin Tendulkar’s captaincy were the finalists of the last season.

Having signed a deal with the Mukesh Ambani owned Mumbai based side, Hero Honda spent a whopping Rs. 75 crore to sponsor the Mumbai Indians in the fourth edition of the IPL, coming second only to Telecom provider Aircel, which set the bar mighty high, when it shelled out Rs. 85 crore to renew its sponsorship with the defending champions, the Chennai Super Kings.

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Speaking of the Chennai Super Kings, the men in yellow now have a new automotive partner (well sort of) in the form Gulf Oil, which announced their alliance with the Chennai Super Kings as the ‘Official Team Partner’ in continuation of its association with IPL over the past two years. As one of the main sponsors, Gulf Oil will be entitled to a number of benefits which includes having its trademark ‘Orange Disc’ Gulf Oil logo on the CSK team jerseys.

Gulf has also launched a number of consumer & trade oriented promotions across India to capitalise on its association with CSK. This includes schemes like “Gulf kharido Match Dekho” for better marketing of its products, and a sequel of its immensely popular consumer promotion last year - Gulf “King of the Road” offer for consumers. The company also plans to offer an opportunity to its customers to interact with the members of the Chennai Super Kings team through a promotion called “Gulf Ka Superking” which will be run in select cities. Incidentally, Gulf has also renewed its alliance with the Kings XI Punjab as an Official “Performance and Protection” Partners for IPL 4 2011

Also, making its entry to the Indian Premier League (IPL) is India Yamaha Motor that has entered into a one-year partnership with IPL franchise Deccan Chargers (DC) for the ongoing season of the mega cricketing event. Enjoying “Official Team Partner” status with the Deccan Chargers, Yamaha has full license to advertise and promote its complete product line-up during the course of the IPL 4, and furthermore it will have access to players for two days for supporting promotion and events organized by Yamaha India. Apart from this, the Yamaha logo will also appear on leading side of players’ helmets and caps.

Another two-wheeler manufacturer, which has a healthy presence here in India with popular bikes and scooters like its Wego and the newly launched TVS Sport is TVS Motors, which is now the official sponsor of the newly instated Pune Warriors India team. The Pune Warriors India Team up until its loss to the Delhi Daredevils in a recent match was on winning streak right from the word go. Will the ‘boys from Pune’ under Yuvraj Singh’s leadership make it big in their inaugural IPL season? Only time will tell?

Brands both on the automobile front and from other fraternities have on an average spent 30% more on the fourth season of the IPL as compared the previous edition. As the eyeballs on this scintillating T20 tournament continues to pull in massive crowds year after year, we can only expect our automotive friends to get the best publicity possible and walk away feeling proud and satisfied at besing an integral part of biggest international T20 leagues in the world.

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