Mumbai Indians victory, will it inspire brand RELIANCE to connect more with cricket?

I always wonder what made Nita Ambani to enter cricket through IPL and looks like it has at last paid her after their resounding victory over Chennai Super Kings. Now will this victory push them further to be more involved with cricket and from just associating with a team like Mumbai Indians? There is a huge opportunity for them to exploit their current cricket association to a larger canvass. Now with their big plans to foray into the 4G space which will be very consumer facing it is important that they own a big property at a national level and for which cricket is the only game which is bigger than religion in our country to tap a large audience. Any amount of controversy that keeps on erupting does not hinder the game to be followed by a huge audience across several mediums.

With Sahara already threatened to move out from their association in sponsoring the national team I personally feel that the brand Reliance will benefit if they grab this opportunity and get associated with India’s national team. Let’s not forget that Reliance as a brand was associated with the world cup in 1987 which was then called the Reliance world cup. Here again the victory in the 1983 world cup must have been one of the factors that must have tickled Dhirubahi Ambani to sponsor the world cup cricket of 1987. Not sure how much it benefitted but certainly there was enough noise all over media during that period.

So what runs in favour of them to move with cricket in a big way?

• Firstly and for most they are a reputed and a solid brand with deep pockets to spend if it yields results.  There must have been enough learning’s after being associated with IPL which now they can apply at a national level.
• Secondly if they are planning to take 4G in an aggressive manner then association with cricket and more cricketing led initiatives can and should be leveraged.
• Besides the 4G they are also strongly present in the retail business which needs a big booster and association with cricket could help them.
• Fourthly they have showed enough patience when it came to IPL. They really waited for the moment of victory to come after several ups and downs in the past IPL’s. The strong resilience to get back has got some similarity to the brand Reliance and which is what they are known for.
• Finally as a brand they are very robust and have plans to surge ahead across several industries with 4G being the first to take off and for which they need to be associated with some mass based sporting activity like cricket in India. | By Ganapathy Viswanathan, Vice President, Optima Response

About the writer:

Ganapathy Viswanathan the current Vice President of Optima Response has over 2 decades of industry experience in Communication, Branding and Public Relations. He has worked in diverse disciplines with several Multinational agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather, Lowe and Mudra Group. Some of the major brands he was associated were Titan Watches, Philips, Maharashtra Tourism, Dettol soap, Kelvinator and Bayer Group. His last assignment was in the field of Public Relations where he spearheaded the western region offices of 2020 MSL as General Manager.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not reflect in any way of Adgully