ICC cricket world cup- the super bowl of India

For marketers in the US,  getting a spot during the Super Bowl is a make or break moment.  In a TV ad spot of 30 sec advert spot, the advertiser experts to reach 43 million eye-balls. Marketers design advertisement campaigns to outdo each other and stand out. The advertisement campaigns generate a buzz post the first unveiling, and continue to genertate viral.  The ROI of these campaigns is not truly identified, but it surely generates high interest.

In India, cricket generates the same high level of interest.  Here is a spot comparison of Super bowl and the biggest sporting event – ICC cricket world cup 2011.

In addition to these, in line with the superbowl trends, leading brands in India have started launching campaigns targeted at the event.  Attached below are a few examples.

Official – ICC campaigns:

http://adsoftheworld.com/media/tv/icc_cricket_world_cup_2011_tightrope

Official- ICC theme song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX_drdjUy7E

Some basic facts and figures:

 Super Bowl : Audience 4.5 million ؛ Adversiting spend $10.1 bn
 ICC world cup Audience127 million (India alone) Adversiting spend  $422 mn ($ 150 MILLION)

Emerging Global Indian Consumer

For years, as a marketing professional, the divide of have's and have 'not's' has been big. People always considered the emerging economies, as we know them today as the laggards in the world. Innovations happened in the developed economies, and moved to the developing after some time lag.

The world has changed for ever. As information flow is free, trends and innovation travel as the speed at 'marketing' all over the world. There is an emergence of global Indian consumerism! This is true for China or for that matter, any emerging economy today.

When I Levi's, i wanted to carry 'skinny' jeans for my friends just 1 month after their launch. To my pleasant surprise, when I landed at the airport in India, women were sporting them along with tank tops. Walking on the streets, one say see consumers sporting global brands, launched in India at the same time like anywhere else in the world. Indian consumer is much more aware and savvy, and global.

A lot of this is also driven by the phenomenan called returning Indians. Indians who have lived in other parts of the world, are today coming back to India. Driven by the emerging opportunity this emerging land of opportunity provides, or be just close to the loved ones. Today the visa section of countries like India and China sees a long bee line of aspirants wanting to partake in this growth story.

As people travel across the world, they also bring in thoughts, culture and create a new microculture. Something that happened to new york and london in the 60's.

In this new world of emerging Global Indian's, we can see a fusion of cultures. Indian marketplace in no longer dominated by an American brand or a European brand, but its a fusion of brands that have caught the fancy of an Indian any where in the world. India (and this is true for China also) is the hot bed of emerging global culture. The population is young, reception and learning quickly. Do we think, that till is where most of the innovations of the world will come out in future?