Pernod Ricard India CMO on how to break through Indian Premier League brand clutter

Seagram's Royal Stag has announced a partnership with the Indian Premier League team Delhi Capitals for the upcoming season of the tournament.

 

Before this, Royal Stag had associated with the tournament, through the Punjab Kings as an official principal partner.

 

Given that the Advertising Standards Council of India banned the advertising of 12 liquor companies in 2021, we caught up with Kartik Mohindra, CMO, Pernod Ricard India, to learn more about the association, the communication plans as well as why the brand picked Delhi Capitals to associate with.

 

 

Excerpts:

 

There are several brands associated with the IPL and the teams. How does Royal Stag plan to break the clutter?

 

We are conscious of the clutter. What we will aim to do is integrate the brand's philosophy, the core part of Delhi Capitals and the entire team with Delhi. We have an exciting campaign that will be rolled out soon.  

 

If we do justice to the passion points of the Delhi audience in particular, we'll be able to deliver something magical.

 

When you're looking to partner with a team, what are the parameters you look for? The squad of players or the geography that helps you reach out to your TG?

 

Each team brings something special to the table. All of them have unique identities and values. As far as Royal Stag is concerned, we partnered with Delhi Capitals because its philosophy and approach to cricket are very close to our brand philosophy. If you look at Delhi Capitals players, they play cricket with a lot of attitude, panache and self-belief and those are the values the youth of today resonates with, and these are exactly the values we work very closely with. I'm not taking anything away from the other teams, but I think Delhi Capital embodies the spirit of the game in the finest possible way and therefore it is the most appropriate choice for us.

 

How long is this deal for?

 

It's safe to say it's a long term plan. This season is just the starting point. We have the ambition to build a relationship with the Delhi Capitals and make it stronger with each edition in the coming years. 

 

We look forward to the evolution of the team and how the youth is galvanised.

 

How will you be communicating this tie-up to the audience?

 

We will have a multimedia campaign that will break with the start of the season. We will also engage with the audience throughout the year with the objective of creating a fervour about cricket and the Delhi Capitals. It's an ambitious plan and I'm sure we along with the creative agency will deliver spectacular results.

 

Any other cricket tie-ups this year?

 

Ever since we started our tie-ups with cricket in 2000, the brand has gone from strength to strength. Cricket has had an important role to play in the brand's success and that's why we continue to associate with it.

 

We partner with cricket in various capacities. Cricket is a vital component of our success.

 

The IPL is very important for us. The event and the teams have been successful in expanding the game's audience. It's become a family viewership platform now and for brands like us, it allows us more of an audience. 

 

We partner with the ICC events too, and bilateral series along with the IPL. 

 

Any other sporting tie-ups later this year?

 

We are watching other sports very closely to find out how they pan out. As of now, it's cricket, but we will make a foray into other sports as they get bigger.