Would "IPL" Merchandise Sell ?

Yesterday, I had a discussion on sales of IPL (Indian Premiere League) merchandise with my peers. The issue of contention was, "Would IPL merchandise sell" ? 

Before moving on with IPL, lets look at EPL (English Premiere League), that earns revenues from sales of tickets, sponsors, etc., but maximum revenue is through sales of merchandise that includes T-shirts, accessories of various clubs. IPL may earn money by sales of tickets, sponsors, TVCs, but do you think it is possible to generate revenues out of sales of IPL merchandise?

Well, IPL is quite a new name in Indian sports scene fabricated around India's common religion named Cricket. IPL consists of eight teams representing various regions of the country and each team has its own merchandise.

The issue is when people are following IPL like a religion, why wouldn't the merchandise sell? 

Well, the answer lies in inadequate marketing mix. It is not only about product, but price, promotion and place also.

IPL merchandise is meant for the youth, who go frenzy about the game. Now, if we look at India's economic scenario, size of middle class overrides the magnitude of upper class. As such, the product, that is, IPL merchandise is meant for middle class who connect to the game as religious conviction. Now, if you look at the prices of IPL merchandise, you will be flabbergasted to see mismatch between the affordability of target segment and prices of IPL merchandise. Click here to see some of the prices. Also, the owners of IPL have tie-ups with premium brands like Reebok, Adidas. The question is when the product is meant for the mass consumers of middle segment, how would they buy it from the house of premium brands. 

Also, the channel of distribution has to be such which makes the product within the reach of target audience. They must have various channels like online channels, mass segment retail outlets like Westside, Shoppers Stop, etc. Middle class is reluctant to go to Nike or Adidas.

As such, not only product, but place and price are also important to sell IPL merchandise.

Last, IPL owners must realize that they have to follow a Push strategy to sell the respective stuffs, as consumers still aren't as crazy about the game, they have economic constraints and they want easy accessibility of products.

Recession isn't that bad

When the recession has hit the world heinously, marketers have found a way to beat its effect. They have devised ways to capitalize on it.

I am talking about the new Airtel TVCs, featuring R. Madhavan and Vidya Balan. The commercials emphasize on relationships and not money, whether it is recession or not. Click here to see the commercial. 

The company has always had a positioning of fostering relations. Even now, the positioning is same as ever, but the theme has been altered and fabricated around recession. Here, company also communicates its lowering of tariffs to sustain the product's value proposition, complementing the brand image.

As such, marketers do find a way to find positives in negatives. The campaign seems to be impressive. Almost all of  marketing mix elements have been altered including price, promotion and product (inclusion of M-commerce). Lets see how sales complement this new strategy with modified marketing mix.