Future plans Rs140 crore spend on cricket-related marketing
Future plans Rs140 crore spend on cricket-related marketing
New Delhi: Future Group, the parent company of India’s largest listed retailer Pantaloon Retail (India) Ltd, plans to spend up to Rs140 crore in the next three years in cricket-related marketing to cash in on the country’s most popular sport.
“We are looking at cricket in a big way," said Kishore Biyani,
Future Group will be the title sponsor of the forthcoming one-day international series between India and Australia, and the series will be called “Future Cup." India is scheduled to take on Australia in a home series starting this weekend.
Also, the company has lined up six television commercials to air in coming months that will use cricket as a “medium to communicate", Biyani said.
The group has also tied up with India’s cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar to launch a slew of products including energy drinks, fitness equipment and cricketing gear, among other things. Biyani said the company plans to launch a cricket clothing line in the coming months.
“You will see a lot of contests, you will see a lot of clothing lines and you will see our brands associating with sports," he said.
Biyani said the Rs140 crore it plans to spend will be 10-15% of the overall advertising and marketing budget of Future Group in the next three years.
Future Group’s first major association with cricket started when the company bought the advertising rights in stadiums when the Indian cricket team toured Ireland and Scotland earlier this year.
Future Group is among the latest companies to use the sport to further its brands in a cricket-crazy nation. Several Indian and foreign firms including PepsiCo, Inc., LG Electronics Inc. and Hero Honda Motors Ltd have used cricket extensively to build their brands in the country.
Marketing companies say corporate advertising in cricket will jump significantly after India won the ICC Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa on Monday.
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