IPL or SAPL?

IPL or SAPL

Cricket, politics and Bollywood together are known as the three religions in India and get Indians going like nothing else. The new TVC for IPL Season 2 shows best what cricket does to this massive nation.



The campaign, by TBWA Mumbai, truly reflects that cricket is a great unifier, beautifully interweaving elements of unity in mundane activites with that of the brand proposition of MAX "Deewana Bana De", meaning “makes you crazy”.

The campaign also strikes a chord in its mere conception which chooses to leave behind grave issues of boundaries, nationality and religion, all of which were an integral part of the previous campaign, to show simple habitual similarities across the nation. (It is relatively easier to build a campaign on the idea of religion in India I think!)



Its natural to revel in the simple yet brilliant execution of the campaign while watching the TVC, but it makes me think how much of the brand IPL will suffer due to its temporary relocation to South Africa?

Indians also love watching soap operas but nothing caught their attention more than the news of general elections and security issues compelling IPL to move out of the country, a move definitely not the best for brand IPL and brand India. With the attacks on Mumbai and those on the Sri Lankan team in Pakistan recently, brand cricket is facing some large challenges.

According to reports from newswire PTI (Press Trust of India), Pawan Munjal Managing Director and CEO Hero Honda Motors, one of the main sponsors of Indian Premier League (IPL), said shifting of the cricket extravaganza to abroad will affect the business opportunities of the firm.
"The IPL moving out of India this year is likely to restrict opportunities to leverage our brand association," he said.

Will the IPL in effect now become the South African Premier League? Will some brands be reluctant to partner up with the tournament because of its move to Africa?