• PAGE ONE
• INDEX
• HOME

Big ad spenders cool to Olympics TV slots

Ratna Bhushan

NEW DELHI, Sept. 13

AS the curtain lifts on the Sydney Olympics on September 15, TV screens facilitating live coverage of the event are likely to be in demand across the globe. Except, perhaps, in India.

While the sports lover finds no one to peg his hope on, on the commercial front, big-time ad spenders such as LG, Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Hindustan Lever, say they are yet to warm up to the event.

The industry is pointing fingers at the State-owned broadcaster, Doordarshan, which has the exclusive rights to cover the Olympics live. Most high-profile advertisers have not confirmed their participation on the advertising front and this is being attri buted to ``the usual'' insipid marketing by DD.

While admitting that the channel's marketing plays a significant role in determining viewership, Ms Divya Gupta, Chief Operating Officer, The Media Edge (the media buying arm of Rediffusion DY&R), says the media planner's bullishness is correlated to the expected viewership, which may not be high.

Mr Harpreet Singh, Media Director, Contract Advertising, is more forthright. He says, ``DD, with all its processes, will always have problems of not marketing smartly enough. That DD is a slow marketer is something we have learnt to live with.''

DD officials, however, toe an optimistic line. According to Mr Jaydeep Bhatnagar, Controller of Sales, Commercial Division, DD, the channel expects to rake in Rs 15 crore from ad revenues.

With barely 48 hours to go, Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC), which holds the broadcast management rights for the Olympics coverage on DD, says ``it is currently working out details with advertisers''. This, when an ESPN or a Star Sports manages to gar ner considerable ads even for motor sport. Nonetheless, Mr Pallab Bhattacharya, Director, PNC, stresses that a cross-section of consumer durables and FMCG marketers have consented to advertise during the Olympics coverage.

The fine print suggests otherwise.

For instance, Olympics coverage does not find a place in LG Electronics India Ltd's (LGEIL) scheme of things, despite a Rs. 20-crore ad budget for the current calendar year. Among the reasons for LG abstaining from advertising are ``the generally low hyp e, and steep ad rates at par with those commanded during live telecasts of cricket matches involving India'', Mr Vijay Narayanan, Deputy General Manager (Marketing), LGEIL says.

And top spenders for cricket such as Pepsi and Coke too find the fizz missing. A Pepsi official says, ``It is not that we will not advertise at all...it will be limited''. Coke's advertising mix, too, will be ``nothing special''. A Coke spokesperson says , ``It makes good sense to advertise in a big way if either the target audience connects with the event, or if the channel does good marketing. But otherwise, where is the point?''

As for HLL, the official spokesperson says Lever is still discussing the modalities of advertising on DD's Olympics coverage.

Still, staking big money on DD's coverage is the official sponsor, Samsung India Electronics Ltd, apart from Taj Hotels, Tata Tea and ONGC who are `extending support' to the hockey team. Samsung, which is spending $1.3 million, too appears to be playing it safe. It is sponsoring medal tallies on ESPN-Star Sports, sponsoring the event coverage on India Today Group Online, and putting up a microsite on Olympics.

So who takes the brunt for the lacklustre affair _ the event or its packaging? Perhaps as marketers put it, ``It all boils down to which channel understands sports better and markets it well.''