World Cup for Everyone … or Not?

Mitchelle Carvalho, CEO of CogMat sheds light on Do's and Dont's for brands to follow as a part of their World Cup marketing strategy. 

For most middle-class Indian families, an indicator that some important sporting tournament has commenced comes with the sound of overflowing taps, something burning on the kitchen stove, stuff accidentally left open or chores undone.

In
my house, the indicator is when my mother starts speaking in old-world Konkani,
rattling off idiom after idiom that pretty much sums up "that father of
yours who is stuck to his beloved idiot box watching another match".

What was once a luxury afforded to us once every four years, despite the introduction of yearly cricketing leagues that are nothing short of a spectacle, the allure of the Cricket World Cup continues to remain constant.

We
have seen a constant upgrade in sponsorship from brands and with the advent of
social media, a steady onslaught of campaigns and contests have been thrown at
us for years now. Most enjoyable, others questionable.

We're already a few days in the Cricket World Cup season and most brands who are associated with the tournament on various sponsorship levels, already have their key strategy and tactics locked and loaded slowly to be unleashed on an unsuspecting or more-than-eager audience, depending on how you see it.

Now,
if you are a brand that is not associated with this event in any way whatsoever
but want to cash in the engagement that this event brings, here are some things
you may want to consider conducting social media marketing during this season:

Do NOTHING:

That's right! Just because it's cricket and the entire country is obsessed with it to the point of being fanatical, does NOT mean you should be compelled to participate. If you are a brand that sells Hing or Pan Masala or the effervescent sabun-tel and have absolutely no association at a sponsorship level with the tournament, don't go forcing your agency or internal team to run contests or campaigns on social media during such seasons. Stick to your brand ethos, create content for your TG that actually appeals to them. Always remember, Less is More on social media!

BUT... we want to do it anyway:

If you want to do away with the advice in the aforementioned point, might I point you to this beautiful document called "Brand and Content Protection Guideline" readily available on the ICC website that enlists all things one can and cannot do as part of promotions and advertisements. If you are not an official sponsor of the event in any way whatsoever and yet want to make use of this wonderful opportunity, it is strongly advised that this document be read thoroughly before embarking on any social media campaign. This document highlights aspects with respect to keywords or phrases that cannot be used, contests or gratification and even permissions pertaining to live-streaming of matches.

Oopsie-daisy, is there anything we CAN do?:

For starters, you may create "Congratulatory" posts on teams you are cheering for during the entire schedule without any ulterior motive of gratification or participation from your audience while bearing in mind that none of the guideline document rules are flouted. However, if you don't want to stop at congratulatory messages, you may create engagement activities and even contests with gratification without violating any of the keywords, phrases, logos, images or terms mentioned by the ICC to promote your brand or service during this season.

Here's
hoping these points have helped get some clarity on your plan to approach
social media content creation and promotion this sporting season.

May
the best team win!

This article is authored by Mitchelle Carvalho, CEO of CogMat. It is the part of a regular column on Socialsamosa.