Cup overflows for car, cola, durables makers

We curse, we protest, we swear. But we don’t stop watching. That’s what A.C. Neilsen’s survey ‘Cup of Life’ seems t...

We curse, we protest, we swear. But we don’t stop watching. That’s what A.C. Neilsen’s survey ‘Cup of Life’ seems to have revealed: Eighty pc of the country’s population intends to continue watching the World Cup even if India doesn’t make it to the Super Sixes.

The notion that advertising reach is directly proportional to the Indian team’s performance has been proved erroneous, much to the relief of marketing gurus.

Indian advertisers are assured that their ad and marketing spending on slots during the World Cup will continue to bring them returns, irrespective of the country’s performance.

The survey was conducted in eight metros with an aim to understand the registering of cricket-related advertising and the appeal of prominently-aired commercials. Through the use of the door-to-door random sampling method, survey activity was conducted throughout the week to eliminate any match-related bias.

The survey showed interesting findings. Unprompted recall of brands advertised during the match indicate that carbonated soft drinks, durables, automobiles and telecom command the highest recall. Across brands, Pepsi, LG, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Onida, Britannia, Polo (mint) and Hero Honda enjoy spontaneous recall.

In the category of non-television commercial advertising, ground hoardings, ground paintings and action replays have been found to be most effective in terms of recall. These were closely followed by the side screen and pop-ups appearing when the ball travels to the boundary.

The objective of the survey was to aid advertisers to design their strategies.