NEW DELHI, MAY 25: When Mohammed Azharuddin walks out with his team to face Sri Lanka at Taunton on Wednesday, ad and media managers round the country will be watching it closely; perhaps too closely. Because, having spent nearly Rs 200 crores on event-related ads, there's almost as much at stake for them as there is for Azhar et al.A win or a loss could be the difference between a gamble that's paid off and one that hasn't; between a raise and a sack. It could mean crores well spent or crores down the drain.When Hero Honda roped in the entire 1983 World Cup winning team to launch its `Good Luck India' campaign in the early part of 1999, it signalled the beginning of a media blitz vis-a-vis the 1999 World Cup. So much so, it seemed the World Cup was being played here, not halfway across the world. And when reports began filtering in about how low the interest level in England was, it became clear that the World Cup meant more to the Indian corporate world and the Indian fan than to anybody else.Theads have been hitting consumers from all sides. `Good Luck India' to `All the Best, India' to `Hum Honge Kamyaab' or `Jeet hogi hamari', prizes ranging from free tickets to finals, to cars and TV sets. The consumer had the chance to win something whether he bought chips, chewing gum or cars. In fact, one joke doing the rounds is that should India go on to win the World Cup, there will be a few companies hard-put to keep their side of the bargain.Given this commercial hype, each game creates tension not just for the players and the emotional fans; even corporate heads have had to hold their breath.Once the World Cup began and India lost the first two games, advertisers panicked. The ad managers of one soft-drink company are said to be so tense that they don't want to discuss cricket for a while. They are desperately changing ad plans and replacing ads with film stars instead of cricketers holding cans and bottles. ``The backlash could be negative for us,'' confided one senior manager. ``The publicsentiment is so much against the players, that it could actually rub off onto the product, too. And these days the public understands that players get huge amounts to endorse products.''LG Electronics on the other hand is not too perturbed. ``Cricket in India is all about passion,'' says Vijay Narayannan of the LG Electronics. ``While every Indian wants India to win, the corporate world understands that cricket more than any other sport gives it the kind of viewership any corporate person dreams of. For a brand which is only two years old, I think LG has got the mileage it had sought from World Cup.''It's no secret that most TV advertisers have two sets of ads. One if India does well, and another if India is eliminated. ``We have put out our ads wishing the Indian team only during India matches,'' says Narayannan of LG.The companies that are relatively safer are those which did not invest too much in individual cricketers for the World Cup. For instance, Hero Honda, after its `Good Luck' campaign,organised a match between the Team of '83 and the Team of '99. ``That was an event which got us good response. Also, we have been involved in cricket for so long, that it's in keeping with our image,'' maintains J Narain of Hero Honda.However, Hero Honda has been concentrating on its products, including a new motorcycle. ``For us the product and its quality is the main focus of all campaigns. Also we are involved in social campaigns,'' maintain their officers.Countless other companies like Coke, Samsung, Britannia and others have sunk in crores in their World Cup campaigns. Associating themselves with cricket has meant increased sales. Almost all TV companies have reported an upsurge. But the man on the street, upset at India's losses in the first two games, feels cheated and somewhat says, somewhat cynically, that the Mercedes car promised to each team member is safe. After all, how can a team that plays so poorly win the cup?
