Driving viewership via mobile

Given that Sri Lanka is to launch its IPL version later this year branded Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) and there is a trend globally for sports to be integrated to business, I thought of picking some insights that are emerging from the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL).

 IPL
A key pick up from the 5th edition of the IPL is that TV ratings have slipped to 3.53 from the last year number of 3.88, which can be attributed to many factors such as the changing lifestyle, product fatigue or it can be even much more exciting options challenging the consumer.
Whatever the reason is, there is a clear trend emerging and the world where some of the best known business principles are being tested in the business of sports marketing and Sri Lanka must identify them and apply them to practice so that we can learn from the mistakes that the world has made.

Shine off
Whilst it is a fact that IPL continues to be profitable, the recent data that is unfolding is somewhat alarming. The organisers have no option but to take the insights and do some value engineering so that the lost lustre can be restored to make next year’s version of IPL generate a stronger pull. The pull must be focused to the distinctive groups of TV audience, advertisers (marketing companies) and the owners.
From a business perspective the overall TV ratings has dropped by 9% as cumulative reach has taken a beating from a 140 million last year to settle at 137 million viewers, which means things are cooling down on this brand and shine is weaning off. Let’s accept it – the bubble has burst on the interest on IPL, which means that Sri Lanka needs to carefully plan the strategy for SLPL.
However, if one evaluates the top 10 programs of India, IPL is yet in the running as per the data revealed by Indian Television.com. I guess what’s important is TVRs and not popularity from a typical branding perspective. But the attendance at the matches was encouraging with the top brands continuing to be part of the event which I feel is good for the IPL brand.
I feel that any programme that gets a rating of 3.5 across a country is a relatively a strong programme to advertise on. However, this must be coupled with below the line activity at the event, so that consumer engagement becomes part of total marketing programme.
I yet remember when Anchor milk powder some years back sponsored the New Zealand tour of Sri Lanka. Whilst the media was bombarded by Anchor, at the event too there was a ‘penguin’ parading the grounds that endorsed the promise that Anchor comes from the green pastures of New Zealand. This is the type of consumer engagement that can be beneficial to a brand.

Mobile viewership
A key insight doing the rounds is that the 5th edition of IPL there is a shift from standalone TV viewership to mobile streaming. Some mobile TV operators have registered almost 11 million viewers, which is similar in numbers to those who watched IPL on YouTube.
A company called Apalya technologies stated that they have exceeded their set target by 11 per cent, which is encouraging. But the strange news is that Nokia happens to be the mobile set that has reported the most viewing of IPL from the mobile front than iPhone from Apple.
The IPL website on the other hand has recorded 1.37 million viewers in week one of IPL, as against 0.88 million viewers in the last season which means that this medium is growing at 56% over last year, which is something marketers must take in to consideration when planning the next communication burst for their brand.
May be the originator of IPL Lalith Modi must be given due recognition for taking the decision in the 3rd edition for live streaming of IPL. The consumption patterns on growth are very encouraging, but now a more structured plan must come to play to boost this number.
Maybe a higher migration of viewers will happen in the 6th edition next year from fixed TV to mobile TV, provided that bandwidth issues do not happen. Sri Lanka which has clocked almost 18.5 million owners of mobile phones as per the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRC) is a staggering number as the population is only 21 million in the country which is a 88% penetration, discounting the double ownership of mobiles by an average Sri Lankan.
This phenomenon will extend further is my take in South Asia, provided that countries like Sri Lanka move away from buying media on the hype and use tools like TRPs and viewership in making their media decision. This requires marketers to be skilled with art of making decisions with data and also evaluating the performance of media buying than just listening to qualitative data when taking media selection decisions.

Disadvantage
Whilst the advantage of using a mobile has infused convenience to a modern day consumer, the adverse impacts can include blurring vision, headaches, earaches and some even say that it can cause cancer. On the other hand mobile use also creates social problems like people living in one’s own world of confining themselves to the interaction on email, Facebook and play stations, forgetting the real world interactions that happen face to face.
Another issue faced by marketers is that most mobile phone users are youngsters who think that an extension of their personality is the phone they carry and the personalisation that they do with custom ring tones and attractive wallpapers which is affecting the have-nots in a school. This leads to running up of mobile phone bills and habits like SMS’ing for fun creating social tension at home.
A new hazard coming to play is cyber bullying. This is where offensive SMSs and MMSs come through the system which can be stopped on the home computer but not in the mobile phone. Latest research reveals that cyber bullying causes psychological discomfort more than face to face encounters.
There are also privacy issues when it comes to camera phones. Recently Saudi Arabia banned camera phones being imported into the country. These are some of the areas that Sri Lanka must watch so that we do not get into a situation where the mobile phone becomes a social taboo than an asset that simplifies life in general.

Next steps
1.Profile one’s target market and check on the habit of mobile communication, so that trends can be picked up.
2.In some segments the increasing power costs and being always mobile are driving people to watching TV on mobiles. This needs to be analysed from a Sri Lankan scenario as its holds grounds in India and Pakistan where energy is a serious problem. Maybe in the Jaffna peninsula this must be trend given that almost 13 days of the month, a power shortage is experienced as per the President of the Yalpanam Chamber of Commerce.
3.There is also a trend of where people are turning to selective exposure when it comes to watching TV and hence the mobile becomes the ideal tool to use than a fixed TV in one’s home. This behaviour is seen in particular to cricket enthusiasts.
4.Whilst it’s good to base decisions on TRPs, sometimes a qualitative judgement on the image fit between programs and brands must be done so that consumer impact is greater.
5.Integrate Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, email and SMS campaigns which are all accessible using a mobile phone so that personal communication takes place between a brand and a consumer.

(The author is a marketer by a profession. The thoughts expressed are his own and not the views of any organisation he serves in Sri Lanka or internationally.)