CWG Could Have Been A Grand Brand

Anurag Batra
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, exchange4media group


Commonwealth Games has been god-sent content for news media. From the time when it was first announced to the follow up on the preparation of the games ---at least to some extent ---and then two months before the games, the entire Indian media has woken up to how CWG is headed from national pride to national shame. Whether it is channels, print or even online, there barely is anyone who hasn’t spoken on all that has gone wrong with the games.

The last fortnight has only been about controversies surrounding the contracts for the games, the investments made, the monies shown right from toilet papers to treadmills ---Indian media has had a field day. But the more I view and read these developments, the more I think about the vicious circle we seem to be caught in.

Photo courtesy: ndtv.com

CWG is often compared with the Olympics that was held in China or even FIFA that was held in Africa. The way China and Africa used the opportunity for nation branding was commendable. China used the Olympic Games for sending a message about China that they can deliver on a global scale. The whole world, at least the part that is interested in football, was talking about destination Africa during FIFA. For starters, CWG stayed only Delhi in its approach, and not India. It may be a format but I wonder did we falter on that first step itself, when we missed the opportunity to showcase and focus on India, and instead just harped on CWG Delhi?

But as the CWG story progressed, that obviously became lesser of an issue. The Indian media, Delhi included has gone after CWG team for various reasons – whether the funds allocated have been misused, whether we will be prepared for the games in time, whether the games will happen at all…? And this is where the viscous circle I mentioned comes in the picture.

The role of Indian media is critical towards what we take of the games from now. Most of the media lambasted the efforts towards the games but in the process, there is global defame that is first associated with India.

There have been multiple spokespersons from CWG. In my opinion, some of them should not even have been allowed to speak. The PR plan for CWG came in much later than what should have been the case, and even in that there were no damage control strategies involved – at least none that could control the situation.

Friends from the industry inform me that the CWG advertising was to have begun almost six months back. Also an amount of Rs 30 crore was the outlay, out of which most of it was allocated for news media in India, then in outdoor and some for presence in international media. The inside and real story is that the money allocated for advertising has been shifted out of media and advertising budget for branding CWG games to someone close to Suresh Kalmadi.
I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if media would have got the promised money. Would the nature of coverage be different? For some media, may be. But what is media’s role in a case like this – where on the one hand there is a national duty, and a service required and on the other hand, there is an international picture to think about.

Who really is losing in all this? I think, India. India’s image is tarnished. The positive aspects of the games, the points that should have been highlighted, the areas that would have helped build a perception – the sportspeople, the preparation of the athletes, the expectation from India, the mascot of the games ‘Shera’ – nothing has seen any media attention. And that hurts – from a brand perspective, and from being an Indian perspective.

I sometimes find myself worrying if people would begin associating Shera with Suresh Kalmadi! And I sincerely hope not.

Is the common man looking forward to the games at all? What are some of the first things, in high impact that he is hearing. I overheard a young kid saying: Commonwealth has become harmful to common health – we should boycott the games. And honestly, I couldn’t be more worried. This is not the message that should have come from a platform like this.

Sponsors and advertisers on the event should worry about things like this. Reportedly, Railways and Hero Honda paid Rs 100 crore and Rs 38 crore for the sponsorship respectively. I wouldgetsleeplessnightsifIwas them simply because nobody is focussing on the games. Events, and events of this scale for sure, are about mass surround and advertising, about building an image. In CWG, the branding is missing completely, and this extreme focus on the negative aspects has killed any positive association with the Games.

I have been reading reports, and hearing stories, on the kinds of monies that agencies are getting from the games. No doubt it has been a huge revenue influx for them, probably better than any major corporate advertiser would have paid some agencies in five years. And I am happy for the agencies. Percept has the PR mandate, Wizcraft is involved in the event, and not to mention the various advertising agencies. But for all the revenue influx, one is not even able to see any work coming from them. The situation has become so warped that it’s unworthy to expect anything else.

India has some of the best branding minds of this world but it was unfortunate to see that there was no team of professionals in place to strategise a way to leverage the opportunity that CWG presented for India. And it is even more unfortunate that media waited for the last two months - whatever their reasons be -to begin asking some questions. If it was earlier, who knows, the story could be different. And like so many other countries, we would be excited about October 2010 as well.

About: Mr. Anurag Batra, CEO & Editor – In – Chief, Exchange4Media -  Anurag Batra is an entrepreneur, media expert and a journalist rolled into one. Batra is a B.Tech in Computer Sciences, a degree, which he acquired before joining Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon. He is a serial entrepreneur and currently the Managing Director and Editor-in-Chief of exchange4media group which includes exchange4media.com, India’s leading media industry website and Publisher of PITCH- India’s only Advertising, Marketing and Media magazine, Impact the marketing weekly, Franchise Plus-India’s Business Opportunity Magazine and Realty Plus-India’s leading monthly real estate magazine.  He has a multi industry experience having worked with India‘s largest advertising and media services firm HTA (now JWT and Mindshare) and in the Real Estate and Entertainment industry.

Anurag Batra, as a professional has been profiled by Business India and has been written about in Indian newspapers like Economic Times, TOI, HT, Business Standard, and Financial Express. International publications like Business Week have also sought his and his company’s viewpoint on issues impacting Indian media industry. A regular speaker at national conferences and various industry panel discussions, Batra has been part of many industry bodies in the past.

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