Study finds India "sports" a high awareness of celebrity brand endorsements... and Sachin is number one
20 November 2003
MUMBAI — SYNOVATE, a leading global market research firm with offices in 46 countries, today revealed survey findings about sport in India and attitudes towards sporting teams, heroes and brand endorsements.
Speaking during a visit to Blackstone Market Facts Mumbai and New Delhi offices, Adrian Chedore, Global CEO of Synovate said that, not surprisingly, the survey findings were dominated by cricket, cricket and more cricket.
Sport is a passion - people laugh, cry, cheer and jeer for their teams - and this makes it big business as well. And there's no bigger sports business in India than cricket...
"Not only is cricket the favourite game to watch on television (93 per cent), our survey also showed it's the favourite game to watch live (74 per cent), the favourite game to play (29 per cent currently play) and India's favourite overall celebrity is Sachin Tendulkar (14 per cent)," Mr Chedore said.
Synovate and Blackstone Market Facts were curious about more than just India's favourite sport - the companies also asked about live sporting events, watching sport on television, the viewing of women's sport and India's sporting heroes.
"As a research company, we work with marketers who often pay huge money for sportspeople and other celebrities to endorse their brands. And they need to know if it works. This survey showed that nearly half the respondents (47 per cent) replied they would be more likely to buy a brand that was endorsed by their favourite celebrity. That's a great deal of influence," Mr Chedore said.
Synovate asked respondents to name their favourite celebrity - whether they were a sporting hero or not. The answers showed an overall fascination with film stars (33 per cent) and cricketers (30 per cent). Individuals that attracted the greatest number of mentions were Sachin Tendulkar with 14 per cent naming him their favourite celebrity and Amitabh Bachchan at 13 per cent.
Alok Shanker, Managing Director of Blackstone Market Facts said that, in order to use this information with greatest effect, marketers need to know which celebrities to choose for a brand's target audience, as well as the demographics this strategy works with.
"Marketers in India face quite a challenge. There are only two clear areas for celebrity brand endorsement - cricket and Bollywood. In addition, this kind of endorsement or sponsorship marketing is still developing in India and brand managers are just beginning to understand how to associate products and services with the right spokespeople.
Our survey found that celebrity endorsement was most likely to work with teenagers and students. It was also skewed towards the West zone of India - perhaps a 'rub off' effect from the strong Bollywood presence in Mumbai.
While cricket is obviously a national obsession in India, our survey also turned up some quirky details and some areas that marketers could target in the future.
For instance, television is the hot communication medium - with 86 per cent of Indians enjoying it as a leisure pursuit. And some people obviously classify sport as more serious than mere leisure because the number of television watchers leaps even higher when it comes to watching sport. Indeed, 93 per cent of those surveyed watch cricket on television, and the next highest viewership is only four per cent for football / soccer.
"This passion for watching cricket cuts across all ages and genders so the company that can credibly establish itself as a cricketing partner - via sponsorship, advertising or other promotional activities - goes a long way towards reaching the bulk of the Indian populace," Mr Shanker said.
Mr Chedore's visit to Mumbai and New Delhi and the Synovate sports survey are both part of the launch celebrations for the rebranded company across India.
Dowload media fact sheet on sports survey (PDF 159Kb)
Synovate acquired Indian research firm, Blackstone Market Facts, in September 2003. Blackstone Market Facts is now part of Synovate and will rebrand as Synovate India on 1 February 2004.
Contact(s) for this press release
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Kalpana Mankame
Research Director |
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Telephone: +91 22 2618 2815 |
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Linda Collard
Director, Marketing Communications |
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9/F Leighton Centre |
Telephone: +852 2830 2588 |
Synovate, the market research arm of Aegis Group plc, generates consumer insights that drive competitive marketing solutions. The network provides clients with cohesive global support and a comprehensive suite of research solutions. Synovate employs over 6,000 staff across 62 countries.
For more information on Synovate visit www.synovate.com.