By Sudio Sudarsan
The most intimate team to its fans, the cricket brand of the common man, CSK, triumphs the kitsch of Bollywood and the pursestrings of India’s rich to be the most valuable IPL cricket team.
MOST OF THE greatest sports brands today are American: Nike (sportswear), Super Bowl (sporting event), Tiger Woods (sports personality), ESPN (sports channel), and New York Yankees (sports club). At least with the list of world famous sports clubs, a new one from the Third World needs to be included.
India has a long-standing love affair with a game called cricket, a quintessentially British sport played as “creckett” in the sixteenth century, and popularized by the British Empire in the subcontinent since early 1800s. Today, three in every ten TV commercials will carry a cricketing theme or endorsed by India’s cricket heroes. In the new millennium, cricket went through an overhaul – truncated to twenty overs a side and a result could be gotten in three hours – about as long as a baseball game – right for an evening’s Hulk Hogan-style entertainment. Playing the role of a patriarch, the Board of Cricket Control in India, muscled its power to trample Indian Cricket League (ICL) calling it unlicensed and banning many international players, and borrowed many ideas from the first T20 World Championship hosted by South Africa to form its own glitzy version, the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The IPL was set up to imitate the franchise model of American sport – a very cosy family business. And even if India’s biggest film stars and richest hard-nosed tycoons who own many of these cricket clubs continually crave for the spotlight on themselves, the effulgence of IPL seized every cricket lover’s attention, and was subsequently appraised at a whopping $3.7 billion by Brand Finance, a London-based consulting firm that specializes in brand valuation. India’s rising middle class embraced this hit-and-giggle version that was devised by England in 2003, as a way of reviving interest to its county cricket after five straight years of failing attendances. With this new acquired brand of T20 cricket, India’s city-based franchisees had truly come of age with one clear winner: Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
From a branding perspective, CSK, declared as the most valuable IPL franchisee (again valued by Brand Finance, London), began to differentiate itself, and amply benefitted from the high level of identification of power symbols and a sensory palette of unique visual, verbal, and digital expression. As a veteran in branding and specializing on consumer insight and technology, I’d award CSK full marks in every facet of the complex branding process, especially the potential to build equity by capitalizing on the emotional relationship it shares with CSK fans who derive strength and a sense of identity from their affiliation with their team.
Brand Identity Elements:
Branding experts may brood about the lack of poetic ingenuity in having two kings and two royals among the handful IPL teams. Some may assume that the CSK brand name was partly inspired or downright inherited from the defunct Chennai Super Stars. The “king of the IPL jungle” symbolism traces back to Pallava dynasty who combined the iconic lion emblem with other symbols like the Swastika, Srivatsa, and the Trisula in their copper plate seals. The descriptor “super” – Tamils’ overused fuzzword – everything is “super” from morning coffee to their favorite cinema star.
While every IPL team is adorned in a variant of blue- or red-colored jersey with gaudy silver or gold streaks, the CSK cricketers refresh the eyes in bright yellow. A roaring lion is used as a visual symbol, and Chepauk, the home of CSK, is referred colloquially as the lion’s den.
Brand Attribute and Value:
For brand success the product or in this case the entire gaming experience, needs to be perceived as quality-laden, providing adequate value for money. While non-cricketing attributes matter in IPL, the success of a sports club depended chiefly on the core competitiveness of cricket players, i.e., their abilities. CSK’s winning consistency in the short history of the IPL has transformed a brand into a cultural phenomenon: five times in the playoffs (including IPL 2012), three-time finalists, twice winners of the IPL crown, and once winning the Champions League in 2010.
CSK is the only team that does not cast light on its owners. Instead, it has cast light on the authentic game it plays. You can see it when CSK is on: the camera is on its players – not on the owner’s snooty family. When pursestrings become visible, you know that a sports brand is in peril because it isn’t lit by its cricketing splendor, but ignited by the vulgar stare of money. Other bells and whistles in the three-hour extravaganza, such as a percussionist drumming a dancing beat alongside the outsourced cheerleaders still colorfully prevail.
Organizational Attributes:
Barring CSK, all IPL teams hired local players to only fire them in player auctions in American corporate style; for instance, there is no sense of “Bengaluru” in Royal Challengers; even their all-conquering son, Rahul Dravid, was imperturbably relinquished to play for the namesake, the other Royals. A cricket player performs three roles in the IPL: functions as a member in the squad, if selected plays for the team, promotes the brand, and endorses as the primary spokesperson. If team owners rule with an iron rod and let their players go off in a merry-go-round, the fans tend to switch their loyalty, resulting in fan alienation that the clubs may have avoided in the first place. Brand confusion is very evident with Deccan Chargers’ fans: they cheer for Adam Gilchrist who plays now for Kings XI and their club travels as vagrants from Vizag to Cuttack.
CSK did not do different things; it only did things differently. CSK kept the same team rooster for the most part in the five years IPL has been in full-swing. The traditional value of developing the best local talent was continued as the bulk of the side, including Murali Vijay, Ravichandran Ashwin, Srikanth Anirudha, and Subramaniam Badrinath, and Yo Mahesh moved up through Tamil Nadu cricket. The highest wicket-taker in the world, Muttiah Muralitharan, a Tamil, was only forced to let go after a competing IPL team outbid CSK.
It is the only franchise that invested $5 million to revamp on its creaking infrasturcture and increase seating capacity to 50,000; today Chepauk boasts of quad conical geometric form roof and bright yellow-colored stands. There definitely is a sense of belonging and empathy with which CSK has been branded.
Customer Internalization:
Just as how Chelsea F.C. is a play thing for Roman Abramovitch; IPL teams may very well be a play thing for the highfaluting businessmen. Not Chennai. CSK exudes a persona of a people’s brand, while other teams depend on a Bollywood ring master to goad its fans inside and outside the playing field. With any sports team brand, the fan’s internalization process is very elemental, and in this digital age, CSK fans are taking their favorite team right to the streets via social media outlets. If you don’t know that CSK fans are the most appreciative cricketing audience in the world, you need to drop an e-mail to the former Pakistani opener, Saeed Anwar, or ask someone from the Pakistan cricket team of 1999 who did a lap of honor. CSK fans, like their team, are a cog in the machine. This sense of “we” is pivotal in any sporting culture, and this sense of fan inclusivity is evident in the myriad videos on social media channels made by CSK fans for CSK fans (featured below is one made in San Francisco, CA, USA going viral right now on YouTube as this article is written).
CSK as an innovator initiated a few novel schemes be it the Mongoose bat in 2009 or their catchy “Whistle Podu” and “Raise your Hands” jingles to seduce fans worldwide. Last year, CSK fans broke into the “Whistle Podu” song and dance at Landmark, a book store chain in Chennai, proving that promotion today is democratic in the digitized world of social media and viral videos.
The restaurants and bars are riding the CSK wave by offering their guests CSK-styled menu (see below Park Sheraton’s Cricket Mania Menu).
Fostering Brand Loyalty:
In the past 5 years since IPL’s inception, CSK has about 1.5 million (consolidated) fans on Facebook; New York Yankees has about 5 million. But, the Yankees were established back in 1901 – CSK only in 2008. CSK legend, Matthew Hayden, has a photostream on Flickr.com posting pictures from CSK dressing room and cementing ties with CSK fans (search for ID TheHaydenway). CSK continually tweets and keeps its subscribers and fans engaged by giving away awards and rewards, while the players directly promote the CSK summer sports and casual apparel collection online via YouTube videos (see below) fostering a more direct relationship with fan base.
I was in awe when my friend’s octogenarian grandmother spent $5,000 and went on her own to Salt Lake City, UT to support Chicago Bulls in the 1998 NBA finals. She proudly wore the Chicago Red in the road games against Jazz. After almost a decade when I moved to London, England, I realized that New York Yankees transcended as an icon of the world – Londoners wore Yankees’ merchandise in a similar New Yorker pride – I’ve seen many with the NYY logo tattooed in permanent ink. So far, I have spotted a handful CSK fans in their yellow jerseys in New York and New Jersey this season. Scores of CSK fans congregate on groups in social media outlets. For instance, “Second Slip” is the most popular hang-out on Facebook (restricted admission). With the social web democratization, the CSK brand emerges as a sports club of the people by the people and for the people out of all IPL teams. In a few years I am sure to see the CSK’s roaring lion logo, tattooed and commodified like Oakland Raiders or New York Yankees.
–
Original article published by Sudio Sudarsan here. Should you wish to connect with the author: @iSudio on Twitter
For author’s insights and thinking in branding, marketing, or strategy, please find his keynote presentations at: http://www.SlideShare.net/SudioSudarsan You should be able to download them for free.
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on LinkedIn
Follow us on Twitter
Visit our Flickr page
Visit our YouTube page
Sports are dangerous subjects. Fandom knows few demographic, psychographic, and ethnographic borders. Which means the likelihood of your words falling in ears less inclined or prepared to hear them is high. The mere mention of a team elicits rabid responses, worse for a perceived sleight.
Now Sudio, imagine if you had written about the branding lessons to be learned from studying major religious organizations. The zealotry is only slightly less in sports.
Most people do not like to learn about the tools and tricks that brands and marketers use, just like they don’t *really* want to know about statecraft. They’d much rather not be forced to look behind the veil.
You combined the two. Made people look and at the same time seem to have found an audience motivated enough by your words to respond. Bravo.
we love CSK, this team is not made up of bollywood stars, it is made up of 11 players who played in the field………one of the consistent team in IPL history……the way they interact with the fans is amazing…….dhoni is from jharkand but we all r treating him like tamilan, we used to talk with him in tamil…….thats the bond create between the fans and csk players……….
I am proud to be a CSK fan. The only team which keeps the fan at the centre of their branding!
3 cheers for Chennai Super Kings!! Whistle Podu!!
Wonderful article!
hi frnd, happy to be ã csk fan…wen we stay humble we are exalted high., this article on d csk brandin proves it… Apart from bein criticised by fans of other teams they stay high coz of their simplicity….m ã tamilian born nd brought up in jharkhand, this make me feel more happy nd priviledge bein fan of MSD nd whole of csk team… LOVE U AL
CSK are the CHAMPIONS forever:)
Awesome entertainment @ Chepauk…. We enjoyed every ball
Winning is just a feather to our cap:)
We love you CSK forever:)
Thank you very much MSD for everything:)
Proud being a CSK fan:)
CSK has been champions twice hence it doesn’t matter whether we win or lose:) We are CHAMPIONS always:). Luck doesn’t favor anybody always. Wise people knew CSK’s success is coz of hard(smart)work and others call it luck. Even LUCK wants to share its name in CSK’s SUCCESS.
Unfortunately CSK is branded by TN. They are more worried about players talking in Tamil and its a team of TamilNadu
. Tamilians always brand everyone for being a Tamilian. Whereas all other teams have the last thing on their agenda what Prithviraj has mentioned. He says Dhoni is from Jharkhand and we treat him as a Tamilian..ROFL…y do u have a problem treating him as ur country mate or a Jahrakhandian? 
crazy Freaks 
They wish everyone in the country should be Tamil…CSK fans doent hold any respect for any other teams…if a team wins they win coz they are the best that season..CSK performed gud last season ..they won ..they din perform this season they lost. that means KKR is best this season. Australia is a strong and i suppose the best team ….but India won the world cup this time coz they performed better. That doesnt mean India was lucky
The best thing about CSK is that they are such a grounded bunch of players and they were so gracious in their defeat to KKR and they dont go over board even after winning the IPL 2 times in a row. It shows the maturity of the club, owners, captain and players. Good luck CSK for CL and coming IPL editions. CSK for Life
Numerous business professors, scholars, and researchers still write about China and India. Most of them on their economy, supply chain, or production capabilities. Many US-based business schools claim international orientation in their business program, but hardly there is nothing international published in their websites, blogs, or journals. The wait is finally over. After this long, here comes a compelling article from a branding specialist and professor at Hult, shedding light on India from a branding perspective. Though the entire nation of 1.2 billion happily rejoiced in the two-month spectacle for five years running, it is such a shame that not a single piece was composed about branding of the sports clubs in India. Gave me goose-bumps. Thank you, Professor Sudarsan, and thank you, Hult.
Thanks for the great article, Sudio.
We need to keep an eye on the successful branding in the sports world, and the emerging markets that are embracing cricket provide an excellent example. As cricket endures in popularity, the potential for capitalizing on the emotional relationship between fans and franchises will grow.
It seems to me that the sports and religious sectors will continue to provide fertile ground for branding – at least the opportunity is there for successful practice.
I love that you included YouTube videos that highlight your points – I’m stuck in an office in Dallas, TX and I don’t think that I have ever seen a cricket game or its dedicated fans.
I also appreciate your other work – I hope that other readers will take the time to visit your links.
Very well written and great points … It is amazing the kind of fan following CSK has got across the world…. There is no doubt that CSK is the most consistent team in the IPL – qualifying to 5 out of 5 IPLs- Champs twice, runner up twice… clearly speaks about its credible record……. If Warren Buffet chose to invest in an IPL team- he would put all his dollars in CSK franchise just by the consistent past performance which definitely predicts the future…… Warren would see this CSK franchise and brand as a team with a ” Competitive durable advantage” just by the fans participation and spread across the world… Many speculate that once Dhoni is gone, CSK will loose its winning ways. and and a few claim winning creates brands.. both of which i totally disagree ……. CSK is the perhaps the only team that has been built with a strong foundation right from day one supported and surrounded by its fans…. a strong foundation in its values( it has almost the same team for last 5 years with minor changes)….. A strong forward looking management team that runs one of the leading companies in India and most fundamental of all – has a religious fan following that is the best in IPL with which it is constant touch… and for its “Whistle Podu” ( equivalent of Nike “Just do It ” ) or “Raise your hands” campaigns which are the best in IPL … and the fan flavors of these campaigns from across the world that are just unbelievable…. and not to forget the flash mobs done in many parts of the world…… Definitely the fan base is in the center of this great brand and CSK is the best in IPL …..
The author has done an awesome job in the analysis and his claims support the facts…… Wish to see a book on CSK fans and its branding in the future…
Very well written and great points … It is amazing the kind of fan following CSK has got across the world…. There is no doubt that CSK is the most consistent team in the IPL – qualifying in 5 out of 5 IPLs- Champs twice, runner up twice… clearly speaks about its credible record……. If Warren Buffet chose to invest in an IPL team- he would put all his dollars in CSK franchise just by the consistent past performance which definitely predicts the future…… Warren would see this CSK franchise and brand as a team with a ” Competitive durable advantage” just by the fans participation and spread across the world… Many speculate that once Dhoni is gone, CSK will loose its winning ways. and and a few claim winning creates brands.. both of which i totally disagree ……. CSK is the perhaps the only team that has been built with a strong foundation right from day one supported and surrounded by its fans…. a strong foundation in its values( it has almost the same team for last 5 years with minor changes)….. A strong forward looking management team that runs one of the leading companies in India and most fundamental of all – has a religious fan following that is the best in IPL with which CSK is constant touch… and for its “Whistle Podu” ( equivalent of Nike “Just do It ” ) or “Raise your hands” campaigns which are the best in IPL … and the fan flavors of these campaigns from across the world that are just unbelievable…. and not to forget the flash mobs done in many parts of the world…… Definitely the fan base is in the center of this great brand and CSK is the best in IPL …..
The author has done an awesome job in the analysis and his claims support the facts…… Wish to see a book on CSK fans and its branding in the future…
Very well written and great points … It is amazing the kind of fan following CSK has got across the world…. There is no doubt that CSK is the most consistent team in the IPL – qualifying to 5 playoffs out of 5 IPLs- Champs twice, runner up twice… clearly speaks about its credible record……. If Warren Buffet chose to invest in an IPL team- he would put all his dollars in CSK franchise just by the consistent past performance which definitely predicts the future…… Warren would see this CSK franchise and brand as a team with a ” Competitive durable advantage” just by the fans participation and spread across the world… Many speculate that once Dhoni is gone, CSK will loose its winning ways. and and a few claim winning creates brands.. both of which i totally disagree ……. CSK is the perhaps the only team that has been built with a strong foundation right from day one supported and surrounded by its fans…. a strong foundation in its values( it has almost the same team for last 5 years with minor changes)….. A strong forward looking management team that runs one of the leading companies in India and most fundamental of all – has a religious fan following that is the best in IPL with which it is constant touch… and for its “Whistle Podu” ( equivalent of Nike “Just do It ” ) or “Raise your hands” campaigns which are the best in IPL … and the fan flavors of these campaigns from across the world that are just unbelievable…. and not to forget the flash mobs done in many parts of the world…… Definitely the fan base is in the center of this great brand and CSK is the best in IPL …..
The author has done an awesome job in the analysis and his claims support the facts…… Wish to see a book on CSK fans and its branding in the future…
Very well written and great points … It is amazing the kind of fan following CSK has got across the world…. There is no doubt that CSK is the most consistent team in the IPL – qualifying to 5 playoffs out of 5 IPLs- Champs twice, runner up twice… clearly speaks about its credible record……. If Warren Buffet chose to invest in an IPL team- he would put all his dollars in CSK franchise just by the consistent past performance which definitely predicts the future…… Warren would see this CSK franchise and brand as a team with a ” Competitive durable advantage” just by the fans participation and spread across the world… Many speculate that once Dhoni is gone, CSK will loose its winning ways. and and a few claim winning creates brands.. both of which i totally disagree ……. CSK is the perhaps the only team that has been built with a strong foundation right from day one supported and surrounded by its fans…. a strong foundation in its values( it has almost the same team for last 5 years with minor changes)….. A strong forward looking management team that runs one of the leading companies in India and most fundamental of all – has a religious fan following that is the best in IPL with which it is in constant touch… and for its “Whistle Podu” ( equivalent of Nike “Just do It ” ) or “Raise your hands” campaigns which are the best in IPL … and the fan flavors of these campaigns from across the world that are just unbelievable…. and not to forget the flash mobs done in many parts of the world…… Definitely the fan base is in the center of this great brand and CSK is the best in IPL …..
The author has done an awesome job in the analysis and his claims support the facts…… Wish to see a book on CSK fans and its branding in the future…
I totally agree to what Professor Sudarsan has written: digital marketing has entirely eliminated the middlemen. It has provided brands the rare opportunity to directly connect consumers. Who would have thought that CSK brand is benefitting by this article, and continues to benefit by the comments it receives, and the shares it gets. If the brand turns customers into their evangelists, the job is 80% done. Great read!
Oh my God! 600+ Shares on Facebook already. This is going viral!!
Thanks Hult for publishing a great post.
Coming from a diverse background of being a first generation Indian American, Technologist and fan of most American sports – I have reacquainted myself in a sport I grew up with through IPL and Chennai Super Kings. I was forwarded this article by a CSK fan friend, and when I saw this on HuffPo, drew me to comment on this.
First of all, I cannot believe the luck that CSK has on its side in getting a b-school professor to write this article. You have correctly pointed out through your academic and industry insights on how palpable the CSK franchise is within the fandom. I am sure that even they didn’t recognize this strength until you pointed it out!
Secondly, I see all things technology come together in all areas of marketing now than ever before. This is a truly unprecedented era of social media drivers creating the ripple and wave in the mindset of its consumers. It is high time team owners consider knowledge coming from branding pundits like you to build their franchise.
Last but not the least, your article’s popularity has produced an unexpected viewership and eyeballs perusing all things CSK than ever before – Hope the CSK management thanks you for this. Your ideation could do the fledgling sports branding world in Indian subcontinent mighty good. No one has attempted to take their analysis to this level, but you have. If I were any team owner in IPL, I would be talking to you. Good luck!
I have been an entrepreneur all my life. I started, bootstrapped and sold several companies over the years. I made money on some and I lost money on some. Last year I started Date My Ride http://datemyride.com website. I never looked for angel investors or VCs but I want to give it a try now. I applied to be on ABC’s Shark Tank TV show. You can vote for my Date My Ride startup on http://sharktankzone.com and hopefully I will make it into Shark Tank season 4. Wish me luck!
Excellent Information, Keep it up…