Nokia stays connected to King Khan, with IPL pull

Nokia, facing a daunting challenge in the market-place from new competitors, has decided to spend more than last year on Kolkata Knight Riders in a vote of confidence to its brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, Anita Sharan reports.

Nokia, facing a daunting challenge in the market-place from new competitors, has decided to spend more than last year on Kolkata Knight Riders in a vote of confidence to its brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan, who recently recovered from a shoulder injury and faces his own competitors in Bollywood.

HT Image

They would team up to steady the Indian Premier Leagure’s second season as the security-threat-hit Twenty10 cricket tournament moves to South Africa.

In Nokia’s logic, IPL is just right for mass brand-building because here is where a game meets entertainment.
“SRK enhances the element of entertainment in cricket,” said D Shivakumar, vice-president and managing director, Nokia India.

“From being just a tool of entertainment, the phone has become more about entertainment. Ninety per cent of its features are about things other than making calls,” Khan told Hindustan Times, adding he expected KKR to become a big property in its own right.

Research carried out by media services agency GroupM after IPL 2008 showed that the investment paid off for Nokia, with a 30 per cent recall, which came second only to title sponsor DLF in mind association of viewers. Naturally, in IPL 2009, Nokia is spending a “substantially higher” amount on KKR – though Shivakumar did not give details.

Shivakumar notes that during KKR’s playoffs last year in Kolkata, a third of those who turned up came to see SRK were women or children.