A couple of days ago, I saw this advertisement in the Times of India:
Has Sachin Tendulkar endorsed ‘Transstroy India Limited’ for this ad?
My guess is that he has not.
p.s: If you are or know the licensing agent of Sachin Tendulkar, can you please help clarify this assumption of mine?
This is a case of Classic ‘Hijack Marketing’, in my view.
The concept is simple – someone scores a major achievement and someone else leverages (hijacks) it!
Assuming that I am Sachin Tendulkar:
– Will I serve a notice to this Company for “congratulating” me publicly with such awesome words in India’s largest newspaper?
I doubt it. I will gulp and let it pass.
So, I’m thinking – what did the owner/CEO of the Transstroy Company get out of this?
Check out this ‘co-branding’ part of the ad:
Check out the language, the grammar of the ad.
This is a nice way for Sridhar Cherukuri (Chairman and MD) to get his mug into the media! Will his friends, relatives and associates see this ad and call him and say, “Wow! Awesome! What an ad Sir”…?
Maybe Sridhar Cherukuri will get more congratulatory calls for this ‘major achievement’ than Sachin himself?!
The question is – is this sense of false vanity worth 30 lacs or so – which will be the cost of the ad paid to the TOI to print it?
I guess it depends on how desperate people are for their ‘false sense of fame’.
Coming close to the Economics of Hijack Marketing – does this kind of underground marketing benefit the sponsoring Brand or the Business in any way?
Oh wait a minute, will the Govt. of India appreciate this fabulous gesture of Transstroy and give them new Metros, Railways, Mining and Oil and Gas projects?
What will happen post this ad?
Will new business be generated?
Who will benefit?
From a Corporate governance point of view, I may ask – who are the shareholders of Transstroy? Are they pleased by the way the Company they also own, is spending money?
Ok let’s give these guys a break. At least the employees of Transstroy India will be delighted to see their Company advertising in the papers and their Chairman & MD standing shoulder to shoulder with Sachin; and hence make them feel more motivated to work for the Company?!
Errrr…..oooops…. there is no mention of ‘People’ on the Home page of the Transstroy website 🙁
– Hijack Marketing does not work. When a Brand becomes a hijacker of someone else’s fame and achievements, it’s very difficult to ‘transfer’ that glory from the Hero to the Brand.
This applies to legit advertising also. When I see large, multinational brands advertising ‘Congratulations’, ‘Well done’, etc messages for Cricket Stars or the India Team… I, for one think, “What losers! What ‘pile-ons’…. Couldn’t they stop bragging about themselves just this one time?”
– The victim in this case is Sachin Tendulkar. Honestly, his reputation is also tarnished when seen with some vague brand like this. It makes innocent fans think, “Is this what Sachin does for money?”
– The Airline in this case is the Times of India ‘coz they carried the Hijacker Brand and the victim. Shouldn’t they have better security systems (a la warning Sachin Tendulkar or his agent) before allowing the ad to get published?
The media reviews all ads before accepting them – so why not request clarification when Hijack Marketing is suspected?
On second thoughts, come to think of it – this is probably the only ‘Airline’ in the world that benefits from this kinda hijacking – so why even bother with security, right?
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