West Indies Cricket: A Brand in Need of Help

Is it just me or does anyone else feel like the ICC Twenty/20 World Cup is happening somewhere else? Is it really starting in the West Indies in a couple weeks? Am I missing something? I mean, sure we are in the midst of election mania here in Trinidad and Tobago, but even before that, with the exception of the lone promotional video with Gravy or Blue Food or whoever, there seems to be quite a laid back feeling. That's in my world, anyway. It may be different for you.

So I decided to do some digging from an online perspective. What I found was rather disturbing to say the least. I decided not to go to the WICB's website first. I decided to see if they had a presence on Facebook. Why? Over the years, there have been those who say the sport is dying in the region. Test cricket is not sexy to young people. The idea of sitting watching the lovely game over a 5-day stretch does not appeal to them. One day cricket is still entertaining but the team's "prowess" has not been consistent enough to keep the interest, loyalty and support of some fans. In comes Twenty/20 which seems to have injected some new life into the game and has brought a new legion of fans - what I call the "instant" crew. Instant coffee, instant meals, instant cricket. Half day of cricket is perfect for them, not to mention exciting, with a faster pace and big displays of ego with the bat and ball. Maybe not beautiful cricket but popular cricket. But this is not about the game and where it's going. This is about the game and where it is from a marketing perspective especially when one thinks about this segment of the market that is disillusioned with the game and have turned to other avenues for excitement.

So I turned to Facebook. Before I even got to West Indies cricket, I checked these pages first:

- Chelsea FC
- Arsenal FC
-FC Barcelona
- Soca Warriors

Chelsea's Page is fantastic. Not only is beautifully laid out, with rich photos and video, but it is current, interactive and has exclusive content. Over 660,000 fans who are active and passionate about their love for the team.

FC Barcelona's page is stunning and has over 1.6million fans. Again, current info, great content.

And while the T&T Soca Warriors are not in the same league as their European club colleagues, their Page at least has some currency and hosts updates of our local ballers's activities in their respective clubs etc. We don't have much to boast of as a team these days, being out of the WC and all, but that does not mean the Page had to die either. Good job, Soca Warriors.

So after going to where a lot of the young people's interest lie these days, I looked for WI cricket.

(shakes head)

Goodness. The site has nothing! Nada! Nil! The hard part about it, is they have over 8,000 fans - people who have an interest and want to know what's up. The site is basically an online forum with just the fans contributing, hoping, waiting, praying that someone out there in WI cricket world will post a photo, a video, an article - ANYTHING. So while they are where their untapped market spends most of their day, they aren't REALLY there. Sad. Such potential for fans to get to know the players on a more personal level, get some insight into their coaching schedules, how they feel about upcoming tournaments, maybe excite some with some exclusive offers. But nope...there was nothing at all.

So then I said, maybe their website is so fab that the FB Page was unnecessary. Get there and the page has some potential. I see some video, some current content - news, ticket info, updates. Good. I wanted to learn more about the ICC T20 tournament so clicked on the banner ad. Before I start on that, let me just say, I know that the ICC probably does have rights over what the WICB can do or say as it relates to this tournament. Based on how the ODI World Cup went a few years ago, with all the restrictions, I can bet they are probably muzzled...

But...the WI cricket team is still yours and though I don't know to what extent the Board can promote the tournament (who knows, maybe they can, maybe they can't), they can still promote the team and their chances which, I am not hesitant to say, are good in this drive-by form of the game.

So clicked on the banner ad.Of course it goes to the ICC site, which is of course a general site with info on all the teams. There is an ICC Facebook Page and Twitter stream for the tournament, again, for the tournament as a whole. You can send your messages to your team, wishing them luck in their games and so on. But that's it. Nothing branded in the maroon and green. Nothing for the fans of the WI squad on the WICB's website.

No video from our infamous captain, or the coaches. Nothing from the young players who are the role models for the young people we so desperately need to attract to the game. No T-20 forum or discussion board for fans besides the fans-only FB page. Just a static page in this age of social internet platforms. It was pretty depressing especially when competing with the bells and whistles of a page like Chelsea FC. Cricket Australia's site, though not quite that current, still has some content with over 45,000 fans giving their feedback quite regularly. So it's not a cricket thing. It's a WI thing! Epic fail!

The performance of the team over the past few years has not engendered any hope and passion either, and is it any wonder that people will turn towards exciting games with high performing teams like Chelsea FC? At the same time, out of sight, out of mind. If we only hear about the team when they have either a strike or a loss, which is usually all we hear these days, then the brand is being denigrated. As marketers, the responsibility should be on building on the positive elements of the brand and the game and using it to the team's advantage, to the advantage of the WI brand and to the advantage of the game in the region, especially among those who did not grow up knowing about Viv or Des, or who have, because of such bad performance (and Beyonce..lol), even forgotten Brian.

Or have we just completely given up on this team and cannot be bothered to work on strengthening their brand, as best as we could?

Well, I will make my own plug here to my 10.5 readers. The ICC 2010 Twenty/20 tournament starts in the West Indies on Friday April 30 and will run until Sunday May 16. Good luck to the West Indies cricket team. Hope to hear from from you somewhere, from someone. I have bashed you in the recent past, but I am still a fan and it would be good if your Board would do some work on marketing and strengthening your brand, so that more of us know who you are, what you're up to and how you feel about the beautiful game - and not just about how horrendous your performances have been. Maybe then, I will not be so quick to judge you, your captain and your management because I would feel an affinity or...something.

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Less Talk, More Action

While looking for something else, I stumbled upon this article with its bold headline and laughed out loud. While I continue to support the West Indies cricket team, albeit in a diminished capacity, their actions in the past several months by way of their performance, have not buoyed me and more importantly have not convinced me that their captain's pronouncement is anything but laughable.

Of course the Australians are beatable. I am not disputing that at all. No team is invincible. Can THIS West Indies team beat them? Sigh. Let's just say, I got a couple emails from relatives abroad who also read the article, and they too LOL'ed in their offices.

What I want from my cricket team and its skipper (note I did not say MY skipper, cause I am not a fan of Mr Christopher Gayle) is less talk and more action.

It ties back to my previous entry, where less is also definitely  in business. It's no longer about words and press releases, ads and mission statements. These mean nothing if there is nothing solid behind them. For example, what good is a corporate mission statement about being a leading provider of a service, if your service is universally horrendous, and customers slam your brand as a result? It becomes just a statement in a pretty frame hanging on a wall. What steps are companies taking to ensure that what they are promoting to the outside world is indeed the reality?

And, in terms of social media, there are companies which are setting up Web 2.0 "communities" which attract many of their customers, but the communication somehow falls flat. There is feedback via many outlets, and none of the feedback is incorporated to enhance the customer experience so the community becomes a talk shop and an ideas graveyard. Some communicator are hearing, but are they listening, and more importantly, doing?

Companies cannot hope to create content for social media without collaborating with the persons for whom the content is being created. Ideas and suggestions live via this new media and marketers would be wise to start paying close attention to what is being said out there. The paradigm shift is clear - more and more consumers are defining products and services, and the content they want on blogs and social networking sites, and marketing and comms peeps need to step up to the plate, not just support social media conversations but bring them to life. Quite simply, we need to walk the talk.

And a brand defined, not by its idealistic, chest-beating public statements, but by its "laughable" reality can never really stand the test of time or boast of superior loyalty from its audience. I hope one day Mr Gayle and his band of merry boys will understand this, if they even care.

Photo: Cricket Australia

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