Business lessons from the Indian Grand Prix

Major sporting events are no longer just about who won the match or who won the medals. Who hosted the event — “Formula 1 in India? You must be joking!” — can have a major impact on that nation’s image worldwide.

And when India did host Formula 1, on October 30 this year, that nation’s status was instantly ratcheted up several notches — globally.

This is yet another example of how emerging economies are increasingly bidding for major, prestigious global events.

Since the great success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, mega sporting events have been travelling to new destinations, particularly to the world’s fastest growing economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS).(See table below)

From a public relations perspective, the lure of large and spectacular sporting events is often seen as an opportunity to also attract tourism and new investment. The sporting event becomes a platform on which to showcase the culture of the host nation. But the whole event becomes even more than that: it highlights the country’s arrival on the world stage.

The Formula 1 race in New Delhi generated huge international media attention, not just because of the global popularity of the sport, but because the arrival in India of the most expensive sport in the world also signalled that India had now come of age.

For global brands this was a wake-up call: India (and China too) has a growing middle-class with disposable income and they want to buy your goods, so tell them what you have to offer.

The success of the F1 race (against the background of shoddy preparations for the Commonwealth Games) offers instant PR and marketing lessons for foreign firms who want to break into India. Unlike the public sector — that handled the Commonwealth Games —private ventures in that country can indeed deliver world class standards. This flare of the private sector is further underlined by the active involvement of various Indian conglomerates in mergers and acquisitions overseas.

In terms of market demography the young Indian middle-class consumer is trendy, well-informed (due to a free media), cosmopolitan, and exceptionally open to global ideas and cultures (the first F1 race had around 120,000 spectators). It is a country where aligning brand with any truly global event really works.

It could be just a matter of time before there is massive hysteria and a major fan following for the Formula 1 teams, as already exists for the Indian Premier League cricket teams. India might even become the world’s largest market for F1 merchandise.

Marketing gurus should look behind all those depressing figures for literacy, poverty and poor infrastructure: India with its vast young population offers enormous opportunities. The nation of 1.2billion is likely to become the world’s third largest economy by 2030, if not before. However, to get a good slice of that pie, it’s important to get into the market right now — not the day after tomorrow. 

Mega sporting events in emerging nations	Destination
2008 Olympics	Beijing
2010 FiFa World Cup	South Africa
2010 Commonwealth Games	New Delhi
2014 Fifa World Cup	Brazil
2018 Fifa World Cup	Russia

2001-2010: A decade to remember

As we bid farewell to  2010 and look forward to 2011, it is worth noting how the global developments of the first decade of the 21st century have impacted our lives…

One of the most revolutionary changes of this decade has been the transformation in the way we communicate.  In particular, the mobile phones became cheaply available providing access to telecommunications for the very first time in poorer countries and benefiting billions of people across the world. The  internet spread phenomenally to usher an exciting digital media age. The evolution of social networking sites like Twitter, YouTube, Facebook and others boosted citizen journalism.  This in turn redefined the concepts of marketing and PR, and most importantly dismantled the barriers to the free flow of information, empowering global citizens to unite and interact on one platform. And to cap it all, cutting edge devices like ipods, smart phones, tablet computers, game consoles, on –demand television and podcasts radically changed the way we consume  media.

On political front, the tragic events of 9/11 dramatically changed the dynamics of global security. New alliances were forged, old alliances went to war.  Sadly, terrorism spread – killing thousands from Mumbai to Madrid, London to Karachi.  And, as we step into the next decade, terrorism will remain one of the biggest threats to global peace and harmony.

 Climate change became an important global issue, which scientists say, if unchecked, may turn into a major natural catastrophe during this century. The huddle of nations in Copenhagen brought together to discuss climate change in 2009 yielded little result yet this is going to be a burning issue as we move into the next decade.  Consequently it is vital that we all do our bit to become green citizens.

Economically, the recession shook the foundations of the global economy, affecting millions across the world. Clearly, there were structural flaws in the world’s financial system.  To fix the mess, the G20 was galvanised into action. It signalled a strategic shift in global power bringing together the developed and  developing nations.

The first decade also saw the economic rise of China and India as well as new innovations from developing countries: the world’s cheapest car, nano-technology and $100 laptops. China orchestrated an awesome Olympics in 2008 and South Africa, a brilliant soccer world cup in 2010. The United States elected the first black president and the EU grew from 15 to 27 members’ states.

The forthcoming  decade will be exciting as the rise of new economic powers will create a dynamic work force enabling greater exchange of knowledge, ideas and technology. The global citizens and digital natives will come to power and it will create new markets and more opportunities for growth. It is important that we seize this opportunity and together build a prosperous world.