PCL: Elevating Corporate Cricket To Stardom

PCL (Corporate Premier League) is India’s largest exclusive corporate cricket platform, providing corporate professionals the opportunity to live their cricketing dreams like stars.

The league commenced with a modest team of eight corporate organisations, united by their passion for cricket and their vision to foster a culture of camaraderie, competition, and sportsmanship within the corporate world.

However, as PCL aspires to scale new heights, it recognises the need for effective branding, marketing, and advertising solutions, both online and offline, to attract more big corporates, boost engagement, and sustain its growth.

Client:

Pro Corporate League

Industry:

Sports

01. Challenges

PCL faced several critical challenges that necessitated the need for right branding, marketing and advertising experts:

- Limited Awareness: PCL, despite its success, remains relatively unknown in the corporate world. It needs to create awareness and establish its brand as the go-to platform for corporate cricket enthusiasts.
- Attracting Big Corporates: While PCL has a core group of participants, it seeks to attract more prominent corporate entities, which requires a compelling value proposition and effective marketing strategies.
- Engagement: Sustaining the enthusiasm of current participants and fans throughout the year, even during off-seasons, is essential for PCL’s long-term success.
- Long-term Sustainability: Create a roadmap for PCL’s sustainable growth, with a focus on expanding to new cities and regions while maintaining the quality and integrity of the league.
- Offline and Online Integration: The league needs a seamless blend of offline and online strategies to maximise its reach and engagement.

02. Brand Objectives

Our Consultants aimed to address these challenges through a comprehensive brand marketing and promotional strategy, which included the following objectives:

- Enhanced Brand Recognition: The primary objective is to establish PCL as the foremost corporate cricket league in India. PCL aimed to achieve a 30% increase in brand recognition among the target audience within the next two years.
- Attracting Big Corporates: PCL’s goal is to attract at least 50 new big corporate entities to participate in the league within the next year, thereby broadening its corporate player base.
- Online Engagement: The league seeks to maintain a steady online engagement rate with an average of 50,000 monthly website visitors, 25,000 social media followers within the next year.
- Sponsorship Growth: The league intends to secure sponsorships and partnerships with at least five prominent corporate brands, raising a minimum of INR 5 million in sponsorships within the next 6 months.
- Offline Promotion: PCL will aim to organise at least three corporate cricket tournaments at renowned venues and host a minimum of five offline promotional events in the coming year to increase brand visibility and participation.
- Consistent Brand Messaging: Ensure that PCL’s brand messaging remains consistent across all channels, materials, and platforms, emphasising the core values of camaraderie, competition, and sportsmanship.

03. Implementation

Branding and Identity Enhancement

PCL will undergo a comprehensive rebranding process to create a distinctive and appealing identity. This will include:

A new logo and tagline that encapsulate the league’s essence and values.
A brand style guide for uniformity across all communication materials.
A brand narrative that emphasises the corporate spirit and cricketing passion.

Digital
Transformation

Our consultants established a robust online presence through:

A user-friendly, responsive website with real-time match updates, statistics, and player profiles.
Active social media accounts across platforms to engage the audience with posts, videos, and live streaming.
Analytics integration and monitoring the user behaviour in real-time.

Content
Marketing

Engaging content will be the cornerstone of PCL’s marketing strategy. This includes:

Regular blog posts, match previews, and post-game analyses on the website.
Interviews and features on prominent players, captains, and corporate leaders.
Video content such as highlights, interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage.

Sponsorship and Partnerships

To attract more big corporates, PCL will actively seek sponsorships and partnerships:

Attract sponsors to invest in team sponsorships, stadium naming rights, and other branding opportunities.
Collaborate with sports equipment companies, media houses, and other stakeholders.

Offline Initiatives & Ground Branding

PCL don’t want to ignore the offline audience. Strategies included:

Hosting corporate cricket tournaments at popular grounds.
Organising promotional events, workshops, and meet-and-greet sessions with cricketing legends.
Cricket Ground Branding: Incorporated boundary hoardings, pitch branding, player and team apparel, scoreboard branding, branded signage, promotional materials and pavilion branding.

Fan
Engagement

To sustain engagement, PCL will introduce fan-centric initiatives:

Loyalty programs for dedicated fans.
Interactions with players and management through fan meetings and Q&A sessions.
Merchandise such as jerseys, caps, and collectibles to foster a sense of belonging.

04. Results & Outcomes

By implementing these branding, marketing, and advertising solutions, PCL anticipates:

Increased awareness and recognition within the corporate sector.
A surge in participation from big corporate players.
Consistent engagement throughout the year, creating a dedicated fanbase.
Successful integration of offline and online strategies for maximum reach and impact.

Increase in brand awareness within 1st year

150

Sponsorship amount equivalent to 7.5 Million INR raised

more number of corporates on-boarded within 1st year i.e. 60 in number

increase in website visitors and 30,000 social media followers achieved

05. Conclusion

In the journey of PCL (Corporate Premier League), the objectives of establishing a premier corporate cricket platform and living cricketing dreams like stars have been articulated with a clear roadmap. The case study has outlined the pivotal branding, marketing, and advertising solutions necessary to achieve these objectives both online and offline. Cricket ground branding, a critical element of the overall strategy, promises to boost visibility, fan engagement, and sponsorships.

The objectives set forth in this case study provide a clear path forward for PCL, ensuring that the league not only thrives but also continues to shine as India’s most prominent corporate cricket platform.

06. Client Testimonial

Working with the NBNM was a game-changer for PCL. Their expertise in branding and marketing strategies, both online and offline, transformed our league. The ground branding recommendations, in particular, boosted our visibility and sponsorship opportunities. We highly recommend their services to any organisation looking to make a significant impact in their industry.

Mr. Sachin Gupta

Managing Director, PCL