Hi Tom,

I am Avin Nanjappa, doing my Masters in Communication Administration in Bangalore. I am specializing in Marketing and Media Communication. As part of my course requirements am required to take up a subject and a topic related to the business aspect in our modern economy and do a complete thesis on that topic.

My topic is – “Marketing Motorsports news to mainstream media in India as entertainment…”

I have chosen on the arena of Indian Motorsports coz have been in the field since a pretty young age. Have done a couple of backyard dirt races, motocross and few auto cross, though haven’t had any standings to my credits. Our family friend Mr. Jagat Nanjappa is my guide and has helped on a steady progress with the topic.

My questions are:


1. How much of coverage was given to motorsports in the 90's? ( EG: 60% of the sports sheet in newspapers, at least 1 hr program on DD)

2. Do you think that the coverage has gone down now and why?

3. How can you change the attitude of the organizers?

4. What role has the sponsors got to play in this?

5. Where do you see the future of motorsports promotion if it follows the recent trend?

6. What methods do you think can be used in marketing of motorsports?

7. What do you think went wrong in the communication process which has led do such a decline in the viewership of the sport?

8. What suggestions do you give to improve upon the marketing of motorsport in India?

9. What is the role of the participants in the arena? ( following “every sports person is the main face behind the development that sport” )

10.Do you think that Sports Journalism in our country has not matured enough?

I have also enclosed my dissertation draft copy for your further reference. Please feel free to send in comments and feedbacks as they are valuable to my study.

PS- My study is the relation between Indian media and Indian Motor Sports.


Regards,

Avin Nanjappa,

Guys - would appreciate some help here with Avin's questions.

Thanks Tom,

guys would appreciate any no of comments.

keep it revving

Anyone?

Will attempt.

1. 90s....no clue, leave the Q up to more senior ppl
2. See above
3. Change the attitude in what way? Most organisers (that I know of) have their hands full ORGANISING the event. Sometimes the media is nice and gives good coverage...but see point 4 (and see this link http://picasaweb.google.com/shivneet.si ... rageRally#)
4. Sponsors have a major role to play. If the sponsors are media savvy, they will ensure coverage as thats how they get their name in the papers as well!
5. Bleak.
6. Big name sponsors...and the fact that motorsports is NOT best covered by the print media.....you need those live action shots on TV, which unfortunately are not that easy (or cost effective!) to organise.
7. The ASN has a big role to play here
8. Still thinking about this one
9. They must ( and they do!) scream from the rooftops about the sport....every little bit of noise helps
10. They need to go beyond cricket.....and the funny thing is, the local inter school kabaddi match gets more coverage than a rally. ABSOLUTELY NO CLUE WHY.

I hope I have not stepped on any toes here, but this is what I think

Hope this helps, Avin.

Avin, this a very relevant and interesting topic, specially in today's day and age. Now since I'm a bit of a marketing guy and happen to be involved in this sport..will try to help in which ever way possible.

Now this is a topic that I am sure almost all motor sport organisers have been banging their heads on..unfortunately mostly on concrete walls. To me, the first questions that need to be answered are:

Defining the target market, do we know whom exactly we want to sell this sport to?

Defining the market positioning..which bracket / what image / which niche? ...this is a niche sport...it's a popular catch word, but the moment one says niche, one has to understand that niches are limited in terms of potential markets. So the glamour and hoopla needs to come in..full force. A lot of us (motor sport promoters) tend to be purists and deny the modern marketing tools as being superficial. Check the bottom line on the home page.. there are 1700 odd members here.. purists we believe...that's the audience one will be left with without the bells and whistles.. out of one billion!

Hell, have lots more to say but am running out of time.. but mail me if you have any other specifics that I may help in... would love to

Thanks Sir, thanks a lot.

regarding the 3 q. when I spoke with a few journos their reply for not covering the events was that the organizers do not take the media seriously, as most of the events are held on outskirts of the cities, there arent proper accommodations arranged for the media to get there. They must be invited with proper notifications, be kind enough to atleast speak with the media regarding the event, have an press conference before or after the event etc.

thanks very much for the reply sir

Hi Manoj,

thank u for the recommendations. well as per ur q's

1. Target market is the Indian media. as I have put it across in the end of my thread. its the relation btw Indian media and Indian motorsports. So it would be irrelevant if I segreate the market (print media & electronic media)

2. I have taken up this topic because I do not see a market position for this sport. I clearly do not see how will u define the bracket/image/niche. If I define all these then only people with knowledge about motor sport will be able to answer not an layman.

What I want to result from this study is How can we help the media get the sport across to the rest one billion? (baring the 1700 members).

Do u think that in a country of one billion there can be only 1700 ppl who are interested in motorsports.

No, there are more and we need to communicate with them in such a way that it must make an impact. With not just advertisements and pr works but with proper facilities that will make a layman feel he is one among the sport. So hoping to get answers how to do this thru my study?

will get back to you on mail with my queries. thanks for ya thoughts

Avin, Lol...it seems you didn't get my point ... anyways, I guess I need to tone it differently. I wasn't addressing those questions to you.. they were open queries, and perhaps will also be required in your project to establish the case... Do let me know by mail if you require any specific assistance.

BTW, i completed my masters in marketing 14 years back and have been involved in motor sports since the past 22 years..I guess we are speaking in different time warps here..but would still love to be of any help

Hi Manoj,

Thats really gr8. will surely bug you with mails. i havent come to the conclusion part so thats when u can be sure of mails from my side.

thanks a lot for the help

regards,
Avin