India’s early exit from Cup ends dream TV innings

PUNE, June 17: The background: World Cup England 99 starts on May 14 at Lord's. India play their first match on May 15 at Hove. Fully con...

PUNE, June 17: The background: World Cup England 99 starts on May 14 at Lord’s. India play their first match on May 15 at Hove. Fully convinced about India’s victory, Indians, across the board, go on a television shopping spree. Some go shopping even before the start of the event or shop maybe to buy a second piece. The idea is to capture and freeze that momentous occasion forever in memory. Result: A 100 per cent rise in television sales.

But fate intervenes. Though India win matches keeping the tempo up all this while, they are unable to make into the semis. They play their last match on June 12. Result: As disappointment replaces the expected happy tidings, television sales plummet by as much as 30 to 50 per cent.

Welcome to the world of the ongoing World Cup, the Indian debacle and television sales.

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It wasn’t long ago before the World Cup commenced that most TV manufacturers had decided to use this event as a platform to push their products in the market. To attract customers many TV brands including Aiwa, Akai, BPL, Sansui, Samsung, Videocon, Onida, National Panasonic, had come out with extremely innovative schemes. The idea being to increase television sales anyhow and offering customer friendly schemes appeared as a sureshot bait.

And, of course, the customer had a wide choice. Aiwa’s Money Back scheme, Onida’s Zero per cent Finance scheme, Sansui’s Win-win Offer scheme, Videocon’s Exchange offer scheme, BPL’s Cricket Maza and Exchange Offer schemes, Samsung’s Scratch a Gift scheme were some of the options available.

Yet, despite all this brouhaha, reduced prices and attractively packaged schemes just couldn’t withstand one thing. This was the onslaught on television sales wreaked by the Indian fiasco at the World Cup.

Lamenting about the declining sales, Mulji Patel, an authorised dealer for Videocon, Nayan Electronics on Laxmi Road, says: “Since the last seven to eight days, sales, both in the wholesale and retail segments, have dipped to 16 pieces. Compare this to the halycon times when expectations were high at the onset of the World Cup in May. The sales had risen and we were selling 30-50 television pieces.”

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Why talk about only the dealers plight? Even the television corporates, magnanimous in their overtures to the general public in order to boost the sales, think similarly.

Prashant Sonar, senior executive, sales, Samsung, says that for the World Cup, Samsung ran an advertising budget of Rs 20 crore and after India’s ignominious exit, “market sales have come down overnight.” “What’s more,” adds R Venugopal, a marketing executive with Onida, “Dealers now have just stopped keeping fresh stock.”

Keshav Kamath, sales administrator, National Panasonic, makes his point. “What with India out of the event, a majority of the consumers have actually postponed buying televisions till the Diwali season.”

Of course, sentiments have contributed. With sales in television being directly proportional to India’s performance during the event and in a cricket crazy state like Maharashtra, feelings have run high. Manish Didmishe, head, CTV division at BPL feels, “Performance of the Indian team has a direct effect on a customer’s buying decision.” And how aptly it has reflected. Although a few dealers and corporates admit that they did foresee such an eventuality and had also expected a dip in sales, there is still a vast chasm between conjecture and reality. And as this shows decline in television sales is not a mere conjecture, it is a reality.