Silly Points

Just when you thought you’re out of “Diwali Dhamaka” for good, bang comes the IPL. With every brand finding its way to South Africa, it’s up to us poor scribes to come with those “catchy” promo names. Drop into any agency and some red-eyed specimen will be googling “cricket terms”. From presenting Dhoni with the man of the match award to being the 12th man to the KKRs, the consumer is promised a one way ticket to cricketing heaven. All under the assumption that he or she is going to get hooked on to your promo and not the 100 others that sound exactly like yours, read the conditions, buy the product, enter the lucky dip and phew…finally get to South Africa. There should be a better way right?

And if by some miraculous working of fate, you’ve escaped writing “XYZ khao, South Africa Jao”, rest assured you will be working on match branding. With every second of the game being commercialized, there will be no dearth of opportunities for “punchy” labels. Be it a wicket, a four, a six, the umpire scratching his head, the bowler scratching his groin, the audience waving, a dog running across the pitch…YOU will be asked to work on names.

So get off those fine legs, brush aside the silly points, keep a ear on the gully, an eye on the boundary, watch out for third man, get behind cover, avoid googlies, keep it straight and short. Try a left-right combination, take a stance, the pitch could get better in the second half of the day. If you still run out of ideas, you’re probably stumped and it’s time to send in the specialist. Or better still, see one!  

Posted by Niru.