Amul's Pathbreaking FIFA World Cup Sponsorships ft. COO Jayen Mehta

Amul has recently been making waves in sports advertising circles with its major announcement as 'Regional Sponsors' of the Argentina and Portugal Football teams for the FIFA World Cup 2022 scheduled to kick off on November 20.

It is not often that we see Indian brands make a splash on the global sporting stage. But innovative advertising approaches are nothing new to this iconic dairy brand that has stood the test of time.

Who can forget Amul Girl - the eponymous mascot that pioneered the concept of moment marketing in India?

Within the sports ecosystem, besides football, Amul has also made unconventional sponsorship choices in cricket - standing out from the rest with support for the Irish and Afghan cricket teams.

Jayen Mehta has been associated with Amul (or rather 'GCMMF' to be precise) for over 31 years, in various capacities from their brand manager, product manager, general manager (marketing), and now as the Chief Operating Officer.

On the eve of the FIFA World Cup, we caught up with Mehta for an exclusive conversation on Amul's activation plans for the forthcoming football World Cup, its iconic brand-building approach, sports sponsorship strategy, and why it frequently supports underdog teams in cricket.

1) Having worked in various capacities at Amul, including as a brand manager, what attributes, according to you, have contributed to its long-lasting brand legacy?

Mehta: One word – consistency. Consistency in product, consistency in quality, and consistency in communication. Our products, such as butter, are made using the same ingredients as in the 1950s. Our quality checks are stringent and have evolved with time to ensure our customers get the best products without compromise. Our brand communication – Amul Doodh Peeta Hai India, Amul – The Taste of India, and 'Utterly Butterly Delicious' have not changed since they were coined.

All these initiatives and efforts have helped the brand Amul grow to become one of the most trusted and beloved brands in India for the last 75 years.

2) Following the previous question, how important of a role do sports play in ensuring that current and future generations of consumers develop the same fond association with your brand, as with earlier generations?

Mehta: Sports is an important medium for Amul to connect with today’s generation of consumers. Today, our consumers are divided across various media outlets as they are constantly bombarded with content on television, social media, and print. It has also become difficult to connect with every member of a household. Thus, sports today play the role of a unifier, a common denominator to engage with our consumers.

Over the last two decades, we have been associated with various sports including cricket, football, Formula One, badminton, tennis, chess, boxing, kabaddi, wrestling, and athletics in major events such as the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

3) Do you recall the first time you sponsored a sporting event/team? If so, which year was it, and how has the sports sponsorship landscape evolved from then to now?

Mehta: We associated with the Netherlands cricket team during the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup as their official sponsor and had the Amul Butter branding stamped on their jerseys. We began sponsoring the Indian contingent for the Olympics in 2012 and subsequently every Olympic event, Commonwealth Games, and Asian Games. In 2013, we were the sponsors of the Sauber Team during the inaugural F1 Gautam Buddh Circuit race. Then in 2015, we were associate sponsors of the Indian Super League while having advertised the English Premier League (EPL), La Liga, and UEFA Champions Trophy since 2014.

Our sports associations have been very well appreciated by our consumers, especially with Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup. We were also the beverage sponsors of three Indian Premier League teams (IPL) in 2021 and five IPL teams in 2022. We will now be the official regional sponsors of the Argentina and Portugal teams until 2023.

Each association has provided us with an opportunity to connect with different types of consumers which has made the brand more youthful and vibrant. We have adapted to the various formats and opportunities provided by these sporting associations.

4) You have had an interesting and eclectic portfolio of sports sponsorships. In 2018, you were the title sponsor of the St. Moritz Ice Cricket tournament. What brand and business considerations underpin your decision to support certain sporting events in specific geographies over others?

Mehta: We need to keep an open mind while exploring our association with sports, as the format is live and unpredictable. We have tried to work with a range of events, including the St. Moritz Ice Cricket tournament, to build a strong bond with our customers. The nature of sports provides an adrenaline rush to our consumers and riding on it aids the brand to be looked upon through the right lens.

5) You are an undisputed leader in ‘moment marketing’ thanks to your classic series of topical advertisements, with over 3000 such ads released since its launch in 1966. Can you share with us the conceptualization process behind these ads?

Mehta: Amul Topicals is the holy grail of Amul advertising, and we don’t tamper with it. It is the only Amul campaign that has been released without any approval since 1966. Every week, Rahul daCunha and his team explore numerous topics that have the potential to become topical. Later, as the week progresses, they finalize the issue at hand and create magic with Amul Topical.

6) Amul was the team sponsor for the South African cricket team’s tour to India. This was a unique case of an Indian-origin brand sponsoring a rival team on a tour of India. Considering the age of hyper-nationalism we live in, were you afraid of any social media backlash around this decision?

Mehta: We welcome all feedback from our consumers and listen to each conversation every day. Fortunately, our customers never found Amul to have a negative outlook when we associated with teams such as South Africa, Afghanistan, Netherlands, New Zealand, or Ireland, even if they played against India.

7) Based on past activations, are there specific categories of dairy products that associate better with sports?

Mehta: We have been connecting Amul and Amul Kool with our young audience. Our association with sports teams has always been with Amul, while we have worked as beverage partners across various events such as the IPL and Pro Kabaddi League, with the Amul Kool sub-brand name.

8) On the flip side, are there some product categories that are a strict "no" (e.g., "unhealthy" chocolates/ice creams, etc.) when it comes to advertising during sports events?

Mehta: We follow an umbrella branding strategy under the brand name Amul and thus have continued to leverage these associations with all our products.

Amul at the FIFA World Cup

9)Amul secured regional sponsorship for the Argentinian and Portugal football teams for the upcoming FIFA World Cup. Can you take us through the behind-the-scenes negotiations that made these deals happen?

Mehta: We were pleased to learn that both the Argentina and Portugal football associations were keen on partnering with Amul. We were equally honored by the love and respect both football teams had for our brand and discussed various opportunities that may help bring football closer to India in the future.

The reach and distribution of Amul will help the two teams make a name in households across the country. This will also provide us with an opportunity to engage strongly with our consumers.

10) Did you consider other popular teams (like Brazil, England, etc.) before zeroing in on Argentina? If so, what tipped the scales in Argentina and Portugal’s favor, and how significantly did Messi and Ronaldo’s presence in these teams influence this decision?

Mehta: Undoubtedly, Messi and Ronaldo are the G.O.A.T's of international football and are well-recognized in almost every country. Their skill and playing style is celebrated by young football fans and old guards in India.

This will probably be the last World Cup for the two players, and everyone in India will be looking forward to their respective team's matches. Thus, our selection criteria were simple and clear.

11) What are the various FIFA World Cup activation strategies we can expect to see in the coming weeks?

Mehta: We are working with our national and eight regional agencies to create new communication in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Odia, and Bangla for mass media and digital platforms.

During every FIFA World Cup, we take hoarding sites and showcase our Amul Topicals in World Cup moments such as the altercation between Maradona and Matthaus in 1990, France winning in 1998, and Luka Modric winning the Golden Boot in 2018. This helps create a sense of nostalgia among fans while refreshing their memories.

We will also be launching select products with new packaging featuring players from Argentina and Portugal football teams. These collectible packs will be available for purchase online and through our Amul Parlors.

Sponsoring Ireland Cricket Team in the T20 World Cup, Facilitated by ITW,

12) Moving to cricket, at the recent T20 World Cup, you were the official team sponsor for Ireland. Can you elaborate on the ROI you received from this association?

Mehta: The Irish team has been playing good cricket for many years before qualifying for the ICC Cricket World Cup recently. They were in a tough qualifier group and were up against the mighty West Indies, whom they defeated to qualify for the group stages. Later, Ireland also defeated England. They played competitive cricket throughout the tournament and Indian fans took note of their performance as well as our association with them.

13) How heavily were you banking on Ireland progressing to the main draw?

Mehta: The Irish team proved their mettle when they gave India tough competition during their tour of Ireland a few months prior to the World Cup. We believed in their ability to play competitive cricket at the World Cup and were pleased with their overall performance throughout the tournament.

14) Would the partnership have still been deemed commercially successful had Ireland not qualified from the group stages to the ‘Super 12’?

Mehta: We have backed the Irish team since they earned the respect of Indian fans with their performances in the recent T20 World Cup and India's tour of Ireland. Thus, we made our predictions regarding their games and were happy they did not disappoint.

15) You were also the official sponsor of the Afghanistan cricket team at the 2019 World Cup. From Afghanistan, at the 2019 World Cup to Ireland in the 2022 T20 World Cup, has it been a conscious decision to support ‘underdog’ cricket teams? If so, why? Is it purely economics (i.e., lower sponsorship rates) at play, or are there deeper motivations behind such partnerships?

Mehta: All of our team associations have been focused on the objective of creating a meaningful association with sports to keep the brand Amul appealing to the younger generation. We have been associated with every team across sporting events such as the Olympics, cricket, football, F1, tennis, and kabaddi. Everyone loves an underdog story, and we are simply partnering with them in their journey. These associations have also helped us build a positive image of the brand Amul.

16) You have also been the broadcast associate sponsor of the English Premier League for many years now. Considering that Premier League matches are often telecast live late at night in India, how have you adapted your advertising strategy factoring in the same?

Mehta: Since 2014, we have been one of the first advertisers to partner with the Premier League, and over time, have created special advertisements focusing on this audience. Our product campaigns were very well received, and we also got quick feedback from fans via social media. We also created special in-brand placement during the studio shows and in live feeds such as the Amul Clock timer.

17) Milk is seen as an essential part of the diet of sportspersons, especially wrestlers. Keeping this in mind, beyond conventional broadcast and jersey sponsorship, are you actively considering any innovative athlete endorsement deals or ‘Nutrition Partner’ deals with sports associations, private leagues, or at the grassroots level?

Mehta: We have always believed and communicated milk as being the world’s natural energy drink. All our sporting associations have been used to spread this message. Our core strength has been in distributing milk to over 3 crore households each day, ensuring their nutrition requirements are fulfilled. We will continue this exercise and further increase our distribution to fulfill the needs of every Indian home.