LG, Samsung face off in cricket blitz

LG's high-visibility 'Captain of India' campaign has hit screens, and the promotion surrounding it is also out at the store level. The LG promotion offers consumers a chance to win prizes worth US$10 million, ranging from LG's top end products, to cricket bats signed by current Indian captain Sourav Ganguly, as well as former captains Kris Srikkanth, Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri. Anil Arora, head of marketing at LG Electronics India, said: "We wanted to express our support for the game of cricket. And we're also looking at it as a chance for us to reciprocate the support of our consumers, who have made us number one in every category," Arora added that LG's blitz has the potential of unseating Samsung from its prized position as the official brand of the series: "Our consumers see the cup as the LG Cup. It is all about 'heart' share," he said. The campaign will continue until mid-April. LG has set itself stiff targets: sales worth $270 million in the next four months -- that translates into about 10 million units moving off the shelves. LG's budget for cricket-related marketing activities for the year is about $8 million, and one-fourth is being spent on this series. Apart from the television commercial, featuring singer Kay Kay, the company is releasing press and outdoor ads that showcase the prizes on offer, as well as the 'LG' cup and captain Sourav Ganguly. The Korean major also has aggressive plans to bid for the next couple of cricket tournaments involving India -- the Hong Kong Cup in June, which involves India, Pakistan and Australia, as well as the Asia Cup in July. It is already one of the official sponsors of the ICC Champions Trophy to be held in England in September, due to it owning ICC sponsorship rights until 2007. During the last World Cup, the India-Pakistan clash was the most watched match in the country.