Poojya Trivedi
Digital

Reebok to up its digital spend by 25 per cent

The company will spend about 60 per cent of its overall marketing budget during the duration of the ICC World Cup and IPL - Season 4.

As the country gears up for the upcoming Cricket World Cup, the sportswear brand Reebok is also energising its promotional plans. The company, in association with ICC, launched new products, which include Reebok ZigTech bats, customised cricket footwear and ZigTech Trainers.

At an event held yesterday in the capital, skipper M S Dhoni, along with team members Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla unveiled the new products of the German sportwear brand. As part of the partnership with ICC, all the players in the team will be using Reebok Zig Trainers.

Reebok to up its digital spend by 25 per cent
Reebok to up its digital spend by 25 per cent
In order to maximise its association with the game, the company will spend about 60 per cent of its overall marketing budget during the duration of the World Cup (Feb-April) and around the upcoming IPL - Season 4 (slated to begin in April). Reebok, a unit of Germany's Adidas usually increases its marketing budget by 25 per cent every year.

This time, apart from the usual promotions, Reebok will aggressively push the digital medium. "We will increase our digital budget to 30 per cent from 5 per cent. We have received a favourable response so far even before the promotions. Also, the measurablity of the medium makes it worth every penny spent. It is a much more engaging and entertaining medium," says Sajid Shamim, executive director, marketing and sales, Reebok India.

The company launched its Facebook page about six months back and it now boasts of over 4.5 lakh fans.

Beginning next month, Reebok will launch a campaign of candid shots from its R&D facility to highlight the laboratory of Reebok. This campaign will be disseminated through Facebook, YouTube and other viral medium. "We are calling it Reebok Experiments, which will show our labs with the sportsmen trying out our products and giving us feedback on how to improve," says Shamim.

The company also plans to launch a cricket application, which will be compatible with all mobile platforms. The application will give its users cricket-related content like live scores, trivia and other information. The company will tie-up with the service providers for this.

The company, which has 900 retail stores across the country, will also promote its shopping portal - shop4reebok.com, through which Reebok aims to leverage its sales.

As a result of these promotions, Reebok expects a 20 per cent increase in the sales of cricket equipment. Cricket equipment contributes about 20-25 per cent of the overall sales.

Adds Shamim, "We will also be carrying out on-ground activities. Break Time, one such activity, will give consumers a chance to hit the stumps. We plan to launch similar contests during the season to make our consumers happy."

Reebok will also launch two separate television commercials at the end of this month with Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni featuring ZigTech Trainers. There will also be out-of-home and print communication.

Zigtech bats cost Rs 11,999; Zig Trainers are priced between Rs 7,000 and Rs 8,000. Fan merchandise will be available between Rs 899-Rs 999.

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