Cricket consumers and general consumer culture has moved on a lot in Pakistan. However, the mentality around events and sports marketing has not moved one iota. The PCB and PSL Franchises have adopted a methodology that uses cliched tactics that do not resonate with Pakistanis. Their marketing strategy is muddled.
Who do they want as PSL games? What sort of consumer are they targeting? What facilities do these consumers expect?
I don't think these things have been considered in the PSL. Instead they think just holding cricket and releasing a dead theme tune every year is enough to engage people. I have seen criticism of Karachi fans not backing their home team, but this Karachi team is as much of a home team as the New York Strikers are in the Abu Dhabi League.
For example the Indian Premier League had first mover advantage and they have marketed their league to appeal to the affluent Indian middle class ( with actors, singers etc) and also to the aspirational working classes who are happy to buy tickets to show they have a seat at the table.
The Australians took a different model. They realised that their BBL would be most attractive to children and younger fans. So they marketed their league accordingly. They didnt even care that their major test players were unavaible and it often clashed with their premier event in the test calendar. But they didn't care because the test fan wasn't their target market.
England also marketed it heavily towards kids/parents but they took it to another level and created a whole new format! This engaged curious cricket fans the world over to see what the fuss was about.
The PSL in comparison is all muddled up. They don't have set dates in the calendars. Star players move around far too often and they have no clue who the target audience is - which results in a mish mash of nothing.
Within Pakistan there is a strong professional class, semi-affluent, frequents shopping malls and western resteraunts but seem totally absent from cricket. The PSL needs to work to attract these people.
dentifying target demographics is a crucial step in marketing any sports event. It allows sports marketers to create tailored marketing campaigns that resonate with their target audience, increase engagement and attendance, and ultimately drive revenue.
To identify target demographics, it's essential to understand the key characteristics of your ideal fan base. Start by analysing the sport, the event, and its history. What age groups, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds have shown an interest in similar events in the past? Are there any geographical areas where the sport is particularly popular or where the event is being hosted?
Once you have a basic understanding of your ideal fan base, you can start to dig deeper into their behaviour patterns and preferences. Conduct surveys and focus groups to get an idea of their interests, the channels they use to consume sports-related content, and their motivations for attending events.
And then put on the events accordingly. Simply hosting a cricket event and hoping people will come is not enough.
