Rio Paralympics 2016: Where are the advertisers?

A gold, a silver, and a bronze. It's Day 8 of the Rio Paralympics 2016, and more than halfway through the 12-day event, India has clinched a gold in the men’s high jump event, her first, and a bronze in the same discipline. A silver came soon after in the shot put event, along with another record -- the first Indian para-athlete woman to win a medal in the games. The medal's tally of the small 19-member Indian Paralympian contingent has now surpassed the laurels that the largest-ever Indian Olympic contingent -- 117 athletes -- managed last month.

Mariyappan Thangavelu, the 20-year-old from Tamil Nadu, won India’s third-ever gold medal in the Paralympics and became the first para-athlete to win in the men’s high jump T-42 event. Varun Singh Bhati won the bronze medal in the same event. 45-year-old Deepa Malik brought the silver home in the shot put F-53 final. 

A tweak in the advertising norms of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) early last year paved the way for brands world over -- even non-sponsors -- to release their own advertising campaigns for the world’s largest sporting event. But despite the opportunity, brands have markedly stayed away from advertising for the 2016 Paralympics.

In February 2015, the IOC eased its Rule 40 for the first time, which allowed non-official sponsors to advertise for the games but with some caveats. The catch here was that they were not allowed to use words like “Olympics”, “Summer”, “Victory”, in their advertisements. But the upside was that they could now sign up Olympic and Paralympic athletes for their endorsements.

The result? Indian brands hopped onto the bandwagon and we saw tear-jerking Olympic campaigns from Tata Salt, Fevikwik, Amul, JSW Group, Edelweiss Group, and Star Sports, the official broadcaster. 

Tata Salt tied up with the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and released campaigns featuring boxer Shiva Thapa, wrestler Babita Kumari, shot putter Indrajeet Singh, and judoka Avtar Singh. It’s punchline? ‘Namak Ke Waastey’, close to the brand tagline ‘Desh Ka Namak’.

Pidilite Industries’ Fevikwik released a hockey-themed ad; Edelweiss, the principal sponsor of the Indian contingent, featured its brand ambassador Sania Nehwal and released another with an Olympic anthem; and Amul, the official sponsor of the Indian contingent, did what it does does best with its print and outdoor adverts.

Piyush Pandey Co-Executive Chairman, National Creative Director, Ogilvy & Mather India; Vice Chairman, O&M Asia-Pacific

Not supporting our athletes is not a good idea, but not supporting our para-athletes is definitely a bad idea.

Keeping that aside, only two companies -- IndusInd Bank and Adidas -- released campaigns for the India’s Paralympians.

“It was a good opportunity for brands to show their solidarity with the Indian para-athletes who are representing us in Rio against all the odds,” Piyush Pandey, Co-Executive Chairman and National Creative Director of Ogilvy & Mather India and Vice-Chairman of O&M Asia-Pacific, told dna.

“Other brands should have taken the initiative to do the same for the para-athletes, where nothing is being done,” he said.

“Not supporting our athletes is not a good idea, but not supporting our para-athletes is definitely a bad idea. In a competitive world like this, it is in the interest of the brand to do good things in the society. Taking up a cause like Paralympics, is not just CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), it’s good CSR,” he said.

Indu Kannan Associate Vice President, Kestone

Companies need to definitely wake up to the fact that it is the para-athletes that are bringing the glory to India.

It’s a cause begging to be picked up, Indu Kannan, Associate Vice President, Kestone Integrated Marketing Services, told us. But brand initiative in this space also depends on the awareness and the excitement around the sporting event, she said.

“Brands always ride a wave of excitement and echo the mood of the public. Very few brands set the trend, they only resonate what the society is talking about,” she added.

Which then means, that the onus doesn’t only lie on the brands to take up the cause but on the government sporting bodies and the society-at-large? “A brand campaign will only happen when there is an audience and viewership. Take kabaddi for instance, Star India and Marshal Sports’ Pro Kabaddi League turned the sport on its head, and now it’s only uphill from here for it.”

“Once there is excitement for the event, the brands will follow. If the Paralympic Committee of India is more invested in bringing more money for the para-athletes, then maybe 2020 will be a different story. Companies need to definitely wake up to the fact that it is the para-athletes that are bringing the glory to India,” she added.

Milkha Singh Iconic track runner and field sprinter

I want to see more medals.

Anil Ramchandran, Chief Marketing Officer of IndusInd Bank, which released the ‘Jeet Ka Halla’ campaign for para-athletes, agrees. ‘The entire obligation is on us to embrace all the heroes, not selective ones. Once we appreciate and recognise, then the opportunities come.”

“It’s still not too late for brands, Pandey said. "The corporate world has the chance to pick them up and support them, to redeem themselves. By association, it is a win-win situation. If we believe that brands are in the hearts of people then they show that by winning the hearts of people,” he added.

IndusInd Bank has worked closely with 18 paralympians, coaching and training them along with GoSports -- eleven of them are representing India at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. The bank released the ‘Jeet Ka Halla’ campaign as an integrated media activity over supporting the para-athletes community. It questions why there is less applause for the para-athletes than there is for the able-bodied sportspersons.

“There is so much hoopla about able-bodied Olympians,” Ramchandran, told dna. “The struggles that the para-athletes go through and the efforts they put in, even to get to the training session, are no less than the able-bodied athletes. Why don’t the stadiums fill up for them, was our question.” he added.

“Sporting heroes that have made a good living out of endorsements, I hope brands start looking at these heroes as able brand ambassadors for their products,” he said.

Adidas also released a digital ad campaign alongside its Adidas ‘odds’ initiative for the Paralympians, especially blade-runners, to provide them the same side footwear they need rather than the generic pair that is usually sold in the market. The campaign features marathon runner Major D P Singh, India’s first blade runner, in it.

Adidas 'odds' campaign

Padma Shri Milkha Singh, also known as The Flying Sikh, India’s iconic track runner and field sprinter, says our Olympians can learn a lesson or two from our differently-abled athletes. "Our Paralympians who don’t have limbs are doing better than the Olympians this year," Singh told dna. 

“Brands should really advertise for our para-athletes. It will bring awareness for the sporting event, and encourage other differently-abled brethren in the country, to participate,” he added.

I’m happy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to prepare for the 2020, 2024, and 2028 Olympics, he said. “The Sports Ministry has money, Modi should ask them, 'we want medals, what do you need to get them?'”

“I’m into my nineties, it’s my last hope now, I want to see more medals,” Singh said.