Marketing partner for the CWG says almost 80 per cent lost due to delay in launch
Marketing partner for the CWG says almost 80 per cent lost due to delay in launch |
| Some cover, finally: CWG Organising Committee chief Suresh Kalmadi with ace shooter and Games' brand ambassador Abhinav Bindra launching the uniform for volunteers. pic/Imtiyaz Khan |
Finally Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) has reached a decision on their dress code and appearance during the Games. The uniform for the volunteers consists of two pairs of polo T-shirt, lower tracks and socks, a cap, a pair of shoes, a sipper bottle, a rain jacket and a waist pouch.
But the OC is still clueless about what the fans will wear to cheer their players and nation during the Games as the official merchandise partner have pulled out due to 'unprofessional attitude' of the organisers.
"It's hard to deal with such unprofessional behaviour. Since June, we have been waiting for the launch to happen but to no avail. I will never come forward for any event organised by the Indian Olympic Association," said Suresh Kumar, chairman of Premium Brands, leading sports merchandising firm in India.
The company had been looking at sales worth Rs 100 crore. ''But there's little chance of that happening with the launch being postponed till August. We would rather cut our losses right now,'' added Kumar. The company claims that merchandise worth Rs 3 crore has already been manufactured and stored for distribution with the OC.
Incidentally, the deal had been signed by PBL with the OC on May 19. PBL, which was the highest bidder, had promised the OC Rs 5.2 crore as part of its stake in the merchandise sale, with Rs 2.6 crore or 50 per cent as advance money on signing of the contract. The contract, says PBL, was handed over to them on August 10.
Kumar said his company got an acceptance letter on May 19 but the contract only after July, after asking for it many times.
"The first lot of merchandise worth Rs 3 crore has been ready for more than a month and is lying in the store room of the OC headquarters," he said.
He said the merchandise would have yielded Rs 100 crore if launched on time. "We have already lost out on 80 per cent business," he said.
Kumar said if the merchandise is launched now, the company would not be able to even earn back its investment.
The contract to produce the merchandise was signed as late as May 19 this year with a minimum guarantee fee of Rs 5.2 crore. The launch was originally scheduled for June 24 when the Queen's Baton Relay entered India through the Wagah Border. Had that happened, goods worth Rs 25 crore would have been sold already, said an official of Premier Brands.
There were also plans for 70 outlets across the Games venues and almost 200 stores across shopping malls, metro stations and the airport, but all this is slowly coming to a nought.
Fake sellsFake Games ware like caps, sweatshirts, jackets, mugs, mouse pads, key chains, umbrellas etc are readily available at your neighbourhood stores. In the process, Games organisers are losing out on revenue that they were hoping to earn from the sale of the merchandise, which usually sell like hot cakes before any big-ticket sporting event.
Free spiritBasic colours of the volunteers' uniforms are vibrant red and contrasting white. Lower track has a red base with white stripe on the sides with Delhi 2010 word mark. The polo 'T-shirt' has a white base and a red patch work with the Delhi 2010 logo and word mark.
To distinguish the roles of various volunteers, polo 'T-shirt' of sports specific volunteers have been given a blend of yellow colour on the patch. In case of medical volunteers white colour will be more pre-dominant. Red colour of the lower tracks will be common to all the volunteers.
"Only 22 days are left for the Games Village to open. We have launched the uniform for the volunteers. We will be making many more announcements in soon," said Kalmadi.
