Kathmandu-The senior regional selection tournament for Kathmandu looked tad professional this time with players wearing sponsored jerseys. The white outfits (with Samsung printed in front of the shirts) for 60 players from all 5 sides in the tournament sponsored by International Marketing Services (IMS). IMS is authorized distributor of Samsung phones in Nepal. IMS will be sponsoring Region No. 3 Kathmandu in the upcoming Senior National Cricket Tournament. “We are celebrating talent by promoting the game”, explains Mr. Dikesh Malhotra, President of IMS when inquired about investing on the sport. He also informed that IMS is going to reward Jitendra Mukhiya with 1 lakh cash prize for his brilliant show in the World Cup.
We asked Mr. Malhotra a few questions regarding the company’s interest in Cricket via Email. Here is what answered(Not-edited-his exact words)
What inspired the idea of sponsoring “domestic cricket”?
Our brand has globally shifted its focus into fitness in the last few years. Infact one of the KPI’s for the Galaxy S5 is also that it is very fitness friendly. With the addition of the Gear Fit in our Gear series, we are changing our smartphones to encourage healthy living. Also, we have always supported “potential” and with the Nepali cricket team’s performance in the World Cup, we see potential in them and would wanted to extend our support. Sponsoring “domestic cricket” makes sense to the brand and the idea of encouraging potential. Moreover, Nepali cricket has boomed in the last few months, with this new explosion of energy in the scene, we are very happy to be associated with it.
2. Why Kathmandu?
Our market today is still Kathmandu centric since it is the capital and we function from here to cater to all of Nepal. Also, we haven’t been approached by any other place to actually make a planned choice. Besides, it doesn’t matter who we support, what matters more is that the community is coming together to celebrate and encourage young talent. We should all do our part to extend support, whoever it goes to… in the long run all of us benefit from it.
3. From what we understand Samsung is basically a product that is shipped to Nepal. Is it IMS or Samsung that is sponsoring the side?
I would say its a bit of both.
4.What will the players get under the sponsorship?
We are sponsoring the team as a whole and do not have the “breakdown support” to each player.
5.Can we expect something else from IMS in Nepal Cricket besides this(particularly in Nepal Premier League?)
We believe IMS is very proactive in showing support to people, organisations, teams that work hard and gain appreciation. In fact we were the first company to announce cash prize to any player that performed extremely well at the Worldcup and we will be giving Mr. Jitendra Mukhiya Rs. 1 lakh. So yes, we look forward to exploring other areas as well and if feasible, we welcome it open handed.
