All over but not out, with ad pitch prepared for next Cricket World Cup

THE celebrations have barely died down in India but after the interminably long Cricket World Cup, sports fans are about to be hit with the interminably long Cricket World Cup ad campaign promoting the 2015 event.

It's been just two weeks after India triumphed in the cup final at the end of the seven-week event many criticised for appearing to be never-ending.

But the International Cricket Council will this week launch a campaign promoting the next World Cup in a move one observer likened to putting Easter eggs on the shelves on Boxing Day.

The 2015 event will be shared between Australia and New Zealand. Tournament organisers are keen to quickly develop its brand as they move to secure sponsors and then advance ticket sales.

The campaign for the event will also be used as a core pillar of the strategy to give greater prominence to the ICC itself as the sport's governing body.

The campaign will run with the line: "World's toughest players, world's toughest backyard", promoting both the teams and the challenges of pitches in both countries.

Design agency FutureBrand has spent the past several months developing the logo, which mixes a teal-coloured Maori Moko motif with an Aboriginal dot painting-inspired ochre pattern.

Erminio Putignano, managing director of FutureBrand Australia, said the development of promotions for the event involved a complex calendar that would ramp up over the next four years, beginning with today's unveiling.

"There are different audiences to be communicated with throughout the course of the development of the campaign," he said. "Already we are working around talking to sponsors."

He said it was vital that the 2015 tournament quickly established a strong brand to attract support.

But the International Cricket Council is also hoping that the campaign will play an important role in promoting the governing body as well.

The ICC executive has looked at the way in which the International Olympic Committee and Federation Internationale de Football Association have managed to brand their organisations using the leverage of their flagship events.

FutureBrand creative director Ken Shadbolt said the ICC name had not been a prominent part of World Cup branding for a dozen years.

"What we are doing is bringing the ICC logo back as part of the identity of the World Cup," Mr Shadbolt said.

"For the last three of four World Cups, the expression of the ICC has been very low-key.

"But if you look at what other competitors have done, such as FIFA and the IOC, they are seeing how they can benefit from that level of branding."

While the marketing of the World Cup begins today, Mr Shadbolt said it would not begin to really take off for another two years, when ticket sales began.