Venky’s may know their chicken, but not their communication

[caption id="attachment_56039" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="With the takeover of Blackburn, Venky’s is in control of all its assets, which includes the stadium, all real estate — and the image rights of the players of the club. AFP"][/caption]Pune-based Venkateshwara Hatcheries Group proudly announced the takeoverof UK Premiership team Blackburn Rovers late  last year.With the takeover, Venky’s (as VHG’s consumer-facing products are branded) is in control of all the assets of Blackburn, which includes, for example, the stadium, all real estate — and the image rights of the players of the club.Players are always an asset that owners will leverage — and Venky’s is no different. They decided to make a television commercial (TVC) for Venky’s, utilizing all that the takeover brought them — the club, the stadium, the players and the name.The problem is that they force-fitted chicken into the commercial. Here’s the commercial.Everything about the commercial looks good – except the chicken. The chicken looks ridiculously out of place in the pre-game dressing room. Any sports fan knows that sportsmen in the highest echelons of a sport have a diet regimen that is rigorous; that food like this would rarely find a place on the table – and never just before a match.I’m foxed, as well, by the players’ ‘Christian’ projection – why on earth do they make the sign of the cross? This needless symbolism takes away a few precious seconds from the 25 sec TVC.A poorly conceived commercial such as this will do little to make the new owners of Blackburn popular with their existing fan base — and do little to sell the chicken products either.Venky’s has made a hash of this. The communication strategy, that is.