Sony banking on World Cup to boost sales of HD TV sets

"Cricket is the biggest sport in India. Dhoni and Sony are a perfect match," Managing Director of Sony India Masaru Tamagawa said at a media conference today to launch Dhoni as its brand ambassador.

Tamagawa said that cricket being India's most popular sport, the company is looking at the game's showpiece event to boost its sales by 40 per cent.

"This is the first time the cricket World Cup will be seen in India on High Definition TV. We are the on-air broadcast sponsor on ESPN Star Sports (Cup broadcast right holders)," he said.

Sony has also planned to spend Rs 100 crore on multi-media campaign to promote the "Bravia" HD TV brand and aims to sell 2.5 lakh units during the mega event. The company has joined hands with mobile and Direct To Home services provider Airtel to offer free DTH connection on purchase of its Bravia HD sets between today and April 15.

Looking beyond, Tamagawa said the company is also targeting the Indian Premier League. "We are going to invest in IPL as well," he said.