It’s that time of the year. Debatably it can be called as the most eagerly awaited event in the year by almost whole of India. It is the festival called Indian Premier League and this year, it begins from 26th March 2022.
For the next 60 days, IPL will hog the media limelight across TV, print and digital space and there will be a frenzy among brands to get on the wagon. At the last count, IPL 2021 had witnessed 125 advertisers on its official broadcaster Disney-Star India across 27 channels.
IPL in 2022 will witness even more
Just what really makes IPL so attractive to the brands.
Brands love affair with IPL
Back in 2008 when IPL was launched, it came as a breath of fresh air to the audience. Fast pace, the stars, the adrenaline and blitzkrieg of entertainment mixed with cricket, the first love of Indians (some might say movies but that can always be discussed!) wooed them like never before. And the advertisers clearly loved it then, of course it continues till date
Estimated ad revenues by the broadcaster
In 2008, it was estimated that the broadcast channel earned an estimated advertising revenue of about $186 million. These were purely on television, the digital medium did not exist then. Jump to 2022, the revenues are set to cross $500 million mark for the first time in 15 years, that’s a whopping 181% jump. Of course, the inflation and digital factor has to be counted too. But the point is, brands are still loving it
They clearly don’t mind spending that additional bit for a bigger bang. Take the case of Lead sponsorship.
Growth in title sponsor value
From about $5.2m in 2008 to $75.67 million in 2022, that’s a CAGR of close to 19.5% and a phenomenal growth of 1344%. All that for about two months of high voltage cricketing action.
Compare that with the English Premier League which received around $40.5 million from Barclays as the principal partner and over $129 million per year from all its commercial partners put together. You get the point
What makes brands love IPL
Simplistically, it would be fair to point out top three factors which makes brands flock to advertise during IPL period and sponsor teams. It certainly pays instantly. How they capitalize on the strong platform is another story
Three positive factors for brands
Reach and Penetration
India still has a very TV oriented viewing habit although the digital and streaming options are beginning to penetrate the cities but that is a long way to go.
According to BARC (Broadcast Audience Research Council India), India has 210 million TV homes and 892 million individual viewers. A similar study for IPL conducted by BARC shows the first 35 matches had 380 million viewership in 2021. This was only the TV viewership info. Add another 6.5 million average viewers on the OTT platform (as per Disney-Star India) and we have almost 44% of Indian viewers watching IPL
Deep Reach of IPL
Cuts across all demographic barrier
A typical Indian mindset would prompt families or friends to gather together and watch and this still continues. Watching individually over mobile handsets is still a very urban thing. That is evidently shown in the age group and urban/rural viewership mix
IPL Watched by All Ages
And breaking the gender barrier
Clearly, IPL sits firmly on an Indian mind and advertisers like to catch them there!
Heavy Engagement
Viewers and cricket fans don’t just watch IPL, they engage. Consider the following statistics released by Glance, a consumer internet company, who conducted a survey covering more than 1500 mobile users in India.
a. While 69% watch IPL on Television, 61% also watch matches on their smartphones
b. A whopping 70% of the respondents said they constantly use their phones while watching a match
As for the TV audience is concerned, sample this, a pre and a post-match show accumulated a reach of 341 million in 2020
In the past an apparel brand had benefitted immensely from the brand integration with these shows. Footfalls in their stores recorded a growth of over 50% over previous year due to the integration
Happy Brands happily spending
There remain no doubts that IPL has one the biggest reach in Indian television and fairly guarantees a complete family viewing experience. This is the advantage brands are keen to take
A glance at the teams - sponsor brands figures throws some very interesting data
Number of Individual Team Partners
Chennai Super Kings have the maximum of 25 partners and Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two latest additions (the other being Gujarat Titans) has the lowest of 9 partners
Brands seem to be more than happy being a part of the crowd of partners. On an average the bigger teams garner upto $10 million in a season while the smaller teams gather upto $5 million in a season
The Downside
There are ample data and statistics to show the love of brands on IPL. In the same vein, a question keeps popping up how on earth would a viewer pounded by 250 brands over 70 days convert into a customer?
At any given point of time, a typical IPL jersey has around 8-10 logos. If that isn’t clutter, what is!
But then who’s complaining if everyone’s happy!
Happy ending
Considering the complex Indian viewing ecosystem, IPL offers a unified single platform which reaches and engages almost the whole of India, quite naturally brands would like to make most of the opportunity.
Have fun watching the blockbuster of the year 2022!
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