Despite the disappointment of not winning the cup, the resilience of advertisers remained unwavering during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023. The season exceeded expectations when it came to ad volumes and expenditure said experts.
“In terms of ad expenditure, the season proved to be a financial triumph, boasting a total spend ranging between Rs3200 crore to Rs3300 crore. The festive season, a commercial powerhouse in its own right, amassed Rs3700 crore, with the World Cup chipping in a significant 7 percent to 8 percent to this pool,” said a leading media buyer on condition of anonymity.
The climax of the series also witnessed a frenzied last-minute rush for ad slots, with premiums soaring to Rs30 lakh to Rs45 lakh per ten seconds.
“This surge in demand was naturally fuelled by the exceptional value placed on the team’s journey to the finals. Advertisers bet their money on this journey and the attention it grabbed across markets,” the media buyer added.
As per sources, the finale emerged as a true spectacle, with the India-Australia match alone witnessing a remarkable 30 percent surge in ad spends. The semi final between India and New Zealand was a close second both in terms of spends and volumes.
Talking of ad volumes, as per exclusive numbers shared by TAM Sports, ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 witnessed an indexed growth of 17 percent from all matches in terms of average ad volumes per match compared to the 2019 season.
Ad Volumes in the data provided by TAM Sports, are for advertising across 16 channels for. The analysis is based on pure advertising excluding franchisees, promos, filler, film trailer and official broadcaster.
During the 48 matches of the season, the number of categories grew from 75 plus to 105 plus. Number of advertisers touches 95 plus from 90 plus in 2019 and the number of brands also increased from 170 plus to 225 plus.
As per TAM data, the top advertising categories this year were e-commerce, perfumes, cars, soft drinks, pan masala. The common categories between this year and the 2019 edition were perfumes/deodorant, pan masala and ecom-wallets.
The leading advertisers for the 2023 World Cup were Vine Product, known for their popular body spray brand Fogg, followed by FX Mart, Mahindra & Mahindra, Coca Cola and Hindustan Unilever.
The count of new categories stood at 55 plus, with the top five new entrants being anywhere banking, paints, footwear, consumer durables/home appliances and banking services and products.
There were also about 25 categories that were present in the 2019 World Cup but were missing this year. They were ecom-education, ecom-auto products and services, ecom-other services, ecom-auto rental services and ecom-food/grocery.
Number of new brands was an encouraging 215 plus with the toppers being Bharat Petroleum Mak, Kamla Pasand Silver Coated Elaichi, Indusind Bank Indie App, Vi Cellular Phone services and Apple iPhone 15 Pro.
This was indeed a season of exceptions. Another leading media buyer with expertise in both television and digital said allocating 10-20 percent of yearly advertising budgets to high-impact events such as the ICC World Cup and IPL is a common practice for companies but for this World Cup played in home grounds, brands have gone above and beyond, dedicating as much as 30 percent of their annual funds to the tournament.
“The increased advertising expenditures can be attributed to the tournament’s ability to engage diverse target audiences, enhance both reach and frequency, and leverage various media platforms (TV, digital) and language feeds (Hindi, English & regional),” they said.
Speaking of language feeds, as per TAM Sports, brands of HUL were top exclusive on Hindi+English language sports channels and regional language sports channels.
Top Brands on Hindi+English channels were Lux Jasmine & Vitamin C+E, Cadburys Celebrations, Close Up Ever Fresh, Kent Mineral Ro and Frooti.
Top brands on regional channels on the other hand included, Boost, Indulekha Svetakutaja Dandruff Treatment Oil, Pepsodent Germi Check, Surf Excel Quick Wash and Amul Taaza Milk.
Among the 168 common brands between these two categories, those who topped the charts were, Phonepe, Fogg, Bharat Petroleum Mak, Puro Healthy Salt and Kamla Pasand Silver Coated Elaichi.