Traditional advertisers are expected to outpace new-age companies in advertising during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, according to media buyers. Executives suggest that new-age companies, particularly those in the edtech, fintech, and e-commerce sectors, will be more careful with their IPL ad budgets due to the recent startup funding winter and corresponding layoffs.
As a result, this trend favors traditional advertisers like fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), automobile, and consumer durable firms, which are likely to increase their IPL advertising efforts.
Return of biggies
“Compared to previous years, we may find that traditional advertisers, such as FMCG, auto, or consumer durables, will be more prevalent than new-age advertisers. Edtech, fintech, and e-commerce players will be more conservative in their marketing push this year,” said a senior media agency CXO on the condition of anonymity.
To be clear, the new-age players will still be advertising, but not with the same intensity as before, the executive added.
“We will still see them during the IPL, but not in the same intensity. The split was 60:40 when it comes to new-age to traditional advertisers, but this year the split will be more 45:55, with traditional advertisers taking the lead in the IPL advertising pie,” the executive noted.
Sudhansh Jadon, senior vice president Amplifi, Supply side of Dentsu International, agrees and shares that he’s noticing quite a few conventional advertisers returning to IPL.
“The ad rates remain confidential, but there are multiple options available for anyone, even with smaller budgets, especially if they want to try the branding and engagement power in this annual celebration for the first time,” he added.
Storyboard18 learnt that IPL ad rates are approximately Rs 16 lakh for 10 sec spots and for digital it is 200 ROS and multilevel deals are targeted between 280-300 ROS. To be sure, ROS is run of schedule where a network/publisher places a brand’s advertisement across a variety of dayparts, demographics, and programs.
Key advertisers
For instance, PepsiCo India has partnered with IPL broadcasters Star Sports and Jio Cinema as the official broadcast partners for its brands Mountain Dew and Sting, respectively.
“Cricket is a passion point that unites the entire nation, allowing PepsiCo India to engage with a diverse set of audience. In line with this, we will air our most recent advertisement titled “Ghar Par Lay’s” during the cricketing season to encourage consumers to stock up on their preferred snack while they enjoy the game,” said a PepsiCo India spokesperson.
Samsonite-owned American Tourister is returning to IPL after many years. The luggage brand will be launching a new campaign featuring its brand ambassador Virat Kohli in a new Scottish avatar.
Speaking to Storyboard18, Jai Krishnan, chief executive officer of Samsonite India, said that they have not been very active during IPL before, but this year they wish to leverage IPL popularity.
“Our association with cricket has been firm because Virat Kohli has been closely associated with our brand. Consumers will get to see a different avatar of Virat in this ad film. A lot of people associate our brand with fun, colour, youth, and vibrancy, and it ties well with IPL that is a lot about energy, vibrancy, and celebration of the sport of cricket. It’s a natural fit for a brand like American Tourister,” he noted.
While many brands are returning to IPL, some are debuting as well.
Havmor Ice Cream has announced its first official partnership with the defending champions- Gujarat Titans. For the first time, the ice-cream brand will be running an ad campaign featuring cricketer Hardik Pandya during IPL matches.
Komal Anand, managing director of Havmor Ice Cream, said, “Just like Gujarat Titans established its stamp on the tournament in the very first maiden year, we are confident that, with this inspiring partnership, we will further strengthen the love for our brand among Indian consumers.”
Meanwhile, the long-time sponsor Tata Group, the title sponsor of the tournament, will be promoting their EV offering Tiago.ev during this IPL season. As the official partner, the brand will effectively utilize the Tata IPL platform to not only display the new Tiago.ev across all 12 stadiums but also launch interesting initiatives such as the ‘100 reasons to go.ev with Tiago.ev’ campaign. Conceptualized by FCB Ulka, this campaign focuses on consumers’ top mental barriers towards EV adoption and addresses them through a series of light-hearted, relatable instances.
Vivek Srivatsa, head of marketing, sales, and service strategy at Tata Passenger Electric Mobility Ltd. said, “This association with India’s biggest media property will help us highlight the importance of EVs not only in urban India but also in smaller towns.”
Sponsorship galore
Jio Cinema, the official digital partner for IPL 2023, has signed a total of 21 sponsors so far. Traditional advertisers dominate the sponsorship pie as well.
The platform has signed one co-presenting sponsor (Dream 11), three co-powered by sponsors (JioMart, Phonepe, Tiago EV) and 17 associate sponsors (Appy Fizz, ET Money, Castrol, TVS, Oreo, Bingo, Sting, AJIO, Haier, RuPay, Louis Philippe Jeans, Amazon, Rapido, Ultra Tech Cement, Puma, Kamla Pasand and Kingfisher Power Soda), the company has shared.
Advertisers are expected to get their bang for the buck as IPL has kickstarted on a high digital viewership. JioCinema set a new record for being the most installed app in a single day with over 2.5 crore downloads on the opening day of IPL. The first IPL match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings garnered over 6 crore unique viewers and a peak concurrency of over 1.6 crore on JioCinema, becoming one of the most-watched events on the platform. The total match views on Day 1 on JioCinema touched an impressive 50 crore.
Meanwhile, the official broadcaster Disney Star also said that it has signed ad deals with as many as 13 brands, including many traditional advertisers such as Asian Paints, Charged by Thums Up, Airtel, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Mountain Dew, Parle Biscuits, Kamala Pasand, Rupay, Britannia, Jindal Panther, and LIC, according to the network.
Clearly, the old-school advertisers are back with a bang this IPL. The 16th edition of the tournament started on 31st March and the last league match will be played on 21 May. There will be 70 matches played.