Over the last decade, IPL has bloomed into a big league with various touchpoints for brands to experiment with, parallel to the technological advancements in the smartphone industry. More people have access to better smartphones and internet coverage than ever before. This has also led to an increase in the democratisation in regards to access as well as creation.
People engage with Sports content more as they are hooked. This helps brands in a big way for it has been seen that 9.83% less mental effort is required for people to process ads when viewed between Sports content than GEC or movies.
According to a report titled ‘Television Viewership and Advertising consumption of IPL-13 2020’ published by BARC and Nielson the reach and mass appeal of IPL combined with the potential of television to reach the nooks and crannies of the nation, results in campaign results that transcend boundaries of screens.
The report says that every 1 out of 3 TV viewers have watched IPL-13, live, 57 percent being male and 43 percent being female. The report also shows the jump in the number of viewers this season as compared to the last two seasons. While there was a 9 percent increase from IPL-11 to IPL-12, there was a 10 percent increase from IPL-12 to IPL-13. It also showed that 44 percent of TV households watched IPL-13, live.
There was also an increase in viewership in terms of age group. The growth was seen across all age groups, specifically seeing a 30 percent rise in males and 33 percent rise in females. Even though there was growth across all age groups, the age group from 15-21 stands as the largest contributor to viewership.
With the start of the 13th season of IPL, the smartphone usage saw an 8 percent increase. Same stands the scenario of video streaming, it shows an increase by 13 percent as compared to the pre IPL weeks.
Startups found a strong footing in the IPL TV advertising space, despite the pandemic.
My11Circle, MyTeam11, Unacademy, Khatabook, and Dunzo are some of the brands which debuted in the IPL advertising in 2020.
The 13 sponsors for the 13th edition of Dream11 IPL 2020 included the Dream11 as the co-presenting sponsor, Boost as the co-powered by sponsor and 11 associate sponsors including Acko, Maruti Suzuki, KhataBook, Flipkart, Swiggy, Ace23, HDFC Bank, Great Learning, MX Player, Kingfisher Calendar and AMFI (Association of Mutual Funds in India). Apart from this, other advertisers included the Procter & Gamble, Kelloggs, Himalaya, Apple, Intel, JSW, Ikea, Jeep, Urban Company, Sleepwell, JBL, Visa, Mastercard, and CarDekho.
The report by TAM Ad Ex stated that there were a total 37 exclusive brands on the both language that is English and Hindi channels. Brands including Ford Service, Pepsi, Century Laminates/ Century Ply and HDFC Mutual Fund were among the top five brands for the season.
As per the TAM Adex report, for the first 34 matches in IPL 13, ‘Surf Excel Quick Wash’ leads the exclusive brands on Regional sports channels. Overall there are total 18 exclusive brands with Surf Excel leading the list on regional sports channels.
A total of 150 brands advertised in IPL 13 with Dream11.com being the leading common brand.
Five of the top 10 categories in terms of advertising volume were from the e-commerce sector – with FinTech, EdTech, and HealthTeach brands emerging as considerable contributors here. These were a wide range of digital brands and startups that entered the IPL marketing game and rather boldly.
The large scale of the event and mass appeal amalgamated with the favourite Indian sport or even passion, cricket, has caused IPL to emerge as a marketing festival of creativity and innovation, attracting digital companies and startups.