Evolving consumption patterns, contextual advertising on this mass medium, and measurability of sizeable investments, the marketing mavens share the holistic outlook of one of the most eminent advertising platforms. Neeta Nair, Editor, IMPACT Magazine initiated the discussion by establishing how 2023 has been a historic year for live sports, especially cricket on television. “Over half a billion viewers watched both IPL and Cricket World Cup in the same year when digital made streaming free for viewers”.

Discussing the impact of Cricket on TV, Krishnarao Buddha, Senior Category Head – Marketing, Parle Products shared that considering Parle is a mass brand, Cricket helped reach the younger TG, which is difficult or expensive otherwise. He further mentioned, "A significant proportion of women are also taking interest in this sport. If you look at the construct of Parle's portfolio, it is targeted at children or women. The philosophy is simple 'Catch them young'. Out of the 16 seasons of IPL, we've been associated with most except one or two. We also use it to split the mass and premium users. The combination of SD and HD enabled us to reach a targeted set of audiences".

Deba Ghoshal, Vice President & Head of Marketing, Voltas Limited stated that sports viewership on TV in India is almost 800 Mn, and IPL covers two-thirds of it, so there's no debate whether IPL is effective or not. He added, "If you're riding sports, you need to ride IPL. Its reach has been consistent, and growing year-on-year, even with the advent of Digital. There are three things that differentiate the impact of IPL on TV – Reach, Affinity and Outcomes. For a brand with a seasonality compatible with IPL, you can look at building your brand through IPL on television over the years.”

Rajiv Dubey, Head Of Media, Dabur spoke about the uniqueness of cricket on television for brands. “With a certain set of programs, especially in the Indian heartland, you may be repeating the audiences, but with cricket, you reach out to newer, younger audiences, and children. There's also a spillover because a family watches together, but the unique thing is that you get PAN-India numbers. It's very useful for launches and creating a quick impact.”

The last few years of IPL have been extensively dynamic. Highlighting the industry trends surrounding Cricket on TV, Rathi Gangappa, Chief Executive Officer - India, Starcom said that the kind of brands coming on board today are a bit different than the traditional ones we've seen, but it comes down to the business objectives. She adds, "There's a host of objectives that can be satisfied, it's not just about the upper funnel and impact. When you've probably saturated the digital audiences, you can come to Cricket on TV for the mass reach. But cricket on TV also delivers last-mile objectives, like increasing footfall, and a spike in the share of search, app downloads, and installs, we've seen it for clients like PharmEasy and Lenskart. It's not just about driving mass reach, we do have metrics that prove IPL on TV delivers across the board".

Talking about direct attribution to KPIs beyond brand awareness and reach, Vikas Saxena, Co-founder, SyncMedia shared, "We have analyzed a few thousand campaigns across categories, and 'Search share' in the brand's category is the highest co-related metric impacting future market share. One of our FinTech clients did cricket last year, and their search share not just increased during the league but continued upwards and shifted the baseline. TV on Cricket is the cheapest way to increase key KPIs. That's why you see the new-age companies gaining the search share faster".

Saxena further about a case study of a leading e-commerce brand that delivered not just on increased KPIs such as share search but more metrics behind that, it drove metrics 2.5 times higher than the usual prime time TV. He further added, "85% of improvement in the brand’s business KPIs (Search Increase and Daily Active Users) was attributed to their TV campaign during IPL."

Concluding the discussion, the industry experts and brand leaders share some tips and tricks for optimal advertising of Cricket on TV. Ghoshal stated, "Use IPL on TV strategically to build your propositions”. Buddha cited some of Parle's examples and mentioned they've used it for different purposes such as launches and they would continue to do that. "When IPL was launched in 2008, we launched a brand called 20-20 and associated with IPL. It paid huge dividends and led to the fastest 1000 Cr turnover within 3 years.” Rathi stated that new age brands have and will continue to leverage IPL on TV. “There are many customizable solutions that brands leverage through IPL on television that can be aligned with their campaign objectives. Its all about using TV effectively.” Saxena ended the discussion with the insight with TV being highly measurable for brands, they should look for ways to integrate cricket on television as a part of their media plans. “The attribution of TV in improvement of business KPIs certainly showcases the power of IPL on television.”