The ICC World Cup, which is set to take place in India after 12 years, is serving as a huge opportunity for marketers, advertisers, agencies and brands to reach out to their consumers. With all eyes set on the world's second largest sporting event, the entire ecosystem is waiting to grasp maximum ROI from the month-long extravaganza.

Speaking on the topic on Day 2 of e4m TechManch conference were Arnab Roy, Vice President- Marketing, Coca-Cola India & SouthWest Asia, and Ajit Varghese, EVP, Head of Network - Ad Sales, The Walt Disney Company, with Naziya Alvi, e4m Editor. The topic of discussion was 'World Cup: The Unmissable Opportunity for Marketers.' While Varghese put across the perspective of digital platforms and how they are trying to give advertisers the maximum opportunity to monetize through this event, Roy spoke about the needs, objectives and plan of brands who want to make the most of this year's World Cup phenomenon.

Talking about the consumer sentiment around the World Cup, Varghese said, "There is extreme interest in World Cup because whenever we talk about a series like this, it lifts the mood of Indian consumers. And I think whatever headwinds we have seen in the industry over the last eight or nine months, this is probably the right turning point. Clients are looking at this as a turning point."

Varghese also spoke about how Disney Star is helping advertisers target their audience through every platform, and hence increasing their reach to different demographics. "Cricket has always been seen as costly. At the end of the day, we see cricket as a high-cost event. But using mobile as an opportunity, we are now making sure that you can participate in India cricket with as low as $1 CPM. So, we are making sure that your entry point into cricket for the large set of advertisers is as low as 80 bucks or $1. That's the kind of entry point that we're offering, so that it allows a large set of brand objectives and efficiency to align. And effectiveness was never a question."

Speaking from the brand perspective, Roy mentioned that they are looking at digital as a big medium for the World Cup and are going to bring not just TVCs but a lot of other tiny IPs into the mix to reach their large audience across India. "I think that (digital) is going to be bigger than we have ever done. If we used to have maybe 12- 13% of our overall marketing budgets on digital, we will probably end this year at close to 40%. I want to take the number to 60%. The fact is that we have to make the transition because the consumers have moved. Let's be very honest on that. On TV, at least our numbers show that live sports will continue to be very important. But if you look at our key cohorts, engagement is happening on digital."

Roy also spoke about the huge reach ICC World Cup has across the globe and how brands can make the most of it since it is happening in India this year. "ICC World Cup is the world's second largest sporting event; you've got the FIFA World Cup and then you've got the ICC World Cup.”

“Based on the brands that we have (all our mass brands), mass reach platforms are very important. And nothing is bigger than this. But at the end of it, when you're activating these brands, you have to think what your business objective is. Like, for us, if you take Coke, Thums Up or Sprite, we don't just need to be a part of a sponsorship, we want to be a part of the overall branding."

"You will have to start with your business objectives, and see how does the sporting platforms help you achieve those business objectives… whether you want to increase your consumer base, whether you want to have the launch of a new package or you're launching a new product range. So, you have to start with what the objective is, and then you build the plan, which is to maximize that opportunity. On that, looking at the data of last 30-40-50 years that we have, most of these platforms have been very, very encouraging for us in terms of ROI. And we've clearly seen the returns. So overall, we will continue to be bullish on large sporting platforms like this because we've seen the returns," Roy added.