Every year, brands set aside hefty budgets for the "festive season" that marks the months between August and December in India. This year, the festive season is particularly celebratory since it coincides with the ICC Men's World Cup 2023, which starts on October 5.

Most of the marketing communication will be centred on the festive season. It stands to see how the coinciding World Cup will impact their endeavours to get their year's best ROI.

Experts say that the World Cup would be the best media vehicle to reach a worldwide audience. Even if it does cut into festive budgets, it would only enhance the impact.

Big one for the advertisers!

Harking back to IPL in 2020 and 2021 and the T20 World Cup in 2022, R. Venkatasubramanian, President - Investments at Havas Media India and Managing Director - Havas Play, pointed out that it's not the first time a sports event has coincided with the festive season.

"Certain categories that associate with cricket or ICC tournaments regularly like automobile, finance, beverages, mobile, consumer durables, gaming, e-commerce, etc. will continue to spend on sports. In addition, we expect categories like FMCG, consumer durables, etc. will spend in other networks too.

“Every brand will create festive communication campaigns which they can use riding on Cricket or any other network depending on the objective of the campaign. ICC WC will also create an impact in India as it’s the host country," he noted.

"Personally, I am extremely bullish this festive season,” said Vishal Chinchankar, CEO - Madison Digital & Madison Media Alpha. It’s a big one for the advertisers. With regular media both TV and Digital, already expecting a spike in spends during festive & with WC’23 kicking in."

"When we have a sporting event like the World Cup being available during the festive season, it gives additional options for brands to build reach and deliver on their media objective," chimed in Srinivas Rao, Chief Investment Officer, Wavemaker India.

"If a brand wants to highlight its brand proposition by showcasing the brand usage, there can’t be a better fitment than a non-fiction property during the festive season," he added.

Money matters

Given that a chunk of the yearly ad monies is earmarked for the festive season, will advertisers have to rework their budgets and dip into their coffers for the World Cup?

Budget, Venkatasubramanian noted, will grow on the back of the World Cup: “Every brand has only one set budget for the festive season. Depending on their campaign objective, brands will decide whether they want to invest in sports or other marketing and advertising genres. Traditionally, advertisers spend Rs 25,000 to Rs. 30,000 Cr (approx.) during the festive period and this year we expect it to grow by an additional 6-8 % on the back of the ICC WC tournament. A massive 42-day tournament and India being the host nation will certainly give an extra boost for brands.”

Association with the tournament will depend entirely on the brand objectives, said Rao. "There are brands who would want to put in their entire budget, some would want to associate themselves only with some impact properties during festive and avoid sports altogether. Others would want to come in for the initial stages of World Cup, establish the brand proposition and build sustenance through a follow-up campaign outside," he noted.

According to Jyothi Jadhav, Vice President – Strategy & Insights, dentsu X India, big brands will bank on the World Cup, she said, “Most brands park monies for the second half of the year, for various reasons – expecting festive shopping to pick up or new launches lined up. This year’s World Cup is like a top-up to such brands. There is no fixed split to call out, but big pockets will definitely opt for a larger share in cricket while smaller brands will prefer digital for the World Cup and maintain their regular presence. It’s all about finding the right balance. Also, with India and knockout matches falling largely on weekends, skillfully scheduling the regular inventory around them will remain crucial.”

Power of global events

Festive season aside, a global event like the World Cup should be leveraged by brands to tell their stories, using the power of sports and sportsfans, Vidur Naik, Managing Partner – TCM Platform, noted.

“World Cup in India is an incredible opportunity for brands to piggyback on a global celebration of sport," he said.

It also presents a golden opportunity for brands to use innovations, even in terms of media. "New age generative AI and Metaverse opportunities can be used to break the clutter in unique ways," he said.

In IPL's shadow?

In June, e4m editor Naziya Alvi Rahman in her column Naziyanomics posed a question to brands, asking why they didn't rush in to capitalise on this year's IPL fever despite record-breaking viewership numbers.

IPL has always delivered positive results for advertisers, barring the 2022 season, which did not meet expectations, noted Venkatasubramanian. A couple of factors contributed to the 2022 edition turning out to be a damp squib: an increase in the number of teams from 8 to 10, the introduction of new players and captains, and the limited hosting of matches in select cities.

Will the World Cup meet the same fate? Venkatasubramanian shot down the concerns: "It's worth noting that the ICC World Cup is anticipated to be a significant event. Many brands have already signed up, and others are actively exploring opportunities to participate in various capacities, ranging from major to minor involvements.”

Jadhav says that due to the bifurcation of media rights, brands might be hesitant to invest. She said, “This year's IPL came with many firsts, and one of them was the bifurcation of media rights which led to a lot of uncertainty. In addition, startups opted out because of the funding crunch. But brands who wanted to ride this opportunity decided their routes between TV or Digital, as very few brands had the deep pockets needed to be on both. World Cup is different, it is a matter of national pride and moreover, it comes once in four years. Last time India lost in the WC finals, this time the expectations are high, and with the Asia Cup win they increased even further. It’s the best time to tap into consumers’ minds and create an impact.”

With 48 matches splayed across the entire festive period, experts are certain that this season will outshine last year's, especially since India is the host country this year.

"India's recent victory in the Asia Cup has set high hopes for team India’s performance in the ICC World Cup. With high expectations the matches are expected to garner impressive TV ratings, enabling brand messages to reach a vast Indian audience”, Venkatasubramanian concluded.