Are influencers changing the IPL ad game?
As per creators & IPL observers, younger audiences are co-creating digital experiences; others opine influencer-led marketing is a natural evolution of fan engagement and lend a new dimension
Pitch Feature
There was a time when IPL ads weren’t just advertisements — they were anthems. They played in every street, and were sung by kids who didn’t even fully grasp cricket yet. The golden era of IPL advertising, particularly during Sony's tenure (2008-2017), was filled with campaigns that became cultural phenomena.
Manoranjan Ka Baap (2008) set the stage. Translating to “The Father of Entertainment”, the campaign promised that IPL was not just cricket; it was a carnival of fun. The tagline, "Ek taraf cricket, ek taraf entertainment… aur dono ko milaane aaya Manoranjan Ka Baap!" encapsulated the essence of what IPL was set to become.
Then came 'Ek Desh Ek Junoon' (2009), a campaign that tugged at national pride and unity, showcasing cricket as India’s shared obsession. It painted IPL as more than just a tournament; it was a festival where loyalties were fierce, and emotions ran high.
Sony continued to elevate IPL ads by introducing visually captivating themes. The 2011 Amusement Park campaign transformed IPL into a thrilling joyride, with each team represented as a different ride. The 2013 Holi campaign brought the festival of colors into the cricketing fold, drenching fans in the vibrancy and energy of IPL.
Farah Khan’s Jumping Japang (2013) was another standout campaign, bringing Bollywood flair to the IPL. Choreographed by Farah Khan, the ad featured a catchy hook step, encouraging fans to dance along and celebrate every big moment of the tournament. The phrase "Jumping Japang, Jumpak Jumpak" became a fun, quirky chant, adding to the celebratory atmosphere of IPL season.
One cannot forget the Vodafone ZooZoo ads, which featured adorable white alien-like creatures reacting to IPL moments. Their quirky charm turned them into instant sensations, making Vodafone synonymous with the league. The 2012 Carnival theme by Ogilvy India pushed the grandeur further, treating IPL like a traveling circus of entertainment, where every match felt like a performance under the big top.
Kingfisher IPL Anthem, featuring IPL players grooving to "Oo La La La Le O". The song, with its catchy melody and celebratory feel, became an unofficial anthem for IPL fans. Kingfisher smartly integrated its brand into the cricket craze.
But now, can you recall last year’s IPL anthem? Or the one before that? Chances are, the jingles that once stuck like glue in our minds have faded into the background.
The Shift from TV Ads to Influencers
The way we consume content has changed. Traditional TV ads no longer dominate living rooms like they once did. Streaming platforms, short-form videos, and real-time engagement have taken over, and this is where influencers enter the game.
Brands are no longer betting just on high-budget ad films; they are investing in reels, viral challenges, and meme culture to keep IPL fever alive. Instead of one anthem playing across all screens, brands now seed multiple digital-first campaigns, leveraging cricket influencers, comedians, and even fantasy league streamers to generate buzz. The goal? To make IPL conversations organic, continuous, and community-driven
For IPL 2025, Star Sports and influencer marketing agency Bartergram has joined hands and onboarded 75 influencers for all 10 teams, and this includes micro-influencers, to amplify IPL viewership on Star Sports and JioCinema. In a barter deal, creators have received match tickets instead of monetary payments, with some gaining exclusive stadium and lounge access. This initiative has garnered over 4 million views.
Neha Jolly Sawhney, Head of Ad Revenue at Snap Inc., in an exclusive interview with e4m explained the changing landscape, pointing to Snapchat’s recent collaboration with JioCinema during IPL 2024. "The younger audience isn’t just watching games; they are co-creating digital experiences, sharing real-time reactions, and engaging in private, meaningful conversations with close-knit circles. Instead of lengthy match analyses, they gravitate toward short, engaging, and participatory content."
“The Snapchat x BCG Gen Z report found that 77% of Gen Z prefers dynamic visual formats like AR, stickers, and interactive content over traditional text-heavy experiences. This presents an opportunity beyond just language localization—regional-first sports marketing will increasingly be about immersive, experience-driven engagement,” she revealed.
Deloitte’s recent findings confirm this shift, revealing that 93% of Gen Z fans use a second screen during live matches to interact on social media or check game stats, while they spend 20% more time watching non-live content, such as match highlights and analysis, than full-length broadcasts.
Farhan Rajani, CEO of Bartergram, sees influencer-led marketing as a natural evolution of fan engagement. "The internet thrives on attention, where content must captivate within three seconds or risk being dismissed. Even an event as big as IPL finds value in influencers, as they excel at capturing and directing consumer attention."
According to him, while the star power of celebrities like SRK and Salman Khan still draws massive crowds to IPL, influencers add a new dimension. They connect with niche audiences through relatable, real-time content, offering a 'being there' experience for those who can't attend. Influencers don’t replace celebrities; they complement them, amplifying the event’s reach.
Pranav Panpalia, CEO of OpraahFx and an influencer-turned-
No longer passive spectators, Gen Z fans crave hyperlocal, immersive, and visually rich experiences that extend far beyond live matches. This evolving consumption pattern is pushing brands to rethink their sports marketing strategies, moving beyond mere language localization to deliver dynamic, interactive content.
According to Qoruz, an influencer marketing intelligence platform, brands will spend Rs 550 crore into influencer-led campaigns during IPL 2025. The biggest spenders will be the entertainment and streaming platforms (30%), followed by FMCG (25%), consumer electronics (15%), e-commerce and D2C brands (15%), and the automobile industry (10%).
During IPL 2024, micro-influencers dominated the landscape, accounting for 56.27% of all influencer content. Meanwhile, sports-related content had the highest share of voice at 47.46%, followed by arts & entertainment (23.60%) and meme content (7.27%). This trend is expected to continue in IPL 2025, with brands eager to tap into cricket-driven conversations through strategic influencer partnerships.
According to real-time stats, these posts yielded an estimated reach of 4.59 million, with a total engagement of 280.24K and an engagement rate of 3.58%. The campaign strategically leveraged different influencer tiers: one macro, one mega, and three A-listers. The highest engagement came from Mumbai, with male audiences aged 25-34 making up 48.57% of the interactions.
Influencers Leading the Charge
Pranav Panpalia, CEO of OpraahFx and an influencer-turned-
No longer passive spectators, Gen Z fans crave hyperlocal, immersive, and visually rich experiences that extend far beyond live matches. This evolving consumption pattern is pushing brands to rethink their sports marketing strategies, moving beyond mere language localization to deliver dynamic, interactive content.
According to Qoruz, an influencer marketing intelligence platform, brands will spend Rs 550 crore into influencer-led campaigns during IPL 2025. The biggest spenders will be the entertainment and streaming platforms (30%), followed by FMCG (25%), consumer electronics (15%), e-commerce and D2C brands (15%), and the automobile industry (10%).
During IPL 2024, micro-influencers dominated the landscape, accounting for 56.27% of all influencer content. Meanwhile, sports-related content had the highest share of voice at 47.46%, followed by arts & entertainment (23.60%) and meme content (7.27%). This trend is expected to continue in IPL 2025, with brands eager to tap into cricket-driven conversations through strategic influencer partnerships.
According to real-time stats, these posts yielded an estimated reach of 4.59 million, with a total engagement of 280.24K and an engagement rate of 3.58%. The campaign strategically leveraged different influencer tiers: one macro, one mega, and three A-listers. The highest engagement came from Mumbai, with male audiences aged 25-34 making up 48.57% of the interactions.
Influencers Leading the Charge
Content creator Nisman Parpia, popularly known as Niswoman, who boasts 1.1 million followers featured CSK fans celebrating the season opener amassed 2.5 million views, while her another reel, humorously portraying a family divided by their favorite IPL teams, garnered 1.6 million views. Her nostalgia-driven reels reflecting on old IPL ads and past viewing struggles further enhanced the campaign’s relatability.
Actor Sahil Gambhir, with 4.6 million followers, tapped into nostalgia by using an old IPL anthem in a reel with his wife, humorously pointing out how fans forgot the league’s 18th birthday. His video, captioned "Tum bhul gaye na birthday hai aaj," urging fans to tune in for the season opener, racked up 38.9K views and was shared 1.5K times.
Abhishek Soni, with 218K followers, took a witty jab at asli vs. nakli IPL fans using a Kaun Banega Crorepati (KBC) format. Despite his relatively smaller following, his video garnered 352K views, 17.9K likes, and 750 shares. Regional creator Sarath, from Chennai, with one million followers, engaged fans with IPL trivia, earning 16.4K likes and 534 shares.
To further immerse influencers in the IPL experience, some were given access to the Star Sports India commentary lounge, providing behind-the-scenes content for their followers.
The Power of AR and Immersive Storytelling
The Power of AR and Immersive Storytelling
Snapchat is at the forefront of this revolution, redefining how fans engage with sports. “Imagine an IPL campaign where fans can step into their favorite team’s jersey through an AR Lens, predict match outcomes using interactive poll Stories, or celebrate victories with custom Bitmoji integrations,” said Sawhney. “The future of regional sports marketing is about enabling fans to feel the game in ways that are deeply personal, social, and immersive.”
During IPL 2024, Snapchat partnered with JioCinema to launch an innovative AR Lens featuring live score updates, team-themed animations, and reactions powered by Sky Segmentation technology. This interactive layer transformed traditional viewership into an experience that merged real-time engagement with digital storytelling, offering brands a powerful way to connect with their audience.
Beyond Public Social Feeds
Unlike traditional social platforms, where sports conversations happen in public feeds, Snapchat enables private, authentic interactions. “Fans use Snaps and Chats to celebrate wins, debate match moments, and express emotions in real time, making the experience feel more personal and immediate,” Sawhney noted.
Gen Z athletes are also leveraging this intimate space to build stronger connections with their followers. Cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s behind-the-scenes video of Team India celebrating their ICC T20 World Cup victory on the team bus amassed 66,000 shares—outperforming engagement on other platforms.
Hyper-Personalization and Immersive Fan Experiences
During IPL 2024, Snapchat partnered with JioCinema to launch an innovative AR Lens featuring live score updates, team-themed animations, and reactions powered by Sky Segmentation technology. This interactive layer transformed traditional viewership into an experience that merged real-time engagement with digital storytelling, offering brands a powerful way to connect with their audience.
Beyond Public Social Feeds
Unlike traditional social platforms, where sports conversations happen in public feeds, Snapchat enables private, authentic interactions. “Fans use Snaps and Chats to celebrate wins, debate match moments, and express emotions in real time, making the experience feel more personal and immediate,” Sawhney noted.
Gen Z athletes are also leveraging this intimate space to build stronger connections with their followers. Cricketer Arshdeep Singh’s behind-the-scenes video of Team India celebrating their ICC T20 World Cup victory on the team bus amassed 66,000 shares—outperforming engagement on other platforms.
Hyper-Personalization and Immersive Fan Experiences
For brands looking to win over Gen Z sports fans, the key lies in creating hyper-personalized, immersive campaigns rather than simply translating content into vernacular languages. “Engagement is the new currency,” Sawhney emphasized. “With Gen Z driving digital sports consumption, brands must innovate beyond traditional marketing. Interactive tools like AR Lenses, real-time polls, and Bitmoji integrations offer new ways to connect with audiences, ensuring sports content remains dynamic, local, and deeply engaging.”
Ethical Concerns
Ethical Concerns
While this influencer-driven campaign is innovative, it raises ethical concerns regarding transparency. None of the reels promoting Star Sports and JioCinema display "paid partnership," "collaboration," or "promotional video" labels. This lack of disclosure directly contradicts ASCI guidelines, which mandate that influencers disclose any material connection—including free products, services, or perks—when promoting brands.
According to ASCI, disclosure must be clear, upfront, and impossible to miss. It cannot be buried in hashtags, bios, or "about me" sections. For video content, disclosure labels must be superimposed over the footage and visible for a minimum duration, depending on video length.
As sports content continues to evolve, the brands that succeed will be those that don’t just speak the language of their audience but shape experiences that feel inherently local, dynamic, and interactive. While influencer campaigns help bridge engagement gaps, transparency remains a crucial concern.
According to ASCI, disclosure must be clear, upfront, and impossible to miss. It cannot be buried in hashtags, bios, or "about me" sections. For video content, disclosure labels must be superimposed over the footage and visible for a minimum duration, depending on video length.
As sports content continues to evolve, the brands that succeed will be those that don’t just speak the language of their audience but shape experiences that feel inherently local, dynamic, and interactive. While influencer campaigns help bridge engagement gaps, transparency remains a crucial concern.
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)