'If your objective is Top of Mind Awareness, your media selection should reflect that'

At the Pitch CMO Summit 2025 in Mumbai, industry leaders explored how brands can capitalise on emerging marketing trends during the IPL season.

The panel titled “Leveraging marketing trends during the IPL fever” featured insights from Adityan Kayalakal, Head of Marketing at Veera; Kewal Lohia, AVP: Buying & Accountability at Interactive Avenues; Saurabh Golani, Head of Business at PrsmX by Mobavenue; and Shubha Pai, Head of Brand Solutions at Google and was chaired by Ankit Banga, Chief Business Officer at FCB/SIX.

The discussion began with Lohia shedding light on evolving viewing patterns, particularly in the digital space. He highlighted the increasing shift towards mobile and handheld devices, with connected TV (CTV) consumption also steadily rising. “Obviously, the CTV base is growing. It will be about 60-65 million for this IPL 2025, and moving overall should be 500 million plus; that’s what we estimate. 650 is what I have been hearing in the market.”

Pai took a step back to discuss the cultural significance of cricket, framing it as a community-driven experience. “To me, cricket is community, and it is a lot of fandom, that’s what comes alive,” she said. “You imagine the way you watch cricket, whether in a stadium or at home. Even if you're watching alone, you're itching to talk to somebody about it.”

She emphasised how YouTube plays a crucial role in extending cricket conversations beyond live matches. “This is the home of fandom. This is the home of conversation. The moment you think about community and fandom, you think about YouTube.” Highlighting a broader marketing perspective, she added, “For me, it’s actually three C’s—conversations that are shaping culture, creator-led amplification, and community. We call them CrickTubers, and they drive the narrative beyond the last ball being bowled.”

Pai also pointed out a significant shift in content consumption habits, with non-live content seeing higher engagement than live broadcasts. “Data says that there is 20% more consumption of non-live content. And this is consistent, not just with India, not just with cricket, but across mature sporting markets.” She urged brands to think beyond live moments and leverage pre-match, in-game, and post-match engagement strategies. “Make the most of this moment, and don’t restrict yourself to just live.”

Golani introduced a structured approach to sports marketing, encouraging brands to follow a ‘PTM’ strategy. “I call my brands and suggest we do PTM on our platform.” Breaking it down, he explained, “PTM is personalisation, trend-jacking, and measurement. Capture the trend, go behind the trend—before and after—because India is going crazy on social media and open internet.” He stressed the importance of brands diversifying beyond a single platform, saying, “Feel free to show the ads on a particular channel, but also explore outside on open internet, YouTube, and social media.”

Golani also underscored the need for robust measurement frameworks beyond just clicks and impressions. “Just don’t go behind the impressions or clicks. Check the brand sentiment analysis or do the BLS studies—that will help you know where you are standing after your campaign is running or while your campaign is running.” He highlighted the role of data-driven insights in ensuring maximum ROI and brand visibility.

Lohia offered insights on how brands with limited budgets can effectively leverage IPL advertising on JioStar. “Digital today is very sharp, and based on what investments the client is looking at, the platform provides immense scale. You cannot be lost,” he explained. He highlighted the availability of targeted audience cohorts on mobile and CTV, stating, “More than 22 cohorts are available to target on mobile. Clients can also utilize their first-party data, retargeting, and exclusion targeting.”

He further detailed the strategic planning involved. “We decide on what we want to do—what is the audience?

Then, we determine how many matches how many days the presence should be, and set a nominal frequency threshold. It’s not that a brand with a smaller investment cannot leverage IPL on Jio. There are ways to do it, whether through video or display assets.”

Kayalakal brought a different perspective, citing the importance of sharp creative messaging. Giving the example of Dream11, he said, “They’ve just come with a message that has cut through like a hot knife through butter.” He referenced past IPL campaigns that stood out, such as the Zuzus from 2010-2012 and Virgin Mobile’s ‘Indian Panga League.’ “Those were so sharp, both in creative messaging and strategy.”

He noted a decade-long decline in IPL advertising creativity as brands focused more on distribution than compelling messaging. “For 10 years, we had a lull in terms of good IPL advertising. Everybody started using it for distribution but forgot about the sharpness of creatives.” He stressed that brands now recognize the need for both investment and strong messaging, as mere ad frequency can lead to audience fatigue. “If you have a weak ad but are there in every ad break, people will tune you out.”

Kayalakal also pointed out the strategic advantage of testing campaigns during the Champions Trophy before rolling them out for the IPL. “IPL doesn’t give you time to experiment. You can’t say, ‘I will experiment in the first month.’ It’s over, bro. It’s gone ahead. Now your campaign will come in Q2, Q3.”

Golani then discussed how creative messaging is crucial in multiplying media ROI. He pointed out that outdated commercials often fail to generate traction and emphasised the need for fresh and relevant communication. “I've seen brands putting up their three-year-old commercials back on Jio, and then they would say, ‘Hey, it's not converting, it's not giving me the kind of traction and volume.’”

He encouraged brands to follow the audience rather than fixate on a single platform. “Go behind the data. That can be on Jio, other platforms, cricketing websites or YouTube.” He cited a campaign where a brand tailored its messaging based on the time of day—showing family-oriented ads during lunch hours and individual-centric content during primetime. “It’s a very thoughtful approach. You have to be strategic.”

Pai reinforced the importance of a sharp audience strategy, stressing how technology and AI can optimize media planning. “AI can determine whether my consumer is waiting for a bus and watching YouTube Shorts or if they are at home watching long-form content on a connected TV.” She cited viral campaigns like EMotorad’s MS Dhoni ad as clever, high-impact marketing examples. “It’s not about the quantum of investment, but how cleverly you deploy it.”

The panel also explored the measurement of ROI in IPL marketing. Kayalakal emphasised that each brand’s KPIs depend on its stage of growth, citing different objectives he pursued at various companies. “You can’t use somebody else’s KPIs and hope you’re going to meet your own targets.”

Lohia highlighted third-party measurement studies and internal tracking mechanisms that brands use to evaluate campaign success. “It could be on consideration, favorability, or awareness, depending on what stage the product is in.”

Banga wrapped up the discussion by stressing that measurement should guide strategy, not follow it. “If your objective is to build TOMA (Top of Mind Awareness) or reach, your media selection should reflect that. If you’re focusing on consideration, your approach needs to be different. Your measurement should be derived by your strategy of deployment, not the other way around.”