India is gearing up to celebrate its biggest and most awaited festival, the Indian Premier League (IPL). The professional twenty-twenty cricket league in India is contested every year by 8 teams representing 8 different cities in India. It was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India in the year 2008.
IPL 2020, the 13th edition of the league will be held in the United Arab Emirates and will start on September 19th and the final match will take place on November 8th.
Apart from a new schedule and a new venue, IPL 2020 will also have new and emerging brands sponsoring various events.
Every year, major brands sponsor the event to cash in on the popularity and reach of the cricketing spectacle.
As the world is slowly recovering from the onslaught of the pandemic, sporting events and major tournaments are also making a comeback. In India, cricket lovers were eagerly looking forward to watch their favorite teams and players on the field.
Some of the major sectors that are expected to join IPL advertising this year are BFSI, Educational technology, Contactless dining services, Disinfecting brands, and pharma.
As per Pritam Venkky, Chief Digital Officer, DDB Mudra Group, major advertisers are expected to be from the categories that are ‘digital first’. Apart from regular advertisers like Zomato, Swiggy, Flipkart, Dunzo, and Amazon, advertising is also expected from digital media and social media platforms. Brands like Unacademy, My11circle, Khatabook are some of the brands that will debut in IPL.
According to Ankita Kulkarni, Group Account Manager – Brand Strategy, SoCheers, brands that have achieved significant success during the lock-down are willing to spend huge amounts on advertisements. Generally, the new advertisers invest around Rs.3 lakh to Rs.10 lakh but for IPL 2020 the advertisers are planning to expand their budgets.
In the current situation of a slow economy along with poor market sentiments, brands are willing to spend huge amounts on advertising due to the sheer amount of exposure and reach that the event will provide.
This year the IPL viewership is expected to be high, with around 500 million viewers on TV, considering that audiences are still working from home and will provide their undivided attention to the event. Similarly, viewership is expected to increase on digital platforms as well.
As per experts, close to 30% of the advertisement budgets are expected to go into digital platforms whereas the rest will be divided between Print, Television, and Radio. Brands that make innovative use of digital media will be noticed and talked about.
