The high-octane drama is back and it has already created a buzz around cricket lovers as well as the advertisers. You guessed it right we are talking about the cricket fanfare Indian Premier League, which is getting extravagant with every passing year.
The TV viewership of IPL 2023 reached up to attracted 229 million viewers in the first week of the tournament’s 15th year. and these numbers are expected to get even bigger this year.
With the ever growing popularity, the advertising is also getting louder and fancier, garnering the attention of millions of Indians.
Therefore, brands are also looking to take this opportunity and advertise on IPL. With so many brands competing against each other, advertisers are going full throttle on creativity to win the game.
With so many advertising options available for IPL, you may get a bit overwhelming. But don’t worry, cause we are here to make your work a lot easier with the Top 10 ad options for IPL advertising in 2023.
1. Video Ads
Ever since the live online streaming of IPL matches on Hotstar, the digital viewership of IPL has broken all records. IPL 2021 on Hotstar had crossed 300 million viewers. However, with Viacom18 bagging the digital rights for TATA IPL 2023, the viewership landscape is expected to change.
Video advertising during live IPL matches can help brands to reach out to an urban young male audience having a high affinity for digital transactions.
OTT platforms offer various ad types like mid-roll videos, pre-roll videos, and branded cards during IPL and various targeting filters can also be applied to the live audience.
2. Banner Ads
Banner ads on OTT platforms are a great way to advertise your brand during live matches as well as highlights of the matches. Banner ad is a rectangular image ad accompanied by text which is displayed during the match. These ads are extremely beneficial to drive sales and also help in gaining visibility.
3. Star Sports Advertising
Despite the growth of digital, television still remains the highest watched medium when it comes to IPL live matches. As per BARC, the television viewership of TV viewership of IPL 2023 reached up to attracted 229 million viewers.
Needless to say, the scale of reach and impact that television provides is unparalleled. Even with the increased ad rates, advertising on Star TV Network would lead to the lowest cost per reach. Apart from the usual video ads played between overs and during breaks, brands can also look for other integrations like Super Sixes, etc.
4. Stadium Sponsorships
Stadium sponsorship has always been associated with support, patronage, and generosity. IPL is already one of the most popular brands in India. Sponsoring the stadium would lead to an increase in brand awareness and positive sentiments towards the brand. Apt for a brand having mass appeal. For example, A budget smartphone brand like Vivo is better suited for IPL sponsorship than a brand like Apple who has a niche audience.
5. Team Branding
This is the most coveted format of IPL sponsorship. IPL currently has 10 teams that represent various regions hence making team sponsorship a lucrative opportunity for strong regional brands. Apart from this, there are other sponsorship opportunities like cap branding, jersey branding, merchandise branding, etc.
One of the biggest advantages of such sponsorship packages is that brands often get access to the players for brand endorsements and in such cases, brands should also consider maximizing their reach through advertising.
6. Advertising on Sports Blogs
Sports websites like Sportskeeda and Cricbuzz are the think tanks for every sports fan. Whether there is a live sport or not, these websites always receive traffic to consume their high-quality opinion-based content around cricket and other sports.
The viewership is expected to be very high during the live matches. Since it’s a content-based platform, advertising involves both media properties like banner ads, high impact ads like interstitial as well as content properties like articles, social media posts, and videos, etc.
7. Advertising on IPL based news shows
Not only sports channels where IPL live matches would be telecasted but even news channels experience a jump in the viewership as they run special programs on IPL related news and expert opinions and comments. Hence it’s an attractive opportunity for brands to advertise here. Along with video ads, brands can also opt for L-band branding.
This is apt for brands having a predominantly male audience like fintech, building material, machinery, etc. Brands who want to ride the increase in TV viewership but don’t have enough budget to advertise on Sports channels.
8. Advertising on Red FM IPL campaign
Red FM plans an entire campaign around IPL which includes a number of programs both on-air and on the digital platforms. The Red FM IPL 2021 campaign ‘Saara India Sara Ra Ra’ was a massive success. It included match highlights, score updates and #omgmoments.
There are three types of sponsorship offered up for grabs: Presenting Partnership, Co-powered by Partnership, and Associate Partnership for the campaign. The sponsorship packages include on-air promos and mentions, social media post tagging as well as PR, newspaper ads, outdoor ads, etc.
9. Advertising in audio OTT IPL scorecard
Audio OTT platforms is another cost-effective and unique way to advertise on IPL. Although not related to sports, sponsoring the IPL scorecards on the audio OTT platform is an interesting advertising option.
While active watchers of IPL can be targeted on other platforms, this platform can help you target an audience who don’t have access to live matches due to work or studies and also those who do not follow cricket and IPL religiously. Brands having students and young working professionals as the audience can go for audio OTT IPL scorecard ads.
10. Newspaper IPL section advertising
Newspapers are another popular mass medium that is consumed on a daily basis in households. During the IPL season, the sports section of newspapers is the most sought after page. Hence, newspaper ad placements in the sports section has become a lucrative option.
This year, newspaper advertising during IPL will be more innovative in the form of syndicate columns which are special news columns written by Cricket experts and carry opinions rather than usual news. These columns attract more attention due to their exclusivity and authenticity of the content.
We hope you find this article helpful, if you want to advertise on television, Contact Us at Help@TheMediaAnt.com.
