Last year IPL clocked around 700 million viewers in India of which approximately 30 percent i.e. around 200 million came from digital.
The country's biggest sporting extravaganza, Indian Premier League, is all set to begin and brands are looking hit sixes on the digital pitch. Buoyed by the success of IPL on digital last year, companies have set their sights on the 2019 event.
Experts say digital medium has changed consumption patterns across the country and brands have to be there to maximise its utility and the potential it offers.
Online viewership is growing significantly and the proof of this is in the numbers. Last year, more than 202 million viewers turned to the video streaming platform Hotstar to watch the 60-day IPL. A record 28 percent of Star India’s over 700 million IPL viewers consumed the event online in 2018.
“IPL has its pull over masses of India but with that it also attracts a lot of clutter, specially on TV. Digital as a medium allows you to innovate and break through that clutter in many ways,” said Sahil Shah, VP- Operations and Media (West and South), WATConsult.
"Plus it is not just Hotstar that one can leverage the IPL fever on. Users are on social media discussing the games, on cricketing sites reading live commentaries, etc. Also one big plus point for digital is that a lot of brands with limited budgets can own a better SOV (share of voice) on digital, while maintaining targeting precision to avoid spill over," he further said.
Tech giants like Amazon and Facebook are now competing alongside the pure play sports OTT platforms. While Amazon has got rights for world tour tennis, Facebook won the La Liga rights for India.
In addition, OTT platforms like Hotstar and SonyLIV have created packages for real-time sports streaming, while also in some cases permitting free consumption of sports content with a five-minute delay.
“IPL has always been a big opportunity for marketers. What’s special about this year as compared to a last couple of years is that there is no demonetisation or GST effects that resulted into uncertainties,” said Shah.
He added that “the country’s sentiment is good both, from the advertiser and consumer side as there is no possible hurdle at global or national levels. Having said that there is the cricket World Cup, general elections and festive season where marketers would want to invest into depending on periodic importance and impact on business too. It will be interesting to see how this year pans out.”
The digital advantage
Last year IPL clocked around 700 million viewers in India of which approximately 30 percent i.e. around 200 million came from digital, pointed out Shah. “While digital was not higher than TV in absolute numbers but the growth over the year before was much higher,” he added.
The growth in digital viewing came on the back of “the democratisation of data and smartphone. Besides that, a big part has been played by Hotstar’s tech engine to build a better product YoY (year-on-year). This has ensured stickiness and thereby organic growth. Plus, viewer preferences are evolving big time which has fueled the growth,” said Shah.
Last year, on Hotstar most watched advertisements were Jio Dhan Dhana Dhan, Vivo V5Plus, Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza- Sport of glamour, Oppo F3 plus selfie expert, Mutual Funds Sahi Hai campaign, P&G- Padhega India toh badhega India, Amazon- Chonkpur Cheetahs, among others.
Shah explained that brands that have their business operating through an app or that have a heavy influence of digital onto their offline sales will benefit the most.
"For e.g. Swiggy’s video creative with an IPL specific offer on free delivery banner will get to drive awareness's, consideration and a possible purchase too. Or a high digitally influenced category like automobile with filtered targeting to intent audiences only will drive maximum consideration lift for the brand," he said.
The IPL which was valued at $3.2 billion in 2014 and $6.3 billion after the 11th edition will only get bigger and better for viewers as video streaming platforms are coming up with innovative ideas to connect with the audience.
One example of this is Hotstar that is bringing social to its platform and is taking it a notch higher by introducing the social media feed this year which is likely to resemble the comments feed on YouTube.
Such features give brands more effective ways to plug advertisements and also experiment with more ad formats. According to experts, this year along with videos brands are offering banners, short games, among others.
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