MxMIndia

Tag: IPL

  • There has been much speculation on how much revenue BCCI, the eight franchisees and Star India will be able to earn this year given it will be held away from home turf

    IPL 13: Who will Gain & Who will Lose?

     

    By Indrani Sen

     

    Ever since BCCI announced that IPl 13 will be held this year in the UAE from September 19 to November 10, there has been a lot of speculation in the media about how much revenue BCCI, the eight franchisees and Star India would be able to earn through this high value cricket tournament held away from home turf.

     

    It is still a matter of speculation, but one aspect is clear that BCCI’s scheduling of IPL 13 matches scheduled during evening primetime will deprive many GEC channels from the revenue which they have been expecting to get from the festive seeson advertising. As per various industry estimates, 40 to 45% of total annual advertising revenue is generated during the festive season spreading from September to December with bulk of it spent by Diwali every year.

     

    Revival of mega programmes like KBC, Big Boss, Indian Idol and Dance India Dance is expected to give IPL some competition and to help the big players Sony, Colors and Zee to get a good share of the TV advertising budget of festive season, but many other channels will not be that lucky. BCCI has also planned for maximising its revenues during the festive season as after October 25, 2020 there will be no afternoon match and all matches will be scheduled at 7.30 pm IST. With the final scheduled on November 10, only a small window of  four days before Diwali is left for other channels to encash on their share of festive spends. Had BCCI scheduled the IPL 13 a month later from October 2020, then probably the picture could have been different.

     

    Let us now look at the three main interested parties who have serious revenue tagets to be realised from IPL 13. The first is BCCI who earns the lion’s share of its annual budget every year from IPL. Apart from Rs 3270 crore which Star pays to BCCI every year for the TV and digital media rights, they were supposed to get Rs 440 crore from Vivo for title sponsorship, Rs 250 to Rs 300 crore for other associate sponsorships and another Rs 17 to Rs 20 crore from other sponsorships. After Vivo pulled out from the title sponsorship, BCCI got Dream 11 as a title sponsor for Rs 220 crores, at 50% discounted price of the earlier deal. BCCI shares 50% of the title sponsorship money with the eight franchisees by distributing the same among them and the revenue of the fanchisees has also been reduced as a result of this discounted deal. As per the experts’ views, BCCI’s revenue target from associate sponsorsips etc. are also expected to see a downward revision. BCCI will have to give a hefty fees to Emirates Cricket Board for holding the matches at UAE and their other logistical cost will also go up. A combination of all these factors will lead to a lower realisation of BCCI’s earlier revenue target from IPL 13.

     

    As far as the eight franchisees are concerned, each of them will lose out revenues from three sources. The first will be the loss from their share of title sponsorship which BCCI has sold at 50% lower value than expected earlier. The second will be the loss from gate revenue which used to be between Rs 22 to Rs. 28 crore per team from cricket grounds. The third will be from expected lower revenue of title sponsorship of each team under the current situation. Each team now anticipates to earn at least 15% to 20% less on the estimated the team title sponrship value of Rs. 50 to Rs. 75 crore (except Mumbai Indians which was looking at Rs 100 crore-plus) from title sponsorship before the pandemic struck.

     

    In addition, all of the franchisees will have to spend extra for the travel and accomodation cost of the players as well as creating arrangements for the bio-bubble and net practice at UAE. The combined effect of all the above is expected to result in a loss of Rs 80 to Rs 90 crore per franchisee. BCCI has already rejected the appeal for concessions in IPL 13 due to the pandemic made by the franchisees. (https://www.insidesport.co/ipl-2020-bccis-stern-no-to-ipl-franchises-demand-for-compensation/)

     

    The last but not the least of the three interested paries is Star India, the broadcaster holding the media rights of IPL for TV and Digital media. In Star India’s original plan for revenues to be earned over the contract period with BCCI, 2020 was supposed to be a crucial year when they had expected to replace earlier losses with profit. However, the pandemic changed their plans. An article published on July 4, 2020 by www.sportstar.thehndu.co referred to a statement made by Uday Shankar, the Star & Disney India Chairman to ET Now: “If there is one tournament where advertisers will put money, that is IPL but only if they have to put monies. The market has gone through massive shock. Whether it would recover enough to put thousand of crores worth of advertising in next 6-8 weeks is the real issue and we doubt that… I am not sure the market is ready to support the IPL with the same fervour…” (https://sportstar.thehindu.com/cricket/ipl-2020-postponed-future-star-india-uday-shankar-advertisers/article31986991.ece). He has obviously changed his mind since then as in a recent article in  https://www.timesnownews.com/sports/cricket/, he has been quoted as saying: “Our viewership of IPL on TV, as well as OTT platform, has grown year-on-year, and that will continue even this year…Also, for any company, which is looking at advertising, IPL provides the best and most-effective platform.”

     

    As per industry sources, Star is targeting at a revenue of Rs 3000 crore plus from IPL 13. There is difference in estimates on how much they earned from IPL 12. According to ET Prime, the revenue was Rs 2,100 crore in 2019, but some other sources peg the earnings around Rs 2500 crore.

     

    Source: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/prime/media-and-communications/ipl-2020-star-india-will-have-to-rework-its-strategy-to-hit-the-inr3000-crore-revenue-target/primearticleshow/77321586.cms?from=mdr?fromsrc=etprime

     

    Star India has already declared that there will be no reduction on the advertising tarif declared earlier which had a built in 20% hike over IPL 12. As per industry sources going rate for 10 second advertising is 12.5lakhs. Based on estimate of ET Prime, with a revenue target of Rs 3000 crores in IPL 13 Star is aiming for a growth of 43% over IPL 12, which semms to be highly ambitious. Based on the estimate that revenue from IPL 13 was around Rs 2500 crores, a 20% to 22% growth over last year will enable Star to achieve the revenue target of Rs. 3000 crores, which seems to be more realistic. There is already a prediction that viewership of IPL 13 will increase by 25% from IPL 12 which will help Star in marketing IPL.

     

    To sum up, the broadcaster seem to be on a good wicket as riding on the promise of 25% higher reach, they have a good chance of realising the target revenue for IPL 13. On the other hand, BCCI and the 8 franchisees will have to be contented with reducing their losses from IPL 13 held in UAE than a total loss of cancelling IPL 13 in 2020. The smaller TV channels across genres may be complete losers as many marketers suffering from the loss in sales and revenue over the first two quarters of 2020 and the slow rate of recovery in the third quarter, may not be able to extend their advertising budgets  for festive seasons beyond investing in IPL 13.

     

     

  • Interestingly, IPL 2020 has Dream11 as its title sponsor

    Mobile Premier League signs on as RCB sponsor

    By A Correspondent

     

    Mobile Premier League (MPL), the esports and mobile gaming platform, today announced its sponsorship of the Royal Challengers Bangalore ahead of the upcoming T20 season. Interestingly, IPL has Dream11 as its title sponsor.

     

    Speaking of the partnership, Sanjeev Churiwala, Chairman, Royal Challengers Bangalore said: “We are delighted to have Mobile Premier League as one of our partners. RCB’s biggest strength lies in the love and support the team gets from their fans and it would be exciting to open avenues for them to engage with the team and we share this ethos with MPL of being committed to our fans to bring continuous at-home cricket experiences for them.”

     

    Added Abhishek Madhavan, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL: “This is a great opportunity for us at MPL to associate with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. RCB is one of the strongest teams in the IPL led by Virat Kohli, our Brand Ambassador, and is also one of the most recognised brands in the country with a huge fan following. RCB’s philosophy of #PlayBold is shared by us and Virat as well, and we hope to become a household name in India with our IPL associations.” MPL has also signed on as principal sponsors of Kolkata Knight Riders.

     

     

  • JSW comes in place of Daikin Air-Conditioning who had been the Delhi franchise’s Principal Sponsors since 2015

    JSW is Principal Sponsor of Delhi Capitals

    By A Correspondent

     

    Delhi Capitals has announced JSW Group as the IPL team’s Principal Sponsor for the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League. JSW comes in place of Daikin Air-Conditioning who had been the Delhi franchise’s Principal Sponsors since 2015.

     

    Commenting on the new sponsor, Parth Jindal, Chairman and Co-Owner of Delhi Capitals said: “We at the JSW Group  see this as a tremendous opportunity to step in as Principal Sponsor for the Delhi Capitals. DC embodies the same zeal, desire and hunger as JSW and thus we are proud to be the principal sponsor of the Capital city’s IPL team and wish them all the best for IPL 2020… The upcoming edition of the IPL will be different for more reasons than one. I have full faith in our team’s players and coaching staff to better the results of the previous year. I wish them all the very best as they prepare to depart for UAE.”

     

     

  • The communique adds, and we don’t miss out on the significance of the statement: Dream11 (Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd) is an Indian company based in Mumbai, Maharashtra

    BCCI formally announces Dream11 as title sponsor for IPL 2020

    By A Correspondent

     

    There were rumoured to be some hiccups. So for nearly 24 hours after the IPL chairman Brijesh Patel announced that fantasy game league Dream11 was the title sponsor for IPL 2020, the formal press release was made public on the Indian Premier League website.

     

    The IPL Governing Council has confirmed that Dream11 is the new title sponsor of the 2020 edition of the league. The communique adds, and we don’t miss out on the significance of the statement: Dream11 (Sporta Technologies Pvt. Ltd) is an Indian company based in Mumbai, Maharashtra.

     

    It also adds: Dream11’s association with sports has grown over the years and it is presently partnering a total of 19 sports leagues along with six Indian Premier League Franchises.

     

    Said Patel in the statement: “We welcome Dream11 on board as title sponsor for the 2020 edition of the IPL. Dream11 upgrading their association from an Official Partner to Title Sponsors is a great testament to the brand IPL. Dream11 as a fantasy sports brand will only grow the engagement of the IPL with its fans. As a digital brand it will give them leverage to create exciting online engagement for fans sitting at home and watching the matches. We look forward to delivering great value to Dream11.”

     

    Added Harsh Jain, CEO & Co-Founder, Dream Sports (Dream11): “The launch of IPL in 2008 gave birth to the idea of Dream11. As avid sports fans, we wanted to offer fantasy cricket to IPL fans to help them further engage with the sport they love and showcase their sports knowledge and skill. Being a proud homegrown Indian brand that is made in India, by Indians and exclusively for Indian sports fans, we would like to thank the BCCI for giving us an opportunity to become the title sponsor of IPL, which in our opinion is the world’s greatest sports property. We believe that ‘Dream11 IPL’ also perfectly defines what IPL is all about: every team fielding its Dream11 team culminating in the IPL finals determining The Dream11. We are happy to continue building our partnership with BCCI & IPL to further promote sports fan engagement in India, and look forward to 10 Crore+ Indians making their Dream11 for every Dream11 IPL match.”

     

    There were some murmurs of discontent amongst sports sponsorship-watchers given a minority stake held by Chinese investments major Tencent.

     

     

  • As the England-West Indies Test at Southampton got along, it seemed like good old cricket after all, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    All Eyes on IPL as Cricket Restarts

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    This Thursday saw the resumption of international cricket, with the start of the England-West Indies Test at Southampton. The match is being played without any spectators allowed into the stadium. But even with that restriction, it’s quite incredible that they could actually get down to playing it. It helps that UK is well past its Covid peak, having managed the month of April far better than most major countries, and that the various countries in the West Indies are not impacted by Covid as such. Seeing the slip fielders standing next to each other without a face mask was disorienting for the first few overs. But as the game got along, it seemed like good old cricket after all. At least for me, good commentary more than made up for the atmosphere deficit because of the absence of spectators.

     

    Cricket in the subcontinent is at least a few months away, with “India’s Covid peak” still being an idea in the waiting. The Asia Cup, scheduled in Sri Lanka, was formally postponed this week to 2021. But the rest of the cricketing world seems more ready. New Zealand is holding very well at less than 25 total active cases currently, and Australia is managing fine with what can be called its second peak. But the latter in particular is quite stringent on its travel policy during this pandemic. We will know in the coming few weeks how things unfold around the 2020-21 International cricketing calendar.

     

    But all eyes are indeed on the IPL. Not holding the IPL is a worst-case scenario, and BCCI will do all it can to avoid that. A foreign venue, such as UK or New Zealand, seems more practical at this stage than India itself. And the original T20 World Cup window in Oct-Nov may suit the IPL well. It could be the first IPL around the Diwali season!

     

    In any other year, the Diwali + IPL combo would have been an absolute money-spinner. But we are not in any other year. The advertiser appetite to fund a league of IPL’s stature will be a big factor. Even if a curtailed version of the league is conducted, with say 50-60% of the usual number of games, the corresponding drop in inventory will still not be enough to compensate for the fall in advertising demand. Significantly lower ad rates will be an inevitable outcome of the negotiations involved. Hope BCCI is flexible in understanding Star India’s predicament here. None of the old rules apply, and if BCCI takes an inflexible position, there could be long-term damage.

     

    Watching IPL at a neutral venue without spectators may not be the best IPL viewing experience, but if that’s the only way the show can go on, then that’s the way it must. The other option, of course, will be to write off this year altogether, as many already have. But young cricketers will be raring to play, and TV viewership for IPL could see an all-time high this year given the starvation lack of cricket has caused. The temptation to not write off will be quite high.

     

    But this is not a year to predict things. It’s a year to take things a month at a time, at best. The coming month or two should tell us if IPL 2020 will be recorded in history as an actual event or a canceled one.

  • And the way it looks, the second half of 2020 will continue to be one of uncertainty and very slow recovery, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    2020: Halfway There… Halfway More To Go!

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    In case you have not realiSed, we are halfway through this terrible year already. Where do we go from here? That’s the question on everyone’s minds. The pandemic has brought with it an unprecedented level of uncertainty. A lot of discussions these days feature a line that goes: “It will take another X months”. The value of X, varies from 2 to 24, depending on the subject matter of the discussion and the optimism level of the speaker. Predictions in these times are tough, if not futile. But I’d hazard a few anyway.

     

    An oft-asked question is: When will theatres reopen nationally so that big Hindi films can be released? I’d say October 2020. Delhi (and not Mumbai) could be one of the last markets to open the theatres. Till both Mumbai AND Delhi are open, new films releasing seems out of question. Theatres will open with ample safety measures and restrictions, and the audience will take their time to make that visit. Sooryavanshi releasing on Christmas 2020, is my other forecast in this regard.

     

    Another commonly-asked question is: When will content production begin like before? This is a lot more complex one to predict, because “like before” will surely have to wait for the vaccine to be available globally. Till then, shoots will restart, but don’t be surprised to see dodgy make-up, empty frames with less characters, no foreign locations, and visually-disorienting content in general.

     

    Another popular one is: Will IPL happen this year? I’d predict that it indeed will, but without crowds and in a curtailed format. The T20 World Cup in Australia in Oct-Nov 2020 is likely to get moved to 2020 (there’s the next edition in India next year anyway), and that slot should pave way for IPL to happen. It could be an event restricted to two or three cities, but with no spectators and ticket sales, that wouldn’t matter much anyway. ThE business models will have to be reworked, but given what’s at stake, BCCI and Star will be extremely keen to hold the event in some capacity, than skip an edition altogether.

     

    Then there is the larger question about the recovery of the economy: Will the Diwali festive season see regular levels of adspends and consumption, perhaps (as some suggest) on a rebound? Here, I’d go with a sCeptical view. The general public is quite tentative, and expecting festivity levels anywhere close to normal in the bigger cities is certainly ruled out. The economic pressure adds to the fear of the pandemic, and while people may start going out a bit, the festive mood will take another year to be revived. I’d expect at least 60% drop in ad revenue in the traditional media (TV, print, radio, OOH, etc.) in the festive season this year vis-à-vis last year.

     

    The way it looks, the second half of the year will continue to be one of uncertainty and very slow recovery. Patience is a prized virtue to have in these times. Hold on to it!

     

     

  • Given the delay in the beginning of the IPL, there is a pause on the roll-out

    Pause on Disney+ launch

    By A Correspondent

     

    Disney India has put on hold the launch of Disney+, which was all set to launch later this month post the beginning of the 2020 edition of Indian Premier League.

     

    Uday Shankar

    Said Uday Shankar, President – The Walt Disney Company APAC and Chairman, Star & Disney India: “We recently announced that Disney+ would launch in India through the Hotstar service in conjunction with beginning of the Indian Premier League cricket season. Given the delay of the season, we have made the decision to briefly pause the roll-out of Disney+ and will announce a new revised premiere date for the service soon.”

  • It should not be a decision governed by advertisers, franchises or players, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Given Covid-19, must the IPL show still go on?

     

     

    An update: BCCI has announced the postponement of IPL 2020 to April 15, 2020. This column was written much before the announcement was made.

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The twelfth edition of IPL is scheduled for kick off 10 days from today, i.e., on March 23, 2020. In the wake of the escalating Covid-19 situation across the world, ‘non-essential’ travel and community gatherings are being restricted, both by the administration and the private sector. Sporting events tick both these boxes. They are non-essential, and they involve community gatherings in stadia. And it’s only natural that they should be considered for postponement.

     

    While several sporting events have been canceled or postponed over the last two weeks, the big news came in yesterday with the suspension of NBA, after player Rudy Gobert tested positive. Gobert incidentally mocked the Covid-19 situation by touching the mikes at a presser, just two days before he was diagnosed.

     

    Should IPL go on, then? Till about a week ago, BCCI was cautious, but keen on going ahead with the league anyway. But much has changed since then. The ‘best-case’ scenario of BCCI today stands at an IPL played in empty stadia, to eliminate the community-gathering risk. Television and digital media are the revenue drivers for IPL, and while empty stadia may take some of the zing away, the economics of the big-ticket event will be impacted only marginally.

     

    However, one could question the desperation to go ahead with the tournament at any cost. IPL is clearly non-essential, and the marathon length of the event would mean that players and officials are exposed to multiple people during the course of the league. Over the last few days, high-profile cases ranging from heads of state to ministers to actors have emerged from across the globe. In no uncertain measure, it tells us that public life puts you to more risk than an average citizen. Sportspersons fall in this category, and there’s the additional complication of overseas players, who may have traveled to different countries in the lead up to IPL.

     

    But a lot of cricket is going on worldwide. Among that, India is playing South Africa at home, where the remaining two matches will be held to empty stadia. The Ranji Trophy final is being played too, even as I write this. The veterans’ tournament, promoting road safety, was called off yesterday after five days of cricket. But in general, cricket across the world seems somewhat immune to the hazard at hand. Then why should IPL take all the blame?

     

    But that’s how IPL’s imagery is. There’s an intrinsic association between IPL and greed, built as a public perception over the years. Because there’s so much money involved, all IPL-related decisions can come across as material and insensitive.

     

    The players, especially the young talent, would really want to play. They may not get this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity again. But this should not be a decision governed by advertisers, franchises or players. It should be based on larger considerations of a situation that’s evolving rapidly with each passing day.

     

    IPL can surely wait another year (it’s impossible to reschedule it later in the year given the cricket calendar). And BCCI could be fighting many perception battles, with the media and the administration, if they decide to stick to the schedule.

     

     

  • On-ground sponsorship grew by 25 per cent for the first time, crossing INR 2000 crore mark

    Indian sports sponsorship crosses Rs 9000 crore benchmark, notes GroupM’s ESP Properties

    By A Correspondent

     

    ESP Properties, the entertainment and sports division of GroupM India, released the 2020 report on sports sponsorship in India. Overall growth in sports sponsorship at a healthy 17 per cent where the sports sponsorship Industry crossed the INR 9000 crore mark in 2019.

     

    The 2019 was the year for cricket and dominated the sports advertising sector unanimously. IPL and ICC World Cup gave a push in both, on-ground sponsorship and media spends. On-ground sponsorship grew by 25 per cent, for the first time, crossing INR 2000 crore mark. Overall industry upsurge was INR 1347 crore of which INR 800 crore was contributed by media spends alone growing at 18 per cent.

     

    Said Vinit Karnik – Business Head, ESP Properties: “Indian sports industry is on an upward trajectory breaking new grounds year-on-year. While cricket proved its dominance in 2019, overall the last 5 years the industry has doubled its size. If we look further, we can see a strong CAGR of 12.8 per cent in the business of sports over the last 10 years, making it one of the strong pillars of the Indian economy. With the sports industry growing at 17 per cent in 2019, the momentum on sports with added thrust from the government provides a holistic opportunity for the sector. Initiatives like Khelo India and Fit India movement are drivers towards making India a truly sporting nation.”

     

    Added Prasanth Kumar, CEO of GroupM South Asia: “Over the last decade, we have witnessed the growth of sports leagues and their gaining popularity across the country. The sports industry has been growing and has witnessed a significant upward shift in the overall ad spends. The passion and excitement that’s involved in this platform have only strengthened. We see more and diverse audience indulging with this platform. Many innovations and leverage of assets in this space are powerful opportunities. As we are unfolding another decade, we see this space to be providing powerful thrust for greater brand stories.”

     

    The non-cricketing space was dominated by women athletes. Badminton queen P V Sindhu was the leading non-cricketing athlete in 2019 in terms of brand endorsements. While Sindhu added four brands to her portfolio, the most notable one among them was her tie-up with VISA that made her the first Indian athlete to endorse the financial services brand.

     

     

  • Taproot Dentsu won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will now service the account from its Mumbai office

    Taproot bags Mobile Premier League mandate for IPL

    By A Correspondent

     

    Taproot Dentsu has been awarded the creative mandate for Bangalore-based mobile gaming platform Mobile Premier League’s (MPL) 2020 IPL campaign. Taproot Dentsu won the mandate following a multi-agency pitch and will now service the account from its Mumbai office.

     

    Talking about the collaboration, Ayesha Ghosh, General Manager, Taproot Dentsu Mumbai, said: “We are very excited to win this business. Our interactions with the client team have been charged with positive energy. The brief was very sharp – to get gamers to download MPL where they could win money playing their favourite online games and a whole lot of new ones. We are now in the process of creating the films. So, watch out for the upcoming campaign!”

     

    Added Abhishek Madhavan, VP, Growth and Marketing, MPL: “We called for a multi-agency pitch across the best in the country, and after a grueling round of presentations and discussions, have placed our trust in Taproot Dentsu to be our creative partners for this IPL. Their strategic insights and creative capabilities made us choose them. It is essential to capture our brand’s values, and MPL’s connect with its users and game developers in our campaigns, and we think Taproot Dentsu will be the right agency to help us do this.”

     

     

  • Advertisers might want to give the IPL a better shot, writes Prabhakar Mundkur

    Is Super Bowl the American version of IPL?

     

     

    By Prabhakar Mundkur

     

    The Super Bowl represents the most prestigious marketing event of the year. Which is why it draws so many specially made commercials and each has an aura around it.  Everyone is watching the Super Bowl so marketers almost think that they will be judged by the quality of their advertising.   It is also a great place for peer comparison, so how good the advertising is a matter of company prestige as well. It is also the day when the second largest food consumption happens in the US.

     

    Ticket prices normally hit the roof.  This year the cheapest ticket was priced at $4308 with the most expensive ticket going for $385,000.  And the most expensive 30 second commercial this year cost $ 5.6 million. In comparison a 30 second commercial cost Rs. 18 lakh on IPL.  While both are league games one has to remember that the Super Bowl is a one-day show, while the IPL lasts 6-7 weeks, so it is almost like a season.

     

    One difference I have noticed between the IPL and Super Bowl is that while the IPL is likely to have a lot of cricket stars in their advertising, the Super Bowl has a wide array of celebrities from TV, Hollywood and other sports, or in other words not just football stars.

     

    For example, take a look at the Amazon ad for this year’s Super Bowl starring Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, where they wonder what the world might be before Alexa.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9t2rFmTVE

     

    The Google Ad for this year’s Super Bowl was quite a tear jerker.  I couldn’t help shedding a few tears for Loretta.

     

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xSxXiHwMrg

     

    Social psychologists refer to two kinds of reactions from sports fans. For those of you who might describe the Indian fans as fickle, the reactions of Indian fans are in line with the global experience.  BIRGing which stands ‘basking in reflected glory’ typically happens when the home team wins and people start feel better about themselves. They will often say “we won”, that’s how closely they identify with the home team.

     

    CORFing (or Cutting Off Reflected Failure) and BIRGing happens at the Super Bowl as well just like it happens at IPL.  This is evident when people use the third person and when Patriot fans say “They couldn’t stop Denver”.  Of course, because the Super Bowl is just a 4-hour game including the break and advertising, the effects of BIRGing and CORFing doesn’t last as long as say the IPL does which is a tournament that lasts 6-7 weeks.

     

    The Super Bowl boasted of a 48% female viewership and in 2019 had an audience of 98.2 million people. IPL has a male viewership skew 58-59% with females at 41-42% which is not so bad.How does the Super Bowl advertising compare with the IPL?  Many marketing experts I spoke to felt that the advertising on the IPL didn’t feel as special.  While many ads are created especially for the IPL, some are extensions of regular campaigns. Certainly, the ads have a lot of cricket celebrities.

     

    David Warschawski, CEO and Founder of Warschawski the integrated ad agency, said in a 2016 article in Adweek “America has a love affair with Super Bowl advertising.”  Would we say that we have a love affair with IPL advertising? I am not so sure, but maybe we are getting there. But we are in love with cricket and if the same passion was translated to its advertising, we might just push the bar a little up from where it is now.

     

    With the Star Re-imagine awards to reward creativity for ads aired in the IPL, advertisers might want to give the IPL a better shot.

     

     

  • Sanjeev Kotnala picks his 12 best advertisements of the just-held Super Bowl 2020

    12 Super Bowl Ads You Must Watch

     

    By Sanjeev Kotnala

     

    If you are in Marketing and advertising, you would have watched all the Super Bowl ads by now. Every year around this time, the heat is on between brands to make an impression and get maximum instant reach for their messages. Some try being playful, some introduce new themes, and some try to provoke.

    In all, a total of more than 50 advertisements get released in the Super Bowl at an astronomical figure (by Indian standard) of $5.6 Mn per 30 seconds. Most brands must be finding it relevant and efficient, as some brands always have spots aired with the  Super bowl. The inventory is almost sold by November of the previous year.

    Brand, creative and media specialist mourn the absence of any such opportunity in India. Neither the pre-festival advertising in October nor the hyped-up IPL. And let us not talk of the opening episodes of any of the famed reality shows like KBC, KKK or Bigg Boss – none have the oomph, aah and wah of a Super Bowl.

    Not unexpected there is beer advertising as a category dominating the super Bowl commercial. And surprise, everyone investing what we would call a long story format to get their simple message across.

    When brands invest in an immediate reach build-up with an event that guarantees a massive number of eyeball, it is good to see them invest big. The super bowl spots maybe shorter version, but these extended versions show the intent.

    Like every Super Bowl event, many brands spots are just nice or templated around their style of storytelling. They made you smile and at the same time got the brand message across. All under one roof. You can watch all these spots at Adweek.

    ……………………………………

    So here are my 12 favourites brand spots. That’s a high percentage of likability from the commercials aired during the Super Bowl. They are rightly messaged, superbly crafted and executed.

    While watching the Super Bowl, the consumer mind aperture is open for entertainment and excitement. Hence, the ads that have a similar story presentation style that stimulates and engages are contextually better placed than others trying to present the message in a different way.  And one who use the context and the DNA of the event best, win.

    ……………………………………..

     

    MICROSOFT screened a lovely commercial. The protagonist Katie Sowers- first female super bowl coach, explaining that she wants not to be the best female coach but the best coach. People expect women to do certain things and do not expect to do many other things. However, the first in the filed opens the arena for others. That is like ENCOURAGED BETI ENCOURAGED FUTURE. An attitude we mostly miss in advertising. It is one of the best-crafted spots. It is my Favourite ad.

     

    https://youtu.be/_xPn4DXIj5w

     

    GOOGLE has this ad about how people lived before Alexa. It is contextually better placed in the event environment. It is humorous with some crazy situations to drive home a simple point of what Alexa can do.

     

    https://youtu.be/RF9t2rFmTVE

     

    GOOGLE has another emotionally powerful linking ad. It is very product dominant in all its visual impact and experience and hence my favourite Number II. ,

     

    https://youtu.be/6xSxXiHwMrg

     

    So, how can beer as a category be away from the super bowl?

     

    BUD LIGHT two spots, INSIDE BRAIN, are highly engaging and entertaining.

     

    https://youtu.be/wsnnU3fJTWg

     

    https://youtu.be/pj1meOmpezs

     

    Then there is BUDWEISER, identifying Typical American with their beer. And I am partial to beer advertising.

     

    https://youtu.be/yt-zXuAAD6Q

     

    MICHELOB ULTRA does it one better with its simple message, ‘it is only worth it if you enjoy it.’

     

    https://youtu.be/U7h6Vls-uO8

     

    MICHELOB ULTRA PURE GOLD makes a passionate appeal to pick 6 packs and see how it can change American farming. I literally love this very Patriotic beer ad.

     

    https://youtu.be/ANarZ_113Xc

     

    Another category that uses Super bowl best is cars. Here HUMMER ELECTRIC makes an impactful promise and delivers message quite soundlessly.

     

     

    HYUNDAI SONATA is not far behind in its impact with self-parking demonstration has an extra edge on conversation and experience. It is nothing new, but it engages because of the conversation and the way it clarifies self-parking at any place.

     

    https://youtu.be/85iRQdjCzj0

     

    But PORSCHE, Wins the category battle of commercial with THE GEIST. It is so captivating and smart. My favourite number, -3.

     

    https://youtu.be/FJNmHwBgV4M

     

    In FMCG, coke, Pepsi, Doritos, Mountain Dew, Cheetos, Sabra SodaStream and others were there. But there was not much excitement around them. They were what they were.

     

    HEINZ innovative ‘four in one’ commercial does stand out. However, it is a bit disorienting to see them simultaneously- but does that matter?

     

     

    There was this REESE’S TAKE 5 with ‘The best bar that you have never heard of’. Likeable but then you have seen Bars and chocolates in that territory so many times. For me, SNICKERS beat it hollow any day.

     

    https://youtu.be/SLAV4LYO-yU

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    And the last one for Milo Kotnala, the WEATHER TECH spot.

     

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    What say, will we see such hype with brands and IPL, I doubt, but one never knows. Why do you think, IPL will never reach this type of hype as a powerful window with such a hype?