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Tag: IPL

  • In the first season of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League, Vikas Mehta reviewed the various ads around the IPL coverage. Mostly on television, some on digital and once in a while if there’s something exciting in print, radio or outdoor. Here’s the first instalment on the ads around Part 2 of IPL 2021.

    AdsonIPL21: Shraadh Effect on New Ads?

    In the first season of the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League, we invited Vikas Mehta, senior marketing strategist and educator and a former adperson, to review the various ads around the IPL coverage. Mostly on television, some on digital and once in a while if there’s something exciting in print, radio or outdoor. Here’s the first instalment on the ads around Part 2 of IPL 2021. Read on…

     

    Vikas Mehta

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Okay, the IPL has resumed. So, let’s have a refresher course on where we had left IPL at? Do you remember which team was topping the table? I don’t because my favourite team wasn’t. Who was the leading wicket-taker? I bet you don’t. It was Avesh Khan. Fine. Which team does he belong to? Stumped again?

     

    But then when I saw the ads I did not need any refresher course. For most of the ads were the same old ads which we saw almost six months ago. Dream 11, Phone Pe, Unacademy, Mutual Funds, Finolex Pipes, Acko Insurance… it looked like I was watching reruns of the March edition of IPL. Not helped by the fact that Mumbai Indians lost their first match again and Punjab had yet another opening century partnership between Mayank and Rahul and yet another loss to go with it. Maybe, as my very astute wife reminded me, this is shraadh time and since some/many Indians do not make new purchases in the period, our advertisers do not launch new ads in this period.

     

    But one category has definitely dominated and it has some new ads too. It seems there is definitely a charge of the edtech brigade. Not only new ads from Byju’s, Upgrad and Whitehat Jr but new advertisers like Lido Group tuitions, Great Learning. Not to forget the rerun of Unacademy ads. Even though schools and colleges are gradually opening up online education is booming.

     

    I particularly liked the UpGrad ones. An ex-batchmate becoming your boss because she has upskilled herself. Nice thought. It looks like a series because I saw a second one with the same cast and looks like the three batchmates are going to be around for some time. The Lido Group tuitions is a good marketing initiative though I cannot say the same about the advertisement. Shah Rukh Khan is back to liven up Byju’s. And from what I understood Byju’s is now providing two teachers. Really? As if the pressure of one teacher was not good enough.

     

    But frankly I have not understood using people like Shah Rukh Khan plugging education. What is Shahrukh’s educational qualifications? Do parents go by his recommendations? Does star power influence education decisions too?

     

    So, if Bollywood star power can work why not cricket star power? Mr Kohli has also made an appearance for a brand called Great Learning. It seems to be a competitor to Upgrad. Is it a coincidence that this campaign release on IPL has been timed with his giving up the T20 captaincy. Or is he already looking for a career beyond cricket and therefore preparing to acquire some new skills?

     

    Talking of cricketers, it’s been some time since one saw a cricketer in a cola ad. I wondered if the current crop of cricketers have been inspired by Kohli who did not want to endorse an unhealthy product (his words, not mine). Bumrah proved me wrong. He appears for Thums Up in the continuation of their “palat de” theme. It picks up from the Olympics and Paralympics ads, but frankly it is too predictable and does not have the hit-in-the-gut effect like the Paralympic ad. If I ain’t wrong, this was Bumrah’s first major campaign. No, please, do not mention anything about the Jio ads.

     

    And to end this piece another refresher. Who is the anchor of the Cred ads? We have seen him in the past few ads but do you remember his name? And talking about Cred, did you realise that it’s Neeraj Chopra himself in all those roles in the new Cred ad. I must admit I did not recognise him. I guess winning an Olympic gold also is no match to a cricketer’s screen power in India. And neither to a Bollywood star’s. Maybe that sums up Byju’s and Shah Rukh.

     

  • The jewellery brand launches campaign for IPL season

    Famous Innovations films for Mia

    By Our Staff

     

    Mia by Tanishq has launched a series of short films as part of its latest campaign, ‘#GiftSmartGiftMia’ for the IPL season, created by Famous Innovations.

     

    Speaking about the campaign, Shyamala Ramanan, Business Head, Mia by Tanishq, said:  “The Mia gifting campaign is an outcome of intense data analysis and social post listening. Jewellery is one of the most gifted categories and an in sighting exercise confirmed that men who believe their partners are modern, independent and expressive veer towards Mia by Tanishq as it is a choice that can never go wrong!”

     

    Added Melvin Jacob, Executive Creative Director, Famous Innovations Bangalore: “IPL is when India’s huge viewership gets into celebration mode. We wanted to use this opportunity to capture fun millennial dating goof-ups and the gifting choices people make. The films pick on the thought that gifting isn’t about spending money, rather it’s about gifting smart and being tasteful. The spots are lighthearted, insightful and fun – and definitely a fresh take in the jewellery space.”

     

  • Aims to promote road safety

    Aamir Khan in new TVC for Ceat Tyres

    By Our Staff

     

    Ceat Tyres has launched another integrated marketing campaign featuring actor Aamir Khan to promote its premium SecuraDrive range of tyres.  The campaign will be a series of three advertisements with Aamir Khan playing different avatars in each version throughout the second leg of IPL across media platforms.

     

    Said Amit Tolani, Chief Marketing Officer, Ceat Tyres Ltd: “Safe and smart mobility has been Ceat’s primary goal. The new campaign with Aamir focuses on our vision of ‘Making Mobility Safer and Smarter Every day’. Our SecuraDrive Car and compact SUV tyres offer a safe ride through improved braking performance and ultimate riding comfort— the best friend for your car on any road. The campaign emphasises the significance of buying reputable and reliable tyres. Aamir embodies Ceat’s honesty, enthusiasm, perfection, and innovation and has been a great brand ambassador for us.”

     

  • Conceptualised by BBDO and directed by Siddharth Anand

    Hrithik Roshan features in TVC for Pristyn Care

    By Our Staff

     

    Pristyn Care, a surgery-focused healthcare brand, announced the first phase of its ‘Surgery Matlab Pristyn Care’ TV and digital campaign which is launched with the 2021 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. The ad film titled ‘Surgery Mein Care’ features Hrithik Roshan.

     

    It is conceptualised by BBDO, directed by Siddharth Anand, and shot by Anil Mehta, with music by Clinton Cerejo.

     

    Commenting on the launch, Harsimarbir (Harsh) Singh, Co-founder, Pristyn Care, said: “Since our inception in 2018, we have grown tremendously with presence across multiple cities of India. Our objective as a patient-first organization has stayed at the core during this growth and with our new campaign, ‘Surgery Matlab Pristyn Care’, starring Hrithik Roshan, we are intending to take this ethos and core-belief to people across the country. This campaign on IPL aims to make Pristyn Care the preferred choice of minimally-invasive surgery in India”.

     

  • Shailesh Kapoor appraises the first quarter of the fiscal year was hit big time by the Second Wave of the pandemic

    June Diaries: Entertainment in Covid Times

     

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    Shailesh KapoorGoing by official numbers at least, the worst of the second Covid wave in India is now behind us. The wave has scarred many families forever, and with a vaccination programme that is struggling to gather momentum, a third wave is not ruled out by experts. But for now, life goes on, and different states are cautiously opening up in phases.

     

    The April-May period has impacted the Indian entertainment business considerably. Those dependent on advertising revenues suffered more, with even digital advertising showing a sharp drop, judging by industry estimates. But it’s the content side that has been impacted across the board.

     

    With Maharashtra announcing a stringent lockdown, Hindi GEC content production was impacted. Unlike last year, channels could travel to states that have less stringent lockdowns and record there, which they indeed did. At one point in early May, about six Hindi GEC shows had their stories set in a resort. This includes the two big hit shows in the category currently: Anupamaa and Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah. Many others played out of hotels and resorts, but passed them off as homes and kept the story running as normally as they could. Not an easy task, given that almost all shows had a part of their cast unavailable because of a Covid infection.

     

    In the entire months of April and May, there was only one show launch in the Hindi GEC category (Sasural Simar Ka 2 on Colors), an unprecedented low by a wide margin. Regional languages had about four to eight show launches per language over the two months, but that’s lower than their running average too. Under normal circumstances, the IPL cancellation would have been a great opportunity to launch new shows, especially those on the weekend. But then, there would have been no IPL cancellation to begin with, if there was no second wave.

     

    The theatrical business has bled the most over the last 14 months. Theatres will re-open in the coming weeks, though it remains to be seen how many single screens have permanently shut down. The first quarter of this calendar year had seen huge footfalls for the marquee films in Telugu and Tamil languages, and one hopes that sentiment is reflected in the Hindi markets too this summer.

     

    It may seem that all’s well with the streaming category, with more audience locked down at home. But if you notice carefully, the number of launches on the top platforms have reduced. This impact of the constricted content pipeline will continue to be felt over the next six months in both streaming and theatrical sectors.

     

    June has got off to a good start, with a smasher of a show in The Family Man S2. One hopes that it’s a sign of things to come in the coming weeks. The other big event this June is the final of the World Test Championship, where India plays New Zealand from June 18. The event has not been hyped up by the media so far, but wait for another week and you will see it becoming the big distraction from the pandemic, especially if India wins the title.

     

    But keeping nationalism aside, World Test Championship is a great idea, and though the first edition has been curtailed because of the pandemic, it’s great to see it find a logical conclusion, and to see India featuring in the final. One would have liked to see the game being played at a full house at Lord’s, but in these difficult times, an empty stadium at Southampton will do just fine.

     

     

  • Good old linear TV may end up being the saviour after all. But even that will take some doing, writes Shailesh Kapoor

    Covid Impact: A Fast-Drying Content Pipeline

    By Shailesh Kapoor

     

    The devastating second wave of Covid-19 in India has brought with it various lockdowns, being managed by the various state governments individually. A direct impact of lockdown-like restrictions is the inability to produce video content, such as TV shows and films. In any case, the fear of the second wave is real and palpable, and many actors and technicians are wary of being on sets. The much-touted IPL bio-bubble bursting last week does not inspire confidence either.

     

    We are hence staring into an inevitable situation of a hugely-constricted content pipeline. This time, the problem is worse than 2020, because the reluctance to venture out is not just law-enforced but a result of caution being exercised at an individual level too. Since one cannot shoot in Maharashtra, many TV shows have shifted their base to other states, e.g., Gujarat, where the lockdown is partial in nature. But the caution is evident when you notice that despite IPL season being indefinitely suspended, launch promos of not a single new Hindi GEC programme have gone on air. Channels are just about managing their existing line-ups, and would rather not have more on their plates right now.

     

    The situation gets a lot more complex when it comes to films and OTT content. Outdoor shoots are a given in most projects in these categories, and that involves extensive travel, even if one limits the crew size to the minimum possible number. As a result, there is hardly any film or OTT content being shot currently, in Hindi at least, as a result.

     

    Even when the second wave subsides over the next month or two, complications related to vaccine shortfall and the inevitable third wave will continue to disrupt life. One cannot expect things to return to even late 2020 levels till a sizeable population in India is vaccinated. And that’s some time away.

     

    We can, hence, expect a huge content shortfall, especially in theatrical and OTT genres. The signs are already evident. Over the last two months, there have hardly been any big-ticket OTT properties that have gone online, despite a large section of the core OTT audience being locked down at their homes. What is coming out is largely the second line of content. A lot of big-ticket content is semi-produced, and will need at least a few more weeks of work before it’s out for public consumption.

     

    2020 was OTT’s breakout year in India, with a huge surge in subscriber bases and watch-time across platforms. 2021 looks far less so. The theatrical business was just about beginning to get back on its feet, before the second, more debilitating blow came its way.

     

    Good old linear TV may end up being the saviour after all. But even that will take some doing. It may be time to go retro with your content consumption once again, but this time out of no choice.

  • Come on not everything is about TG and tonality etc. We are talking about ads and sometimes, they do need to break the mould, writes Vikas Mehta

    AdOnIPL21: Hits & Misses

     

    By Vikas Mehta

     

    Vikas MehtaSo, the pandemic caught up with IPL too. And some of us are surely going through withdrawal symptoms each evening. But the futility of the sport hits you starkly when a few near and dear one gets affected, as it happened to yours truly too.

     

    Let me bring this series to a logical end. Today I will share with you my hits and misses from the ads released during the IPL. And my Gen Z sample, undoubtedly will have a say in this too.

     

    Frankly, it is easy to talk about the misses. Some of the worst ads featured Ranveer. The toss up in my mind was between JioFiber and JD Mart. Maybe Ranveer should give up endorsing brands starting with J. And on this my Gen Z sample was in total unanimity with me.

     

    Then there were the soft drinks ads. Be it Pepsi, which surprisingly used the old Salman Khan or be it the Coke global ad which desperately tried to have some Indian feel to it. Or the Priyanka Chopra-led B Fizz ads (ok, Gen Z sample did like this one). Or the Katrina Kaif Slice ad which used the 1970s Pepsi Taste Challenge thought but without any conviction. Or the you-blink-and-miss Maaza ad. Or the, you have seen one, you have seen them all, Frooti ads. This category was the biggest disappointment for me at the IPL. What a fall for a category which, till just a few years ago would produce some of the best ads, year after year. And my Gen Z sample had a pertinent point to make. Why did most of the soft drink ads use celebrities who are past their sell-by-date? Maybe because Gen Z celebrities are flash in a pan Tik Tok or Instagram celebrities who shine for a few moments and are quickly replaced by a newer sensation, I suggested. Maybe because the creators of these ads are millennials who are still clinging to the celebrities of their own generation. But a point to ponder.

     

    That question from my Gen Z sample made me think hard and I wondered about another interesting trend. Hardly any cricketer or sportsperson is promoting any of these soft drink nowadays. Bah! That’s easy, said my Gen Z sample. Sportsperson are now more conscious about not associating with unhealthy products. Hmm! I think of Tendulkar with the chubby, wholesome look and then the image of a fit, diving, hurtling Kohli flashes in my mind and though I nod in agreement, give me a Tendulkar any day over a Kohli.

     

    But I digress, who am I to pontificate? I will just continue with my hits and misses. The biggest yawn, no, the biggest turn off for me was the Salman Khan’s Elaichi flavour ad. Till I was corrected by Gen Z sample. The brand was not Salman Khan. I stood corrected. I would prefer the Bolo Zuban Kesari ad any day. So what if it features two more vintage actors. At least it was shot in London and not on a cheap looking Bollywood set.

     

    Hey, all is not doom and gloom. The IPL did have its moments. Not many, but some did stand out. The Phone Pe series for example. For me, this was the stand out IPL campaign. Benefit lead, short plots that did not need major explanation and had ample subjects to reignite interest every time you saw them. In fact re-viewing these was always a pleasure. And these also amplified the stimulus response theory of communication very well, Eh! What’s that, asked my Gen Z sample. Finally, I could pontificate a bit. Do not say the benefit in the ad. But give a stimulus that makes the viewer say the benefit. That’s when generic benefits like easy to use, convenient, fast etc are not only remembered but appropriated by the brand. For the first time I noticed a look of appreciation from Gen Z sample. Small mercies!

     

    Of course the gully cricket ads of Dream 11 were a big hit too. And so were the Dhoni ads for the same brand which epitomised the using of brains to build your fantasy team. But then MPL did a neat little coup by questioning the use of brains in the Hindi proverb-led series. The MPL ads also demonstrated that a good idea can easily upstage the presence of celebrities like Ranveer (again), Dada or Rahane (My 11 circle) or for that matter even K. Rahul (Gamezy).

     

    Finally, it was Cred that stole the show. While the Dravid ad got lot of attention and social media chatter and even though the Jackie Shroff and Kumar Sanu follow up ads were a pale shadow, I think the boy band ad was quite brilliant. For my Gen Z sample it was not just hilarious but as it spoke their language and actually addressed them, it was endearing. Come on not everything is about TG and tonality etc. We are talking about ads and sometimes, they do need to break the mould. Cred is a winner on that front.

     

  • Sports marketing specialist Mahesh Ranka assesses the scenario post the suspension of the biggest marketing event of the year

    So what does the IPL postponement mean for the Indian sports & marketing ecosystem

    Screengrab from IPLT20.com

     

    By Mahesh Ranka

     

    Mahesh Ranka

    The Indian Premier League is the biggest marketing and entertainment extravaganza that has had everyone hooked on to it for almost a decade-and-a-half.

     

    That the 2021 edition will happen or no was a question raised by many, who were only shooting their thoughts, while BCCI and all the franchise owners were very sure and positive for the show to go on. With so much at stake and all the possible arrangements, it was only safe to assume that IPL would set an example in keeping live events alive in these unforeseen and testing times.

     

    Come May 4, 2021, IPL was suspended and then postponed, to a date that’s not been decided yet.

     

    There were many quarters constantly voicing concerns about three key things happening – the Assembly Elections, the Kumbh Mela and the IPL in these pandemic times. To me, IPL was the safest bet and the BCCI took the right step in putting a pause to the event.

     

    In the past, IPL has shown it’s as much a festival as Diwali, as many category purchases have significant spike during these two festivals in India. Marketers will now be scratching their brains already to think of a Plan B.

     

    Will the impact of this be felt? It’s a no-brainer, the question should be where all, will the impact be felt?

     

     

    For IPL/ BCCI

    IPL is not going to see a significant loss of revenue from the central sponsors or the broadcasters for sure as the agreements ensure that.  IPL valuation may also undergo a correction, which may reflect on the teams too.

     

    A key aspect that will be at the centre of sports discussions will be from the global market perspective. Will this lead to concerns around many other cricket events, and other sports to be held in India?

     

    ICC T20 World Cup isn’t too far and there are already talks of “if it moves to Dubai, BCCI will still hold the rights”. While this is great for cricket, for sponsors of the ICC event, they would be merely exposed as brands on broadcast and would run a campaign that will not have the same flavour as the event being hosted in India.

     

    If it happens, the movement of the T20 World Cup will put tremendous pressure on holding a bi-lateral series and other sporting action in India, leading to opportunity and revenue loss to the board, fans as well as marketers.

     

    Commercial stakeholders:

    All the commercial stakeholders across would have to plan for a situation probably as unique as someone hitting a six off every ball in every over for 10 overs!

     

    Disney – Star India:

    As probably the single largest commercial stakeholder of IPL, Star India, has an uphill task on multiple fronts to realign its business and financial plans for the year. With a major part of the plan being IPL for Star Network as well as for Disney Hotstar, it’s going to be impossible in the near-term for Star to:

    :: Find quality and engaging content to fill the programming  gap on television as well as HotStar.

     

    With OTT growing significantly in  India, Disney-Star will have to scramble to get some very attractive programming to be on the growth path.

    :: Build advertising revenue and plan for longer deals.

    :: Push for subscription on OTT as well as television platforms. IPL being a key property to push subscriptions, a new plan will be in play to achieve objectives or even probably revise targets.

    :: Revenue loss for now from all the syndication of rights globally, will also be a revenue gap that will not be filled by any other means.

     

    All the above may leave an option open for competition to plan and execution some bold and radical moves to woo the audience.

     

    A Brand’s Biggest Vehicle – The IPL

    Brands and businesses plan their launches and campaigns specifically with IPL in mind. For them, the current situation will be a massive letdown, while some sponsors/ advertisers will be fine with the shift if IPL (whenever it happens), many will have to take a deep hard look at their half yearly plans if not annual.

    Very clearly, new age brands like Cred and Dream11 had massive plans, so did the beverage companies – especially soft drinks in their prime season. For these three  categories, the opportunity to exploit is suddenly missing, and they’ll have to think hard and formulate new plans, with revised targets, in shortest possible time!

    In fact their existing efforts (ad film, media plan, activation, etc)  and investments would have to be redeployed, scrapped or modified, as necessary.

    Let’s think about Kotak – that was targeting topical credit card sales, with  seven team associations Or Upstox, who apart from growth, would have also had valuation gains in their radar by the end of IPL 2021!

     

    Areas of concern for marketers that would crop up :

    Timing & Seasonality: Season time  for some and in the first part of the business year for others, all calculations would go haywire and would need some extraordinary thinking, planning and execution to see through the year as planned.

    Growth plans : The planned growth on the back of IPL campaign, will get a deep hard look-in for the scenario would change significantly. The impact of IPL is visible on any of the plans.

    Reeling with uncertainty : Even if the brands are happy waiting for IPL, in the current scenario Uncertainty is the only Certainty. A third and probably a fourth wave might hit us, and no exact idea when. In such situation, everything is going to be fluid! And it will constantly keep the marketers  on their toes for the  plans they want to  prepare and execute.

     

    IPL Teams:

    All the franchisees have secured reasonably good revenues from sponsorships. And with no more franchise fee, they are sitting pretty on top dollar earnings from the central pool, in addition to their own sponsorships.

    Almost all teams had made significant plans to leverage and build digital platforms and engagement, with the current development event those plans would  find it a challenge to meet the set objectives. A good chance of engaging with their fans will diminish fast, now that the IPL has been postponed.  Moreover, with the uncertainties, teams and their plans for to rest of the year will be fluid.

    BCCI had announced and wanted to auction two more teams to be brought into the fold of IPL making it a 10-team affair from 2022. With the current scenario – pandemic and economic, and uncertainty for now, BCCI may find it challenging to unlock the value as per earlier estimates. It could lead to rescheduling the auction and inclusion of two more teams in IPL by a year or so.

     

    Non Sponsor Brands – competing brands

    With the leading or newer brands  going big on IPL, one thing is for sure, each of them hoped to gain handsome returns.

    These brands end up simplifying  as well as amplifying the category (Upstox, Dream11, Unacademy) and also expand the market.

    The other brands in these categories would have plans basis the market familiarity and growth because of the larger spending brands; trying to take a small part of the pie.

    With the expansion of the market limited, each competitor would have to create new plans to further their growth.

     

    Ancillary Businesses

    All the constituents – ground management, display boards, bio-bubble, travel and  stay, production and other equipment , manpower etc. that are working with IPL directly or indirectly, will now have to look for opportunities, especially freelancers, temporary hires or contracted resources. IPL runs its own ecosystem and this time the ecosystem has been halted. There is a definite challenge in the market with respect to deployment of the resources.

     

    Opportunity for BCCI / IPL

    With the current situation and mood in the country, IPL could generate decent amount goodwill, by creating a movement towards support and help for the victims or sufferers of Covid19. Each IPL team and state board can take up a support role, helping patients with Oxygen, to  organise medical supplies.

    While the easiest way  to help is to donate  money towards the treatment of Covid-19 patients, they would serve themselves and the community well by creating a path breaking idea, involving all cricket fans similar of the one that Sport Club do Recife did in 2014 in Brazil.

     

    Mahesh Ranka is among the early specialists in the business of sports in India and is Founder and CEO, GamerChangerZ and Founder, Indus Sports. His views here are personal.

     

     

  • Features OTT stars Ayush Mehra and Radhika Mehrotra

    Fintech Niyo rolls out two new ad campaigns

    By Our Staff

     

    Digital banking fintech Niyo has launched two ad communications to introduce, Niyox, a savings and wealth account aimed at millennials and Generation Z. The ad communications was launched on Hotstar website and mobile app at the just-suspended Indian Premier League (IPL).  The campaign has been conceptualised by Sideways Consulting and executed by Picturewali, featuring OTT stars Ayush Mehra and Radhika Mehrotra.

     

    Said Niyo Chief Marketing Officer Vineet Sethi: “We launched NiyoX, a full-suite banking app, to transform the way the Millennials and GenZ bank. With digital innovation at the heart of everything we do at Niyo, we decided to empower them further and boost their banking experience. We know this generation #JustCantWait to get their hands on things they desire and for experiences they want to live. They don’t just want everything in an instant, they also #WantMore out of everything! So we teamed up with our creative partners, Sideways Consulting, and launched these cool, quirky films to encapsulate the essence of Niyo.”

     

    Added Abhijit Avasthi, Founder, Sideways Consulting: “Niyo is setting the ground for neobanking in India. We believe NiyoX’s offerings are going to delight the youngsters and so all we need to do is to bring them alive in a charming manner. Hence, the creative idea was to pick moments from one such relatable, endearing couple’s life and link them to the product offerings. While Niyo is an efficient, tech-enabled finance offering, we don’t want to behave like a stodgy old-school bank. Instead, we want to build a cool and confident brand.”

     

    Said Sharmista Nag, Director and founder, Picturewali: “Shooting during the pandemic especially at a time when the cases were rising was risky. Hence, I asked myself, is it worth the risk? The interesting scripts and an agency with whom I always wanted to collaborate with tempted me. However, when you run a company, one can’t just think about oneself, one has to think about the whole team. Keeping safety our top priority, myself and my producer decided to take the challenge. We ensured that the entire cast and crew followed all safety measures. With a responsible team, a supportive agency and client it was a risk worth taking.”

     

  • Ranveer Singh and MS Dhoni are most recalled brand ambassadors in the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) study on advertising recall in IPL 2021. Shah Rukh Khan topped the report in 2019 and MS Dhoni was at No 1 in 2020

    Ranveer Singh & Dhoni top IPL recall rankings

    By Our Staff

     

    Both actor Ranveer Singh and cricketer MS Dhoni have have done equally well in the annual IPL ad recall research of the Indian Institute of Human Brands (IIHB) conducted 10 days after the start of the league this year. The research polled 879 respondents in the age-group of 18-35 years (M=481, F=398) across India. The interviews were conducted telephonically.

     

    Dream 11 was the most spontaneously recalled brand in this year’s survey, which possibly also helped enhance both the brand equity and recall of Dhoni who anchored the 12-ad series for the brand as its ambassador and protagonist. Jio Fiber, with multiple IPL teams featured with an effervescent Ranveer Singh gyrating with a sing-song brand message, came in second on recall in the research, also helping the celebrity endorser to considerably strengthen his personal recall. Byju’s was the most spontaneously recalled brand on the IPL last year; though its celebrity endorser Shah Rukh Khan trailed behind other celebrities.

     

    Expectedly, Virat Kohli did well on recall too and came third in the recall rankings. Salman Khan did surprisingly well in this year’s survey and came in at No. 4, ahead of Rishabh Pant, Rahul Dravid, Varun Dhawan, Alia Bhatt and Saurav Ganguly who followed in that sequence. Ajay Devgn, Sachin Tendulkar, Shikhar Dhawan, Shah Rukh Khan, Boman Irani, Kareena Kapoor, Ranbir Kapoor, Katrina Kaif, Ayushmann Khurrana and Akshay Kumar, on the other hand, had very few mentions and scored very poorly on respondent recall. There were sporadic mentions of Virender Sehwag and Priyanka Chopra too. In the last survey conducted in October 2020, MS Dhoni had the highest spontaneous recall as a celebrity endorser. Virat Kohli was a not-so-close second. Akshay Kumar was at rank 3; Ayushmann Khurrana at rank 4.

     

    Said Dr Sandeep Goyal, Chief Mentor of IIHB: “MS Dhoni and Ranveer Singh had a disproportionate share of visibility and recall in the IPL research we just conducted. This was in synch with the ultra-high recall of the brands they respectively endorse. It is interesting nevertheless to note that brands without celebrities like Phone Pe, Byju’s and others too have done well wherever media investments are heavy”.

     

    IIHB team used its proprietorial Celebar tool based on Celebrity Brand Association & Recognition to assign a metric score to each celebrity and associated brand. The tool takes into account:

    • Spontaneous recall of the brand

    • Spontaneous recall of the celebrity

    • Association between brand & celebrity together

    • Recency of communication

    • Media weight behind campaign

    • Solus versus multiple brands using the celebrity

     

    MS Dhoni had a Celebar score of 87, up from 82 at the last IPL. His spontaneous recall was an unusually high 82%. His association with Dream 11 was also very constant at 79% from the last edition. He got 9% association with IPL/Star TV, 8% brand association with Indigo Paints, 6% with Orient Fans for Orient Fans and Livfast Solar. 2% recall came from SunFeast Yippee. So, most of Dhoni’s brand goodness got hijacked by Dream 11, much like last year. If Dhoni had only been endorsing Dream 11, his Celebar score would have been near 100, given his strong association with that one brand, to almost the relative exclusion of the other brands he endorses.

     

    Ranveer achieved a Celebar score of 86, empirically almost equal to that of MS Dhoni. But his association was more democratically spread with Jio Fiber at 56%, JD mart at 48%, My11Circle at 22% and Bingo at 18%. Names of some other brands were mentioned by respondents but these were filtered out as they were not part of the IPL broadcast.

     

    Both MS Dhoni and Ranveer gained massively also on account of their main brands spending disproportionately large amounts of media monies which made them exponentially more visible than other competing celebrities.

     

    Virat Kohli trailed behind the Top 2. His score of 45 on Celebar is mostly derived by his 94% association with MRF tyres. Bluestar is in low single digits on association.

     

    Salman Khan at a Celebar of 38, owes 82% recall to Rajshree elaichi and the balance to Pepsi. Rishabh Pant climbed up interestingly to No. 5 on the strength of his JSW appearances. Varun Dhawan had 76% of his recall from Lux Cozi and much lower from Frooti. Alia owed most her recall also to Frooti with scattered mentions of Dark Fantasy.

     

    Interestingly, the IPL seems to be running no/few ads with Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Deepika Padukone, Ranbir Kapoor, and even with cricketers Rohit Sharma or KL Rahul or Hardik Pandya, or the media weightages behind those ads were too insignificant to be noticed by viewers.

     

    The Cred ad for Rahul Dravid was spontaneously recalled by 17% respondents but only 2% remembered Jackie Shroff and only 1% mentioned Kumar Sanu for the same brand.

     

    Mutual Funds (AMFI) ads had 22% recall but most respondents got the protagonists mixed up, with the most attributing the messaging to Dhoni and Kohli.

     

    Dream 11’s association with multiple cricketers was mentioned by many respondents but most were not sure if they remembered current creatives. Only the connect with MS Dhoni was unambiguous.

     

    Despite heavy media weights, Vimal Elaichi ad featuring Ajay Devgn and Shah Rukh Khan had only an 8% recall. Netmeds with Kareena Kapoor and Renuka Shahane had a good 9% recall. Priyanka Chopra’s Appy Fizz and Katrina’s Slice were almost not recalled. Hema Malini managed 3% recall on Kent RO. Randhir Kapoor’s Asian Paints managed 4% while Kareena Kapoor’s and Pankaj Tripathi’s Berger creatives both got below 1%. Ayushmann was remembered by less than 1% in Urban Company. Gajaraj Rao was mentioned in less than 1% for Voltas. Unacademy featuring Sunil Gavaskar and Harsha Bhogle too scored poorly at 2%. Gamezy featuring KL Rahul got less than 1% recall.

     

    On the ads without celebrities, the most remembered were Phone Pe (32%), Byju’s (31%), Vivo (22%), One Plus (21%), Groww (20%), Upstox (20%), Kia (19%), MPL (18%), Bisleri (11%), PharmEasy (11%), Thums Up(9%), Coca Cola (6%), Renault Kiger (6%), Tata Safari (6%), Skoda (3%), Ajio (3%), Dark Fantasy (2%), LikedIn (2%), Raymond (2%) and Tuborg (1%).

     

    As more gets added to the broadcast as the IPL progresses, both standings of celebrities and recall of brands may change, a communique added.

     

  • We haven’t yet hit the halfway point also and I just get a feeling that some entertaining ads are on the way, Vikas Mehta

    AdsOnIPL21: Welcome distraction from the doom & gloom

    Vikas MehtaBy Vikas Mehta

     

    I waded into a discussion today about staging IPL with the virus raging all round us. I may sound too simplistic but with all the doom and gloom news which we all are exposed to, much of it at a personal level too, the IPL is a much required distraction and a break. Just like the football leagues have been in Europe during the second wave. And besides the matches one also gets to watch many new old fashioned ads. So, I decided to base my re-view today on the ads which have in some way entertained us. Not just made us smile but also involved and wanting to actually re-view it. (Now you understand why I have been writing review with a hyphen!).

     

    The first such ads that come to my mind is the Phone pe series of ads. They are short, sharp and highlighting the many generic benefits of UPI payment. Sure, the benefits are generic but these ads are appropriating the benefits for Phone Pe with delightful vivid demonstrations, without the need for any audio. And the one ad which did use some dialogue was done very smartly with the play on the word scan. My personal favourite though was the one with the two Bengali women angling for that one last Sandesh. For once, my choice was backed by my Gen Z sample.

     

    Finolex pipes. Not really a consumer product but I think they have done an entertaining job with Sehwag in the series of ads. And a very bold twist to the narrative has been added with the thought of “Jo cheez chalti rahti hain woh kahan yaad rahti hai.” What an interesting twist to long-lasting. Though what my Gen Z sample loved was the product shot at the end. Pipes and fittings in the form of a throne on which Sehwag is sitting for the sign off. A real nice touch, indeed for a boring simplistic looking product.

     

    I did speak about the MPL ad in one of my reviews earlier. I think they have done a good job of taking Hindi proverbs regarding brain and then using these to explain how one can use the MPL ad without too much of brain power, read thinking. Another reason I found these entertaining was because they take a diametrically opposite stance to Dream 11, specially the Dhoni ads which urges people not to use brains for excuses, lying etc but to use it to make the Dream 11 fantasy teams.

     

    Incidentally, I do have a question for MPL. What about the comprehension of these ads in south Indian languages? Do they have similar language idioms? Dear readers, any suggestions?

     

    The Groww ads were intriguing. The whole concept of giving up something close, like your child or a product one developed for nothing is thought provoking. But the link with the product was a bit weak. But hey, this re-view is about entertaining ads. Not necessarily effective. But you know why my Gen Z sample loved it. The line. Invest kar. Kuhud grow kar. Not karo. The irreverence of the line was entertaining for her.

     

    The Gulabjamun wale uncle ads of Swiggy were also entertaining. The guy has become a brand symbol or mnemonic for Swiggy and his losing his own identity is a nice twist.

     

    Sadly, I found not many other entertaining ads. No, I do not find Cred entertaining. Except for Dravid, which was more of a surprise and shock than entertain, the rest have no entertainment or even relevance factor for me. And that Zumba ad was a joke, right?

     

    But there is hope. We haven’t yet hit the halfway point also and I just get a feeling that some entertaining ads are on the way. Keep reading this column for some more.

  • A proprietary study to understand the impact of IPL on brand health metrics

    Havas Media Group launches Hi-Cricket

    By Our Staff

    Havas Sports & Entertainment has partnered with YouGov, a research and data analytics group, to launch Hi-Cricket, a proprietary study to understand the impact of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in influencing brand health metrics across categories.

    The study, led by the Havas Insight team, has respondents from key cities to get a deeper understanding of how a larger than life platform such as IPL helps influence mind measures. Hi-Cricket will also answer the role of premium media buys in impacting brand health, one of the most critical questions raised by advertisers today.

    Mohit Joshi
    Mohit Joshi

    Said Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group India: “Hi-Cricket 2021 is a culmination of Havas’ Meaningful Brands philosophy and data from YouGov’s Cube. While there is a lot of discussion on IPL performance and viewership, this unique study helps to not only understand consumers’ level of engagement with the game but also allows advertisers to track the impact of IPL 2021 on brand health metrics like Awareness, Consideration, Familiarity and Recommendation. The research uses customised quantitative structured questionnaire and encompasses Tier 1 & 2 cities. Designed to constantly monitor brand trends on key brand health indicators, along with Meaningful attributes, this study will help advertisers understand the overall impact of their association with IPL. Hi-Cricket is the first initiative by Havas Insights and Havas Sports and Entertainment; we also intend to take the partnership into other sporting domains such as the Olympics, Hockey, Football and Kabaddi.”

    Deepa Bhatia
    Deepa Bhatia

    Added Deepa Bhatia, General Manager, India, YouGov: “According to YouGov India profiles’ data, IPL is one of the biggest sports assets along with ICC Cricket T20 World Cup. Sports assets have impacted the recall of brands globally. YouGov panel constitutes data of 2 lakh active panel respondents who have participated in various surveys. During the IPL season, YouGov will consistently reach out to people who watch IPL to set up the study. Using Havas’ Meaningful attributes, the customised Hi-Cricket study will help us understand what drives meaningfulness for brands and to what extent are campaigns able to drive perceptions for brands based on functional, personal and collective benefits.”