PhonePe takes up six IPL 2021 sponsorships for its biggest marketing push

Company last year earmarked about Rs 800 crore on marketing.

PhonePe, the digital payments firm, has taken up six different sponsorships for the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2021 for its biggest-ever marketing push. 

The Walmart-owned company said its marketing focus will be on expanding its user base from 280 million to 500 million by December 2022. It last year earmarked about Rs 800 crore on marketing to take on rivals Google Pay, Paytm and Amazon Pay.

“We are kicking off our most aggressive national marketing campaign ever, starting with IPL 2021 next month. We have invested even more heavily on IPL this year, taking up 6 different sponsorships,” said Sameer Nigam, founder and CEO of PhonePe, referring to the short-format cricket tournament.

“As the category leader, it is our vision as well as our ambition to bring digital payments to every Indian household. Our aggressive marketing efforts are in line with this strategic priority.”

PhonePe is the official co-presenting sponsor for the television broadcast of IPL 2021 on Star Sports Network. It is also the Associate Sponsor for the digital broadcast of IPL on Disney+Hotstar. Additionally, this time PhonePe is also sponsoring 4 IPL franchises - Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Delhi Capitals.

This is the third year in a row that PhonePe is co-sponsoring IPL as the league continues to be the biggest sporting event in India offering its advertising partners considerable national reach. This year, however, PhonePe’s IPL campaign will run equally aggressively across multiple platforms including TV, digital and social media platforms. 

Bengaluru-based PhonePe PhonePe processed the most transactions in the last three months to continue as India’s top Unified Payments Interface (UPI) app, data showed. WhatsApp, the messaging platform used by millions in India, failed to live up to expectations that it will grow rapidly.