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The number of advertisers with the Indian Premier League (IPL) might have dropped to 60-70 from last year's count of 100, but that does not set off alarm bells for media planners. They put it down to the fewer matches this year, as well as the change in the venue due to elections.
Rohit Gupta, president, MSM, whose channels aired the finale on June 1, says, "The IPL is a property much like the English Premier League or the NBA. It is not going anywhere, and will continue grow. What you see at IPL is the best of T20 cricket. Which is why, despite the controversies every year, IPL continues unscathed."
According to Gupta, after the first 51 matches, IPL reached 183 million viewers this year, versus 176 million viewers last year. Sony is understood to have earned ad revenues of Rs 850 crore, equal to its last year's earnings. But that does not vindicate the naysayers as the ad inventory was lower this year: Sixty matches versus 76 last year.
Not only did e-commerce players spend Rs 100 crore on the IPL, there were new sponsors too. Gupta says, "Marico, Perfetti and TVS joined us."
R S Sodhi, MD, Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, the owner of Amul, says, "IPL is a property that is watched by so many people across age-groups that an advertiser cannot ignore it." After initial hiccups following the venue-change and legal hurdles, Amul has advertised on IPL this year. Manish Sharma, MD, Panasonic India, says, "This time we advertised air conditioners and smartphones and got a good response. It was a wise
decision to have spent on IPL despite not being sponsors this year. For the last three years, we sponsored Delhi Daredevils, which gave us visibility on air, ground, in-stadia. The quality of the matches were good this year."
IPL's ad rates in 2014 were almost 10-12 per cent higher than last year's, with nothing less than Rs 4.75 lakh per 10 seconds. This is the average rate during the entire tournament.
A Vijay Narayanan, vice-president, marketing, Havells India, says, "Consistent ratings across 60 days is the reason why we have been associated with IPL (as a sponsor) for the last seven seasons. No other programme offers this consistency. Havells launched 14 new ads during the IPL season (over the years), including the recent 'Respect for Women', Hawa Badlegi and Shock Laga earlier. Ratings and reach have seen a 3-4 per cent jump this year, which is incredible given that the first 20 matches were held outside India, and there were elections and legal tangles."
A PepsiCo India spokesperson says, "It is a key platform in the middle of the season that allows us to explode our marketing calendar, activate consumer promotions and initiate on-ground activities."
