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Disney Star hopes to hit another six during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as advertisers continue to line up even this year.
Infrastructure and banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies were among the top advertisers for cricket tournaments in 2023.
And, Disney Star expects beverage majors to hop on to the bandwagon, especially during the upcoming cricket tournament. This is because summer is the season when most cold beverages see the highest demand during a year.
According to a source, Reliance Consumer Products’s Campa Cola, the latest entrant in the cola market, is also expected to heavily advertise during the year.
“FMCG clients are definitely re-looking at the whole process and we would have seen that across last year. We have seen a lot of categories like construction, industrial, retail, fintech and BFSI actually growing in India. And, they are looking at increasing participation in IPL,” said Ajit Varghese, head – network advertising sales, Disney Star.
FMCG advertising spends have grown three times from less than five per cent to close to 15 per cent in the last two years. Infrastructure and BFSI grew from less than 15 per cent to more than 25 per cent towards cricket.
Earlier, a lot of categories used to have a contribution of 20-25 per cent, but that is changing and there is a bit of equality that has emerged.
Now, the contribution of categories is between 5 and 15 per cent, which shows that there is a renewed interest and that is why the category contribution has changed.
Varghese added that this year, the company has offered more customised offerings to advertisers.
“There is an increased level of customisation and flexibility for clients to make sure that they can become a sponsor, partner and do brand integration and brand studio content tagging, among others,” he said.
According to a source, while the ad spots are still being filled up, the rates this year have so far gone up by 5 per cent. This is in keeping with the rate of inflation.
However, the tournament is still more than a month away and the rates could change.
Last year, IPL had seen around 505 million viewers — the highest reach across all editions.
It saw a 36 per cent growth compared to IPL 2022, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India.
Around 75 per cent of the viewers continue to watch the league on television.
Varghese said Disney Star plans to surpass last year’s viewership numbers as well. While digital viewership is on the rise, television continues to command a lion’s share of the investment.
Game on
> Advertising spend of FMCG in cricket has grown 3 times, from less than 5% to close to 15%, in last 2 years
> Infra and BFSI sectors have increased cricket advertising spend from less than 15% to more than 25%
> While the ad spots are still being filled up, the rates this year have gone up by up to 5%
> Reliance Consumer’s Campa Cola, the latest entrant in the cola market is also expected to heavily advertise during the year
