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Name: Rajat Garg
Roll No.: DM21152
Assignment on IPL
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The IPL as a brand has hit valuation of $6.3 billion (Duff & Phelps,2018), making it one of the
most valuable brands India created in a very short span of time (10 years). The official
broadcaster Star India's revenue was over ₹2,000 crores last year. Even beyond money
terms, it has become a new brand of cricket and new brand of entertainment. It gives a
tough competition to Bollywood movies and its dates worry the election commission of
India (ECI). A number of publications and a subject of case studies in top notch Business
Schools, but still it has several important features of India- ceremonial, colorful and loud,
and resembles our elections, weddings and religious celebrations. There are several factors
that les to this huge success and in this assignment, we would primarily focus on marketing
and advertising part of it. On the global pitch, IPL has firmly established India as the
epicenter of cricketing power.
Features of IPL and its Marketing:
1.) Hedonic product: Product provided by IPL is primarily hedonic in nature since it falls in
the category of entertainment. The excitement of the game gives huge adrenalin rush to
audience attracting a large number of crowd. It has certain implications. Consumers can be
charged premium on price of tickets. Hence there is more pricing power in the hands of
organizers. More impulse buying on part of consumers is possible.
2.) Huge Advertisements: For advertisers, large scale community participation in family
friendly atmosphere is just the right mix where advertisements should be targeted. Since
demand for advertisement is so high, huge premiums are commanded by the IPL brand. For
just a minimum threshold presence, price is ₹30 crores which is a huge sum.
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2.) Celebrity Endorsements: Famous Bollywood celebrities endorse IPL on various platforms
and perform at the beginning ceremonies of IPL. This helps in tapping the fan base of these
celebrities besides the huge following of cricket players themselves.
Short Duration: Since it is in 20-20 format, it is within optimum stimulation level of most
consumers. Also, it incentivizes players to have more long shots adding to the excitement
on the ground.
3.) High affection towards cricket: Some commentators would go to the extent of saying
cricket is not just a sport, but religion in India. This results in very high demand for the sport
itself.
4.) Wide geographical coverage: The matches are scheduled in different cities which helps
in targeting large consumer base. It has made cricket accessible to everyone from die-hard
fans to occasion snackers, thus expanding the category to new and infrequent users. With
all its regional flavors, it also cuts through with pan-India connect.
5.) Social appeal: It provides as a platform for uncapped players from the lowest economic
strata to make their way to auctions and showcase their talents. It appeals to the consumers
emotionally.
6.) Regional Appeal: The teams are named after cities and states which helps in garnering
regional affinity and belongingness of the audience to the team.
7.) Timing of event: Events are usually scheduled during summer vacations when most
people have ample free time to have some entertainment activities on their schedule.
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8.) Live Auctioning: Live auctioning adds to the excitement and acts as an advertisement for
the IPL where the consumers are excited by the whooping amount for which players get
signed.
9.) Glamour Aspect: Cheerleaders and, again, celebrity endorsements add to the glamour
aspect of the game.
10.) Cap on number of players: There is a cap on the total number of players a team can
sign which helps in providing level playing field and making the sport more sustainable.
What Next for IPL:
Over the last few months, economic environment has changed dramatically. While COVID-
19 is the main factor behind it, situation is also worsened by India-China tensions. Apart
from the title sponsor Vivo, a bunch of Chinese smartphone brands also invested heavily in
the tournament.
Oppo, Xiaomi, Realme and OnePlus take up premium ad slots spending over ₹500 crore of
advertising money throughout the tournament. In total, Chinese exposure to cricket alone is
over ₹2,000 crores at the very minimum every year including sponsorship and advertising
spends which is quite substantial. Due to social distancing norms and several other
precautionary measures taken to deal with COVID-19 threat next IPL is scheduled to be held
in UAE. Since it’s a closed-door event, excitement on the ground will be missing. Add to
that, business firms have huge Cash Flow Problems due to COVID-19. Hence finding suitable
candidates for advertisement would be an uphill task.
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There is a silver lining though, Monthly ad spend growth in June was 20% primarily helped
by fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), e-commerce and smartphone firms despite the
absence of original content on general entertainment channels (GECs) affected the market
revenues. Online firms across categories such as e-commerce, EdTech, video on demand
services and online gaming may drive IPL advertising which is expected to touch anywhere
₹1,500 to ₹1,700 crores.
IPL is an avenue for the market to bounce back. It's a big event which garners eyeballs which
can create a certain pull for marketers.
Given that it's also being held during the festive season, brands willing to push their
marketing efforts might end up advertising during the tournament. As far as Chinese brands
are concerned, best strategy would be to let the noise die down and next time be more
careful about negotiating contracts with Chinese firms.
