IPL Marketing Strategies

The Indian Premier League (IPL) is a professional Twenty20 cricket league in India contested during April and May of every year by teams representing eight different cities in the country. The league was founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) in 2008, and is the brainchild of Lalit Modi, the then-vice president of BCCI and the current president of the International Cricket Council. The first season of the IPL was held in 2008, and featured eight teams with players from around the cricketing world.

 

Since its inception, the IPL has become one of the most popular Twenty20 leagues in the world, with an estimated television audience of over 500 million people. The league has also been credited with revolutionising cricket in India, with its emphasis on aggressive batting and fast bowling.

 

One of the key reasons for the IPL’s success is its innovative marketing campaigns.

1. The “One Family” campaign: This campaign was launched ahead of the 2009 IPL season, and sought to position the IPL as a family-friendly league. The campaign featured a series of heart-warming TV commercials that showed how cricket brings families together.

 

2.Players and Influencer Marketing:

Player endorsements of various products and brands have touched an all-time high during IPL. Television pushes out advertising content with players championing a wide spectrum of services, products, and brands.

 

In 2022, the brands that sponsored or associated with IPL were Dream11, Unacademy, CRED, TATA Altroz, PayTm, CEAT, Samsung, Myntra, Cadbury Dairy Milk, and Boat, and the list seems to be only growing with every passing year. And the mix of cinema celebrities with IPL has notched up the attention many levels more.

 

3.Digital Promotion and Engagement:

Another appropriate Marketing strategy that has significantly made IPL bigger and better is digital and content marketing.

 

From behind-the-scenes videos of players, contests, quizzes, live sessions, appealing creatives, blogs, trending hashtags it has hooked the digital surfer fairly and squarely. This has allowed top-of-the-mind recall for IPL and what with the young target audience lapping up real-time pictures and moments from the game real-time.

 

4.Let’s understand why digital marketing benefits from the IPL

 

The three-hour format is attractive to all age groups and audience types,

The match-slotting hours on weekdays from 8 PM-11 PM (now from 7:30 PM onwards) and double-headers on weekends make IPL a sporting event worth time and money.

The emotional investment of fans with the tournament. The greater this association with cricket, the more the reason to support and buy a brand the tournament/ a team supports.

Commercial sponsorships economically help lesser-known players and cricket associations with the necessary financial infrastructure and resources to play.

Product placement during IPL season using various digital marketing hacks on TV, social media, and other modes of communication profits every single time.

During the IPL, brand placement on social media or in collaboration with a cricketer( and its promotion on social platforms) has also given the much-needed audience exposure to multiple brands and their products.

5.HOW CAN SMALL BUSINESSES USE IPL AS A MARKETING PLATFORM?

The foremost thing to do is to acquire fewer advertising spots for every match. Pick spots according to your budget and it does not necessarily have to be ten spots in every match. It could be as few as three to four spots per match for around ten to twelve days throughout the season. It is a smart way to realize the impact of IPL marketing on your brand, and you can analyze the results and strategize it for the next season. 

 

Although, IPL marketing is a brilliant way to reach a global audience. Every brand needs to promote itself throughout the year. Consistency is the best way to create a memorable brand amongst the people. If you consistently forecast your brand every season with exceptional and relevant ads, your brand ought to stand out in the eyes of the people, thus becoming more and more established and popular.