Advertising in IPL

Project Title: The Advertising saga on Reigning .(Indian Premier League (IPL

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Student Name: Sehaj Singh Course:

Bachelor of Arts (Journalism and Mass (Communication

Year : 2008 -2011 Supervisor Name: Mr. Ratnesh Dwivedi .University Name: Amity University, Noida Department Name: Amity School of Communications

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Introduction The advertising saga on the reigning IPL-Cricket is the sport which I fancy the most. Cricket is played by many nations, mainly the Asian subcontinent i.e. India and Pakistan. It is also the second largest watched sport by spectator's . Currently, Cricket is being played by ten test playing nations namely, Australia, Bangladesh, India, South Africa, West Indies, Pakistan, England, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe. The top team in the One day format is South Africa and Test format is Australia. Especially in India, the sport cricket is followed religiously, since the 2

British era. Today, people worldwide play cricket, because people are getting to know the game through advertising by mainstream media that includes, TV ,Newspaper, Sports magazines, Radio Jingles and mostly brands which rope in the famous cricketing icons as their brand .ambassadors

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I have tried to portray the glamorous side of Cricket .This game is popularized by advertisements which have the popular personalities of the game for example, Indian players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh. This game has many .formats like the Test format and the One day format Advertisement for the IPL were designed to generate mass audience through creations and reinvention of the Cricket with their brand Image :of the following teams 1) Bangalore Royal Challengers: The Bangalore team was bought by Vijay Mallya’s UB Group for $111.6 million to own the team for 10 years. 2) Kings XI Punjab: The Mohali team was bought by Bollywood diva Preity Zinta, her industrialist beau Ness Wadia, along with renowned industrialists Karan Paul and Mohit Burman for $76 million for a period of 10 years. 3) Chennai Super Kings: The Chennai team was bought by India Cements for $91 million to own the team for 10 years. 4) Kolkata Knight Riders: The Kolkata team is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta for $75.09 million for a 10-year period. 5) Deccan Chargers: The Hyderabad team was bought by Deccan Chronicle, a media house, for $107 million for a 10-year period. 6) Mumbai Indians: The Mumbai team is owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited for $111.9 million for a period of 10 years. 7) Delhi Daredevils: The Delhi team is owned by GMR Holdings for $84 million for a period of 10 years. 3

8) Rajasthan Royals: The Jaipur team was bought by UK-based company Emerging Media for $67 million to own the team for a period of 10 years. The above teams were sponsored by esteemed companies like IPL DLF Ltd, Hero Honda, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd and Pepsi, MRF Tires, Emirates Airlines, HDFC Banks, Watches brands like Rolex, Timex etc. while Sony signed Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Vodafone Group Plc., Max New York Life Insurance Co., Godrej Appliances Ltd, Coca-Cola India Inc. and Citibank. Many of these companies were sponored several properties across multiple IPL platforms. For instance, Kingfisher was the official umpire sponsor for all matches, the airline partner for IPL, the owner of the Royal Challengers Bangalore team as well as co-sponsor for the rival Delhi Daredevils team. Similarly, Hero Honda was the official team sponsor for the Delhi team, in addition to being one of the ground sponsors for IPL. Today, hand in hand with the advertising industry for the T20 format, the cricket mania has gone a step further in drawing more audience into the game .Since the introduction of the IPL, the cricket fever grips .all around the globe The mega event gained viewership of close to 82 million on television in the first 20 days of the season — much higher than a 30-60 million viewership for other cricket tournaments

:Objective To connect to the mass audience through the world of .advertisement 4

To broadcast the game credentials to the mass population through the mainstream media like TV, Advertisements, Bill Boards, Hoardings, Mobile Ads, and Radio Jingles etc which is extremely pervasive in .contemporary society To increase the TRP (Television Rating Points) with the help of .Advertising Media The second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has seen the introduction of several innovative initiatives to keep viewers engaged with the tournament, be it contests, computer and mobile games or various promotional activities. 6UP, a SMS-based game, was recently made available only to Indian mobile subscribers, where fans were asked to predict the scores of a live match. Winners would get cash rewards for correct predictions. Mig33, a social networking platform accessible via both computer and mobile phone, engaged its members with real-time chats with players from the five DLF IPL teams – Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers and Chennai Super King.. In terms of innovation, first of all the IPL content was of very high interest and the short breaks held consumer attention, and at the same time, it gave scope for advertising in some form. IPL Season saw some form of innovation and that, too, at a higher rate, especially as the tournament progressed. Since the game was held outside the country, almost every medium and every brand aimed at connecting their consumers with the game or their team or even the player through their advertisements.

Research Methodology :The Working of IPL Masterminded by Lalit Modi, chairman of the marketing sub-committee of the BCCI, the Indian Premier League was launched on 14th September 2007 on the lines of English Premier League (Football) and National Basketball Association. Studded with the starry glitz of Bollywood and backed by the money-power of Indian business tycoons, the IPL is all set to the change the face of international Cricket in 21st century that was redefined by the Kerry Pecker's World Series Cricket in late 1970s. 5

Redefining the current face of Indian cricket on Wednesday, 20th February 2008, it rained millions of dollars within ten hours in Mumbai's Oberoi Hilton's auction room, as 77 cricketers went for bidding in the player auction of the IPL. the eight IPL teams, to bid from the world's best cricketers who were put on the show.

The Economics of the Indian Premier League Money really matters and the IPL is no exception to it. The IPL or the richest cricket league so far would fetch big bucks for the BCCI, IPL and all the eight franchisees. There would be four major sources of income for the IPL:-

The sale of media rights for broadcasting of the IPL matches would get in Rs. 4,000 crs. Sony Entertainment Television (SET) and Singapore based World Sports Group has got the global TV broadcasting rights of the Indian Premier League for the next 10 years. Out of this Rs. 4,000 cr the IPL would get 20% for itself, 8% as the prize money and the remaining 72% would be evenly distributed among the eight teams. The existing arrangements would work till the year 2012 after that the fresh auction will be held. • The title sponsorship right for the Indian Premier League has been secured by the DLF Universal, Indian real estate developer. Hero Honda group would be the associate sponsor. PepsiCo and Kingfisher Airlines are the IPL's partners for tournament official beverage and advertising on Umpire's clothes respectively. The revenue from the all above sponsorship rights have been described as Central Revenues with a proportion of 40% to IPL, 54% to franchisees and 6% to prize money. •

The franchisees, apart from the share in central revenues, can earn money by franchisees rights like by selling advertising space in stadiums, by licensing products for their teams like Tshirts, advertising on tickets and gate money. The 20% of the amount earned in this head would go to the IPL. •

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Each player of the eight teams would get their annual contracted fee in full that means the tax on that amount would be paid by the team owners. Apart from the above amount they would also get a daily allowance of Rs. 4,000 for the entire IPL season that would last for a month-and-a-half. •

Advertising in IPL When the economy, valuations, new channels are booming advertisers did every thing - at least to reach the consumer through new media, new ideas, new channels, experimental stuff, the lot. In a scenario of shrinking ad budgets, advertisers put their money behind the media vehicles that they believed , they delivered the best ‘bang for the buck’. The IPL represented just that opportunity. There was unlikely to be as big and extended a TV event to deliver as many eyeballs through the year…it’s the one thing advertisers put their money on. It was a risk, but a calculated one for the IPL owners.

Advertising during IPL matches is over the top – the ads start as soon as the 6th ball of one over is bowled and end only during the 1st ball of the next over. Advertising on ball boys: Promoting the brand on the uniform. Citibank four: With every boundary scored, the Citibank is flashed on the screens. DLF sixes: TheDLF sixer ad promotes itself and the well shot sixer from the player for its team How about innovating the singles ,twos or three runs promoted as Britannia singles ,MRF twos or Cheetos three ?

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Zoozoo ads in the IPL ZooZoos are advertisement characters promoted by Vodafone during the Indian Premier League Season 2 (IPL). Zoozoos are white, ghostlike creatures with ballooned bodies and egg heads who are used to promote various value added services of Vodafone. These ads though look animated are actually real humans in the Zoozoo costumes. The ads were created by Ogilvy & Mather, an agency that handles Vodafone advertisements and the films were shot by Bangalore based Nirvana Films in Cape Town, South Africa.The Zoozoos are infact real small bodied ,thin women covered in layers of white fabric. Each facial expression was made of rubber and pasted on the actors rather than done through animation as this enhances the time and cost for the shoot. Public response The concept of Zoozoos has captured the imagination of both, old and young, and there is an eager anticipation of the next Vodafone ad featuring the Zoozoos. The uniqueness of the ads combined with the ingenuity has really made its mark. The seven and a half minute “strategic break” was a treat to the mass. Within the course of the commercial break, people appear to have fallen in love with the Zoozoos so much that it has become their primary reason to watch the sports on the channel. The ads were a hit among the Indian people, especially the youth. This trend can be observed from the huge fan following on social networking sites, Face book, Orkut and Twitter. There are more than 8

200 pages on ZooZoos having more than 2 hundred thousand fans, growing daily. The ads were viewed by lakhs of people in Youtube.

. TRP (Television Rating Points) More than 11 million viewers watched the SET MAX telecast from Johannesburg, South Africa, of the Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 semi-final. This is a record for any of the past 117 Twenty20 cricket matches played in the IPL tournaments (2008 and 2009). The figure is even higher than the 8.7 million viewers who watched the finals of the first edition last year on SET MAX that had seen Rajasthan Royals winning the inaugural tournament, according to the data provided by overnight ratings agency Audience Measurement and Analytics Ltd. The agency took into account the top six cities and the 15-years-above group of cable viewers that are considered the key demographics for cricket matches by media agencies. Even the first semi-final match played between Delhi Daredevils and Hyderabad’s Deccan Chargers (winner) saw 10 million television viewers tuning in, about 2.3 million more than the first semi-final match played in the inaugural tournament last year. Media experts said the second semi-final match might be the most-watched cricket property so far, on the basis of the demographic parameters for cricket matches.

The final of IPL 1 generated the highest ever ratings — 8.8 per cent. “Vodafone, Airtel Digital and Hyundai Motors remained the top three advertisers for the two semi-finals played this year.

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Advertising hoardings in the IPL

Every inch of the stand roofs branded with the rainbow hoardings of IPL teams made impact of its own. It attracted a lot of attention from the audience, cheerleaders and the participating teams. The most important factor of ipl success was the way its marketing was done. No stone was left unturned in creating the cricket craze among each and every citizen of the country and the people abroad. Huge amount of money was invested for the marketing for ipl through television, hoardings, radio, banners, IPL accessories etc.

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Analysis and Observation:

IPL season 2 v/s season1 The matches were good. The semi final berths wide open till the end. A great final and a brand new champion. Despite the odds IPL Season 2 delivered great sporting action and in the process became an international brand almost over night. It reveals how the viewer perceived the IPL Season two in comparison to IPL Season one in terms of viewership, shift in team support, change of player preferences, 11

which brands gained and what were the best branding elements onground. While the TVRs of matches in IPL 2 may not have matched up to those of last year's, more people tuned into IPL this season than in Season 1. The study suggests that, on an average, consumers watched three more matches in Season 2 compared to their Season 1. DLF enjoyed the most top-of-mind (TOM) recall, by gaining 25 per cent recall, Vodafone's ZooZoos helped the brand triple its TOM score, post IPL 2. The other brands that gained were Kingfisher, Aircel and Idea. While Vodafone dominated on-air, DLF and Vodafone also enjoyed high TOM scores for their on-ground associations. Among associations of teams and brands, the strongest were Knight Riders-Nokia, Chennai Super Kings-Aircel and Mumbai Indians-Idea, in that order. In terms of effectiveness of on-ground branding elements, boundary ropes and perimeter ropes scored high in TOM scores. In terms of team support, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings have both seen a decline post Season 2; and Deccan Chargers have not been able to build team support despite their performance. Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab and Knight Riders have enjoyed consistent support.

Analysis of Data IPL accumulated more viewers than ICC T20 World Cup: TAM Media Research Following the recent culmination of IPL2 and with the ICC T20 World Cup just round the corner, TAM Media Research undertook a study to compare the performance and deliveries of both these popular cricket properties. The study indicates that IPL has managed more eyeballs than T20 World Cup, with numbers coming in from markets other than the metros. However, the reach build-up for IPL is lower than T20.

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When the top lines from the study is observed, on ratings comparison, IPL 2008 has the highest rating of 4.81per cent, whereas the ICC T20 World Cup 2007 on ESPN got 2.35 per cent. However, matches played by India got a rating of 6 per cent (including the finals, which garnered a rating of 8.46 per cent). Looking at league matches, India’s Group and Super 8 matches in the T20 World Cup 2007 got 4.9 per cent TVR, whereas league matches in IPL 2008 got a TVR of 4.64 per cent. League matches in IPL 2009 garnered 3.99 per cent TVR. Ratings Comparison The market profile shows that while maximum contribution to viewership for the three tournaments is from the six metros, contribution from markets other than the metros increased for IPL 2008 and 2009. Mumbai is the highest contributor for all three tournaments, contributing 15 per cent to ICC T20 World Cup and IPL 2008, and 14 per cent to IPL 2009. Graphical representation on the next page gives the clear indication of the success of IPL 2008 and 2009.

Market Profile for T20 tournaments. Audience Profile. Audience reached .

1. Market Profile

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2. Performance of T20 Tournaments

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The profile of audience has been similar for T20 World Cup and IPL 2008. With more matches being played during the evening time band, when the CS 4-14 TG’s presence is maximum, the contribution from this TG has increased by 2 per cent for IPL 2009. CS 35+ contributes the maximum to all the tournaments. Audience Profile

When the audiences reached is seen, the study shows that the reach levels of ICC T20 World Cup till the semi-finals were lesser than that of both IPL seasons. The finals, however, brought in 8 per cent more audience to increase the overall reach of the tournament to the level of

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IPL. While IPL 2008 reached 78 per cent of the universe, ICC T20 World Cup reached 65 per cent

Audiences Reached

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Reach levels of ICC T20 World Cup till the semi-finals were lesser than that of both IPL seasons. The finals, however, brought in 8 per cent more audience to increase the overall reach of the tournament to the level of IPL. While IPL 2008 reached 78 per cent of the universe, ICC T20 World Cup reached 65 per cent. The eye catching advertisements, hoardings, bill-boards, radio jingles etc. with white and black and funny looking creature like Zoozoo ads all contributed to the success of the IPL season 2.

Marketing and advertising of IPL was done on a large scale and it was the BIGGEST reason for the success that it has got. The Indian Premier League had a major impact on the advertising fraternity and media this year. Many companies enjoyed the bandwidth to gain high visibility for their brands despite the economic downturn. In fact, many advertisers strongly believe that IPL 2 delivered even better results than last year. Its was a major media event and a major advertising vehicle. IPL is one thing that advertisers felt positive and confident about. IPL

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offered the best mix of entertainment and sports in India and world wide . IPL had absolutely a major impact on the advertising industry. This attracted the worldwide cricket audience in all age groups. The IPL advertisements got huge publicity from the brands around the globe. Acknowledgement : My heartiest thanks to my teacher ,Ms. Lavina Bhaskar for her guidance in my endeavours in compiling this project. Bibliography : The above information is compiled from the sources listed below: www.businessstandard.com www.wikipedia.com www.toostep.com www.lbhat.com www.thehindubusinessline.com www.exchange4media.com Printed Refences: Sports magazine : IPL T20 matches Times of India - Sports section Gulf News – Sports section Information compiled by : Sehaj Singh BJMC 2-C

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