MUMBAI: The cash-rich Indian Premier League has witnessed tremendous growth over the years from its inception in 2008. The growth is in terms of different aspects like advertising revenue, sponsorship revenue, number of eyeballs and brands attraction etc.

According to TAM data, commercial ad volumes grew by 61 per cent in IPL 11 compared to IPL 1 i.e. from 31 hours in season 1 to 50 hours in season 11. Total of 151 brands advertised across 64 different categories during the last season.

To make the data comparable, one channel each of the respective broadcasters is taken into consideration for both the seasons. Sony Max is for IPL 2008 and Star Sports 1 Hindi for 2018 season.

Recently, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced that the 12th season of the cash-rich league will commence from 23 March 2019. Franchises, brands, broadcaster and most importantly the fans were left delighted when the board announced that the 2019 edition will be played entirely in India.

The 11th season of the cash-rich league enjoyed humungous reach both on TV and OTT platform of Star India. Brands have long recognised the power and popularity of cricket in India and IPL with its undisputed reach and combination of cricket and entertainment is a zero risk property for brands.

On-screen advertising, the digitally embedded elements fed by broadcaster during the live telecast of match saw a good spike in the number of brands and categories. Total 51 brands advertised in IPL 11, which is 38 per cent more than IPL season one’s 37 brands. There was a 67 per cent rise in categories from 18 in IPL 1 to 30 in IPL 11.

Top three categories which dominated the top 10 list across the last three years in cricket genre are perfumes/deodorant, cellular phones-smart phones and cellular services. Experts believe that the event by itself is both a massive opportunity for brands and equally a challenge of sorts to stand out in the storm of brands advertising in it. The shorter format further pushes the challenge.

Some of new brands that associated with the IPL last season were AMFI, Asian Paints, Berger Paints, Blue Star, Ceat Tyres, Crompton, Dollar, Ford, Haier, Luminous, Pedilite, Sleep Well, Vanessa, Vimal Pan Masala and Voltas joined the existing ones like Vivo, Colgate, Amul, Dream11, Elica, Kent, Parle Agro, Polycab to name a few.

The season witnessed 21 hours of on-screen advertising with action replay, pull-through and push back the top three on-screen branding units during the play.

Talking about in-stadia advertising, 441 hours of in-stadia advertising was registered during IPL season 11. Top three on-screen branding units during the season were t-shirt, backdrop and perimeter board. Compared to the first season, in-stadia ad volumes increased almost by twofold from 224 hours to 441 hours in IPL 11.

Instadia advertising saw a growth of 8 per cent in the number of brands i.e., 106 brands in IPL 1 to 114 brands in IPL 11.

To appreciate the spike in brands and advertisers for IPL, Star India in its first year introduced the Re.imagine Awards to recognise and encourage the creativity and innovation in the use of integrated media in advertising campaigns aired during Vivo IPL on Star Sports and its OTT platform Hotstar.

Not just cricketers on the pitch but brands, marketers and advertisers have gradually upped their game to keep the viewers engaged during the sporting extravaganza.

In the upcoming season of IPL, a lot of diversified brands will be seen participating. The important thing is how they weave the story into a much more deeply integrated marketing plan. Now, it is about integrating the storyline through both ATL and BTL campaigns.