Marketing in times of IPL 2020 — An Exploratory Analysis
Oct 1 - 9 min read
One of the major marketing strategies that most companies who have the budget are to launch marketing campaigns through major sporting events. This season, The Indian Premier League (IPL) has kicked off and has attracted sponsorships from a new set of companies. This week, the discussion will be about the What, Why, How companies are “riding the IPL wave” through marketing campaigns. The How section which focuses on three specific ad campaigns and provides our MaG Scientists take on those campaigns.
Overview
IPL is one of the most successful Sporting Leagues in the world. It’s probably also the first sporting event to broadcast live on the internet, way back in 2010. And If you happen to follow cricket or the Indian Premier League, you already know that the latest season is underway.
The 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) began last weekend and so did brand activities for the biggest sporting extravaganza of the year, with e-commerce, ed-tech app, gaming app, fin-tech, and automobile players all fighting for attention.
Given the limited ground activations this year, brands are trying to curate digital experiences. While activations will be the mainstay of experiential spending, the big question is will it be as immersive as physical activations are known to be. With the ongoing scenario of the global pandemic and India still at various unlock & lockdown modes, the broadcast and digital audience are expected to skyrocket.
Why IPL is a good platform
The Indian Premier League launched in 2008, is often regarded as a sponsors’ paradise. It offers instant and large-scale visibility to brands & marketers. Who, in return, pour in millions of dollars in sponsorships, in the central league and/or in individual franchises amounting to IPL’s biggest revenue stream.
As a result, the league’s valuation more than doubled from $3.2 billion in 2014 to $6.8 billion in 2019, according to financial consultancy Duff & Phelps. In INR terms, the IPL ecosystem is worth Rs 47,500 crore, with its brand value appreciating 13.5 percent in the last edition (2019) of the tournament. Source
Insights
Releasing the first India Watch Report 2018, Hotstar shares insights on the dramatic transformation sweeping the Internet landscape in India. In a first of its kind report for any streaming platform in the world, the service discloses usage patterns on its platform, across geographies and age groups.
The Big News:
Nearly 5 times growth in video consumption in the last 12 months.
96 percent of all usage being focused on long form video. This marks an inflexion point in India where the early years of online video were characterized by short form consumption from users deeply fearful of data charges.
The last 12 months have also seen access to data and consumption of video go deeper into inner India. Growth in smaller cities, less than 10 lakh in population, outstripped that in the large metros. And, while the gender gap in access to data persists, affordability is opening up new opportunities for women, with women in smaller cities coming online faster than in the metros.
Other Highlights:
Streaming video has hit critical momentum. The Champion’s Trophy Final 2017 on Hotstar hit 4.8 million simultaneous viewers, a record!
Streaming habits have gone well beyond being ‘snacky’ time fillers. More and more users are treating the mobile as their first screen.
Streamers don’t follow stereotypes. Data reveals that consumption habits cut across stereotypes and traditional boundaries. 26% of Game of Thrones viewers also watched Hindi TV shows; 24% of Modern Family viewers watched cricket; and 50% of watch time of Star Plus’s show Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, came from men.
While cricket still rules the roost, other sports are sprouting well. VIVO IPL consumption grew nearly 7 times between 2016 and 2017. However, VIVO Pro Kabbadi and Premier League also grew nearly 10 times.The IPL has a huge viewership and engagement rate. Thus it provides an opportunity to directly interact and build relationships with the consumer and stakeholders
More details are on this official report launched by Hotstar
& here’s the 2019 India watch report
What has changed this IPL
This year the homegrown startups have stepped in to fill the void left by legacy advertisers — FMCG, BFSI, consumer durables companies, which were the largest spenders in the cricketing events.
Dream 11 clinched “a steal” for the title sponsorship paying Rs.222 crore. After Dream 11, the edtech unicorn Unacademy and credit card payment app CRED joined the bandwagon as IPL’s ‘official partners’. The startups may be looking at either consolidation or significantly increasing their market share and an association with a property like IPL will help them do just that.
We are starting a new series to dissect the Ads that are streamed during IPL 2020:
During the IPL many Companies have launched campaigns that would target their specific audience. This segment covers three specific ad campaigns. CRED, PhonePe, and Apple.
CRED
Target Audience: Working professionals and Individuals from upper-middle to affluent income group, Age: 23+
Messaging: This has been contested by many. Some think the messaging is “Urging users to download the app to make credit card payments.” hence the ear worm of “Download CRED baby, Download CRED”
But to understand the nuances of the AD we gotta go back to the communication consistency CRED has been maintaining since its beta launch.
Few things to note here:
CRED is not open to all, you need a certain credit score to have an account. “Credit Worthy Individuals”
CRED used to send Cakes to people at their offices so it invariably sparked curiosity amongst others
CRED also sent the “credit card storage pouches” which you can attach to the back side of your phone and the design was in such a way that when you have the phone on your ear people on the other side people see CRED pouch which conveniently holds your cards
So going by this trend, the concept behind all three ads of CRED during IPL is that “NOT EVERYONE GETS IT”. Doesn’t matter if you are Anil Kapoor/ Madhuri Dixit / Bappi Lahiri ( Indian Hindi Movie Industry’s Celebrities) you don’t get in.
Funnel Stage / Buyer’s Journey: Awareness
1. What’s good
Having a quirky take by explaining struggles in the conventional ad auditions to having a voiceover ‘Download Cred’. The cold stares of the “Casting People”. Roping in well known celebrities. The ear worm “Download CRED baby, download CRED” and the nonchalance in the Ads. It takes balls to envision, execute and distribute in such a high stake environment and kudos to Kunal Shah for that and the agency that executed this well.
2. What could have been better.
The messaging ‘Download Cred’ is Spilled over the AD but the tag line and the final message is “NOT EVERYONE GETS IT”. Maybe this is the reason why people are confused about the key messaging the Ads are trying to convey.
3. What are they trying to achieve?
Awareness. India’s credit card usage is appallingly low (57 million ~ 4.7%) and there are debates on whether it’s a good or a bad thing. A credit based economy may not be a sustainable one in the long run, of course Ray Dalio will say, it is. But, credit / working capital in a sense is great for the economy so what Kunal shah is doing is bring credit card usage as mainstream as possible and having a clout around your brand is good and hence the filter of higher credit score.
4. MaG Insights.
The CRED messaging could have been singular and clearer. If the goal was to start a conversation then they have done a great job. We also like the way they distributed digitally / on twitter where the celebrity posts first, Kunal shah retweets with a comment. Something we will dissect in the future blogs.
5. MaG Rating — 4/5 [Single Messaging]
PhonePe
Target Audience: It targeted the audience that has shifted to the digitized mode of payments. Age: 18+
Messaging: That over 20 crore Indians trust PhonePe to make safe, digital payments.
Funnel Stage: Consideration (social proof that others are using why aren’t you?)
Takeaways
1. What’s good
Highlighting the features of the app. And that Phonepe stands for Accessible and easy payment.
2. What could have been better.
Misrepresentation, The police station set. When the app cannot be used for paying fine at a police station or to a police officer then why show it in the first place.
3. What are they trying to achieve?
Digital payments have been steadily increasing in India thanks to India stack (UPI) , demonetisation and the influx of SoftBank’s capital into our homegrown startups such as Paytm. Facing heaving competition Flipkart’s Phonepe has to make some noise and this is one such noise. YES!
4. MaG Insights.
We feel the execution is lazy, get a couple of celebrities and a sloppy setting which doesn’t really capture the essence of easy payments. Why create such an ad if the representation is a sham. It’s better to create an ad that shows actual usage of the app in the real & a practical setting
“994 likes vs. 2.8 k dislikes & comments turned OFF”
5. MaG Rating 2/5 [A lot of Noise & very less Signal]
Apple Privacy AD
Target Audience: Premium product users.
Messaging: Some things shouldn’t be shared. That’s why the iPhone is designed to help give you control over your information and protect your privacy.
Buyer’s Journey: Consideration to Decision
Takeaways
1. What’s good
Highlights the importance of privacy & data security without having to mention the product. 2. What could have been better.
2. What are they trying to achieve?
Keeping privacy at the forefront and ensuring it to be the top priority for Apple.
3. What could’ve been better?
A few Indian specific scenarios would’ve made this relatable to the Indian audience. Eg: Pre-natal Vitamins and Four Pregnancy Test / 8 sites for divorce attorneys (who does these even within the Indian affluents?)
4. MaG Insights.
Apple’s leadership position amongst the premium flagship phones has been questioned for the last few years by Oneplus. Given the concerns around privacy + the data protection bill about to be tabled in the parliament this winter season + the ongoing standoff between India and China it’s smart of Apple’s team to position privacy as the key selling feature and decided to go ahead with this AD for the Indian audience during IPL.
If someone has been considering an iPhone / a oneplus this Ad could tilt their decision making in Apple’s favour for sure. Well thought through and well executed.
PS: Only APPLE can do this cos they’ve reached a brand equity that’s unparalleled and everyone knows APPLE. This wouldn’t have worked for anyone else.
5. MaG Rating: 4/5 [a few Indian specific scenarios would’ve made this relatable to the Indian audience]
That’s all for this week folks, what do you guys think of the ratings we’ve given? What other ADs would you like us to cover next?
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