India’s biggest sporting tournament, the Indian Premier League, sees close to 130 million viewers every season, making it a marketing bonanza for brands. While cricket teams fight it out on the pitch, brands grapple for a share of the audience’s mind space.
That’s why, the country gets to witness some of the finest ads of the year during the IPL season. But in a sea of ads backed by large budgets and celebrities, only a few land an impact.
SCORE, an IPL spends effectiveness tracker by Synchronize, scoured through the ads that were released in the four weeks of IPL 2024. Through the survey conducted across 36 cities across metros, tier 1-2-3 towns and in NCCS A/B, SCORE ranked the 10 best-performing creatives during the IPL season thus far.
Using its proprietary construct CPS (Creative Power Score), SCORE gauged the effectiveness of each brand’s IPL spends during this period. Each avenue and each type of brand (big spenders vs low spenders vs sponsors) were analysed separately.
“Over 200 brands are advertising on IPL 2024. These brands represent not just a diverse range of sectors/industries, but also various stages of the brand lifecycle. We see some iconic brands like Tata Salt / Pepsi / Cadbury’s Dairy Milk, sharing space with new age brands like Rapido / Groww / Tata NEU. This indicates that there is potential to break the clutter for any brand, provided that their campaign is consistent with the brand values, delivers a clear message, and is definitive in their call to action.” – V Sudarshan, CEO and Co-founder, Synchronize India.
“Crafting a successful marketing campaign for the IPL requires a deep understanding of the audience’s preferences, the spirit of the event, and the dynamics of the platform. Depending on the industry that the brand operates in, and the brand’s values / promise, their campaign could have most of these attributes,” Vishal Baghel, Director, Synchronize India.
Common trends among top ads
Brands that figured in the top 10 not only represent diverse range of sector but also those at various stages of their brand lifecycle, points out Sudarshan. “Iconic brands like Pepsi, Tata Salt and Cadbury have spared space with new age brands like Rapido and Groww,” he notes.
The trend indicates for any brand to stand out among the 200 advertisers, they should go beyond just spending big money, according to the Synchronize CEO. “Any brand can have the potential to break the clutter, provided their campaigns are consistent with the brand values, deliver a clear message and are distinctive in their recall,” he emphasises.
Sudarshan also pointed out that all the 10 ads featured in the list have clear storytelling, they feature celebrities, have humour at the heart of the campaign and are big on cultural references.
When it comes to using celebs for endorsement, Cadbury stands out in its approach. “The celebrity endorser’s coach is in the focus,” he notes.
Tips for advertisers in the IPL season
Crafting a campaign for IPL is a different ball game, says Sudarshan, vis-a-vis World Cup tournaments.
“One, crafting a successful marketing campaign for the IPL requires a deep understanding of the audience’s preference.
“Second, the spirit of the event needs to be looked at. Third, the dynamics of the platform they choose to advertise on. For example, TV versus CTV versus mobile.
“Depending on the industry they operate in and the brand values or the promises they represent, most of these campaigns should have these characteristics. Embody the cricket fever and make it creative and entertaining,” he points out.
Citing examples of Tata Neu and Groww, Sudarshan notes the use of diverse elements in their ads. For instance, a youngster interacts with an elderly person.
The most critical thing that I keep harping on to any brand that can put in money, get a celebrity! Celebrity endorsements help on IPL. If you can get a good cricketing celebrity, that’s sone pe suhaaga!
The data currently includes all channels (TV and OTT). Thus far, ads of Tata Salt, Dream11, Sprite, Pepsi, Tata Neu, Airtel Xstream, Rapido, Groww, Lloyd and Cadbury Dairy have made the cut.
Tata Salt (81)
Topping the list is Tata Salt with its ad that revived the iconic “Namak ho Tata ka, Tata Namak!” jingle topped the list with a CPS of 81. Conceptualized by Ogilvy, the campaign released in March includes a series of 11 light-hearted films showcasing the jingle’s presence in various moments of a consumer’s daily life.
Dream 11 (79)
Dream11’s ad for IPL with an ensemble cast scored a CPS of 79. The ad was released mid March with cameos from the who’s who of the celebrity world. The campaign film has been directed by Nitesh Tiwari, and conceptualized by Tilt Brand Solutions.
Sprite (78)
Sprite launched the ‘Joke in a Bottle’ with Kapil Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav as part of the nationwide campaign during the IPL season. With a CPS of 78, the ad has been conceptualised by Ogilvy.
Pepsi (77)
Pepsi, who has a long-standing connection with cricket, brought back its iconic ‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ campaign, which was popular in the late 90s. Released in early March, the ad by Leo Burnett starring Ranveer Singh made it to the SCORE topper’s list with a CPS of 77.
Tata Neu (77)
At 5th spot with a Creative Power Score of 77, Tata Neu’s bite-size ads for its “Rukna Kyu” campaign are among the top ads for IPL 2024.
Airtel Xstream Fiber (77)
The ad for Airtel Xstream Fibre tied up with Tata Neu, scoring 77 on the CPS. The ad has been conceptualised by Fundamental. The air ranked 6 on the list of top-performing IPL ads of 2024.
Rapido (76)
Ride-hailing company, Rapido’s 2024 IPL campaign clinched 76 on CPS. It has been crafted by boutique creative agency The Other Half and features short 15-20 second films with a humorous twist. The ad stood at the number 7 spot of SCORE’s top-performing ads this year so far for IPL 2024.
Groww (75)
At number 8 is the financial services platform Groww app’s campaign for IPL, which scored 75 on CPS. The ad film explores the benefits of using Groww as an investment solutions provider. The launch of the campaign coincided with the start of the 2024 edition of the cricket tournament.
Lloyd (74)
The AC brand Lloyd with a score of 74 launched its IPL 2024 ad campaign with star couple Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone in the first week of April. The campaign has been conceptualised by McCann Worldgroup and claimed the 9th place among the top 10 IPL ads.
Cadbury Dairy Milk (73)
Cadbury Dairy Milk’s “Thank You, First Coach” campaign aimed to laud the efforts of the people who shaped India’s top batsmen. The campaign spotlighted the mentors of KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav, expressing gratitude for their services. It is a campaign series in 2-parts conceptualised by Ogilvy India. It took the 10th place on SCORE’s list of top-performing IPL creatives with CPS of 73.
A daily tracker module using the DAR (Day after recall) methodology, tracked the brands recalled across all avenues (TV and OTT ads and associated spends, logos on the ground, jersey logos etc.). The fieldwork was conducted using the Unomer mobile market research platform.
