Top 5 Brands effectively using IPL 2021 season

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IPL 2021 Season – Cricket has always been a religion in India. IPL 2021 Season is India’s richest, and most popular, sporting event by an enormous margin is indisputable. But its success has now transcended national bounds and it takes its place alongside the biggest sporting events globally.

Generic Question that comes into everyone mind, What is the cost for putting brand logo in IPL team t shirts? Here’s the Answer:

In General brands are paying between Rs. 2-3 crore, one-tenth the money spent by bigger brands for the right to inscribe their brand logo on team uniforms and accessories.

Here’s the list of brands associated with the IPL 2021 Season Team:

  1. Usha International continues association with Mumbai Indians for 8th consecutive year
  2. Myntra gears up for 2nd inning as ‘Official Fashion Partner of RCB
  3. TCL Brand continues association with Sunrisers Hyderabad for 2nd year
  4. Nippon Paint announces sponsorship alliance with T20 franchise RCB
  5. BKT Tires partners with Mumbai Indians
  6. Delhi Capitals partners with Optimum Nutrition
  7. Delhi Capitals inks digital content deal with OctaFX
  8. Nerolac continues its association with SRH
  9. Puma inks long-term strategic partnership with Royal Challengers(Bangalore)
  10. Cornitos joins Delhi Capitals as official snack partner
  11. Vivo plans most big launches and announcements around the IPL
  12. Equitas Small Finance Bank renews partnership with Chennai Super Kings for IPL 2021
  13. PhonePe is investing heavily in IPL 2021

Media & OTT Platform Partnership details:

  1. CoinSwitch Kuber partners with Disney+ Hotstar for IPL

Here’s PUMA Brand Twitter Ad specific to IPL 2021 Season:

IPL History:

Lot of people do not even know how much big IPL is and it is going to be even bigger in the coming years. BCCI earns 95% of its revenue from IPL only. In IPL 2020, There is no audience or spectators then there is no ticket revenue. But ticket revenue does not affect much the central revenue. Most part of the money comes from Broadcasters and title sponsors. That’s the major advantage of IPL to get all time success rate in history.

Definition of Central Revenue = {Media rights (Broadcasters like Star TV)} + {Title sponsors, Associate sponsors & Licensing etc.} + {Bids & Franchise Rights}.

IPL India Total Revenue

Nowadays, IPL game becomes more of entertainment channel and see this tweet from virat (RCB) team

Think and try to another question now – How will Vivo earn in IPL?

LOL… VIVO is a title sponsor for IPL Season. It does not earn direct cash. Instead, they get huge advertising audience. Since the IPL is famous in India, VIVO will be heard by almost everyone. This in turn, VIVO will get brand awareness and they will probably sell a lot of phones. Same scenario is for other sponsors like Vodafone, Yes Bank, Freecharge, Maruti Suziki, PAYTM, CEAT, CRED, PhonePe, etc.,

Tools used in IPL Season Promotion
  1. Social media
    • For IPL 2020, Facebook partnered with Star Sports to showcase how the platform acts as a catalyst to bring fans together in supporting their teams and their heroes during these unprecedented times. Over the years, each IPL team has been able to get itself loyal fan clubs. RCB’s fan club on Facebook has received an overwhelming following, helping the team create an engaged community of loyalists. 
  2. Influencers
    • In India, We missed TikTik influencers in 2021 but now people joined in JOSH and Other short form video creating APP like Chingari & MOJ (Part of ShareChat – Hyperlocal Social network APP). So, This time we expect influencers from these APP going to do some wonders for brands and startups.

The IPL is a season much awaited for by cricket fans and also Bollywood stars, and fans can’t stop tweeting and posting about it. Social media is a widely used platform that fans use to post or follow IPL content.

What has changed this IPL

In this 2021, 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.

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.

Top 5 Brands Benefited and make use of IPL Wave:

  1. CRED
    • Target Audience: Working professionals and Individuals from upper-middle class, 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”
  2. PhonePe
    • Target Audience: It targeted the audience that has shifted to the digitised mode of payments. Age: 18+
    • Messaging: Such a VAST Target, That’s over 20 crore Indians trust PhonePe to make safe, digital payments.
  3. Apple
    • Target Audience: Premium Phone users. Age: 18+
    • 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. It’s well received by smart phone users.
  4. Khatabook
    • Target Audience: B2B targeting- retailers and business owners and To reach a relevant audience to build awareness and drive app installs
    • Messaging: In the ads, Dhoni is seen pulling off different characters from Sharmile Sharmaji to Techno Tawde in the ads and showcasing distinct features of the Khatabook
  5. Dream11
    • Target Audience: Target 18+ Age. Dream11 is India’s Biggest Sports Gaming platform with 4 crore+ users playing Fantasy Cricket, Football, Kabaddi and NBA. 
    • Messaging: it brought back a lot of memories, of gully cricket, played in and around my society.

Note: Dream11 IPL ‘s viewing minutes have increased by 15 percent in the opening week, as reported in BARC and Nielsen’s latest survey, compared to 2019, which is 60.6 billion viewing minutes across 7 matches & 21 channels in 2020.

Now, It’s time to push your brand or startup to this level with proper messaging and communication to end users and make use of IPL Season 2021.

If you know additional data or details about brand usage and missed in above list, please add it comments.


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