Disney Star and Viacom18 will compete for a share of the Indian Premier League’s (IPL’s) viewership and advertising for a second year in a row. But unlike last year when the broadcasting war was a no-holds-barred encounter, with each player trying to outdo the other, this year appears to be more sanguine.
The advertising revenue riding on the IPL this year, which will stretch for two months beginning March 23, is pegged at Rs 4,000 crore, with the two players using a combination of advertising and engagement strategies to get a lion’s share of the ad pie. The IPL season will also coincide with the general elections, which is expected to draw viewers and advertisers to news channels.
While JioCinema, part of Viacom18, will continue to broadcast the IPL for free on digital and has also unveiled a slew of customised offerings for advertisers, Disney Star, the IPL TV broadcaster, proposes to create more audience engagement opportunities for brands on TV. The broadcaster will do this with the use of a patented tech, virtual in-studio product placements, digital avatars of fans and a unique startup power play option for new-age advertisers on TV that will allow them to launch 60-second ads at strategic moments during IPL matches.
The two networks are also going into the IPL season this year amid merger talks, with the exclusivity period for the non-binding agreement signed in December (by the two players) ending this week.
“The debate about TV versus digital has been settled during IPL last year. Both media saw viewership growth. The strategy this year will be to dial up brand solutions for clients. This will be in the form of programming innovations, fan engagement, active and passive brand integrations and consumer interactions,” Ajit Varghese, head, network advertising sales, Disney Star, said in a conversation with FE.
Anup Govindan, head of revenue, Viacom18 Sports, says that digital advertising can take brand customisations to the next level. A case in point, he says, is Brand Spotlight, a new feature on JioCinema, that will provide five select brands the opportunity to unveil their IPL campaigns in the opening moments of the first match. Apart from this, JioCinema will have masthead branding, scorecard branding, custom feeds that are tailored to a brand’s brief, contests (such as Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan), auto-fill ads and a click to whatsapp feature apart from influencer marketing during IPL this year.
“For the consumer, we continue removing barriers to accessibility, affordability and language, while for the advertiser, we continue innovating and democratising the advertising process,” Govindan says.
Disney Star, meanwhile, has set the IPL ball rolling with the launch of a new technology that allows TV ads to seamlessly integrate with the viewer’s secondary device such as a mobile phone. The insight here is that TV viewers also engage with their mobile phones when watching TV programmes and the patented tech, explains Varghese, will now deliver engagement opportunities for brands such as consumer offers, competition, quizzes, giveaways etc.
Virtual product placements, Varghese says, will combine augmented reality with content to showcase a live-sized product within studios. Virtual fan avatars will eliminate the need for fans to be physically present within studios.
Both Govindan and Varghese have not indicated the sponsors who are looking to tie up with IPL this year, but categories such as fast-moving consumer goods, auto, electronics and white goods, banking and finance, e-commerce and retail, construction and building materials are expected to mark their presence in a big way on the IPL this year.