The festive season along with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and Asia Cup are all upon us. While Andy Williams rightly said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year”, this year this may not be true, given the fact that brands have been prudent in spending on advertising and marketing. According to industry estimates, there will be a six to eight percent increase in ad-spend due to the collision of three-four properties including the festive season which begins from August 28, with Onam and ends post January 01, 2024. Add to this the Asia Cup which will be held between August 30 to September 17, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and a dose of reality TV with Bigg Boss on Colors and Jio Cinema. “There will be money spent on the ICC World Cup while the Asia Cup which will also coincide with the festive period, will struggle to find advertisers’ money. India’s matches during the ICC World Cup would be a major attraction for all advertisers while other key games would be of residual interest to them,” Hemant Dua, promoter, Inspiranti Sports, told BrandWagon Online.
Email questions sent to The Walt Disney Company India and Viacom18 remained unanswered till the time of publishing this story.
According to industry estimates, every season a broadcaster is estimated to have an advertising inventory of about 5,500 seconds per one-day cricket match. With 48 matches to be played the total ad inventory that resides with a broadcaster is about 2,64,000 seconds. But in the case of Star, the total ad inventory increases substantially to about 26.4 lakh seconds due to 10 channels including language feeds. Additionally, the matches would be telecast live on Hotstar. This World Cup India has nine matches, add to that India versus Pakistan game, which is one of the most anticipated game play. “When compared with last World Cup advertising rates, will remain flat, due to current market sentiments. Furthermore, with the majority of advertisers spending on the ICC World Cup post the Indian Premier League (IPL), it will be hard for Asia Cup to sell its ad inventory,” a senior media analyst said on the condition of anonymity.
According to industry estimates a ten-second ad spot during the ICC World Cup is expected to cost anywhere between Rs 10-11 lakh. Like the last World Cup held in 2019, a ten-second ad spot during India Pakistan match is expected to cost between Rs 19-20 lakh. The sponsorship package for the tourney is expected to start from Rs 100 crore in the case of Associate Sponsors and go upto Rs 150 crore in case of a lead sponsor. Moreover, in the case of Hotstar, the cost per thousand impressions (CPM) is not expected to rise and remain flat between Rs 200-3000. The only difference being digital allows one to create extra inventory if there is a demand as opposed to linear TV.
According to a recent Disney+Hotstar survey, the platform would offer over 75 targeting parameters that can be cross-tabbed to combine multiple parameters for granular reach and caters to all ticket sizes (from Rs two lakhs to upto 50 lakhs). Additionally, special rates have been introduced that are at par with leading UGC platforms.
The volume of ads grew by 26% in the 2019 ICC ODI Men’s World Cup when compared with 2015. Moreover, cellular phones and smartphones was the only common category in the top five list during 2015 and 2019. Pan Masala and Perfumes or Deodorant were the top two categories in 2019 accounting for 18% of the ad volume. The top five categories together accounted for 35% of ad volume share in 2019. “This year it is expected that advertisers will try their luck on connected TV as the number of household have grown,” said a senior media analyst who did not wished to be named.
Festive Season and the dose of reality TV
The media and entertainment sector is expected to grow at 11.5% in 2023 to Rs 2,34,000 crore (US$29.2 billion). Of this TV is expected to reach the mark of Rs 72,700 crore while Digital is expected to Rs 67,100 crore by 2023. With advertisers spending a substantial amount during this year’s IPL, it is believed that the rest will be spent in the second half of the year. What this means, is that advertisers are expected to spend another substantial chunk during the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and remain in the latter part of the year. “The first two quarters of this year have been slow for many categories. The festive season therefore becomes critical for brands to invest and improve revenue. Cricket being a fairly expensive proposition will not attract all advertisers, as they cannot risk making one large investment during the season,” Anand Chakravarthy, chief growth officer, Omnicom Media Group, said.
On TV and on digital the festive season would also be marked with Viacom18’s reality show Bigg Boss which will be aired on its Hindi general entertainment channel (GEC) Colors and its over-the-top platform, JioCinema. According to industry estimates, a ten-second ad spot during Bigg Boss would cost anywhere between Rs 2-3 lakh. It is estimated that sponsorship packages would range between Rs 15-50 crore.
As per a TAM report, advertisements on TV for the festive season witnessed a surge of 21% from August 2021-January 2022 and August 2021-January 2023, compared to August 2018-January 2019 while a five percent negative growth was recorded in August 2019- January 2020. A growth of 16% was witnessed in August 2020 to January 2022 over August 2018-January 2019. Meanwhile, digital medium saw a surge in advertising impressions in August 2021- January 2023 by 70%. The ad impressions witnessed negative growth in August 2019-January 2020 of 74% and 78% in August 2020-January 2021.
Moreover, India’s AdEx growth could be revised downwards to approximately 10-12% (including the positive impact of the cricket World Cup to approximately two percent) in CY23, from an estimate of approximately 165 year-on-year growth projected by larger ad agencies, according to a study by Elara Capital.
Sitting out in the Fence
Online gaming companies were amongst the top advertisers during IPL 16, as per a recent report by TAM Media. However, with recent revisions in the Goods and Services Tax (GST), the online gaming industry is expected to spend less or stay out “ Fantasy Cricket Gaming companies will have to advertise on cricket given relevance to their business, but it is very likely that their spend levels will be lower than in previous cricket tournaments,” Chakravarthy, added.
Peak XV-backed gaming startup, MPL, recently announced layoffs for 350 staffers while Hike-owned Rush Gaming Universe followed closely as it announced layoffs for 55 staffers, claiming that the revision of taxation to 28% on face value from 18% on gross gaming revenue has caused chaos in the gaming industry. According to industry experts, gaming companies would not have a choice and would have to advertise. “Due to the GST revision, online gaming companies are trying to keep their head above the water. They will have to advertise in order to boost their customer acquisition,” a source who did not wish to be named, said.
Among other categories, industry experts opine most brands would be willing to spend on India matches. The festive season would be critical for categories including consumer durables, the automobile industry, fashion, e-commerce, and jewellery, among others.