This World Cup, brands are scoring big on digital too
With Hotstar lowering its ad rates for the tournament this year, both medium and high-budget advertisers have got a chance to get associated with the mega event
The Cricket World Cup is on and fans of the game are freaking over the interesting encounters happening between teams. ICC Cricket World Cup is the biggest cricket tournament globally and it has presented an array of ways for brands to stand out by advertising in the mega event. Marketers and brands are spending immensely, thanks to the extensive reach and popularity of the tournament.
Advertising in Cricket World Cup has always been considered a game meant for big-ticket players. However, things have changed this year. Hotstar, which is the official digital streaming partner of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, has considerably lowered its ad rates, with packages starting from as low as Rs 5 lakh. The move has provided an opportunity for both, medium and high-budget advertisers, to get associated with the mega event.
Given that Hotstar's reach for the World Cup has crossed all past records set by IPL, brands are benefiting in a big way from their digital ad spends. While IPL 2019 witnessed 267 million viewers during the first three weeks, the World Cup number reached 315 million in the first two weeks itself. The livestream of the India-Pakistan match on June 16 garnered a single-day reach of 100 million. These are massive numbers in terms of reach, giving advertisers the opportunity to scale up their campaigns. Also, compared to the previous year when the same ad was served to everyone during live streaming of matches, this year, the mid-roll ads (ads played during the live game) are targeting the audience using filters. With the big advantages of digital this season being low investment and guaranteed viewership, brands such as Swiggy and many others have invested heavily on the medium.
According to an industry insider, Hotstar has opened up advertising space for brands that could earlier not be a part of World Cup advertising. “There has been so much innovation on the platform. It has food apps such as Swiggy for ordering food in the middle of matches and Coca Cola for refreshment drinks, among others,” said the insider.
Adding on, he said, “Most of the matches are aired during office hours, so there is a high rate of recall. This has benefitted Hotstar a lot in terms of viewership, and has indirectly benefitted the brands advertising on the platform.”
Digital has add-on advantages for advertising. The medium, with the ad lower rates, is providing high return on investment. The companies are enjoying the profits with high interactivity and high contextual data. Advertising on Hotstar during ICC World Cup 2019 has given an opportunity to companies to integrate their product pages on the platform, making it possible for audience to browse through their information without missing the match. For instance, one can chat with friends while ordering food online or booking a cab.
According to Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director at Dentsu, Hotstar started experimenting with IPL and it played off really well for it. “They carried on the advent with World Cup and it worked for them miraculously, with an increase in the profit percentage. Brands such as Swiggy, Coca Cola and Flipkart have advertised heavily during this World Cup,” she said.
Brands are said to have spent around Rs 12-15 billion on advertising during the World Cup. The exchange4media team, in a conversation with Pranabir Singh, Director, Media Planning, DCMN India, got the insight that OTT platforms have given a chance to brands, which earlier could not participate in big-ticket events because of high cost of the mainstream media such as television, to advertise. This has allowed these brands to increase their visibility and engagement with the audience. Dream11 has announced an exclusive worldwide partnership with the International Council of Cricket as its ‘Official Fantasy Game Partner’ till 2023. Some other brands that have advertised heavily during this season are Uber Eats, Swiggy and Uber.
The cut down in ad rates has come as a boon for the marketers and advertisers. Clearly, digital has an edge this season. With India entering the semi-finals, advertisers are eyeing a good performance by the team to enjoy the profits. The digital advertising game is getting bigger day by day and the World Cup records are a best example to prove the point.
