IPL2 an instant hit in South Africa

The announcement by BCCI on a hot Sunday afternoon that the Season 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) shall be held outside India had made many stakeholders, read advertisers, ask many questions:

• Will the Season 2 be closer, if not bigger, to Season 1?
• What would the ratings be like?
• How and why would someone (fans) cheer for a Rajasthan Royals or a Delhi Daredevils?
• Is associating with Season 2 still a good option? What are different innovations that one should plan to break the clutter?
• What shall be the logistical arrangement?

We are two weeks into the tournament and most of the above questions have been answered.

South Africa has been a wonderful host. I was there in SA for close to two weeks and the reception/ hospitality we got was out of the world. The enthusiasm of the people and the government was there for everyone to see – right from the staff at the SA Embassy to the common man, including the SA government officials.

The IPL parade in Cape Town was a big hit. People turned out in thousands to support the IPL teams. The opening ceremony was not as spectacular as compared to last year (this year it was held after the matches were played), but IPL2 is has been an instant hit in South Africa.

Back home, everyone was waiting for the first set of ratings to come – the average of the first eight days was 4.6, which is slightly low, but there are many factors for these low ratings, the rains in SA being the most important of them. Two matches were truncated, while one was cancelled due to heavy rain. The ratings are likely to go up as the tournament progresses – some more close games and the audiences shall be in front of the TV sets.

The staging of the tournament outside India forced many advertisers to change their strategy. They had planned for massive on ground promotions/ activation in India, but everything had to be changed once the tournament moved out. Most of them are offering a trip to SA as the final gratification.

While some advertisers are offering trips to SA, others like HDFC Standard Life, the associate sponsor and the insurance partner of Rajasthan Royals, is initiating an award for excellence in the field – the ‘Sar Utha Ke Jiyo’ – Most Valuable Player of the Match award. The Rajasthan Royals coaching staff, including Shane Warne, will select the Most Valuable Player of the Day from the Rajasthan Royals team, who will receive this honour, along with a cash incentive of $1,000 for each match.

The telcos, who have been traditional advertisers on cricket, are also offering customers to either present the Man of Match Award (Aircell) or talk to Sachin Tendulkar (Idea) or have an autographed ball by the winning captain (Vodafone).

Nokia has used IPL in a very effective manner, although the Kolkata Knight Riders is not doing that well as a team.

One interesting thing to observe is that the number of advertisers in this season is much more than that in the first season despite the slowdown. Nivea, Emirates, Star Plus, etc., have used the IPL for the first time in their communication plans.

Things have gone as per plans and I am sure it would be bigger and full of excitement in the subsequent weeks.

The organisers deserve a huge applause for putting together this fantastic tournament in less than four weeks.

(Rajneesh Chaturvedi is National Director, MEC Access.)