Our ad awareness and TOM scores doubled during IPL: Nilesh Malani, Polycab

For a wires company to create excitement for its brand and become a household name does not come naturally. Very few brands in a low-involvement category manage to break through with truly memorable advertising and high brand awareness scores. Polycab, through its association with IPL, especially on TV since 2017, has managed to establish the brand in the category and increase its awareness and consideration scores in leaps.

With an estimated 18 per cent share of the organised market for cables and wires, Polycab is the largest manufacturer in this segment in India. The task for the company is to expand the revenue share of Fast Moving Electrical Goods (FMEG)—fans, lighting, switchgears, switches and pumps. 

Polycab had an associate sponsorship with IPL 2020 wherein they were also present at the IPL auction, non-IPL live events and CSK surround event. Polycab had taken spots in 50 live IPL matches on all live feeds, specifically 90 seconds per match in SD Feed and 40 seconds per match in HD Feed. Hence a total of 27,455 seconds on SD Feed and 4,357 in HD Feed in live matches. It ran its new campaign ‘bharosa safe zindagika’ with Ayushmann Khurrana as the brand ambassador.

Polycab’s primary brand objective of associating with IPL 2020 was to increase consumer awareness and consideration scores. The secondary objective was also to be perceived more as a FMEG company than just a cables and wires company. As per the brand, they have been one of the fastest growing FMEG brands in the country in terms of volumes. 

“Back in 2017, through the association with IPL on TV, the company’s objective was to be showcased as a wires and cables company. After two years, the company went public with an IPO. “Since the last one or two years, the objectives have kind of evolved further wherein we are trying to showcase our entrance in the FMEG sector, along with producing, making and servicing quality products in the consumer goods space,” explains Nilesh Malani, Executive VP & Chief Marketing Officer, Polycab India Ltd.

Started as a wires and electrical goods brand, the company diversified into FMEG in 2014. The objective was to move from being a pure B2B player to B2C one. The brand got major visibility after it started advertising on TV during the Indian Premier League in 2017. Polycab also roped in various stars as brand endorsers—from Paresh Rawal for wires since 2014 to R Madhavan for fans since 2018 and Ayushmann Khurrana for switchgear in 2019. RK Swamy BBDO is their creative and media agency. Polycab’s growth has been in line with the industry and is expected to continue as the government is focusing on electrification and also rural development.

“Our ad awareness during IPL almost doubled from 12 to 24. Our overall top of mind scores increased from 14 points to 29 points. Our total awareness scores also increased from 60 to 73. Moreover if you see, our TVR ratings have been consistent. In last three years, TVRs were 3.54 and last year also they delivered 3.56. Our spots actually garnered better TVR as compared to last year. It grew by 11%, reaching 4.4 from 4,” said Malani. 

“Post IPL, awareness for Polycab saw 49% higher scores in the exposed group. We had close to 24 OTS which is quite significant. And we delivered close to 921 GRPs which is the highest in the category. Our total share of voice from April last year till now is around 50% within the electrical goods space. Also our reach has been quite significant. One in three amongst the audience has seen our ad at least thrice,” he adds. 

Talking about the brands that associate with IPL on TV, Malani says, “IPL is a very good platform wherein you get immediate scale, reach and visibility, more so for the service sector where immediate action is required. Also this platform is extremely good for those who are launching a new product, as it gives you a huge reach of close to 400 million in the country for roughly 8-10 weeks.” 

The 13th edition of IPL held in UAE was watched by 405 million viewers for a total of 400 billion viewing minutes, which was up 23% year on year, as per data provided by TV ratings agency BARC India.

Polycab is pleased with the kind of results the association with broadcast of IPL generated for the brand. Within its category, Polycab emerged as the most visible brand with a score of 76 out of 102.9, while Share of Brand Experience (SOE) score stood at 74%. While analyzing marketwise GRP, Polycab realized that it had the highest GRP across all markets in FY 20-21.