Why PhonePe is investing heavily in IPL 2021
Besides being a co-presenting sponsor on Star India & associate sponsor on Disney+ Hotstar, PhonePe is also sponsoring 4 IPL franchises
The platform is bullish about IPL since it has seen a strong positive impact on both brand and business due to its on-air sponsorship of the tournament. "This is the third year in a row when we are associating with the IPL. We have seen a strong positive impact on both brand and business through the years and hence the continued association," a PhonePe spokesperson said.
While TV viewership on IPL has given PhonePe a lot of visibility, the spokesperson stated that this year the platform also felt that a lot of the digital viewers of IPL should also be able to relate to and recall PhonePe in a similar fashion as how TV viewers have.
"So we have partnered with Hotstar as an Associate Sponsor of IPL. Digital being a dynamic platform also allows for a lot more contextualisation and curation of experiences to drive the brand story in a richer, more relevant, and engaging manner. As for ROI, we will be looking at brand perception and mind measures along with business growth in terms of the acquisition."
The spokesperson also stated that the partnership with IPL franchises allows it to forge a stronger association with the fans of these franchises. "While Star Sports and Disney + Hotstar sponsorships offer us two of the biggest platforms during IPL season to broadcast our communication to the country at large, partnering with some of the IPL franchises offers us an avenue to forge a stronger association with and become more relevant for these audiences due to a local connect."
PhonePe's marketing strategy derives from its strategic vision of bringing digital payments to every Indian household. Marketing in 2021 for PhonePe starting with the IPL campaign will be focussed on building 1) affinity for digital payments with the category non-users (those who haven’t tried out digital payments yet) and 2) driving preference for PhonePe within the category users.
"In an industry where the marketing narrative has largely been around showcasing functional benefits, we believe we have a very strong humanised brand platform in “Karte Ja. Badhte Ja” enables us to drive narratives that are closely tied to consumer truth and helps us be a more human-centered brand," the spokesperson said.
