Maximizing cricket season: A complete guide to effective advertising on Disney+ Hotstar

As anticipation builds for the Asia Cup and the forthcoming ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, the clamour of brands capitalizing on these sporting spectacles' immense popularity is hitting an all-time high. Disney+ Hotstar, with its free viewing, innovative ad formats, and precise targeting options for the two tournaments, has made it into a formidable digital platform for brands to associate with.

Disney+ Hotstar has announced free viewing of the two tournaments for all mobile users, this will prove to be a game changer in making the games accessible to more than *540 million smartphone users across India (FICCI * EY report). Besides this, the leading OTT platform is set to revolutionise live cricket advertising with special pricing offers, sharp targeting capabilities and innovative ad formats.

However, achieving success requires more than enthusiasm. It demands insightful analysis of past campaigns, understanding their implications, and translating these learnings into powerful future advertising strategies.

To empower brands in maximizing this opportunity, Disney+ Hotstar has assembled a guide based on an analysis of close to 50 campaigns from the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2022 campaigns. The gleaned insights, spanning across Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), serve as a valuable resource for brands seeking enhanced results from their associations with cricketing events.

The Power of Effective Media Planning:

A key takeaway from the brand lift study is the remarkable success rate of ad campaigns during the ICC T20 World Cup on Disney+ Hotstar. With a staggering success rate of 96%, these campaigns surpassed industry norms significantly. Such a number demonstrates the vital role effective media planning plays in crafting successful advertising strategies.

This success underscores the importance of Disney+ Hotstar as a platform for brands, especially during prominent sporting events like the upcoming cricket season. Its broad viewership, precise targeting options, and innovative ad formats make it a strategic platform to engage potential consumers effectively. Disney+ Hotstar is offering a range of cutting-edge ad formats which include 3D breakout ads on mobile, an integrated Whatsapp as a Call-to-Action for ads which will open a direct line of communication between brand and target audience.

With a commitment to deliver the most successful Asia Cup and ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, Disney+ Hotstar has brought in innovation to offer over 75 unique targeting options, creating a highly specific and tailored approach to reach their target audience. The targeting parameters provides immense flexibility of cross-tabbing, allowing brands to combine multiple parameters like location, demographics and many more to create a highly specific targeting approach. This allows advertisers to precisely reach their desired audience and optimize their campaigns for maximum impact.

The success of an ad campaign also hinges on the strategic utilization of multiple platforms and innovative ad formats.  Brands leveraging both mobile and Connected TV (CTV) platforms reported 2X brand favourability and 1.2Xpurchase intent, as compared to those that focused solely on mobile platforms. This demonstrates the potential of a multi-platform approach in deepening consumer engagement and broadening the brand's reach. In addition to platform diversity, the choice of ad formats significantly influences the campaign's success.
In essence, effective media planning on Disney+ Hotstar has the potential to turn the imminent cricket season into a rewarding advertising playground for brands.

Balancing Frequency and Budgets:

Data suggest a strong correlation between the duration of the campaign and its subsequent impact on key brand metrics such as brand awareness and purchase intent. Brands that maintained a continuous presence throughout the tournament reported a more significant impact on these metrics compared to those that were active for a shorter duration. Moreover, a higher level of financial investment also directly corresponds to brand uplift.

The study showed that larger investments led to a significant surge in brand awareness. Brands investing Rs 5 Crores or more realized a 1.9-fold uplift, whereas those investing Rs 2 Crores saw a 1.4-fold increase.

Ensuring the right balance allows brands to maintain their visibility, keep their message at the forefront of consumers' minds, and maximize their return on investment, ultimately enhancing results from their ad campaigns on Disney+ Hotstar during the cricket season. Sponsor brands experienced a greater uplift in comparison to inventory buyers, illustrating the advantage of varied ad formats in promoting brand recall and favourability. Moreover, campaigns that supplemented midrolls with other ad formats witnessed 2X impact on brand favourability and purchase intent. Disney+ Hotstar offers interactive ad formats suited to each advertiser’s requirement for example live video ads (midroll/pre-rolls), to display ads (L-bands/ billboards) with added options to contextualise their ads based on key moments during the live feed (such as 6s and 4s, fall of wickets, extras etc).

This finding underscores the importance of diversifying ad formats within a campaign, with a combination of midrolls and other formats leading to a more profound impact.

Creative Development Guidelines for Successful Advertising:

When crafting advertisements for this monumental cricket season, brands should not neglect the power of clear and strategic creative guidelines. The brand uplift study of past successful campaigns reveals some fundamental principles that significantly enhance brand recognition and message association.
Firstly, establishing a clear role of the brand is crucial. Campaigns that effectively convey the brand's identity and positioning have been observed to yield twice the success in terms of brand awareness and favourability. This makes it essential for brands to project a strong and distinctive brand role that resonates with the viewers.
The power of simplicity cannot be understated. Campaigns with a simple and direct message deliver 2.6 X success in establishing the brand message vs. the ones that don't. Complex messages can often be lost on viewers, particularly in the high-energy context of a cricket match.
Humanizing your brand is a key strategy. By showcasing human involvement and connection, brands build relevance and drive brand metrics across the marketing funnel. The presence of relatable figures or narratives within the advertisement can foster a sense of familiarity and affinity among viewers, enhancing their connection to the brand.
Finally, brands that engage in active dialogues with their audience have twice the impact on brand favourability. This could be through real-time interactions during live matches or via digital platforms, fostering a sense of community and involvement.

As brands navigate their creative strategy, these guidelines can serve as a robust roadmap for optimized performance.

In conclusion, by understanding and integrating these crucial learnings into their strategies, brands can optimize their advertising efforts on Disney+ Hotstar during the Asia Cup and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup, thereby amplifying their return on investment.