Advertisers have already moved on to the next big game just around the corner. With India being T20 World Cup's defending champions, the stakes will be much higher. The industry discusses why interest in IPL dipped this year
Advertisers have already moved on to the next big game just around the corner. With India being T20 World Cup's defending champions, the stakes will be much higher. The industry discusses why interest in IPL dipped this year
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The pitch is crisp, the teams have fought tooth and nail to make it to the finalu2026 IPL draws to an end tonight. But the action is happening far, far away in South Africa. Does that matter? Apparently it does, to advertisers.
Rohit Gupta, head of sales, Sony Max, disagrees. "Our advertising revenue has increased by almost 40 to 50 per cent as compared to last year. It's a popular property, so it will only grow year after year," he says. Sneha Rajani, head for the channel meanwhile, refuses to part with financial information, suggesting that the "sales have only grown".
In an online report, it was mentioned that Set Max took home roughly Rs 300 crore last year.
Sources however point out that the cost of ad spots closer to the finals have dropped considerably from what they were last year.
Bhupal Ramnathkar, founder-director of Umbrella Design and Vikram Gaekwad of Creative Land Advertising blame the change of venue. "Even Sachin Tendulkar expressed his sadness at not being able to play in India this year.
It wasn't so much fun this time," says Ramnathkar. Gaekwad feels the time difference may have posed a problem in viewership.
But adman Prahlad Kakar vehemently denies that the change in scene is the reason for the alleged low advertising sales. He reasons: "TV viewers don't give a sh*t whether the matches are being played in India or abroad. The matches air at prime-time, so what's the problem? It's commendable how (Lalit) Modi organised the entire tournament in barely two weeks. Now we can take IPL wherever we please. They couldn't have cancelled it because then the ICC would have pounced on the brand. Do you know that South Africa is making roughly $ 2 to 3 billion through the series!"
According to Kakar, the reason behind low advertising costs is recession. "Everyone thought 'forget it, let's advertise with the IPL next year'," he states.
Sumanto Chattopadhyay of Ogilvy & Mather is happy that Vodafone is one of the brands getting much visibility during the matches. But the executive creative director feels that most brands have become more cost-conscious and are spending less on campaigns.u00a0
Ad filmmaker Adi Pocha has another bone to pick. "The advertising sales ought to have been low last year and high this year. After all, last year, no one knew what to expect of IPL or how well it would do. This year, we know the series is a big hit, shouldn't the tournament be making a lot more money?" he asks.u00a0
Alyque Padamsee has an explanation for that. The ad guru says, "The initial excitement has died down. Just like it happened with Kaun Banega Crorepati. The second season didn't attract as much attention even though it had Amitabh Bachchan. In the same manner, none of the future IPL seasons can generate the same amount of interest as the first one did."
McCann Erikson's executive chairman Prasoon Joshi hits the nail on the head when he talks of the viewership and the reason behind the drop in TRPs (refer box): "IPL organisers need to figure out how to get the public emotionally involved with any particular team. Right now we don't know whom to support. Every team has Indians in it and also players of other countries. Our loyalties are confused." Joshi puts down the success of season one to the novelty factor. "The initial euphoria has died down. But if the viewer gets emotionally bound to a team, then IPL will have struck gold."
Until then, there's always T20 to look forward to. "It's one emotion which will bind us. After all, it's Team India against the rest, and we did win last year," says Joshi. The lyricist is working on a couple of briefs due to be aired during the Twenty20 World Cup (starts June 5). Prahlad Kakar too will soon shoot a Zandu Balm commercial with the T20 Indian team. "It may not be ready by June 5 but hopefully it will be completed before the the series ends."
Approximate ad sales
|
Year |
Period |
Ad Spot Cost |
|
2008 |
Throughout the series |
Rs 2.5 lakh for 10 seconds |
|
2008 |
Semi-finals and finals |
Rs 8 lakh for 10 seconds |
|
2009 |
Throughout the series |
Rs 3 lakh to Rs 4.25 lakh for 10 seconds |
|
2009 |
Semi-finals and finals |
Rs 5 lakh for 10 seconds |
Comparitive ratings
|
Year |
Period |
Approx TRPs |
|
2008 |
May 30 (two days before finale) |
6.31 |
|
2009 |
May 22 (two days before finale) |
5.6 |
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