Was Ipl Marketed Well?

Introduction:

Indian Premier League is a T20 cricket league in India held during the summer breaks of April and May every year. There are 8 teams contesting for the ultimate prize wherein each team or franchise represents a city in India. The league was founded by Board of Control for cricket in India in 2007. So far 9 seasons of IPL has been completed with 8 being held in India and one season was held in South Arica.

IPL is the most attended cricket league in the world and ranks sixth among all sports league. It also holds the distinction of being the first sports event broadcasted live in YouTube. The brand value of IPL is estimated to be $4.5 billion as of 2015 (valued by American Appraisal). IPL has a significant impact on the GDP of India as well, according to BCCI, IPL contributed about $182 million to the GDP in 2015. Brand value of IPL increased by 19% in the current 2016 season and is valued at $4.16 billion (Data from Duff & Phelps).

Cricket and India:

Cricket is not the national sport of India, but it is the most followed sport in India. There are various reasons why cricket is much followed and the cricketers are worshipped as god. Cricket is a religion in India and every person in the country can talk upon it. Cricket has united various cultures and religions in our country. The game’s popularity has increased with advent of mass media. This has helped in reaching every household in India and helped the country produce many talented cricketers among which Sachin Tendulkar fondly know as little master or god of cricket embraced the game. This has led to ever increasing fan base and every kid on the street dreams of becoming a Sachin, Dhoni, Dravid. Cricket is also more popular because it brings in lots of sponsorship and recognition in the country which no other sport can boast of. Here are some of the reasons why cricket is very popular in India,

• Cricket is a very simple game to learn and follow. No complications on how the game is played.
• Compared to other sports in the country, Cricket has the best infrastructure in place.
• India is a well-known force in the cricketing world and currently number 1 test team.
• The physical quotient required to play the game is low.
• We have the strongest governing body for cricket.
• Money in the game is incomparable to other sports.
• Sponsors and advertisements are more with crickets.  
• Since 2008, IPL has led to increased fan following in cricket.

We have now established that cricket is a religion in India and people of India are crazy about the game. IPL tapped in the popularity of cricket in India and made huge money out of it. But IPL didn’t just market upon the popularity of the game. The game was just the utilitarian aspect. IPL was marketed as a wholesome package and not just cricket. Before we get into how IPL marketing was a success, let’s look at model of IPL and viewership data to substantiate the claim made.

Model of IPL:  

The franchise model of IPL was taken after extensive study on other sporting leagues across the world, like NHL, EPL, etc. The league is structured in a way to make cricket flourish in India and help in grassroots development of the young and budding players.  IPL has all ingredients to succeed; best cricketers from the world, fans across the globe, glamour quotient by the entertainment industry of India, corporates and Indian politicians.

IPL is touted as the perfect marriage between India’s most religious industries, i.e. Cricket and Entertainment Industry.

Commercialization of IPL:

 The value positioning of IPL is “Fast and Quick Entertainment”. It’s true because the full game is over in less than 3.5 hours which is slightly more than what and average length of Indian movie. IPL has tapped into the craze of Indian people and made it a one of a kind extravaganza. There are huge stakes involved and money is spun in all possible angles to help the brand IPL grow.  IPL has defined a new set of paradigm for doing business in India. IPL has added a new dimension to the branding and marketing of the game.

Under BCCI IPL has grown as the brand and its estimated brand value is about $4.16 million and is contributing about 0.6% of India’s GDP according to KPMG report. The USP of IPL has been the franchise model of the teams. The teams are run and managed by various corporate house or Bollywood celebrities. Another main USP of the IPL has been the auctioning of the cricketers from India as well across the globe.

IPL has three different title sponsors namely DLF, Pepsi and currently Vivo. The sponsorship deals, Television rights are the major sources of revenue of IPL along with ticket sales for live matches in stadium. Apart from these IPL also makes money from the auctioning of franchisee rights to the owners and umpires sponsorships.

Marketing Strategy of IPL:

The IPL as such is a concept sell. It has also ingredients for controversy marketing making it popular with everyone.

IPL gained much fan-fare by the following strategies adopted:

• Auctioning of the franchisees
• Auctioning of the players
• Advertisements on various TV and radio channels.
• Cheerleaders, a huge crowd puller.
• Worldwide telecast
• Venue chosen based on the franchisee teams.
• Conflicts and controversies pull the attention of people.
• Timing of the matches, evening time so that people can tune in after work or school or college. Making the people watch leisurely.
• ICL: failure of ICL has helped IPL in creating a brand value for itself.
• Opening ceremony gala, Live concerts. Roping in leading singers, music directors, actress and actors to perform in IPL.
• Franchises are owned by film stars like Shahrukh Khan, Pretty Zinta. They pull in other Bollywood stars which become the centre of attraction for people.
• For an average Indian consumer, its dual benefit of seeing their favourite cricketer as well their favourite celebrities in the same screen.
• Using celebrities and models for anchoring and promotions of teams as well the cricket matches.
• Commentators using phrases with sponsor names pulling in more sponsor money.

Promotion of IPL:

Some of the unique promotion aspects of IPL are Merchandise, Online Advertising, screening at cinema halls.

Merchandise: IPL has partnered with companies like eBay, Homeshop18, etc to sell official products like team jerseys, caps, shirts, key chain.

Online Advertising: One of IPL’s unique promotion has been the tie up with Google for live streaming of matches in YouTube. IPL has made sure that they are available in all types of telecast, be it conventional television, online streaming and mobile device streaming.