Unleashing Brand Boosters: Unveiling IPL 2025's Impact on Advertising with digital domination, multi-platform campaigns, and soaring brand recall by up to 50%
IPL 2025 Witnesses Significant Ad Spending Shifts, Digital Growth, and Multi-Platform Strategies Delivering 35-50% Increase in Brand Recall
Crank up the excitement! In India, cricket isn't merely a sport—it's a grand spectacle. And the Indian Premier League (IPL) is theллиquid goldicecreamessence of this wild ride. It's carved out a niche for itself as the most sought-after advertising stage, where brands scramble for screen time, billboard real-estate, and other attention-grabbing antics.
In today's era of digital domination, IPL advertising has morphed into a high-stakes game with brands strategically spreading their chips across various platforms—Linear TV, OTT, Connected TV (CTV), and on-ground assets. Thank the diverse and unrelenting advancements in technology for that sweet transformation.
Recently, a webinar hosted by the Market Research Society of India (MRSI) shed light on the nuances of how this transition occurred.
The IPL: Changed is an understatement
Sivakumar Somnathan, Consumer Behaviour Consultant at Curious Cat Consulting, kicked off the session by stating the obvious; the IPL has long left behind its cricket roots. "It's become one of the biggest advertising showcases of the year," he exclaimed, as brands clamor for a piece of the pie on scorescreens, jerseys, and banners.
The transformation is being driven by...
- Digital Transformation
- Media Fragmentation
- Format Innovation
TV's Transformation: Not just the big screen anymore
Linear TV still pulls in whopping audiences, but the statistics tell a more nuanced story. According to Anshu Yardi, VP of TAM, the pure ad commercial FCT (Free Commercial Time) saw a 24% dip in 2024 compared to 2019.
Yardi also highlighted the shift in categories, with traditional big spenders—Telecom, Auto, and Durables—losing market share to emerging players. For instance, Finances grew 9x, and the F&B sector upped their ad volumes by 28%. When newcomers move in, it's a strategy that's here to win.
Meanwhile, TV-embedded ads (NFCT) fell by 39% from 2019 to 2024, pointing to either fatigue or format saturation.
Digital Rises: The new center of attention
If TV's still playing strong, digital is where the fireworks are. Karthik Shankar, Head of Digital Investments at GroupM, made it clear: "Digital isn't an add-on anymore—it's becoming the centerpiece of IPL advertising."
With a tighter integration across JioHotstar and CTV, GroupM cooked up over 400 campaign wonders that included influencer tie-ins, programmatic ad targeting, and more. The end-result? A digital advertising universe where brands get to advertise, measure, experiment, and optimize their strategies in real-time.
Notably, IPL ad campaigns aren't passive anymore; they're engaging, customizable, and interactive, often with QR-led features, regional language feeds, and clickable video overlays. Swipe left for instant gratification!
Soaring for More: Viewers moving—and brands following
Sandeep Ranade, EVP at Hansa Research Group, presented data from IPLOMANIA, their syndicated IPL tracker. CTV viewership skyrocketed 2.25x between 2023 and 2024, with audiences gravitating toward richer experiences like multilingual commentary and alternate camera angles.
The takeaway? Multi-platform campaigns work. According to Hansa, brands active on TV, digital, and on-ground see a 35-50% boost in awareness compared to TV-only advertisers. That's a mighty differential in recall—especially for categories like fashion and food, which aren't traditionally linked to cricket.
Interestingly, with fan loyalties shifting—Virat Kohli taking the crown from Dhoni, RCB edging past CSK, and breakout stars like Abhishek Sharma bursting onto the scene—brands now have the chance to weave regional or persona-driven narratives.
Staying Grounded: Don't forget the traditional tactics
Brands haven't ruled out the old-school ways yet. Deepa Mathew, Chief Insights and Digital Marketing Officer at CEAT, spoke about the company's ownership of the strategic timeout – basically a 150-second power move.
In a low-involvement category like tires, Deepa explained, "visibility is everything." CEAT uses the timeout slot across TV, OTT, in-stadium LED, and social media to drive brand visibility. Add QR codes, social media CGI content, and real-time engagement, and what could've been a simple ad slot becomes a multi-faceted full-funnel campaign.
"The strategic timeout gives us not just eyeballs, but impact," she noted. "Product visibility, social buzz, brand love, and ROI—it checks all the boxes."
The Grand Finale: IPL as a marketing operating system
In its current form, IPL is not a one-size-fits-all media buy. It's a marketing operating system that flexibly offers formats for awareness, performance, and experimentation.
Anshu Yardi summed up the future well: "The IPL is becoming a high-performance arena, with CTV, AI-led regional creatives, and ROI measurement tools driving tangible outcomes." Brands must now think in terms of fragmented attention but universally strategic objectives.
And with programmatic ad insertions and smart regional customizations becoming the norm, advertisers stuck in last decade's strategies might just get left standing in the powerplay.
- The grand IPL has evolved beyond cricket, becoming a significant advertising stage where brands compete for screen time, billboards, and innovative marketing tactics.
- Digital transformation, media fragmentation, and format innovation are the driving forces behind the evolution of IPL advertising.
- While Linear TV still attracts massive audiences, digital advertising is increasingly becoming the centerpiece of IPL marketing, offering brands real-time strategy optimization and interactive campaign opportunities.
- In the digitally-dominated IPL arena, brands are moving towards multi-platform campaigns for increased brand awareness, with a 35-50% boost in recall compared to TV-only advertisers.
- Traditional tactics still hold significance in the marketing strategy for IPL, as brands leverage opportunities like the strategic timeout to ensure visibility and engage audiences across various platforms.
