Maruti Suzuki enters IPL 2023 mid-season; earmarks Rs 40 crore

Witnessing the bumper ratings IPL 2023 has garnered, Maruti Suzuki India (MSIL) has entered the tournament mid-season.

“We allocated a significant 81% of funds towards television and 19% towards the digital OTT (CTV) platform for the ongoing edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023,” Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director – Sales and Marketing at MSIL, said.

Speaking about the hike in TV advertising rates for the league, Srivastava said that they are 5-6% up from last year.

Also, while discussing the overall investment in IPL by Maruti Suzuki, Srivastava stated that the company's investment in IPL amounts to around Rs 40 crore this time. He also said that it would account for approximately 3-5% of their expected media spending for FY 2023-2024.

He further elaborated on the company's approach to leveraging both TV and digital platforms.

“IPL is the biggest impact property on TV and has been continuously delivering TVRs of 4+ for the past many years. We are tactically leveraging IPL 2023 to build affinity-based reach for our newly-launched SUVs. Furthermore, presence on OTT (CTV) helps reach cord cutters (5%) and light TV viewers (20-25%) in our TV universe,” he added.

Srivastava added, “MSIL is present in both playoffs and finals of IPL 2023. Our spending is distributed evenly through the latter half of the tournament. We buy as a package and hence do not reveal separate rates.”

With the majority of their investment allocated to TV and a growing focus on digital platforms, MSIL aims to strengthen brand affinity and reach a wider audience, all while capitalising on the popularity and impact of IPL.

The rise in television viewership for IPL 2023 has made it an ideal platform for brands to establish themselves, according to some of the top advertisers in the country.

The various advantages that brands claim during IPL are quicker outreach, higher return on investment (ROI), improved co-television viewership, and heightened brand recognition, among others.

Last month Srivastava had told BestMediaInfo.com that IPL tends to be an attractive launch platform for new brands, irrespective of categories, because of the massive visibility it brings, the excitement associated with the event and the positive rub-off on brand salience metrics for emerging and established brands.

“Given this, many companies/brands hesitate to turn down the opportunity of being present on IPL. Also, we understand there are some new brands who are leveraging this IPL season for their specific launch campaigns,” he had added.

As per Srivastava, IPL provides unparalleled reach on both TV and digital, reportedly reaching 350-400 million people on TV (40% of TV viewers) and 40% of mobile internet (broadband) users in an average year.

“IPL is also a great platform for brands to bring out specific creatives/ads that link the brand in a meaningful way with audiences and cricket, leading to ‘memory structures’ that are enduring. For example, the Vodafone Zuzu ads bring back instant recall even after many years and Swiggy’s app innovation last year that offered discounts during IPL hours is also quite memorable,” he had stated earlier.

He said that IPL over the years has emerged as one of the highest-ranked media events across the world and it also has comparable reach and viewership across urban and rural audiences.

IPL 2023’s cumulative reach for live broadcast on television reached 451 million in the first 48 matches, surpassing last year's full-season reach by 21% and exceeding last year's 48-match reach by 33%, according to BARC data (Source: 2+ Urban+Rural).

Additionally, there has been a significant 29% growth in the Television Rating Points (TVR) for the first 48 matches, according to BARC Male 15+ data.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com