The Indian Premier League isn’t just a cricket league. It is a season. A season to give abundant reasons to your potential consumer to make purchases. According to International Cricket Council (ICC) market research, cricket has over a billion fans worldwide, with the Indian subcontinent accounting for more than 90% of them.
Even on India’s streets and narrow footpaths, children can be found playing street cricket while their elders watch or listen to cricket updates. With such a large and enthusiastic fan base, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) decided to capitalise on the situation by launching a domestic cricket league. This resulted in the establishment of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. Within a few years of its inception, it had become the BCCI’s most lucrative annual sporting event.
Historical data shows that people spend a maximum amount of time on their mobiles during the IPL season. It has also been observed that a lot of people are glued to their smartphones on cricket match days, to check the scores (or secretly watch a cricket match under their work desks) Anyway, this gives marketers an opportunity to advertise their products through Digital Marketing. You were checking the match score on Google? Here are a couple of search ads that might catch your attention.
But, what industries benefit the most from the enticing season of the Indian Premier League? Here is the list.
- Food and Groceries
Can you imagine watching the IPL without a packet of Lays and Pepsi? Ok, maybe Kingfisher and Chakna for some. But, It has been observed that during the IPL season there is a splurge of 60% in food orders and a whopping 180% in grocery orders.
The combination of IPL and festivals calls for home gatherings, winning parties, and celebrations. On top of the tremendous growth seen last year, this category is experiencing sustained growth.
- OTT platforms
Feel the need to watch your favourite team in the middle of lectures or meetings under your desk? This is where Disney+ Hotstar saves the day.
Disney+ Hotstar is not only an escape from reality so you can jump back into nostalgia to rewatch those old Disney shows or simply watch Euphoria, but it is also majorly downloaded by sports enthusiasts. In fact, there has been an increase of 61% in Hotstar downloads since the last year.
- Mobile games
“Only if Rohit Sharma could stack my files or make my for the client so I can peacefully make my own team on Dream 11”, said every cricket gamer and enthusiast ever.
The commencement of the IPL season encourages cricket players and fans to return to the game. This is an excellent opportunity for brands to own the category and focus on the segment. Last year observed a 25% increase in downloads of the games.
- Fitness industry
Somehow The IPL encourages physical fitness. With the hybrid work model still in place, brands have an opportunity to connect with their audiences.
Research shows that there has been an increase of 119% in exercise equipment, 96% in vitamins, 28% in nutritional supplements and 8% in healthy food.
- Home Furnishing
As people chose to watch the IPL from the comfort of their own homes last season, the number of searches for home furnishing categories increased. Since people preferred to cheer for their teams from their own homes themselves, the Home furnishing searches themselves rose by 30%.
Although the pandemic situation has gotten a little better this year, people can step out of their homes. In fact, they won’t even bother gathering at their friend’s homes.
So what are you planning to sell or purchase this IPL season? Type in the comments below.
