: Opinion: IPL sponsorship – what’s in it for Tata? #IndiaNEWS #Experts Speak With 50% of IPLs viewership being a part of the younger demographic, Tata Group holds an advantage to attract the younger

Opinion: IPL sponsorship – what’s in it for Tata? #IndiaNEWS #Experts Speak
With 50% of IPLs viewership being a part of the younger demographic, Tata Group holds an advantage to attract the younger audience, opines Prabhakar Mundkur as he shares how the new titular sponsorship is set to redefine the marketing & communication game for the brand.

When Vivo gave up the IPL sponsorship most Indians must have been relieved. There has been discomfort with Chinese brands in the country for some time now, after the continued Chinese aggression on our borders. Although the phone is actually made locally, did the IPL sponsorship help Vivo? It certainly did. The brand is the third-largest brand in the Indian market. In FY 20 its revenue grew 45% to Rs 25,060 crores.

So there is little doubt that IPL is excellent for a new brand that needs to establish itself because of the huge brand awareness that IPL brings to the table. This year from April 2- June 3 a two-month period, a title sponsor can dominate their brand in the market for 8-9 weeks. The IPL has also been growing consistently to deliver better value for brands year after year.

For Season 13, there was a 23% growth in viewing minutes and was in fact the first sports tournament to cross 400 billion viewing minutes according to viewing data.

So, its truly our version of the Super Bowl except that it runs for 2 months instead of a single day.

While IPL gave Vivo a real shot in the arm there has been some speculation on what it could do for Tata. Tata is an established brand, that perhaps is top-of-mind anyway with the average Indian.

While Tata is an old brand it is also a brand that is perhaps better known amongst the oldies. With IPL Tata has a distinct advantage to appeal to the young population of India and to start bulling awareness and relevance for this younger target group.

The age group of < 15 years to 30 years accounts for 50% of IPL’s viewership a critical group for a new and emerging Tata with its slew of new brands and acquisitions.

Another reason why IPL makes sense is that perhaps the corporate Tata brand now needs a brand refresh. Most old brands fade over time and need a shot in the arm and IPL should prove to be a great shot in the arm for Tata. 43 crore people watch IPL and this gives Tata a chance to speak to the masses in India.

Traditionally a number of Tata brands have not really needed advertising. TCS and Tata Steel are just a few of them. Although when they do advertise their campaigns have been memorable, (take Tata Steel’s iconic baseline “We also make steel�? developed by the erstwhile HTA ) there are businesses that don’t need active advertising like durables or packaged goods.