IPL 2011: Attracting brands, loosing fans
07 May 2011
IPL 2011 has failed to kick in! If ratings are an indication, the fourth season of the tournament has failed to resonate with the viewers, who are still basking in the ICC World Cup win. A research report from IIFL says that viewer fatigue and large-scale personnel changes in the various teams has led to the dip in ratings.
The overhaul of existing teams has diluted some of the loyalty built up over the previous seasons with controversies leading up to this year's edition not helping matters.
This said, IPL as a brand has been rising continuously with the event attracting close to 70 brands this year.
The roster of sponsors reveals a heavy presence of telecom companies, sports brands, surrogate, regional brands and consumer durables. FMCG companies though are conspicuous by their absence, which suggests that there will not be any significant diversion in ad-revenues for GECs.
IPL, as a medium has however succeeded in attracting local advertisers, who traditionally stayed away from advertising on television but have found a suitable vehicle in the IPL franchisees, says IIFL.
| IPL teams | Sponsors |
| Kochi | Federal Bank, Lotto, AVT, V- Guard, Anchor, The Week, Parinee |
| Mumbai | Hero Honda, Royal Stag, Master Card, MRF, Bridgestone, Adidas |
| Deccan | Ultratech, Mc Dowells, Yamaha, Kingfisher, Linc Pens, Playup |
| Chennai | Aircel, Amrapali group, Gulf, India Cements, Reebok |
| Pune | TVS, Killer, Finolex, Adidas, Max New York Life, Royal Challenger, Sahara, Provogue |
| Kolkata | Nokia, Dish TV, Next, Reebok, Spanco, Matrix, Linc Pens, Kit Kat, EMT |
| Bangalore | Mc Dowells, Royal Challenge, Reebok, White Mischief, White and Mckay |
| Punjab | Emirates, Reebok, Royal Challenge, Carlsberg, ACC, Linc Pens, Flying Machine |
| Rajasthan | Floriana, Arihant, Mariott, Puma, Supertech, TCS, Kingfisher, HDFC Life, Amity University |
| Delhi | Muthoot Group, Westin, Adidas, GMR, Kingfisher, Royal Challenge, Panasonic, Coca Cola |
| Set Max | Vodafone, Videocon, Samsung Mobile, LG, Hyundai Motors, Pepsico, Tata Photon, Havells, Cadbury |
| Source: Industry, IIFL Research | |
The financial services arm further adds that despite the lower ratings, broadcaster Set Max will still see profits this edition owing to the channel pre-booking majority of its ad-inventory on the back of surge in ratings in IPL 2010, when the event returned to India.
The consistency in ratings seen over the past three years also helped the broadcaster.
IIFL says that Set Max had actually pre-sold a large part of its ad-inventory this year at rates higher than last year's levels with its lead and associate sponsors picking up close to 55 per cent of the total inventory.
The ad-revenues for Set Max are set to cross Rs9.3bn for IPL 2011, according to IIFL.
The IPL 2011 season begun on the 8 April, 2011 and is set to conclude on 28 May.
The fourth edition of IPL has also seen the addition of two new teams Kochi Tuskers Kerela and Pune Warriors, and an increase in the total number of matches from the last edition.
