New Delhi:
Digital-focussed brands like BigBasket, Boat and upGrad are betting big on the upcoming IPL season and have entered into partnerships with various teams as they look to cash in on the high viewership that the sporting franchise enjoys. Online grocery platform BigBasket has partnered with the Rajasthan Royals team as their ‘official grocery partner’ for the latest season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) that is scheduled to start from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
“BigBasket has always been a preferred brand for online groceries among its consumers akin to Rajasthan Royals which is a mass favorite when it comes to cricket and IPL. This association connects these two popular brands and we hope to capture a new online customer base,” BigBasket Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Vipul Parekh said. To drive consumer engagement, BigBasket plans to launch offers, competitions and campaigns in the next few weeks throughout the IPL season. The campaigns, it said, will be held on the team’s game days.
Fantasy gaming platform Dream11 had pipped educational technology companies Byju’s and Unacademy to win the IPL title sponsorship rights for this year’s edition with a bid of Rs 222 crore, replacing Chinese mobile phone company Vivo. Consumer tech brand Boat, which has been partnering with IPL teams since 2018, is the official audio sponsor for six IPL teams this year. The list includes Mumbai Indians, Chennai Super Kings, Kings XI Punjab, Kolkata Knight Riders, Delhi Capitals and Royal Challengers Bangalore. Aman Gupta, co-founder of Boat Lifestyle, said the announcement of the IPL has brought back the excitement amongst viewers and advertisers, who were starved of original sports content.
“Due to the pandemic, work from home (WFH), workout from home, learning from home, and cinema at home has become the new normal and with IPL the consumers will also witness another first – Stadium at home. “Cricket is no less than a religion in India, will be viewed with no less than a stadium like an ambience,” he said.
The company is hopeful that the IPL season will give the right push to not only speakers, sound-bars and earphones but the overall audio industry. Boat has announced the launch of limited-edition audio products, inspired by the insignia and colours of the teams, to cater to the fans of the respective teams. Edutech platform upGrad has inked a deal with Star India to run its ad-campaign across TV and the OTT platform Hotstar throughout the tournament. Great Learning has roped in Virat Kohli as its brand ambassador and the cricketer will feature in a multi-film campaign during the sporting tournament. Similarly, Myntra has teamed up with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) to be their exclusive fashion partners for the T20 cricketing event and will have its logo displayed on the upper right chest of RCB’s jersey throughout the tournament.
OTT platform YuppTV has acquired the rights for Dream11 Indian Premier League 2020 for a total of 60 matches. It will telecast the matches Live across more than 10 territories, and will help the platform gain immense traction amongst its target audience on a global scale.
