World Cup On TV The Strongest Driver Of Business Impact For Advertisers: Experts

An esteemed panel of industry experts discussed how the World Cup on television is a perfect platform to drive business impact for advertisers at the inaugural edition of BW Festival of Marketing.

While talking about the role of Cricket associations on TV, Sai Narayan, Chief Marketing Officer, PolicyBazaar said, "The task of reaching out to the consumer, especially in the insurance sector is very difficult and it was important for us to reach out to the mass audience and explain them in a very simpler way. Our first big move was when we leveraged HD feed on TV. We were the first advertiser Star Sports sold HD feed to and the results were fantastic. There was a time during the tournament when our website could not bear the load from visitors because the quantum of people viewing our ads on TV was that large. Another advantage of advertising on TV is the second screen phenomenon, where a viewer watching the match on TV with a phone in hand can engage with your brand, and we have seen an uptick in search, and website visits during live matches. This measurability is an important factor for brands like ours leveraging such associations.”

As the World Cup returns after 12 years, advertisers aim to capture the attention of the audience and leverage its massive viewership.

Ashish Karnad, Executive Vice President, Hansa Research stated, “From the brand studies we have conducted for Cricket on TV associations, we have consistently seen higher uplifts for brands across the funnel be it awareness, consideration, or intent to purchase. Television scores much better than digital. Visibility of brand communications is significantly better on television in addition to the fact that TV is a collective viewing experience. Not just direct advertisements, but even features during live matches like Super 4s and Super 6s have delivered significant uplifts in brand metrics compared to other platforms like digital.” He further explained, “In Hansa's study, we have seen that when it comes to viewership experience, especially on cricket, people prefer to watch it more on television because that experience is different. Sports viewing digitally is largely a transitory phenomenon when the viewer does not have access to television.

World Cup brings the power of sport in bringing people together and the ability of advertisers to tap into this unity to create impactful campaigns.

R Venkatasubramanian, President, Havas Play spoke on sports viewership in India, commenting, “Sports viewership on TV is only increasing in India. About 2-3 years ago the viewership of live sports on TV was about 620-650 million but today it is around 730-750 million. When you see the cricket in the last world cup viewership, it crossed 500+ million.” Speaking on the impact his clients witnessed through associating with World Cup on TV he stated, “Kia announced a car launch during the 2019 World Cup on TV, and before the actual launch of the car, the car was completely booked on their website. Similarly with MG Motor, they took to TV only not digital while launching a car and they too received about 10000 bookings through the association. We recommended features during live matches to some of our clients whose objectives were driving app downloads or repeat orders, where the client could give live offers after certain moments like 4s or 6s in a match which would be valid for a certain duration. The impact was so high that we had to stop the campaign within 10 days because their targets were over-delivered.”

Akash Deep Batra, Executive Director and Head of Marketing at DBS Bank shared insights on their recent TV association during the World Test Championship Final stating, “We recently leveraged the World Test Championship Final on television and the match reached 120+ Million viewers, which is also a viewership record for the platform. As a result, within just 5 days, we saw an impact across the funnel with searches increasing 20-30%, our app downloads peaked at about 6X of our daily average which is significantly higher than what we see on other mediums. Another aspect is how these associations help create excitement and confidence among frontline sales when they talk to potential customers which drives them to be more aggressive in the market and pushes them to do better in acquiring new customers.”

For companies of all sizes, from multinational corporations to local businesses, the platform of advertising marks a chance to be in the minds of millions.

On a concluding note, Mansi Datta, Chief Strategy Officer, Wavemaker India emphasised cricket being watched on television stating, “The sentiment attached to World Cup brings a lot of enthusiasm. It is not only a vanity metric but a robust business metric as well when it is on television.”