Mumbai: The record-breaking growth of premium audiences on HD during cricket events drew a massive assembly of advertisers in 2023.
The measurable growth of HD households and the viewership amassed by HD during major cricket events has given brands a clear choice this IPL. As per BARC, in just three years HD TV households have doubled from 36 million to a massive 71 million, accumulating over 215 million premium audiences. On the back of this growth, IPL 2023 on HD crossed the 100 million mark for the first time ever. HD drove a viewership of 113 million viewers, a spectacular 4X growth compared to IPL 2022. The towering growth was enjoyed by a plethora of brands targeting premium audiences. Both IPL and Cricket World Cup witnessed a massive turnout of brands like Mahindra Auto, Emirates, Visa, Blackberrys, Happilo, Renault, Skoda, Kent, and Spinny among others.
IPL on HD witnessed a massive growth in veritably young affluent cohorts:
IPL 2023 on TV led by HD witnessed a massive influx of young and affluent cohorts as BARC reported a 37 per cent reach growth in Male A Urban viewers, 40 per cent in 15-30 AB Urban and 36 per cent in 15-30 AB 10 Lakh+ Cities. Additionally, the reach growth in English feed audience was an incredible 127 per cent on TV last year. The unmatched and seamless high-definition viewing experience that HD has dominated viewer preference. The scale of collective viewing that HD is a critical factor for premium advertisers and the improvement in key business goals of brands leveraging IPL on HD backs the choice.
Brands leveraging IPL and World Cup on HD in 2023 witnessed 4X uplift in business KPIs: Research Studies
Digital BFSI brand: This brand was promoting a new premium offering and through its HD association with IPL on TV it witnessed a 35 per cent increase in top-of-mind awareness. To put that into perspective, it generated a 4.5X higher uplift compared to other mediums which claim to reach premium audiences. (Source: Hansa Research)
Premium international brand: During the Cricket World Cup, the brand had launched a new campaign to solidify its position in the Indian market. A YouGov research showcased that the brand witnessed major uplifts across KPIs: ~2X uplift in awareness metrics, 3X uplift in daily active users on it’s app and a massive 4X growth in overall brand metrics compared to other mediums that claim to reach premium audiences. (Source: YouGov)
Brands custodians on how they leveraged the power of cricket on HD
Amit Doshi (Britannia) - “The good thing about live sports broadcasts is the multiple feeds that have been created, which are language feeds, HD feeds, and what it allows, brands to do today is to be far more intelligent, far more precise about how we're using media. We've always seen good results.”
Krishnarao Buddha (Parle Products) – In a recently concluded panel discussion, Buddha stated, “Last year during our association with Star Sports on IPL, while SD feed allowed us to instantly reach a large aggregation of masses, HD feed allowed us to reach a large sum of premium audiences. It became a great vehicle for us to reach the right audience for our premium offering Parle Platina.”
IPL on HD has showcased it can amass the largest gathering of affluent audiences in the shortest span, delivering scale with incredible efficiency. With cricket viewership on TV at an all-time high, IPL 2024 presents an unmissable opportunity for brands to drive high consumption among affluent audiences.
