The ICC Champions League final has achieved record-breaking viewership this season, attracting 1.24 billion viewers, and with India’s big win, fans are primed for the country’s biggest sporting event: the Indian Premier League. This time of heightened engagement presents a golden opportunity for advertisers to connect with a vast and valuable audience.
By leveraging programmatic moment marketing on CTV, advertisers can precisely insert ads that resonate with critical live match moments, such as a boundary hit or a key wicket taken, forging immediate connections with viewers. The dynamic nature of CTV facilitates rapid ad adjustments based on match developments, capturing audience attention at precisely the right moments and fostering emotional connections that enhance brand recall.
Moreover, the surge in interest has driven up ad rates by 25-30%, with CTV witnessing a notable 30% increase, underscoring its pivotal role in the IPL landscape. Here, CTV ad podding enables advertisers to optimize viewer encounters by maintaining a fixed frequency, ensuring they remain engaging rather than overwhelming. Originally, ad spending was projected to reach $400 million by 2027 due to significant shifts in viewing habits, particularly in urban centers like Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore. This shift encourages them to adopt advanced CTV strategies. By leveraging targeted ads in premium inventory placements, they can create deeper, more impactful connections with viewers.
The increasing adoption of CTV underscores the urgent need for advertisers to strategically allocate budgets to maximize visibility and streamline monetization efforts, particularly during high-stakes events like the IPL. The evolution of CTV is transforming the advertising economy with unified solutions that enhance experiences for both advertisers and viewers alike. By consolidating campaign management across various CTV apps, streaming devices, fast channels, and OEMs on a single platform, they can achieve greater exposure and secure premium inventory for enhanced discoverability. This improves brand perception and campaign performance and allows for targeted ad placements during pivotal IPL moments, ensuring competitive separation by strategically avoiding adjacency to similar brand ads.
One key advantage of unified CTV solutions is their capacity to deliver tailored ads, specifically for advertisers targeting Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, which are experiencing rapid CTV growth. Granular audience segmentation based on geolocation, demographics, and interests enables them to adapt their messaging to evolving audience preferences. Further, real-time analytics facilitate campaign adjustments, ensuring brands reach the right households with the right messages at the right moments, significantly enhancing campaign effectiveness.
In conclusion, advertisers should seize the moment and transform their ad strategies for the IPL using CTV to engage a captivated audience and elevate brand presence. The rise of this channel during the IPL represents unprecedented opportunities, and by embracing advanced CTV solutions such as targeted ads in premium inventory placements, brands can forge meaningful connections with viewers. As fans increasingly shift to streaming matches on CTVs, now is the time to capitalize on this trend and strategically maximize campaign outcomes during one of India’s most significant sporting events.
Written By Sanjeev Bankira, Country Head Applabs, India & MENA
