IPL 2021 has hit the refresh button, and this September, brands are geared up to advertise during India’s largest TV broadcast event. Given its overlap with the festive season, the synergy of advertising efforts is certainly an advantage for marketers.

With as high as 200 million+ TV viewers tuned in for a single IPL match, brands have the largest opportunity to maximize their reach and engagement during this season -- mainly by integrating their marketing efforts across both TV and digital.

If you’re advertising on TV during IPL, you’re most likely to end up spending 20% more for premium ad spots than usual. To ensure the value of your (huge) ad dollars, you can mainly do two things: track your live campaign performance and complement ongoing TV ads with digital engagement.

Here are some ways to build engagement over and above your IPL TV campaign, using Zapr audience segments available of DMPs like Lotame:

1. Increase frequency of exposure among underexposed audiences for higher mind-space (Cord Shavers): Your audiences who are watching IPL on TV may have also seen your ads, but are underexposed. You could either spend more on TV (for the expensive ad slots) OR you could choose this segment and achieve that frequency by engaging this set on digital, at highly optimized costs. These audiences underexposed to your expensive IPL ads are called "Cord Shavers" on DMP [Size: 30 - 40 mn]. They are engaged with ads on mobile - an effective lean in point of attention.

2. Engage with those who missed your IPL ads (Cord Fakers): Another way to build higher impact for your IPL campaign is by engaging IPL viewers who missed your ongoing ads on TV -- this set is basically glued to their phones when there’s an ad break, or maybe not. How about you make sure that your brand’s messaging reaches them too?

3. Claim top-of-mind recall by engaging competitor ad viewers: To remain fresh in the minds of IPL audiences, it’s crucial to break free from the clutter and build more frequency exposure to ensure that your own brand stands out. By targeting those who have been exposed to your competitor ads during IPL, you can ensure that your audiences recall your messaging strongly and have the highest consideration for your brand.

4. Reach audiences that are watching IPL, but not on TV - "Cord Cutters" [Size: 20 mn]: These are people who are a part of your TG but are not watching IPL on TV. This segment helps brands drive incremental reach over their TV ads in a much more optimized way.


If your brand is not advertising on TV during IPL, audience segments on DMP are an incredible way to engage IPL audiences without even advertising on highly expensive TV channels.

Here are some ways to execute a TV like campaign straight on mobile:

1. Directly reach IPL viewers on digital: Even if you’re not running your own TV ads or not, you can win back share-of-mind from every individual exposed to your competitor’s TV ads during IPL. Tap into our segment of “IPL viewers” on DMP and engage with them on mobile.

2. Engage viewers of your competitors who are advertising during IPL: With most people switching their attention from TV screens to mobile phones during ad breaks, those who watch competition ads can be identified in real-time and immediately engaged with your own brand messaging on mobile. A major automobile brand worked with us during IPL and reached one-third of their biggest competitor brand’s TV audiences. Their campaign resulted in more than 80% video completion rates indicating high retention of brand message among competitor audiences.

3. Focus your IPL messaging on behavioural segments such as “working professionals”, “affluent audiences”, “parents of young kids”, etc. who are most likely going to take action on your brand offers.

To further explore ideal segments to engage during IPL, you can download this IPL advertising ebook for free.

If you found this blog interesting and would like to have a chat with the team on boosting your brand engagement this IPL, simply hit the Get in Touch button and we’ll talk real soon.