New Delhi, Apr 3 (PTI) : After India's historic World Cup win, advertisers are making a beeline to cash in on the cricket fever during season four of the Indian Premier League (IPL), which is starting this week.
Interestingly, many companies and brands hitherto inactive in cricket advertising and sponsorship, have jumped on to the bandwagon, booking ad spots on Set Max, the subcontinental broadcaster for the IPL matches this summer.
"There is a lot of interest from advertisers. Many companies such as Piramal, Tata Motors, Nikon, Paragon, Kansai Nerolac Paints, Hitachi and Johnson & Johnson have come on board for the first time," Multi Screen Media (MSM) President (Network Sales) Rohit Gupta told PTI.
He said, the broadcaster has already sold out most of the ad inventory for the 74 matches to be played between 10 teams between April 8 and May 28.
"We have seen the craze for the IPL only grow in the last four years. It is for the first time we are associating with IPL and 30 per cent of the company's total marketing budget for TV would be spent during IPL," Nikon India General Manager Sachin Kumar said.
Kumar said Nikon, which that has recently roped in Bollywood actor Priyanka Chopra as its brand ambassador, will spend Rs 120 crore on marketing this fiscal and TV will consume a significant portion of the total spends.
Besides booking ad spots on Set Max, Tata Motors is going a step further in its association with the IPL by becoming an associate partner for passenger cars with the Delhi Daredevils.
"This is an extension to our association with the JiyoDilli Festival and to support the spirit of the city of Delhi," a Tata Motors spokesperson said.
The company is also talking to other IPL teams to become associate partners for commercial vehicles too, he added.
MSM has sold 10 second ad slots for about 6.25 lakh and will increase the rates when the tournament reaches crucial matches such as the semi-final stage.
"The spot rates for remaining 5-10 per cent ad inventory will surely go up at later stage," Gupta of MSM said.