MAM
GUEST COLUMN: Here’s how IPL is festive season for brands to amplify their reach
Mumbai: The Indian cricket fever is well-known across the globe. The cricket mania has touched highs with the Indian Premier League (IPL). Since its launch 15 years ago, the league has been popular among cricket fans and grabbed the attention of top brands across sectors. With the inclusion of one of the most valued and trusted names – Tata as the title sponsor, the franchise has garnered immense attention from brands and marketers. There are over 29 startups for the first time, with 10 fintech having collaborations to amplify their reach this festive season.
Game-changing marketing strategies
Out-of-the-box marketing strategies can be game-changers during IPL. Cadbury Dairy Milk’s marketing campaign ‘Proud Sponsors of the Ground Staff’ has gained massive applause from the audience. The campaign has focused on the most unanticipated part of the game – the ground staff this season. As part of their initiative, the brand intends to treat ground staff at par with the cricketers and make them equal heroes of the tournament.
Cadbury has struck the right chord with a cost-efficient marketing strategy when marketing costs are rising with brands opting for celebrity players and influencers. The empathy and emotional quotient in the creativity have been the star of the campaign and created a massive brand recall value.
Marketers can leverage great opportunities to reposition established brands and re-attain the numero uno spot in highly competitive times. On the other hand, startups can create a vast following and introduce their product offerings most engagingly during the festive season.
IPL – One of the biggest carnivals for digital marketers
The IPL cricket season is one of the biggest carnivals for digital marketers as it has excellent timing and target audience. The T20 format is a hit among all age groups. The telecast between 8 PM-11 PM on weekdays and double-headers on weekends make the mega sporting event worth all the investments. Commercial sponsorships and collaborations with players are at an all-time high during IPL. Influencer marketing has received much-needed attention on social media platforms.
Engaging content like behind-the-scenes (BTS) videos of players, interactive live sessions, contests, and trending hashtags has hooked the digital audience quite well. This has led to a rise in budget allocation toward digital marketing spending.
The addition of tier 2 cities like Lucknow and Ahmedabad opens doors to connect regional markets with new demographics. The smaller provinces have equally enthusiastic viewers as their urban counterparts. Local and national brands have an equal playing field to introduce their products, engage and cater to customer needs.
From fintech to food and beverage companies, all are leveraging this space to increase their outreach among populations beyond metro cities. Innovative and efficient marketing strategies have proven to create masterstrokes that generate a return on investment (ROI) not limited only to the tournament time frame but also in the future. The advertising arena has witnessed a fresh zeal and zest during the IPL period. There are reports of title sponsor bids rising from Rs 40 crore spent by DLF in 2008 to Rs 300 crore by Tata in 2022. The scorecard has reflected good results leading to rising advertising costs every season.
The impact
IPL can deliver high brand impact in a shorter duration, riding the country’s sheer passion for cricket. When people are sensing normalcy in their lives, IPL is one of the best fitting squares for new brands to connect and well-known brands to reconnect with their audience.
IPL is not limited to only big brands with high marketing budgets. Investing in people has proven to be the most successful marketing strategy. The number of games and new players achieving significant milestones in every match provides incredible brand lifting opportunities.
Brands and marketers have hit sixes and a few misses during the league, all of which have been replayed and learned over the years!
(About Author: Rikki Aggarwal is the co-founder, chief business and operating officer of Blink Digital)
MAM
Ad:tech honours 2026: Full list of winners announced
Expanded awards spotlight winners across 22 categories as industry doubles down on intelligent automation
NEW DELHI: Marketing’s tech elite took the spotlight as the ad:tech honours 2026 returned with a sharper focus on AI, data and immersive media, signalling how deeply technology now underpins brand strategy. Held at Yashobhoomi on March 17, the second edition drew industry leaders to celebrate innovation that is reshaping engagement and performance.
Presented with the International Advertising Association India chapter and new partner Huella, the awards expanded from 8 to 22 categories, tracking the rapid convergence of creativity, automation and analytics.
The winners’ list reads like a snapshot of marketing’s future. In affiliate and partner marketing, Lyxel & Flamingo – Boat and Paytm Ads – Giva took silver. Mobavenue Media Private Limited struck gold in AI-driven dynamic creative optimisation, alongside a silver for Laqshya Media Limited.
Creative AI collaboration saw Rediffusion Brand Solutions Private Limited win gold, with Saltinc Consulting Private Limited securing silver. Laqshya Media Limited continued its strong run, taking gold in AI conversation agents and adding multiple wins across categories, including silver in GenAI-led creative and both gold and silver in interactive DOOH campaigns for Tanishq and Tata Coffee.
Predictive AI honours went to Strong Metrics and Tyroo, both silver, while Orient Bell Limited picked up silver in immersive retail tech. In GenAI-led creative, Laqshya Media Limited, Salt – Kotak and Sumimoto each secured silver, reflecting the crowded race in generative creativity.
Publicis bagged silver in influencer management and gold in performance marketing, where it shared the stage with Arm Worldwide and The Trade Desk, both silver. Glad U Came Private Limited stood out with gold in influencer measurement and analytics.
Marketing automation saw CereOne Media Pvt. Ltd. and Globale Media win silver, while ADMOTT Private Limited claimed silver in OTT innovation.
Programmatic media categories highlighted the shift to advanced targeting and connected screens. Mobavenue Media Private Limited clinched gold in connected TV advertising, with Animmoov Digital Media Pvt Ltd – Asus and Lyxel and Flamingo taking silver. Cheggout Services Private Limited won silver in retail media advertising, while Paytm Ads – Versuni secured gold.
On social platforms, Vayner Media India took gold in community and UGC engagement, with Under 25 – Oppo winning silver. Segumento rounded off the list with silver in the innovation category.
Jaswant Singh, country managing director at ad:tech India, underscored the momentum, saying generative AI and data-driven decision-making are now central to marketing impact. Neena Dasgupta, IAA mancom member and chief executive and founder at The Salt Inc Consulting, added that the awards celebrate not just technology, but “the people, the creativity, and the relentless effort behind it.”
Backed by Comexposium Group, ad:tech New Delhi has long tracked digital disruption. Now, with the honours, it is rewarding those who are not just adapting to change but engineering it.
In an industry racing towards automation, the message from 2026 is unmistakable. The future of marketing will be written not just in ideas, but in algorithms.
