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
Barista partners Ginny Weds Sunny 2 with mango campaign
Cafe chain blends cinema buzz with summer menu and 20 per cent offer.
MUMBAI: Love may brew slowly, but marketing clearly doesn’t especially when coffee meets cinema and mangoes steal the spotlight. Barista Coffee Company has partnered with the upcoming hindi film Ginny Weds Sunny 2 as its official beverage partner, in a move aimed at tapping into youth culture through entertainment-led engagement. The collaboration is not just a logo placement exercise. Instead, Barista is translating the film’s high-energy vibe into its cafés with a themed summer menu titled “Main Hoon Mango”, accompanied by a limited-period 20 per cent discount on combo offerings across outlets.
Actors Medha Shankr and Avinash Tiwary feature in the campaign, seen engaging with the mango-themed menu inside Barista cafés, a visual cue designed to blur the lines between reel and real-life consumption moments.
The strategy reflects a broader shift in how consumer brands are leveraging hindi film industry not just for visibility, but for immersive, on-ground engagement. By embedding the film’s narrative into its product experience, Barista is aiming to drive footfall, especially among younger audiences who increasingly seek experiential touchpoints over traditional advertising.
Barista Coffee Company CEO Rajat Agrawal described the partnership as both a branding and growth play, focused on expanding reach beyond the existing customer base and aligning with evolving consumer preferences.
The emphasis on a seasonal, flavour-led hook mango, one of India’s most culturally resonant ingredients adds a timely layer to the campaign, aligning with summer consumption trends while riding on the film’s promotional momentum.
For Barista, the move is part of a larger positioning shift. Rather than operating purely as a coffee retail chain, the brand is increasingly framing itself as a lifestyle destination, one that intersects with entertainment, conversation and shared experiences. By integrating cinema into its physical spaces, Barista is effectively turning cafés into micro-extensions of the film’s universe, where consumers do not just watch a story unfold but participate in it sip by sip.
The 20 per cent offer further nudges trial, lowering the barrier for consumers to engage with the themed menu while amplifying recall through a tangible incentive.
Brand-film collaborations are hardly new, but their execution is evolving. Where earlier partnerships relied on co-branded ads or product placements, the current playbook leans towards immersive storytelling and retail integration.
In that sense, Barista’s “Main Hoon Mango” push is less about promotion and more about participation inviting consumers to experience a slice of the film within a familiar, everyday setting. As the film industry continues to act as a cultural amplifier, such partnerships underline a growing truth, in today’s attention economy, it is not enough to be seen brands must be experienced.
And if that experience comes with a mango twist and a cinematic backdrop, all the better.
