Cricket and Festive Shopping: Brands Eye Big Wins with Targeted Ads

Now the shopping carts are to be loaded with all the best offers close to the festive season. As the brands start zeroing in, the most potent campaigns that can reach out to these eager shoppers are being chalked out. And what better way than through this universal appeal of cricket? From the 19th of September, the schedule gets really exciting, as at this juncture, the Indian side will take on the big combatants: Bangladesh, New Zealand, and South Africa. When this excitement of high-voltage cricket is fused with celebration-led campaigns, brands stand to gain better the benefits and salience of being a part of the collective excitement.

Team India will step on the crease for 2 Tests and 3 T20Is against Bangladesh from 19th September to 12th October, 3 Tests against New Zealand from 16th October to 5th November, 4 T20Is with South Africa from 8th November to 15th November. All these T20Is and test matches make an apt event for the brands to associate with and add to the cheer across Navratri, Dussehra, Karwa Chauth, Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhaidooj, and Chhath Puja.

With digital and TV rights locked in with JioCinema and Sports18, respectively, this kind of coverage will power really well-targeted and impactful media campaigns. That means the potential to reach over 630 million passionate fans across all devices—from wherever they are tuning in! With millions of viewers choosing to watch the matches on CTV devices, including 4K experiences, this is also an opportunity for brands to address premium audiences on the lookout for top-quality experiences, who are likely to make high-ticket purchases. So with wide coverage, innovative ad formats, and precision targeting on over 80+ cohorts, brands can stay assured that their campaigns are engaging and effective during this festive-cricket period.

The festive season is the time for extra shopping and spending. During the last two years, this period has grown from 30% in auto sales—referring to high-value purchase appetites of consumers in new vehicles that occur during the celebrations. Spending through credit cards rose by 1.3 times, indicating strong jumps in consumer confidence and spends on diversified goods and services. Personal and apparel merchandise, including warm outfits for the festive season, have all indicated a sales increase of 1.6 times.

This year, half the country’s consumers are planning to spend more online through the festive season than in the prior periods, given the convenience and spread digital offers. And as Indians get into their celebratory shopping sprees, it’s time for brands to cash in on this spending surge. Cricket offers the perfect background to marketing platforms with a broad-based appeal that try to unlock this season’s shopping trends and consumer enthusiasm.

This, as already underlined, is compared to Kantar India benchmarks, where brands have seen a 2x uplift across brand KPIs by advertising on bilateral tournaments with JioCinema. These results underline the tremendous impact that cricket integration adds to advertising strategies. And with the festive season coming up, this impact is expected to be 2x larger, and hence brands need to be standing ready at the crease to make the most of this in terms of reach and engagement.

Brands can leverage Fence Ads for maximum exposure during live games, Mid-roll Carousels to build rich experiences during half-time, and Expandable CTAs to nudge fans to act in the moment. Social banners and scorecard branding help brands own the exciting conversations around live matches, enhancing the viewer experience. Branded VODs might enable more extended interaction opportunities, as they combine key match moments and Frame Ads to help obtain constant visibility of the time viewers spend outside the live content consumed on-demand.

This, united with precision targeting within over 80 audience cohorts, allows brands to customize their messages for specific audiences in greatest relevance and engagement. This focused approach ensures campaigns get delivered to the people whom the advertisement is targeted at and, in turn, makes the campaign much more effective, since all of the brand’s messages reach the consumer very strongly. Brands need to harness each wave of India’s cricket mania to create festive shockwaves.