E-commerce to be huge spender this World Cup: Experts

The International Cricket Council (ICC) already has on board a set of sponsors namely Castrol, Reliance, LG, Hyundai and MRF amongst others. Castrol came on board in 2011, while MRF is an added sponsor for this year. The deals with the other brands were signed for a period of five years and will come to an end and up for renewal post this edition of the tournament. Speaking about the brand interest of the World Cup this year, GroupM ESP national director - entertainment, sports and live events Vinit Karnik says, “Apart from the usual suspects and the ICC sponsors, I definitely see the e-commerce segment participating well for this year’s World Cup. In addition to that, automobiles and FMCG will be seen spending well too.” Some sports experts opine that each of these brands that came on board for the ICC for five years, could be spending close to Rs 25 - 35 crore per year including this season. MRF, which has been signed on board only for this year, could be spending close to Rs 30 - 35 crore for this edition, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand. With Star Sports signing a slew of deals with brands like Yepme.com, PayTM, Raymonds, Nestle, Pidilite, Marico and Lloyd, media experts are pegging the ad revenue from TV alone to be close to Rs 900 - 1000 crore. A rise in the revenue for this year can be attributed to broadcaster, Star India’s move to broadcast the tournament in six languages and offer special pricing for local and regional brands. “Star has increased its reach and relevance of the sport by providing local and regional language feeds. Besides just the reach, it will also help garner more viewership numbers and therefore is a brilliant move,” says Karnik. According to GroupM's bi-annual report titled ‘This Year Next Year,’ e-commerce is expected to be a huge spender for this year from a relatively smaller base than more established categories. The reason stated for the spending is due to an increased competition in this sector and no dearth of funding. Speaking on similar lines is Madison Media COO Karthik Lakshminarayan who is also of the opinion that e-commerce will be a huge spender this World Cup. “Apart from that, the other categories include durables and brands that want to reach out to men will be spending for this year,” he concludes. With the excitement almost palpable in this cricket crazy nation and no dearth of spending moolah, the World Cup seems all set to lure viewers and advertisers alike.