The Hindu Business Line : High ad rates keep FMCG biggies away from IPL matches

Mumbai, April 28 Prohibitive media rates have made big FMCG spenders such as Hindustan Unilever (HUL), Colgate and P&G stay away from the IPL matches.

After investing in the 2003 World Cup and even the more recent T-20 matches last year, HUL has decided not to be visible with its brands on the much hyped IPL T-20 matches.

When contacted, HUL’s new Media Manager, Ms Dyananda Chaudhari, said, “I do not wish to comment on why we have not invested in IPL.” However, HUL’s media planning agency claims that HUL has not been able to see cost efficiencies in investing behind the IPL property as the ad rates have been too high. Besides, HUL felt the IPL brand was more powerful than the brands riding on it and that it did not see any of its brands finding a fit with the game. In the past, HUL has used cricket for some of its brands such as Clinic Plus, Close Up and Fair & Lovely and lately it has associated with cricketer Yuvraj Singh for endorsing its Lifebuoy brand.

The telecaster, Max, a group channel of Sony Entertainment, has decided to double the rates of the remaining inventory of air time to Rs 4 lakh for ten seconds.

In the case of P&G, it is ready to admit that while it has not invested behind the IPL property, its brands have been linked to the game of cricket.

Says a P&G spokesperson, “At present, P&G does not advertise on IPL. At the same time, P&G understands that cricket is a driving passion for the country and our brands continue to build associations with the game in multiple ways. For instance, our brand ambassador for Gillette Mach 3 is Rahul Dravid, who is an icon of the game. We will continue to evaluate opportunities of associating with the game as and when they arise.”

Mr Navin Khemka, Vice-President, Zenith Optimedia, said, “While the inventory for IPL’s weekend matches were sold out, there were not too many takers for the weekday matches as the entry level cost for any advertiser has proved to be too high. However, the media hype has ensured that the ratings have been high during the first week. But we have told our clients not to expect the same ratings every weekend.”

In fact, Zenith Optimedia, which handles Nestle’s media account, decided to launch its Cup’O Noodles during the first week of the IPL matches. “We knew the first week ratings would be high and took a quick decision to launch the brand even if we had to pay a premium on it,” says Mr Khemka.

Wait and watch

Meanwhile, there are other FMCG companies such as Godrej, Heinz and exclusive sponsors Coca-Cola which have extensively invested behind the IPL matches, while some others have decided to wait and watch. According to Mr Shahid Zainudeen, Senior V-P, Repucom International, “There are a lot of big companies which are playing the waiting game. Besides, for some, they have exhausted their budgets for the year and may not be in a position to assign new budgets in the short term. In IPL’s second season, there should be more companies on board.”

Expecting more sponsors and advertisers to come on board during IPL’s next season, media planners are not giving up hope on the popularity of the game. As Mr Ajit Varghese, MD, Maxus, the media agency for IPL, says: “IPL is a high-cost event and a lot of company members in the board rooms must be re-thinking their strategies as of now.” As for IPL, it claims to have crossed its sponsorship targets this season and is looking forward to its second season.

Mr Dhiraj Malhotra, IPL Tournament Director, said, “So far there have been no new advertisers and sponsors. The advertisers have been skeptical in the first year but we expect it to pick up next year. We have already crossed the target from sponsorships and our biggest sponsors continue to be DLF, Hero Honda, Citi Bank and Kingfisher.”

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