Even as it drew to a thrilling close last weekend, I couldn't help note that IPL as a property has lost some of its fizz this year. Overall, it has been a little disappointing and I would narrow that down to three main reasons, while acknowledging the fact that the ICC Cricket World Cup did take away from the allure of the Indian Premier League.

Firstly, at this point in time, for the property which started off with a bang four years ago, it may not have been a good idea to add two new teams which made the tournament stretch for too long. Secondly, the shifting of players between teams has not helped at all - the identity of the teams is through its players to a great extent, and players being moved around can confuse fans, and reduce loyalty. Lastly and critically the branding of teams is weak. Comparing it to a Manchester United or Chelsea or even County clubs where the team is bigger than the player or the celeb is tenuous because they have their own credo and belief.

All this has impacted viewership dramatically. In-stadium occupancy was also very low, when compared to previous editions of IPL. If Rs 500 is the cost of the lowest priced ticket, it is pretty much within the reach of the common man — yet we didn't see full houses until perhaps the knock out matches.

As a television property, IPL did deliver better then the Hindi General Entertainment Channelss, which have had a rough time in the last two months. But the drop in IPL ratings over the previous edition shows that there are more entertainment options that consumers are migrating to. Cricket is a great passion in India, yes, but there is such a thing called overkill.

Advertisers who chose to ride on IPL this year would have been impacted adversely on the RoI front. It has been below par. What I find interesting is that the whole dynamic of riding on sports properties is changing. While one brand in a category can take a lead sponsor position on one medium, several others can come in into other slots. Therefore, it becomes difficult for a single brand to own the property, but several brands can have a presence on the same property.

A brand associating with something like IPL today has to have a strong, visible position on air, have a meaningful presence on ground, and engage multiple stakeholders with a variety of activations – be it consumers, field force or trade. We've seen Pepsi doing this effectively through the World Cup.

A consistent presence across the board is what will give stickiness and RoI.

If a brand is spending money on television without another engagement device, they may not maximise RoI. A brand – just one among 16 logos on the player's shoulder — is less likely to be remembered.

Innovations of the ‘wow' variety were missing in this IPL. ‘A lot of it went out with Lalit Modi', is the joke doing the rounds. But brands and teams - including the two new teams - have done precious little to stand out and wow the consumer. Guilty as charged – we need to step up the integration around such high decibel events.

Lessons from IPL

In my view, there are some changes that could help IPL as a property regain some lost ground.

Brand IPL now also needs to start building strong ‘Team Brands' to help manage the seasonal change in lead players.

For brand properties, IPL needs to create some rituals, and strong properties (specific like...drinks break, cheering time, celeb moment of the match...etc). This will give the sponsor brands a better association with specific properties and as a result better ROI. It allows for multiple brands to coexist but with a differentiation in their association to the event

The Pakistani players not being there did take away some of the spice from the event. This year, we also saw players from Sri Lanka, New Zealand and England being recalled for national duty. This is bound to happen when you have a tournament stretching for so long. Every board has its calendar and the IPL should schedule the next tournament when international players are available. They lend to the performance on the field and to the visibility of IPL off the ground.

The format should also be crisper to retain viewer interest throughout. I would say that the tournament has to be not more than a month long. This year, the long schedule has to also be viewed in the context of 45 days of World Cup preceding it.

All said and done, the IPL is a fantastic property. It provides the opportunity for large brands to ride the cricket wave in a crisper format, and some otherwise silent brands to come through riding on the teams.

There are only two passions in India - cricket and Bollywood. And IPL has cricket at its core and the glitter enveloping it. IPL shouldn't forget what made it famous in the first place — presenting cricket, the gentleman's game, in a rather aggressive, intense, entertaining and I daresay ‘ungentlemanly' way .

With some tweaks and trims, it can come back with a bang to brands' delight.

Lloyd Mathias is President, Corporate Monitoring, Tata Teleservices. The views expressed are personal. (As told to BrandLine.)

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