Last Saturday’s India-Pakistan face-off in the ICC World Cup 2023 was intense, not just on the field but in the ad sphere too. Surprisingly, though, the ad volume growth crawled up by just 1 percent according to TAM Sports data.
Despite the match being available on 15 channels, up from 14 in 2019, the ad volumes failed to live up to the hype.
According to people aware of the matter, the October 14 India-Pakistan match in Ahmedabad saw asking prices of last-minute inventory shooting up to Rs 60 lakh per 10 seconds. However, it was finally sold for anywhere between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 40 lakh.
But like in the case of any India-Pakistan match, this time around too it drew a lot of attention in terms of diversity in advertiser category and brands.
Top categories
As per TAM data, some 75-plus categories advertised in the 2023 World Cup compared to the approximately 60 categories back in 2019. In 2023, the top five advertising categories were dominated by e-com (wallets), cars, paan masala or flavoured chewing tobacco, two-wheelers, and e-com (gaming), in that order. In 2019, the list included cellphones/smartphones, cars, paan masala, e-com (online shopping) and perfumes/deodorants.
Top advertisers
While the advertiser count remained relatively consistent at around 75, there was a prominent shift in the list of top advertisers. In 2023, the leading brands included FX Mart (Phonepe), Mahindra & Mahindra, Amazon Online India, Vini Products and Coca-Cola India. In 2019, the top positions were held by Amazon Online India, Google, K P Pan Foods, Parle Biscuits and Think & Learn.
Brand count and shifts
The number of brands according to TAM saw a significant growth from 130-plus in 2019 to 150-plus in 2023. The five leading brands in 2019 comprised Amazon.in, Kamla Pasand Pan Masala, Disney Byjus Early Learn App, Phonepe and Fogg. The 2023 list consisted of Phonepe, Fogg, Kamla Pasand Silver Coated Elaichi, Vimal Elaichi Pan Masala and Bharat Petroleum Mak seizing the top positions.