Promotion strategy of the IPL

• Influencer marketing refers to the practice of collaborating with social media influencers to promote a product, service, or brand. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has successfully used influencer marketing to promote the league and increase brand awareness. Here are a few ways in which the IPL has used influencer marketing:

Collaborating with popular cricket players: The IPL has collaborated with popular cricket players such as M.S. Dhoni, Virat Kohli, and Rohit Sharma to create content and promote the league on their social media channels.

Partnering with celebrities: The IPL has also partnered with celebrities from other fields, such as Bollywood and music, to promote the league. These celebrities often have a large following on social media, which helps increase the reach of IPL’s marketing efforts.

Working with social media influencers: The IPL has worked with social media influencers who have a large following in the cricket community. These influencers create content about the IPL and promote it to their followers.

Overall, the IPL has effectively used influencer marketing to reach and engage with its target audience, increase brand awareness, and create buzz around the league.

• Content marketing:

Content marketing refers to the creation and distribution of valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience with the goal of driving profitable customer action. The Indian Premier League (IPL) has effectively used content marketing to promote the league and engage with its fans. Here are a few ways in which the IPL has used content marketing:

Blog: The IPL has a blog on its website where it shares news, updates, and behind-the-scenes content related to the league.

Social media: IPL uses social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to share news, updates, and other relevant content with its followers.

Videos: IPL has created a number of videos that showcase the highlights of matches, player interviews, and other behind-the-scenes content. These videos are shared on social media and on the IPL website.

Photos: IPL regularly shares photos on its social media channels and website that provide a visual representation of the league and its players.

Podcasts:  IPL has a podcast that features interviews with players, coaches, and other relevant people in the cricket world. It is to get more insights about the dynamics and culture of the team

• Advertisements:

Everyone adores the IPL’s catchy and iconic music theme, which gives fans a sense of nostalgia. Although the IPL has devoted supporters who love the sport and will spread the word favorably, fans and players are not the only things that generate noise. Advertising strategies play a vital role in making things successful. We have seen signs of the IPL almost everywhere, right from the huge billboards to the players’ T-shirts and behind public buses. IPL plays beautifully with advertisements; they always launch their ad campaigns two months before the competition, and each year they come up with a brand-new tagline that generates excitement and creates buzz everywhere.

In the year 2015, they came up with “IPL—India Ka Tyohar,” using which they promoted the tournament as the festival of India and created very catchy jingles and made funny, emotional, and witty advertisements around that campaign, which ran successfully.

In 2017, the IPL celebrated the successful completion of ten years, and that year’s tagline was “10 saal aapke naam.” They thanked their viewers for sticking with them for ten years, and the campaign gained their audience’s trust. Once again, the campaign was a great success.

They created a very appealing campaign in 2019 called “Game Banayega Name” that was aligned with its motto, “IPL—where talent meets opportunity.” It delivered fruitfully, had a great effect on viewers, and significantly increased the IPL craze.

In the year 2020, they created the tagline “ek Saath wali baat,” which portrays IPL as a medium through which friends, families, and even enemies can become closer. It was a fortunate move by the marketing brains of the league and garnered prolific attention from viewers.

They launched a new campaign in 2021 called “Yeh, ab normal hai!” and created a very amusing advertisement with M.S. Dhoni that fit the tagline. Every image of Dhoni went viral, crashing the Internet, and this and this campaign became meme sensations.

·        Digital Marketing:

IPL grew with time, and as the game evolved, they made changes accordingly. Earlier, they focused more on promoting leagues via billboards and newspapers, but when people changed their approach and turned toward digitization, the IPL also took the same approach and changed their promotion techniques. They started creating hashtags that generated buzz on social media. They started promoting social media influencers on their platform. To increase engagement, they started some segments in which the audience had time to interact with cricket experts, and the experts tried to answer their questions. During IPL 2021, crowds were not allowed, so they started OTT and virtual platforms for fans where they could cheer for their favourite team and show their support.

The official IPL website is a comprehensive resource for all things related to the league, including fixtures, results, player profiles, and merchandise.

The IPL has a mobile app that provides real-time updates on matches, scores, and other relevant information. The app also has features such as live streaming and personalized alerts.

IPL has made it easy for fans to purchase tickets online through its website and mobile app, which has helped increase ticket sales and reach a wider audience.

IPL also updates the news, and promotional offers to its subscribers via email or message.

• Creating Experiences: IPL teams and organizers can create a host of fan experiences such as meet and greets with players, VIP seating, behind-the-scenes access, and other activities to engage with fans and build a loyal fan base.

These are a few strategies that the IPL has been using to promote the league, and they have been very effective and have yielded incredible results in return.

• Possible future of the league:

IPL will be around for a long time. Given that the IPL is the only league in which active Indian players compete and that India is one of cricket’s most dominant nations, Indian players have a significant impact on the game. The league’s brand value is growing every year, which means it makes more money and gives sponsors and broadcasters good returns. These sponsors and broadcasters are willing to pay a significant sum of money to remain associated with the league. Players are encouraged to play the games because they receive a good amount of money as well. Franchise popularity is also growing, and they strongly encourage followers to express their love on social media. The league benefits everyone in the system, so there is no significant threat to the IPL, and its future is therefore very secure. Also, 5G technology has already entered India. With technological advancements, it will improve streaming quality, make the umpire’s job simpler, and make the game fair because there will be less room for error. It is also possible that the league may continue to evolve and adapt to changing trends in sports, such as the increasing focus on player and team performance data, and the use of analytics to improve team performance. Also, we are able to predict the weather in advance, and using that information, we can plan the game’s schedule to ensure that rain or any other factor won’t affect the results of the game. With an improved network, the viewer base will also increase, and the game will gain more fame. Overall, the IPL has established itself as a major player in the world of cricket, and it is likely to continue to be a major force in the sports entertainment industry. IPL will reach heights in the future that were unthinkable ten years ago.