ITV

Category: Sponsorship

  • NueGo becomes Haryana Steelers Kabaddi team’s official sponsor

    NueGo becomes Haryana Steelers Kabaddi team’s official sponsor

    Mumbai: GreenCell Mobility’s NueGo, a premier intercity electric AC bus service, is delighted to announce its latest collaboration as associate partner with the Haryana Steelers, India’s leading men’s professional kabaddi team.

    NueGo’s partnership with the Haryana Steelers extends the company’s commitment to creating awareness of sustainable mass mobility, while actively engaging with sports enthusiasts throughout the country. NueGo hopes to intensify the excitement around kabaddi, a sport profoundly rooted in India’s cultural legacy, by extending its sponsorship to Haryana Steelers team for the rest of the season.

    GreenCell Mobility CEO & MD Devndra Chawla said, “As we kick off this exciting partnership with Haryana Steelers, we’re thrilled to back this powerhouse of a kabbadi team. Joining forces with the Haryana Steelers underscores NueGo’s drive to revolutionise intercity travel while associating with grassroot sports initiatives, to make the right impact on our up-coming generations. Our commitment to forging a greener, more interconnected future for all remains steadfast as we navigate forward through strategic partnerships and innovative solutions.”

    “We’re really excited to be partnering with NueGo, who are committed to greener, cleaner inter-city travel. Our teams across JSW Sports have continually looked to foster a culture of sustainability, and this partnership is one that aligns with our vision to promote eco-friendly means of travel. We’re looking forward to all that this association has in store,” said JSW Sports COO Divyanshu Singh.

    With this association, NueGo proudly joins the three main Indian sports leagues: cricket, football, and kabaddi. Aside from its partnership with the Haryana Steelers (Kabaddi), NueGo is also a proud partner with Delhi Capitals (Cricket), Chennaiyin FC (Football). This extensive involvement demonstrates NueGo’s persistent commitment to promoting sustainable practices while also cultivating a culture of sportsmanship and community engagement.

  • TVS Eurogrip comes on board as title sponsor with JioCinema’s Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan

    TVS Eurogrip comes on board as title sponsor with JioCinema’s Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan

    Mumbai: Viacom18 announced TVS Eurogrip as the title sponsor for Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan, JioCinema’s predict and win game that launched last year. With a rise in interactive fan engagement and continued free streaming of premier sporting action beyond IPL such as India cricket, TVS Eurogrip will present the unique play and game to fans throughout the India – England series.

    Introduced during the IPL in 2023, Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan emerged as a runaway success, with 50 million participants taking a shot at winning an array of exciting prizes, while 60 lucky contestants driving away a premium hatchback. Within just one season of IPL, Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan became a platform for heartwarming tales of changed fortunes from India’s heartlands.

    The announcement of a title sponsor for Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan comes on the back of a sharp rise in gamification of content, a trend benchmarked in new ways by JioCinema with over a billion game plays last season of the IPL.

    “Digital being a strong focus area for us, we see this partnership with Viacom18 on the TVS Eurogrip Tyres Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan contest as an exciting and engaging way to connect with our consumers – the new age, millennial and Gen Z riders,” said P Madhavan, EVP sales and marketing, TVS Srichakra Ltd. “We look forward to more such meaningful associations in the future as well that will help us bring good brand experiences alive.”

    “It is thrilling for us to have TVS Eurogrip partner with us on seeing a tremendous opportunity that lies ahead in gamifying content,” said a Viacom18 spokesperson. “We worked systematically to remove barriers to affordability last IPL, that enabled its free streaming at large. This linked the gap between the masses and brands that are looking for ways to meaningfully gamify and incentivise their communications with their audiences at scale. We truly believe this is just the beginning and we will see more record numbers with TVS Eurogrip coming on board for Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan.”

    As spectators become engrossed in the thrilling match-play, advertisers find themselves presented with an exclusive chance to generate excitement for their brands. With the prospect of display exposure in every over, Jeeto Dhan Dhana Dhan serves as a captivating platform for brands to engage with a broad audience. It becomes an avenue to enhance traffic to their landing page.

    When a user receives a coupon, advertisers seize the opportunity to distribute discount coupons in abundance, creating a funnel of impressions, engagement, and redemption—all unfolding seamlessly while the match is in progress. This unique scenario unfolds rarely during live events, making it an exceptional opportunity for advertisers to make a significant impact.

    Users will have an opportunity to win exciting prizes every match day of the five-test match series between India – England. Users can simply hold their phones in portrait mode, where a chat box opens at the bottom of the screen, presenting a question and four options before every over to unlock a plethora of prizes.

  • Haier India onboarded as ‘Digital Streaming Associate Sponsor’ for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023

    Haier India onboarded as ‘Digital Streaming Associate Sponsor’ for ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023

    Mumbai: Taking the festive celebration a notch higher, Haier Appliances India (Haier India), a global leader in home appliances and the number one brand in major appliances for 14 consecutive years, announced its strategic association as the ‘Digital Streaming Associate Sponsor’ on Disney+ Hotstar for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

    Pushing the edge, as a challenger brand Haier India rechristened its marketing strategy to bring a power-packed amalgamation of sports and festivals to the customers across India. Integrating a host of traditional and new-age marketing strategies, this festive season Haier India is focused on a high-impact sports marketing game plan to strengthen customer connections, build brand awareness, enhance brand loyalty, and drive business growth in the Indian market.

    Haier India recognises the significant impact of festivals and sports, specifically in India. These unifying forces bring the nation together, uniting people from diverse backgrounds. Igniting the festive season, through its association with Disney+ Hotstar for the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, Haier is all set to showcase the range of its customer-inspired product innovations highlighting the brand’s commitment to leverage technology and innovation. As India takes pride in hosting the entire tournament, Haier India and cricket enthusiasts are gearing up for 48 exhilarating matches.

    Haier Appliances India president NS Satish said, “Two things that unite our nation, with the spirit of passion, zeal, celebration, and enthusiasm are festivals and sports. At Haier India, customer centricity lies at the core of our growth trajectory and hence we decided to bring together an impactful marketing strategy bridging the synergies of festivals and sports to tap the premium audience. Ahead of the festive season in India, we are excited to announce Haier’s collaboration with Disney+ Hotstar for the biggest sporting event of the year ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023.”

    “This collaboration exemplifies our commitment to align with the passion and energy that cricket ignites in the hearts of millions of Indians. Celebrating success and togetherness with India during the festive season, we view this sponsorship as a fantastic opportunity to connect with the customers and showcase our innovative spirit. As a brand, Haier has always believed in engaging with its customers in a meaningful way, and we believe that the genre of festivals and sports provided us with the perfect opportunity to do so” he added.

    In line with the marketing strategy, Haier India has been deepening its sports commitment by investing in top events like Roland-Garros, ATP, and Indian Premier League 2023 amongst others. Now with the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023, coinciding with India’s festive spirit, this presents a unique opportunity for Haier to connect with the audience even more deeply. 

  • Eventually, IPL 2020 scored big with advertisers, sponsors

    Eventually, IPL 2020 scored big with advertisers, sponsors

    NEW DELHI: When IPL 2020 began in September, there was a lot of speculation in the industry about its capability to churn out the spectacular revenues like every year. The sponsorship rates had gone down by as much as 25 per cent, and it was highly uncertain that the advertisers, who were still reeling from the financial disaster that Covid-2019 turned out to be, would be willing to spend the big bucks on advertising. However, broadcast partner Star was pretty positive that it would manage to surpass its previous year’s revenue records and clock sales of more than Rs 2000-crore that it managed to churn in 2019. And as it  panned out, it was not just Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma who held the trophy aloft after an easy win against the Delhi Capitals in the finals last evening, but the broadcaster also had some big wins in its kitty. 

    The Media Ant Co-founder Samir Chaudhary stated that IPL 2020 turned out to be a big property for the broadcaster with viewership numbers attaining new highs in IPL 2020. His expectation is that Star will pocket higher revenues than in the previous season. 

    Havas Media Group India national head – buying R. Venkatasubramanian agreed, estimating the  jump to be around 10-12 per cent (TV + digital) over last year. 

    “They sold most of the inventory well before the start of the tournament. As per my knowledge, they must have sold only three to five per cent inventory during the tournament and the sticker prices were 10-15 per cent more than what was offered initially,” pointed out Venkatasubramanian.

    The initial rates ranged between 10 and 15 lakhs per 10 second, as Indiantelevision.com had reported earlier. There were five co-presenting sponsors for Dream11 IPL 2020 on Star Sports – Dream 11, Phone Pe, Amazon, Vodafone Idea and Byju’s; 13 associate sponsors: Mondelez, ITC Foods, Polycab, Diageo, P&G, Coca-cola, Hero, KP Group, Facebook, Daily Hunt, Samsung, Cred and AMFI. Beyond the live game – Byju’s was the sponsor for the pre-and-post-game live show – Byju’s Cricket Live. 

    The categories of advertisers included BFSI, edtech, online gaming, online shopping, home décor, mobile handsets, consumer durables, FMCG, auto, apparel amongst others. Internet and digital-based business like fantasy sports, edtech, e-commerce, and online gaming, also got good traction. 

    As confirmed by a Star Sports spokesperson, IPL 2020 had 18 sponsors and a total of 110 advertisers on board, which is the highest number of partners and advertisers in the history of the IPL, since it began in 2008. Most of the inventory was sold in advance. 

    IPL 2020 performed exceptionally well in terms of viewership as well.  As per BARC data, for television,  IPL 2020 has seen an increased engagement and affinity, reflected through the higher number of games watched. IPL 2019 had 326 billion minutes consumption. That mark had been surpassed in this year’s IPL when just 50 out of the 60 games had been played.

    Additionally, the season recorded the most games watched by an average viewer for any 60-game IPL season and the highest engagement for any IPL ever on the back of regionalisation with Hindi and southern language feeds (Telugu, Tamil and Kannada).

    “The viewership has increased 18-19 per cent compared to last year (till the sixth  week of the tournament) and mostly IPL 2020 will finish with 15-18 per cent higher viewership compared to IPL 2019,” Venkatasubramanian highlighted. 

    That will be more power to the game of cricket. And the love that its fans give it.

  • BCCI announces Unacademy as official partner for IPL

    BCCI announces Unacademy as official partner for IPL

    MUMBAI: The Indian Premier League governing council (IPL GC) announced India’s largest learning platform Unacademy as official partner for IPL beginning with the 2020 edition which will be held in the UAE from 19 September onwards. The partnership will cover three seasons of the IPL.

    The Bengaluru-based edutech firm, Unacademy, aims to build an online knowledge repository for multilingual education by bringing expert educators together from across the globe.

    IPL chairman Brijesh Patel said: “We are pleased to have Unacademy on board as the ‘official partner’ of the Indian Premier League 2020 to 2022. IPL Is the most watched cricket league in India and as a homegrown Indian edutech company we believe that Unacademy can create a huge positive impact on the aspirations of the audience watching, especially the millions of Indian youth who are seeking inspiration in their careers.”

    Unacademy vice-president marketing Karan Shroff said: “We are delighted to become the official partner of IPL. Unacademy is a high-intensity brand that has disrupted the education and learning market with innovations and broken geographical barriers for Learners and Educators. The IPL has a similar history of disruption and innovation that have not only brought cricket fans closer to the game but also catapulted it to become one of the top sporting events in the world. With this partnership, we will double-down on our efforts to make Unacademy the biggest brand in the consumer-internet space in India. We thank the BCCI and IPL for the opportunity and look forward to a long and fruitful partnership.”

  • Mobile Premier League (MPL) signed as principal sponsor of both KKR & TKR

    Mobile Premier League (MPL) signed as principal sponsor of both KKR & TKR

    NEW DELHI: The Knight Riders and Mobile Premier League (MPL), India’s largest esports and mobile gaming platform, announced today that MPL will become the principal sponsor for both the Knight Riders Franchises in IPL & CPL – Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR).

    Knight Riders CEO & MD Venky Mysore said, “We are very excited to partner with MPL, which is a vibrant Indian start-up company promoted and run by a group of young and innovative people, in Esports and Gaming, that is bound to grow significantly. Our partnership across KKR in IPL and TKR in CPL, will create new opportunities to socialise and activate our partnership.

    MPL VP, growth and marketing Abhishek Madhavan said, “We are excited to be the principal sponsors for Kolkata Knight Riders. The team has been a household name right from the start and have won the prestigious IPL championship twice. They have some stellar players and the team competes to win, which is what MPL is all about as well, so it is the perfect marriage that will help us take our brand to more users. With Trinbago Knight Riders, one of the strongest teams, having won the CPL Championship three times, as its sister franchise, this association will help us take MPL to the international sports arena.”

    CPL is scheduled to start on 18 August 2020 and conclude on 10 September 2020 in Trinidad, which will feature three-time champions Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) and five other teams.

    IPL is scheduled to start on 19 September 2020 in UAE and conclude on 10 November 2020, which will feature two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and seven other teams.

  • #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    #BoycottIPL trends as Vivo retains title sponsorship

    NEW DELHI: Talk about brand image and India’s favourite sporting tournament, Indian Premier League (IPL), has found itself in a tough spot after the news of it retaining Chinese mobile brand Vivo as its title sponsor came out last evening. Soon after, #BoycottIPL started trending across social media sites. 

    There has been a great rise in the anti-China sentiment in India following the Galwan valley clash between the South-Asian neighbours at the beginning of June. People have been boycotting Chinese goods and the announcement has left a sour taste in the fans’ mouth, who were eagerly waiting for the tournament to start, which was delayed because of the Covid2019 pandemic. 

    BCCI Treasurer Arun Dhumal reportedly told PTI, "When you talk emotionally, you tend to leave the rationale behind. We have to understand the difference between supporting a Chinese company for a Chinese cause or taking help from Chinese company to support India's cause. When we are allowing Chinese companies to sell their products in India, whatever money they are taking from Indian consumer, they are paying part of it to the BCCI (as brand promotion) and the board is paying 42 per cent tax on that money to the Indian government. So, that is supporting India's cause and not China's.” 

    However, the audience is possibly not buying the logic, as they are swarming Twitter with their displeasure:

  • Mobile Premier League (MPL) sponsors Ireland Men’s Cricket Team Jerseys

    Mobile Premier League (MPL) sponsors Ireland Men’s Cricket Team Jerseys

    NEW DELHI: With international cricket events coming back to the field, the global cricket community have joined hands to support and promote each other, in a show of unity. Mobile Premier League (MPL), India's largest esports and mobile gaming platform, has partnered with Cricket Ireland and ITW Consulting to sponsor the Irish Men's team jerseys for the upcoming One-Day International Series against England beginning July 30. As an Indian brand supporting the Ireland cricket team, MPL is reinforcing the love for the sport among Indian audiences, and the passion with which they follow international tournaments. Along with Skoda, the joint sponsor of the Irish team’s jerseys, the brand is confident of leveraging its individual reach, along with the goodwill Cricket Ireland enjoys, to create a global cricket empire. 

    MPL co-founder and CEO Sai Srinivas said, “As One-Day International cricket finally returns, we are glad to be a part of its comeback by associating with the Ireland Men’s cricket team when they take on England. MPL stands for unearthing and showcasing talent, which the Ireland team has an abundance of. We look forward to the upcoming three-match series excitedly."

    Cricket Ireland commercial director Dennis Cousins stated, “This deal is a testament to the growing strength and profile of the Cricket Ireland brand globally, and has already attracted two brand associations in MPL and ŠKODA that will add weight to our reputation in the sports market.”

    Furthering MPL’s drive to create a global cricket platform, the platform is also co-presenting sponsor for the broadcast of the ongoing England-West Indies Test Series. MPL is India’s largest esports and mobile gaming platform and is endorsed by Indian Cricket Captain Virat Kohli. The platform recently launched the first Indian-made First Person Shooter game Rogue Heist exclusively and has over 4 crore users.  

  • Paytm Wins BCCI Title Sponsorship Second Time in A Row, with able facilitation by Wavemaker & ESP Properties

    Paytm Wins BCCI Title Sponsorship Second Time in A Row, with able facilitation by Wavemaker & ESP Properties

    Mumbai: Wavemaker and ESP Properties, GroupM’s sports and entertainment marketing agency, has collaborated and facilitated the renewal of the partnership between Paytm and BCCI for the title sponsorship rights for BCCI’s International and Domestic cricket matches at home from 1st September 2019 to 31st March 2023. Paytm first bagged the title sponsorship rights in 2015.

    Earlier this month BCCI invited online bids for the title sponsorship rights for the BCCI organised domestic and international cricket matches. BCCI confirmed that Paytm will be the title sponsor of all domestic series/events organised, managed and administered by BCCI and played in India, between 1st September 2019 and 31st March 2023.

    Jaskaran Singh Kapany, Head- Marketing, Paytm said, “We decided very early in our journey to partner with India Cricket. Over the last few years, our association with the sport has given us a huge platform to be visible in front of half a billion Indian cricket fans. This has helped the brand immensely at various levels to build long term salience & stature. Paytm is a brand for the masses and continuing as the Title Sponsor of Cricket in India will help us bolster Paytm’s leadership position in the minds of millions of consumers, on the back of the most popular sport in the country.”

    Kartik Sharma, CEO, Wavemaker – South Asia added, “Partnering with ESP properties to help Paytm win BCCI title sponsorship rights for the second time in a row is a huge feat for all of us. It is our constant endeavour to offer best platforms to all our partners and help them grow along the journey.”

    Vinit Karnik, Business Head, ESP Properties, GroupM India said, “Paytm over the last four years has demonstrated its faith and commitment towards Indian Cricket. They understand & appreciate the potential of the game very well. Paytm & BCCI continuing their existing relationship will be huge win for both. The following that cricket gets in the sub-continent is at times more than any other sporting event across the planet and Paytm can continue to benefit from this.”

    “Earlier this year in ESP’s annual trends report we predicted that cricket would dominate the media and mind measure in 2019 and with such start to the new cricketing season we believe that this will only grow and improve over the next few months and years to come,” Vinit added.

  • Paytm retains title sponsorship rights for BCCI’s international & domestic seasons 2019-23

    Paytm retains title sponsorship rights for BCCI’s international & domestic seasons 2019-23

    MUMBAI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced that One 97 Communications Pvt Ltd (Paytm) has retained the sponsorship rights for BCCI's international and domestic matches.

    The board revealed in a press release that the winning bid was at a price of Rs 326.8 crore to be paid for 2019-23 home season. The winning bid was Rs 3.8 crore which is at 58 per cent incremental value in comparison to the previous per match value of Rs 2.4 crore.

    BCCI CEO Rahul Johri said, “I’m pleased to announce Paytm as the BCCI home series title sponsor. Paytm is one of the new generation companies of India and we at the BCCI are proud of Paytm continuing its long-standing commitment with Indian cricket.”

    Paytm founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma said, "We are excited to continue our long-term association with BCCI and the Indian cricket Team. Our commitment to Indian cricket gets stronger with every season. India loves cricket and we at Paytm are the biggest fans of it.”