Two-thirds of IPL viewers believe Mumbai Indians is the best team: Hi-Cricket study

Havas Sports & Entertainment, a sports and sponsorship specialised vertical from the Havas Media Group, has partnered with international research and data analytics group YouGov to launch the Hi-Cricket report. The proprietary study aims to understand the impact of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 in influencing brand health metrics across categories.

 

The study, led by the Havas Insight team, has respondents from key cities in India to get a deeper understanding of how a larger than life platform such as IPL helps influence mind measures. Hi-Cricket will also answer the role of premium media buys in impacting brand health.

 

The report aims to help brands bolster their connect with consumers and will also identify the most meaningful campaigns during IPL 2021 across parameters such as:

 

1.     Functional: What does the product or service deliver?

 

2.     Personal: How do brands improve people’s lives?

 

3.     Other collective parameters: What’s brands’ role in society?

 

The respondents, being interviewed over five phases from 1 April 2021 to 1 June 2021 during IPL 2021, will result in regular updates. Each phase looks to track the impact of the game on brand health and capture shifts along with attributes that drive ‘meaningfulness’ as the league progresses. 

 

Mohit Joshi, CEO, Havas Media Group India, said, “Hi-Cricket 2021 is a culmination of Havas’ Meaningful Brands philosophy and data from YouGov’s Cube. While there is a lot of discussion on IPL performance and viewership, this unique study helps to not only understand consumers’ level of engagement with the game but also allows advertisers to track the impact of IPL 2021 on brand health metrics like Awareness, Consideration, Familiarity and Recommendation. The research uses a customised quantitative structured questionnaire and encompasses Tier 1 and 2 cities. Designed to constantly monitor brand trends on key brand health indicators, along with meaningful attributes, this study will help advertisers understand the overall impact of their association with IPL. Hi-Cricket is the first initiative by Havas Insights and Havas Sports and Entertainment we also intend to take the partnership into other sporting domains such as the Olympics, hockey, football and kabaddi.”

 

Key highlights from the pre-phase findings:

 

·      50% of the respondents watched all the matches last year and 70% said that they will definitely watch the game this year

 

·      Viewers in the age group of 31-44 years make for the most engaged group with the game, not only in terms of viewership but also in terms of social media chatter, participating in contests and creating their own fantasy leagues based on IPL players

 

·      Viewers are multitasking while watching the game – from ordering food online, to playing their own fantasy leagues and engaging with match experts

 

·      A mix of both online and offline viewership for males, especially amongst 18-44-year olds. Older (over 44 years of age) and female audiences are skewed to watching the game on TV

 

·      As for the favourite team, two-thirds of IPL viewers consider champions Mumbai Indians to be the best performing team. About a fifth consider Chennai Super Kings the best performing team

 

·      Match innings and Powerplay are the key segments watched by almost two-thirds of viewers

 

·      IPL influences consumer actions in a big way – from searching for a product/service after seeing an ad to downloading an app or buying a product

 

Deepa Bhatia, general manager, India, YouGov, said, “According to YouGov India profiles’ data, IPL is one of the biggest sports assets along with ICC Cricket T20 World Cup. Sports assets have impacted the recall of brands globally. The YouGov panel constitutes data of two lakh active panel respondents who have participated in various surveys. During the IPL season, YouGov will consistently reach out to people who watch IPL to set up the study. Using Havas’ Meaningful attributes, the customised Hi-Cricket study will help us understand what drives meaningfulness for brands and to what extent do campaigns drive perceptions for brands based on functional, personal and collective benefits.”