Reliance Jio has charted out a strategy to have the strongest network for its brand presence during the Indian Premier League 2018. The brand logo will be present on the kits of all the eight IPL teams – connecting dots from Mohali to Chennai and Kolkata to Mumbai.
India’s largest mobile and internet service provider with nearly 14-crore subscriber base will register its presence during all the 60 IPL matches. Insidesport.co has reliably learnt that the Reliance marketing team has closed in on sponsorship deals with all the eight IPL franchisees in different categories.
Jio as part of its marketing strategy for IPL has also decided against making big investments on central pool sponsorship. The brand instead will go ahead with the tried and trusted formula of “smarter, smaller” deals with all the eight franchisees. The strategy has earned rich ROIs for Jio last year when it had sponsorship tie-ups with seven of the eight IPL franchisees.
Even as the Kings XI Punjab was a missing link for Jio during the IPL season 10, the brand had recorded the highest recall value among the 82 advertisers across the IPL 2017. Jio’s 80% recall value on account of jersey back or arm sponsorship deals with seven teams was even higher than the IPL title sponsor Vivo, according to a study report.
Jio had led the tally for highest recall out of 82 brands advertising in IPL 10, followed by Vivo and Vodafone, according to the study, IPL Watch, by mConsult, the strategic marketing and media consulting arm of GroupM. Brand Jio had registered 80% recall due to its association with seven of the eight IPL teams — jersey back or lead arm sponsor — as well as multimedia presence. IPL Watch had rated Jio as the brand with highest recall value among all the IPL sponsors across all platforms.
Business strategist and owner of Harish Bijoor Consults Inc, Harish Bijoor, justifies Reliance’s strategy of a pan-India marketing investment on IPL. “A truly national brand must look at national and non-partisan. I do believe Jio is doing right with its investments on all eight teams. You must look like the umbrella you are!” says Bijoor.
The Reliance Industries-owned telecom brand is aiming to cover 99% of the Indian population by October-November with its LTE network. With access to 86-87%, population Reliance even now has the best reach among the competition.
The IPL to be broadcast across India on ten Star Sport Network channels in six languages gives Jio the best opportunity to further strengthen brands’ reach across the country.
