Bats, reels, and buys: The new IPL media mix

For years, IPL advertising was simple: buy a spot, go big, and hope eyeballs translated to buzz. The glitz of stadium branding and the dopamine hit of a primetime TVC during a key over were considered the holy grail.

Cut to 2025 and marketers are quickly realising that while cricket may still be religion, attention is now a moving target.

Hence, Chinese Wok from Lenexis Foodworks did not opt for a traditional TVC this season. Instead, it rolled out an AR-led in-store campaign featuring a virtual chef, paired with cricket-themed packaging and regional-language edits of digital films. The aim? Get customers to engage, not just watch.

Aayush Madhusudhan Agrawal, founder and director, Lenexis Foodworks.

“Our cricket campaign has integrated on-ground customer engagement, in-store activations, and digital buzz throughout the season—not just during match windows,” explained the restaurant chain’s founder and director Aayush Madhusudhan Agrawal. “This layered approach ensures the brand remains top-of-mind over weeks, not just match-days.”

From momentary ads to ongoing engagement

Welcome to the age of the always-on cricket fan. They aren’t just tuned into the toss and last over. They’re swiping through memes, bingeing on creator reels, debating fantasy picks in WhatsApp groups, and scanning Reddit threads on cricket for tactical breakdowns. This cultural shift has redefined what it means for a brand to be ‘visible’ during the IPL.

"Cricket content is no longer linear," said Anuradha Sinha, cofounder and chief operating officer at sports engagement platform Fanoz. "Cricket fans are engaging with memes, micro-commentaries, and creator reactions in real-time. This IPL 2025, we are partnering with creators who understand fan behavior deeply. Many such creators reached out to us proactively because Fanoz is inherently 'fan-first'."

The result? A fragmented yet ferociously engaged audience, where the real opportunity lies in meaningful, multi-touchpoint storytelling.

It is understandable why brands are leaning towards this approach. According to TAM Research, IPL 2025’s advertising volumes on TV surged by 7% for the first 22 matches, exceeding the previous season’s 22-match milestone. The top five advertisers this year contributed 30% of the overall ad volumes, and collectively, the top five categories (i.e. mouth freshener, biscuits, ecommerce-gaming, cars, and financial institutes) accounted for more than 40% of total ad volumes.  

For legacy brands, walking away from the ‘big game, big spend’ playbook is tough. But as Anika Agarwal, chief marketing and customer experience officer, Orient Electric, put it, “Live-match visibility will consistently deliver high-impact brand recall—but relying solely on it is short-sighted.”

Orient’s campaign this season leaned heavily into creator marketing, featuring Kusha Kapila and Madan Gowri. “Together, the duo brings authenticity and reach,” said Agarwal. “This creator-led approach isn’t a one-off tactic—it’s central to delivering brand stories in cultural moments. It ensures authenticity, scale, and deeper emotional resonance than traditional ad formats alone.”

The company also activated over 100 cricket-focused Instagram pages, including Dhoni fan communities, to stoke pre-buzz. This is evidence that the real action may not always be on the pitch.

Reels over replays: Where the attention actually is

With attention spans splintering and fans glued to multiple screens, the traditional IPL ad—flashy, fleeting, and often forgettable—is losing its edge.

"Today’s consumers are engaging with cricket content before, during, and long after the match—through contests, memes, reels, fantasy leagues, player interviews, replays and analysis, fan theories & moments,” said Anitha Krishnan, marketing head at Birla Estates. “That’s where the always-on model becomes essential.”

The real estate company is executing a multi-platform strategy that spans high-impact OOH, CGI-led immersive content, and niche creator collaborations. Their latest campaign blends homeownership and cricket—two of India’s great passions—into a narrative built around aspirations. “We aim to create a strong emotional connection with homebuyers—aligning their experiences with the journey of cricketers,” Krishnan added. “It’s aptly encapsulated as #StoriesPerSqFt.”

Brand campaigns surrounding the IPL are less about a singular spot and more about a season-long, layered story that builds cultural memory. Neither are they relegated to riding the influencer wave for vanity metrics. In fact, marketers are increasingly precise in how they pick creators.

“Our goal isn’t just to promote a product through an influencer, but to clearly articulate what we’re building as a brand,” said Puneet Dua, co-founder and chief marketing officer of sports platform SportsBaazi. “To put it simply—if I try to sell a high-quality cricket bat to a football-first audience, it won’t resonate.”

Puneet Dua, co-founder and chief marketing officer, SportsBaazi

SportsBaazi uses fantasy influencers who not only align with their category but can also educate users. “The same principle applies to influencer marketing: if the creator’s audience isn’t aligned with our offering, we’re essentially burning resources,” Dua noted.

It’s a sentiment echoed across the board: relevance beats reach, and creators who know the fan psyche are the new MVPs.

Always-on isn’t a buzzword—It’s the new broadcast

There’s a clear shift from one-time ad blitzes to persistent brand presence. Orient Electric’s Agarwal summed it up: “Always On isn’t a buzzword for us—it’s how we build sustained consideration in a cluttered market.”

For SportsBaazi, too, the key lies in balance. “While live-match campaigns are excellent for driving spikes in visibility and acquisition, sustaining that momentum requires consistent brand presence,” said Dua. “A creator going live during the innings break or post-match has more value than a comedian with ten times the traffic but no cricket relevance.”

Anika Agarwal, chief marketing and customer experience officer, Orient Electric.

Brands are realising that long-term relevance trumps short-term reach—and that loyalty is earned in the comments section, not in the commercial break.

Despite the evolving playbook, some brands still struggle with change.

“The biggest challenge is breaking the habit of equating media spend with immediate ROI,” said Agrawal from Lenexis. “Traditional ads offer visibility, but interactive and digital-first efforts create depth, emotion, and memorability—metrics that are harder to quantify upfront.”

However, there is another pain point that keeps many marketers and their agencies at bay: fear. Dua noted that there’s a mindset of, ‘If it has worked so far, why change it?’

Big brands can afford to stick with tried-and-tested ad formats that still do the job. But for challenger brands and budget-conscious marketers, bold moves and smart media bets are the way forward. To cut through, it’s not enough to simply go digital—you need to understand how people engage across platforms, how communities form around content, and how to adapt in real-time. It’s not just a media plan reboot; it’s a mindset shift. “But taking calculated risks and experimenting with the media mix is critical, especially for emerging brands,” Dua noted.

Anuradha Sinha added a touch of blunt realism: “Innovation often fails due to mindset. The tech is ready. The fans are ready. But many stakeholders—broadcasters, franchises, sponsors—are still operating with a traditional lens.” In short, the biggest hurdle isn’t technology—it’s inertia.

Building for the culture, not just the campaign

This is the heart of the shift: cricket is no longer just a sport. It’s a cultural movement with its own rituals, vocab, and subcultures—and brands that want to matter need to build narratives that plug into that ecosystem.

“Cricket content has become decentralised and real-time,” said Agarwal. “At Orient, we’re backing our campaign with contextual targeting on YouTube and Meta, aligning with podcast format storytelling, creator content, and cricket-focused platforms.”

Anitha Krishnan, marketing head at Birla Estates

For Birla Estates, the storytelling is about aspiration and belonging—mirrored through cricket. “Good content is non-negotiable, whether on TV or digital,” said Krishnan. “Today, it’s about finding what aligns best with your brand objectives.”

Reaching fans during the IPL isn’t just about big spends or splashy formats—it’s about context, timing, and cultural fluency. Today’s audiences want more than visibility; they want interaction. Whether you're on TV or riding the digital wave, relevance matters more than reach.

Agile, real-time campaigns must meet fans where they are—ready to react, share, and co-create. Success now hinges on impact, not impressions—and that calls for a creative strategy reset. Anuradha Sinha put it best: “The brands that embrace interactivity will find themselves not just seen, but remembered and loved.”

The IPL remains one of the most potent advertising platforms in the country—but the rules of the game have changed. Winning visibility is no longer about outbidding your competitors during ad breaks; it’s about outsmarting them across culture, conversation, and content.

Marketers must now think like broadcasters, storytellers, and community builders. Because today’s cricket fan doesn’t just watch the match. They live it—brands that want to play ball need to do the same.