Joy Personal Care looks to win the female IPL viewer

In recent years, the Indian Premier League (IPL) has attracted sponsors from various categories - Edtech, fintech, beverages, apparel, FMCG, etc. Earlier, the IPL matches were watched by more men than women. But a steady increase in female viewership has been observed lately.

As per Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) India data, during IPL 2020, female viewership grew by 23% over 2019 (10%). IPL 2020 also registered 171 billion viewing minutes (female), as compared to 2019 (139 billion viewing minutes).

With more women watching the IPL now, what opportunities does it present for brands?

“Over the last 4-5 years, we’ve seen a steady increase in the IPL’s female viewership,” shares Poulomi Roy, chief marketing officer at RSH Global (Joy Cosmetics).

“Why should sports viewership just be limited to men? It’s important for brands and advertisers to reach the maximum number of people, and start democratising sports properties.”

According to YouGov's latest research, men are more likely to be super fans of IPL 2022 (who watched every match this season), but women are not far behind and three in ten of them (30%) said the same about their viewing frequency of matches.

Skincare brand Joy Personal Care announced a partnership with the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), as an associate sponsor. As a part of this association, the brand’s logo is featured on the official jersey of the KKR team. The brand had an association with the IPL team during last season (2022) too.

Speaking about the association with KKR, Roy says, "Just as for KKR, Kolkata is home ground for us as well, and what better way to strengthen our market position and brand recall than an association with a religion like cricket."

As a part of its IPL strategy, Joy plans to reach out to a mass audience.

Roy states, “For an FMCG brand like us, the ecosystem of trade partnership is important. Our primary consumers are male, i.e., dealers, distributors, etc. Women, who use our products, are our end consumers. To target a mass audience, we need to ensure that our product reaches out to the maximum number of people. So, a platform like the IPL helps us here.”

Last year, the brand advertised on television, digital and social media platforms. The brand established an association with IPL at both the franchise and television levels since last year.

This year, however, the brand is only advertising on TV and retail activation. The brand is betting on Star Sports for TATA IPL 2023. "We engaged in television advertising during this IPL season to increase awareness using a medium that could reach a wide audience and Television has a better reach."

“15-20% of our overall marketing spend, is going towards the IPL this season. This year, we were skeptical about spending on digital. We abstained from digital, only because we were uncertain if the application this year will be able to handle the traffic and give viewers a seamless viewing experience. So, we put all the media spend on TV."

"In addition, with a lot of home matches taking place in Kolkata, the brand was able to activate West Bengal in a much more aggressive manner, as compared to last (COVID-hit) year,” mentions Roy.

In 2022, the brand initiated a #BeingEqual campaign, in partnership with KKR. The campaign was aligned with the core purpose of the brand, i.e., ‘Breaking the stereotypes’.

The campaign talked about a strong message on equality, where male cricketers address the systemic inequalities faced by women in sports as well as other fields.

“The campaign made the brand come into the larger context of the conversation. People started recognising the brand,” says Roy.

Even though the brand is 30-plus-year-old, “we have yet to receive awareness throughout India.”

The brand had announced a partnership with Delhi Capitals (DC), as an associate sponsor for the inaugural season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL).

According to Roy, the WPL has done wonders, in terms of TV numbers.

The brand plans to spread its awareness journey and aims to take the business at Rs 600 crore. It is dominantly present in certain regions of West Bengal and Maharashtra. In addition to this, the brand intends to work on categories such as face wash, sunscreen and moisturisers.