Disney+ Hotstar's Ads Head Dhruv Dhawan prioritises CTV for ICC T20 Men's World Cup Ads

As Disney+ Hotstar prepares for the upcoming ICC T20 Men’s World Cup, its focus remains on enhancing viewership, maximising concurrency during India matches, and attracting more advertisers to the platform. 

Dhruv Dhawan, head of ads, Disney+ Hotstar, says, the platform is anticipating even greater engagement than the ICC Men's Cricket World Cup 2023. 

“Following the success of World Cup 2023 in viewership, concurrency, and advertising, we see a strong opportunity during the T20 World Cup. Team India is expected to surpass their previous performance. Their advancement to the finals last year underscores their potential. With all eyes on India, the T20 format is going to be exciting and entertaining,” he says. 

Towards this end Disney+ Hotstar is reinvigorating some of its features from last year, including free viewing on mobile devices, Max View, and self-serve platforms. These are expected to not only boost viewership but also draw in advertisers.

Disney Star’s streaming platform will be offering the upcoming tournament to stream ‘Free on Mobile’. The ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 was also streamed free on mobile, with a peak of 5.9 cr concurrency witnessed during the finals between Team India and Team Australia.

“Free gives us reach right up to the lowest common denominator and that eventually gives advertisers high value,” Dhawan says.

Additionally, it piloted two new features last year: a WhatsApp product for enhanced advertiser engagement and lead generation forms for BFSI, Auto, and other sectors, offering tangible performance metrics for live sports advertising.

For the same tournament, the platform in collaboration with the ICC, introduced MaxView, offering users the option to stream matches on the go in vertical mode. 

The platform’s affordable self-serve offering is also attracting small advertisers. With self-serve options, the platform has expanded its potential advertiser pool from 200-500 to 5,000-10,000, significantly increasing traction for smaller advertisers with modest budgets. 

While there is growing interest from international brands seeking access to the Indian market, self-serve primarily caters to Indian SMB advertisers. Some of the brands that advertised on it are D2C and local FMCG brands like Venus, Ramraj, Crax, and Prasuma, along with infrastructure firms like Chettinad Cement and auto ancillary players like Green Cell. 

Dhawan says the focus is on scaling participation, aiming to triple the number of advertisers on board this time.

“We've democratised live sports advertising, offering self-serve packages with CPMS as low as Rs 49 and budgets starting from Rs 2 lakhs, with special rates for first-time advertisers. We're actively onboarding small agencies and advertisers passionate about cricket through city-based self-serve roadshows. While larger advertisers remain crucial, our focus is on broadening accessibility to ensure participation across the board,” he says.

Last year, it introduced 75 targeting options, totaling 55,000 unique streams, allowing for precise demographic, geographic, and retargeting capabilities. It will continue to offer them during the T20 World Cup and will also allow advertisers to retarget the sports viewers in entertainment content. It is also leveraging intent in purchasing signals and allows advertisers to target transacting or e-commerce users. 

This World Cup, it is also introducing pre and post-live segments, featuring expert commentary and tech integrations, separately on digital and TV streams. Advertisers can target each stream individually or opt for integrated packages.

ICC T20 Men’s World Cup on Connected TV (CTV) 

Disney+ Hotstar is positioning its CTV offering as an ideal platform to reach premium households. Ads are available to Disney+ Hotstar subscribers while watching live sports on CTV. Moreover, CTV has a family-centric nature. “This is the best way for an advertiser wanting to reach a premium household. We allow ads behind the paywall just on live sports. So not only can they target sharply, but at the same time target premium consumers as well,” he says.

Dhawan says the platform is pretty much capturing all premium households in India. Connected TV has a reach of 25 million households. Add to it another 20 to 25 million premium devices. “So we will be building a premium package that allows advertisers wanting to reach this TG an opportunity to maximise its reach,” he shares. 

Dhawan, who joined the platform in August 2023 from Google, says advertiser interest in CTV has also surged. Within the same category, brands targeting premium households are more likely to index higher on connected TV compared to mass-market brands that lean on mobile devices for its broader reach. “Most advertisers have premium product lines that align with CTV's affluent viewership.”

According to him CTV audiences have surged 2.5 to 3 times in the past 18 to 24 months. Beyond the 25 million devices, Disney+ Hotstar also has a co-viewing factor of 3 to 3.1, which can potentially increase the reach to 75-100 million viewers. 

“This figure is poised to rise further during the upcoming World Cup, as almost all the new TVs entering the market are connected. While broadband penetration nears 50 million homes, telecom players are rapidly pushing towards 75 million,” he shares. 

Owing to the premium nature of the platform, CTV rates consistently surpass mobile rates. Typically, CTV impressions command a premium, often three to four times higher. Additionally, the co-viewing factor amplifies the value, as one viewer often represents multiple household members engaged in live sports or other content.

Disney+ Hotstar has offered advertisers the option of both spot buys and CPMs on CTV. “We have only limited inventory for spots. So for certain matches spots go much faster because people know the audiences are going to be much higher, for example an India-Pakistan match,” he shares.

Interested Categories

However, unlike the Asia Cup and the World Cup, which was conducted during the festive season in 2023, the upcoming tournament is in the monsoon, a time of the year traditionally known to bring low ad spends. Dhawan remains confident that certain categories will continue to advertise. Beverage and summer brands still gain traction as it is the last month of summer and they strategically plan their marketing mix. Certain sectors, like fintech, Auto, and BFSI, remain evergreen regardless of seasonal fluctuations. 

“FMCG experienced significant engagement during the previous World Cup, highlighting the benefits of associating with major events. Our goal is to ensure all categories receive widespread reach and meaningful association opportunities throughout the tournament. Also monsoon arrives later in the North, around the end of June,” he says.

The FMCG segment, traditionally less associated with sports, joined during festive season last time and continues this trend. Auto and BFSI remain active sectors, alongside mouth fresheners and beverages. Fintech has emerged as a new category. 

Dhawan says digital advertising's flexibility has attracted even small advertisers as they can benefit from its targeted approach. “Advertisers from various regions, including Chennai and across the South, target specific audiences, often utilising connected TV for maximum impact with minimal budgets,” he says.

The first match will take place between USA and Canada on June 2, 2024 at 6:00 AM IST. The ninth edition of the tournament will be hosted by West Indies and the USA, with the event featuring 20 teams competing across 55 games for the right to be crowned ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 champions.