After VIVO’s exit from IPL 2020 title sponsorship, there may be a huge setback for the IPL broadcaster Star India, as it may lose the IPL 2019 biggest on-air advertisers like OPPO, Realme and VIVO.
All the brands are being cautious as the strong anti-Chinese’s sentiments among the countries. Mobile brands were the leading spender as advertisers in the IPL 2019 across all digital platforms. Oppo, Real Me, One Plus, Redmi/Xiaomi, Huawei, ZTE, Lenovo, Meizu, Coolpad, Zopo, Tecno, spend at least Rs 600-700 crore on the IPL, across TV and digital platforms.
“The sentiment against Chinese brands is very strong currently. We are advising our clients to stay away from any big-ticket advertising. Be it IPL 2020 or any other big television property, it is unlikely Chinese brands will advertise in these circumstances,” said one of the large advertising agency involved in the media buying for the Chinese handphone client.
Last year, in IPL 2019, Star India had recorded a 20 percent jump in ad revenue to Rs 2,200 crore across the television and digital platforms from Rs 1,750 crore in 2018. This year, it looks like the broadcaster will struggle to come close to that number.
A leading media planner said Star India is likely to clock somewhere between Rs 1,500 crore and Rs 1,700 crore as ad revenue, which is likely to be 20-30% less than last year’s Rs 2,100 crore plus ad revenue.