“Our partnership with Delhi Capitals also entails collaboration for Vocal for Local”

With the 13th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) all set to kick off on September 19, 2020, with defending champions Mumbai Indians taking on Chennai Super Kings in the opening match, the tournament is seen as giving the much needed boost to ad spends and consumer sentiments in a year that has been subdued by the global pandemic.

The enthusiastic advertiser response is seen in IPL 2020’s TV ad inventory being a complete sell-out, while digital is expected to see a growth of 3-4X. The IPL franchise teams, too, have been able to not just retain their old brand associations, but also get new brands onboard.

Earlier this month Delhi Capitals had announced OkCredit as their principle sponsor, which is also seen as a support to the Government’s ‘Vocal For Local’ initiative. In conversation with Adgully, Harsh Pokharna, Co-founder & CEO, OkCredit, talks about the association and the expectations from IPL this year.

What are your expectations from the IPL in terms of attention and garnering eyeballs?

IPL is celebrated with a huge fanfare in India. This edition, we are delighted to team up with Delhi Capitals on our joint vision to empower small businesses – enabling them to go digital and helping them adapt to the changing world. With this partnership we will be able to grab eyeballs of millions of viewers, which will also help us create awareness for our products and Brand OkCredit among its target audience.

What kind of campaigns have you launched to support the team and keep the IPL spirit high?

Our partnership with Delhi Capitals also entails collaboration for the ‘Vocal for Local’ campaign. The campaign will go live, building up to this year’s edition of IPL, keeping the celebration spirit high. OkCredit will directly support these retailers, who have been impacted by the ongoing pandemic, to grow their business and expand their reach by helping them to go digital.

Which channels of communication are you strongly looking at? Is digital a big part of your strategy?

We choose our communication channel depending on the campaign. However, since post pandemic, digital has further scaled up and we have seen a great growth on digital, hence our preferred communication channel will be more digital-focused.

What are your expectations from this year’s IPL?

With the large spread fan base of IPL, we hope to reach the length and breadth of our country and contribute towards creating a Digital India through this partnership.