Will Polycab’s clever IPL media plan cut it?

For this season of IPL, the brand has released multiple ads in different languages featuring Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal.

When was the last that you came across any brand releasing several TVCs in multiple languages on a sports and a Hindi movie channel? Cables and wires company, Polycab, which is one of the associate sponsors for Indian Premier League 2017, recently launched its new campaign 'Connection Bachat Ka. Connection Zindagi Ka'. The brand released multiple TV ads in different languages, featuring Bollywood actor Paresh Rawal on Sony Six, Sony ESPN and Sony Max (SD and HD feeds).

The ads have been conceptualised by RK Swamy BBDO. The agency is also handling the media planning and buying duties for the brand.

Sources close to the company say that these ads have been made specifically keeping Indian Premier League in mind and hence these three channels that broadcast the league. In a Kings XI Punjab Vs Delhi Daredevils game, the Hindi and Punjabi feeds go on air whereas during a Kings XI Punjab Vs Kolkata Knight Riders game, the Punjabi and Bengali ads are played because the supporters of those particular teams are more likely to watch those games.

According to industry sources, the brand has spent approximately Rs 35 crore on the campaign. The campaign is currently on TV and digital platforms.

We asked our media planning experts if this is a good strategy by the brand to run the ads in multiple languages on sports and a Hindi movie channel.

Dinesh Rathore, chief operating officer, Madison Media Omega, says, "Cricket is a unifier in India. So it cuts across the lengths and breadths of the nation and across all geographies as well. The same media plan cannot be carried out with movies because of different regions but cricket is understood right across so it definitely works."

He adds, "It is a smart move by the brand to run language specific ads depending on the teams playing on that day. It is not an accident, it has definitely been thought through."

We asked Rathore if more brands will follow this media plan in the future. He says, "Ya you never know because finally it is about affinity. When you talk to people in their own language, you connect. Also, they have got such a versatile actor who is so convincing."

Sujata Pawar, senior vice president, Lodestar UM, says, "Normally it is seen as a part of the larger plan and a larger strategy. I don't know if this is just for IPL or will they increase the activity through other channels a little later. IPL as a launch platform is a very good one and therefore can be looked at little differently. If it is just a launch and is going to sustain over a period of time, that should be good enough."

Pawar adds, "However, if it is exclusively done only for IPL and they don't intend to do anything at all, it is a pretty expensive strategy for a client like Polycab to do so. I don't think any one of us really looks at only the launch. We always look at once in a lifetime or probably once in five to ten years depending on what kind of renovations you intend to do. So to look at a mass reach platform for Polycab and expect returns, I don't know if that will really help. They will have to look at the objective and what they intend to do and why is it that they are doing what they are doing and of course, there would be a rationale for it."