Online food delivery platform Zomato leveraged the 2023 IPL through an integrated marketing programme across India spanning multiple platforms and led by a partnership with official tournament broadcaster Sky Sports which also included swapping the home icon on its delivery map with an IPL stadium icon. Thus turning its delivery map into a promotional platform.
Like previous years, 2023 again sees Zomato bring something inventive and fresh to its marketing around the IPL season and its sponsorship of Star Sports’ tournament coverage aims to enhance the fan viewing experience and drive orders. For the duration of the competition, Zomato swapped its familiar brand home icon for an IPL stadium. The delivery map on the Zomato app also reads: “Make Your Home, Your Stadium! Watch TATA IPL on Star Sports Network.”
Interestingly, this move follows rival Swiggy’s move last month which saw it swap its own signature two wheeler delivery map icon with a satellite to promote Rocket Boys.
Zomato also launched the IPL-themed in-app gamification ‘Zomato Prediction League (ZPL)’ contest for its customers which challenges them to answer three match winner prediction questions in 10 seconds and the winners scoop prizes at the end of the match.
The ZPL contest runs from 31 March to 28 May and was promoted by a social campaign fronted by Team India and Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant fronted the food delivery platforms pre-tournament, IPL-focused social campaign. Pant, who has been out of action since December 2022 after a car crash, stars in the spot titled ‘Rishabh Pant Is Ready For Comeback’ which dropped 29 March (days ahead of the 31 Match IPL opener between defending champions the Gujarat Titans an the Chennai Super Kings.
The spot suggests that during the IPL season, Pant, despite being injured, won’t just sit and watch, but will actually play ZPL and the contest content is linked through the #RishabhIsBack and #RishabhPantComeback hashtags.
This was followed by a TV commercial and online video phase of the brand’s IPL leverage programme fronted by Indian national team cricket legends and brand ambassadors Harbhajan Singh (formerly of the Mumbai Indians) and Shanthakumaran Sreesanth (formerly of the Rajasthan Royals). The video sees the two stars locked in a heated debate about the pronunciation of Zomato’s name
Conceptualised in-house and titled ‘Bhajji & Sreesanth Fight Again: Zomato v Zomato’ debuted on 11 April and saw the pair argue over how to pronounce the brand name and which app delivers food on time.
Shot in a lift, the spot stars a pair of cricketers who, in their playing days, had a famous on-ground argument. The spot closes by stating that it doesn’t matter how people pronounce the brand name, it delivers food on time.
Other strands of Zomatos 2023 IPL leverage progamme include digital OOH (featuring other cricket stars such as Hardik Pandya) and low-latency, match-linked social content.
Comment
The IPL’s positioning and reach has seen both major young brands in India’s food-tech space – Zomato and Swiggy – compete for fan attention and tournament association as they aim to drive fast growth both directly through game-linked ordering and in terms of brand awareness and status.
While 2023 sees Zomato sponsor official broadcaster Star Sports (the brand has also previously been a team sponsor through deals with IPL sides Dehli Capitals, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore), rival Swiggy is again an official partner of the Tata IPL itself.
Zomato’s has featured fun gaming contests promoted by cricket ambassadors (in previous years these have also included Virender Sehwag & Virat Kohli) fronted TV and social spots linked to discounts to generate buzz and drive usage at the heart of its IPL strategy.
For example, in 2019 its in-app game was promoted primarily through a digital marketing strategy built around a series of videos featuring Sehwag and Kohli focused on ways people spy on the cricketers to make sure they play the right bet.
Another key strand of the Zomato IPL strategy has long been the brand’s witty and match-related real-time social media content linking IPL games to food. For example, back in 2018 it leveraged a game between Kings Eleven Punjab and Chennai Super Kings through content with ‘Things Eleven Punjab’ and ‘Chennai Super Things’ sharing 11 types of team-specific foods that fans of each team coul order.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.