IPL 2025: Can brands still score attention in an overcrowded ad arena?

Somewhere between the umpteenth jingle about wafer chips and the third “moment marketing” tweet triggered by a no-ball, a quiet question starts to form in the head of every marketer staring at a live IPL 2025 dashboard: How do we ensure we will still be noticed?

Welcome to IPL 2025, where a record 1,100 advertisers have muscled their way into the ad slots, vying for a slice of attention from over one billion viewers across digital and TV. It’s the world’s glitziest cricket tournament, now fully transformed into India’s largest real-time advertising arena. The stakes? ₹6,000 to ₹7,000 crore in total ad revenue and ₹4,500 crore targeted by JioStar alone from TV and digital inventory.

And yet, the glitter threatens to blind more than it dazzles.

It’s Not About Being Seen, It’s About Being Remembered.

“The IPL feels like Times Square on steroids—flashy, noisy, and everyone’s trying to out-scream the other,” says Bala Kumaran, Founder and Director at BrandStory. “Unless you’re a legacy beast with a lion’s share of ad budgets, your brand voice might echo into the void.”

Kumaran isn’t wrong. According to TAM data from the first 13 matches, the top five advertisers—including Parle Biscuits, which alone took a 9% share—accounted for 28% of ad volumes. That leaves the remaining 1,095 or so brands scrambling for oxygen in a very crowded room.

Kumaran’s suggestion? Be so unexpected that they can’t ignore you. Or skip the melee entirely and focus elsewhere: “Better yet, advertise outside the IPL while everyone else is burning their budgets.”

It’s a sentiment echoed in our previous coverage, where several small-to-mid-sized brands admitted their IPL presence was more a “participation exercise” than a domination attempt.

But there is a way to thrive in the clutter—if you’re willing to play smart.

“We understand that in a high-stakes environment like IPL 2025, standing out requires a blend of creativity and precision,” explains Abhinay Tiwari, Chief Growth Officer at Admattic. “The volume of ads can easily lead to fatigue, so brands must deliver content that resonates not just creatively, but in terms of relevance.”

Saying that while traditional advertising is vital, Sumit Mathur, GM for South Asia , Glanbia Performance Nutrition India Pvt. Ltd. says it is no longer the only way to reach consumers. “Ad fatigue is real, which is why interactive content that engages consumers is becoming more important. Such content transforms consumers from passive spectators into active participants. Influencers are becoming vital to the advertising mix because their content is targeted to a highly receptive audience. Brands that unlock these channels and new formulas can take their brand to new heights and stand out in a crowded field.”

Optimum Nutrition has launched a collaborative campaign with RCB called “Unlock Your Greatness” with various on-ground activations, such as retail outlet branding and social contests for consumers to get a chance to watch Royal Challengers live on ground by entering an on-pack contest.

Admattic’s strategy focuses on real-time optimization, programmatic buying, and interactive formats to cut through the noise. Think personalized ad delivery, native formats, and multi-touchpoint measurement.

And in an environment where over 1,100 advertisers are chasing attention, scale without strategy becomes wasted exposure. Many marketers are turning to layered targeting—combining first-party data, contextual triggers, and creative sequencing—to engineer relevance rather than hoping for it. When executed well, this kind of approach doesn’t just drive viewability; it drives meaningful brand interaction.

It’s a stance backed up in e4m’s earlier IPL coverage, where advertisers noted a distinct shift from vanity metrics to outcome-based planning, especially in the realm of programmatic.

Even as brands go big, the best returns may come from going hyper-local. “The IPL has become more than just a tournament—it’s a cultural phenomenon reshaping how brands connect with fans,” says Bikash Chowdhury, Chief Marketing Officer at InMobi and Glance.

According to Glance’s new report “Decoding Indian Cricket Fans: Consumer Insights and Seasonal Marketing Strategies”, second-screen engagement—particularly on smart lock screens—surged 2.4x during matches, while app installs rose 35% on Android and 28% on iOS. But what’s especially telling is the shift toward regional content and real-time moment marketing in native languages.

“The message is clear: success lies in delivering the right content at the right moment, in the language that feels like home,” says Chowdhury. For brands aiming to ride the IPL wave without being capsized by its size, that might be the golden ticket—cut through scale with specificity.

Not Just Noise, But Impact

“Brands can draw inspiration from the Super Bowl’s innovative marketing strategies,” suggests Sunitha Natrajan, Director of Digital Strategy at Social Panga. “Storytelling that resonates, authentic messaging, and strategic placement investments are all crucial.”

Natrajan emphasizes the importance of a well-planned ad mix—balancing frequency, messaging clarity, and audience insight. “Brands can minimize ad fatigue and maximize ROI by setting clear objectives and deploying creative assets with a cohesive, targeted strategy. The excitement and fan loyalty IPL generates creates a fertile ground for message amplification.”

The IPL’s massive reach — ₹1,300 crore in team sponsorship revenue alone, with Mumbai Indians and CSK touching ₹150 crore each — makes it attractive. But as Natrajan warns, “Effective planning and execution are crucial to ensure you don’t get lost in the noise.”

Of course, the temptation to rely on visibility alone can be strong—especially when TV ad packages range from ₹40 crore to ₹240 crore, with digital slots clocking in at ₹8.5 lakh per 10 seconds on CTV and ₹250 per thousand impressions on mobile.

Tiwari emphasizes that brands investing in IPL can expect substantial returns—if they focus not just on impressions but on deeper engagement and building long-term brand loyalty. “The combination of strategic targeting, creative relevance, and continuous optimization ensures that the ROI is not only significant but sustainable,” he says.

But ROI doesn’t happen by magic. “Attention without action is vanity,” Kumaran quips. “The real ROI kicks in when brands successfully map awareness to advocacy.”

BrandStory’s campaigns have shown 2x to 3x increases in digital engagement, higher ad recall, and measurable spikes in brand searches and customer intent—but only when matched with smart creative and cross-channel strategy.

For smaller brands, Kumaran says, the IPL isn’t an easy playground. “Without a disruptive hook or layered storytelling, the ROI rarely justifies the spend. Niche marketing outside the IPL ecosystem may sometimes deliver more bang for the buck.”

Meanwhile, the growing media landscape gives brands many avenues to drive engagement. “Social media never sleeps, and Cricket fans are worldwide, offering unparalleled reach during the IPL. Moreover, unlike traditional media engagement, social media engagement can be monitored in real time, and strategies can be tweaked on the fly if needed,” says Mathur. 

So... What Now?

IPL 2025 may be the most lucrative and attention-rich sporting event in India’s media calendar, but standing out among 1,100 advertisers isn’t about shouting the loudest—it’s about speaking the clearest.

The brands that will come out on top this season won’t necessarily be the ones with the deepest pockets, but the ones with the sharpest strategies: those who combine hyper-personalization, regional storytelling, programmatic agility, and a very clear sense of why they’re advertising in the first place.

Because in an IPL ad break filled with forgettable noise, being remembered? That’s priceless.