Amfi, Hero Super Splendor, Honda X Blade most advertised brands in first 50 FIFA live matches

Given that the FIFA World Cup is a popular sports category especially among young viewers, a number of new-age firms are advertising on it for the first time. Photo: Reuters

New Delhi: Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi), Hero MotoCorp’s bike Super Splendor and Honda Two Wheelers’s sports bike X Blade emerged as the top three most advertised brands during the first 50 live matches of FIFA World Cup 2018 on Sony Ten 3.

The data, provided by television advertising monitor agency TAM Media Research, covers advertising duration during live matches and excludes all pre-mid-post programs on Sony Ten 3, one of sports channels of the official FIFA broadcaster Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN).

“FIFA World Cup is an immensely popular sports property globally including India. It is watched by both young and middle-age viewers who also fit into our potential investor portfolio. I think FIFA is a great property to drive awareness about the mutual fund investment as well as convert viewers into potential investors,” said A. Balasubramanian, chairman, AMFI.

In the top ten most advertised brands, online grocery platform BigBasket.com emerged as the fourth most advertised brand. The platform is running a campaign featuring brand ambassador Shah Rukh Khan and actor Ratna Pathak Shah talking about how trusted the platform is. Hero Passion is the fifth most advertised brand followed by auto maker Volkswagen. Uber India’s campaign with Virat Kohli also features in the list. Others include Amazon Echo, Apollo Tyres and fantasy sports company Dreams 11.

Given that the FIFA World Cup is a popular sports category especially among young viewers, a number of new-age firms are advertising on it for the first time. According to the TAM data, there are six new advertisers in the top ten list in this edition of FIFA World Cup compared to 2014 including new age companies like Amazon Online India Pvt Ltd, Super Market Grocery Supplies Pvt Ltd (BigBasket), Uber India Systems Pvt Ltd and Dream11 Fantasy Pvt Ltd.

“In recent years, football consumption has seen an upward trend in India, leading to a considerable increase in sports fans playing fantasy football on Dream11. Football World Cup has seen considerable traction this year and it was the perfect time to launch our ‘Dimaag Ki Kick’ campaign, featuring our brand ambassador M.S. Dhoni. Football has always been close to Dhoni’s heart and that’s something sports fans could easily connect with,” said Vikrant Mudaliar, chief marketing officer Dream11.

Noting that six of the top ten advertisers are new to the list, Sandeep Goyal, media veteran and chairman, Mogae Media, a Mumbai-based marketing and communication agency said that Amfi is a big revelation as it has spent the maximum money on the FIFA World Cup as well as on IPL this year. “To me that indicates that new categories open up constantly. Telecom, handsets, e-commerce, payment gateways, beverages and auto have seen their highs and yet new categories show up. So, there is always an opportunity for a new advertiser or brand that adds momentum to the advertising business and keeps it in a good shape,” he added.