Parle Products is having the last laugh. Its wait and watch policy before jumping on the IPL bandwagon seems to have paid off. Just before the tournament's fifth season kicked off, the biscuit-maker had said it was staying away from advertising on television during the matches due to prohibitive airtime rates.

Now three weeks into the season, Parle has bought airtime for 10 IPL matches for its new cookie brand, Happy Happy, thanks to a 25 per cent discounted rate that SET Max, the official broadcaster of the games, is now offering.

Mr Krishna Rao, Group Product Manager, Parle, says, “IPL has now proved to be cost effective and SET Max has compromised on rates by almost 25 per cent. We were waiting for the first few set of ratings and now that they are out, SET Max is willing to give us a discounted rate.”

At the end of 36 matches, according to TAM Sports data, IPL's season five has generated average TVRs of just 3.41 as opposed to 4.84 in the first season. TVR is a Time Weighted Figure which accounts for Time Spent by a Viewer along with the Reach.

SET Max had pegged its 10 second spot rates at Rs 5 lakh this season. Mr Rohit Gupta, President, MSM, the owner of SET Max, admits they are now getting more flexible. “There are negotiations going on right now but we are making minor drops, maybe between 5-10 per cent for our ad spots,” he says.

Other brands too are joining the IPL fold mid-way. Samsung, Celkon Mobiles and Sony India that were sitting on the fence till now have reportedly taken the plunge. And brands such as Heinz, which got cold feet after the initial IPL match, are also returning. The MNC had bought airtime for brands such as Complan and Glucon D for the opening IPL match, but had stayed away subsequently. “We had stopped buying airtime after the first IPL match but now that ad rates have dropped, we are reconsidering spending again on the property, says Mr Nikshit Nair, Media Manager at Heinz.

Apart from the discounted rate, media planners such as Mr CVL Srinivas, Chairman, Starcom Media Vest Group, feel that what's making the brands gravitate back to IPL is the lack of real high TRP shows this season.

> purvita@thehindu.co.in

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