The challenge
In the world of cricket, the inaugural Indian Premier League (IPL) was a massive event. Attracting millions of viewers worldwide, it jumped straight on to the advertising agenda of major brands. The tournament became so big so quickly that there was little time to undertake proper viewership research. We decided to use our research skills to provide advertisers with an accurate estimate of viewership for IPL2. The project was further complicated when the event was forced to relocate to South Africa.
Our insight
The key was to understand the factors governing IPL viewership, and to quantify the impact of these factors on ratings.
Our solution
Cricket is the Indian national obsession and IPL is the sport's pinnacle. We conducted consumer research in ten Indian cities, and combined these findings with viewership data from IPL1 to build a predictive model that would produce match-by-match ratings for IPL2.
Our research delivered a range of detailed findings. Among these were predictions that viewership would be heavily influenced by the presence of Indian or foreign star players in particular teams, and by the timing of matches in light of the time difference between India and South Africa.
Most importantly, however, by quantifying the teams, players and owners in terms of popularity, we were able to estimate that viewership for IPL2 would be at least 7% lower than IPL1, with an average rating of 5.1%.
The results
- Actual ratings were 4.6% (versus 5.1%)
- Generated strong PR
- Pioneering research techniques
