Key mediums for IPL are driven from the audiences' POV which is digital-social & OTT: Anuradha Bose

Anuradha Bose of JSW Paints talks about the brand's association with WIPL, how they plan on building inclusive communication, marketing strategies going forward, and more.

The first innings of the Women's Indian Premier League (WPL) saw a tremendous amount of support from the audience and brands alike, making it historic for women in cricket and sports worldwide. JSW Paints, a brand that has been associated with IPL prior to this, were the principal, front-jersey sponsor for the Delhi Capital's Women's Team, a franchise team co-owned by JSW. The brand was also the associate sponsor on JIO Cinema for the WPL live streaming.

In conversation with Social Samosa, Anuradha Bose, Chief Marketing Officer of JSW Paints, decodes their sports marketing strategy.

Edited Excerpts:

What is your marketing objective behind associating with Delhi Capitals as their  Principal Sponsor for WPL 2023? What are you aiming for with this association? 

JSW Paints has been operating with the objective of encouraging our customers, retailer partners and consumers to go beyond what is accepted and usual and to think beautiful to impact their homes, community and society positively.  

We associated with WPL because we believe that this association beautifully exemplifies the core thought of “Think Beautiful” – we believe that WPL draws attention to women in sport and gives them a national as well as global platform to showcase their talent. We are extremely proud and delighted to be associating with a game-changer like the WPL in the sports space.  

What does JSW Paint's media mix look like? What are the key mediums the brand plans on using for IPL promotions? 

• Our media buys continue to be a healthy mix of traditional and digital media.  
• We have always believed in investing in digital and WPL was one such attempt  
• Keeping in mind the media that our core TG consumes, we will also invest in  strategic OOH and BTL
• For IPL – Key mediums for IPL promotions are driven from the point of view of  where the audiences are very active and engaging which happens to be on  digital-social and OTT 

How are you planning to create buzz around the IPL this year? 

IPL will continue to provide reach and attention to the brands especially this year when it will be available for free streaming for everyone on digital. JSW Paints will  continue to be a part of the IPL journey this year to build awareness and engagement on  our core offerings along with our aim to encourage sports in the country 

The audience has given a positive reaction to WPL and the engagement has been high as well, pushing many women athletes to see their rise in popularity. Do you think more brands will support WPL next season? 

Yes. I think our women cricketers have made us proud with their fantastic performance during the first season of WPL. More and more brands will realize the potential of WPL in harnessing the values exhibited by the women cricketeers in building a compelling narrative for their consumers. The WPL will also, hopefully, help in making heroes out of the women in sports and build role models to inspire a  generation of women who want to excel in sports. 

With the brand's association with WPL, what is the ROI that you are looking at? 

We are principal, front-jersey sponsors for Delhi Capitals Women's Team and associate sponsors on JIO Cinema for the WPL live streaming. We look at this as a  relevant brand-building event where our philosophy of Think Beautiful fits in perfectly. 

Also Read: With increasing audience, we believe diversity in brands will also come in for Women’s IPL: Rajesh Krishnamurthy

The future of women in sports in India is changing, how can brands change their communication to be more inclusive? 

Traditionally a few categories have been “reserved“ or viewed as women’s domain. We are seeing a gradual shift in this narrative now. At JSW Paints, however, we have always kept this at our core. That is why, you see our brand ambassador, Alia Bhatt, playing a  customer - who makes the painting decision in her home – as well as an alter-ego who questions existing norms in the paint industry. We will continue to build more inclusive communication – which is not just limited to gender. 

Can you tell me about JSW Paint's overall marketing strategy through the years? 

JSW Paints is a new entrant in a category that is dominated by some well-established players who are used to doing things in a certain way. Hence we had to do something that was refreshing but meaningful and thoughtful to our consumers. The aspect of being thoughtful and innovative (as emphasised by our brand promise – Think Beautiful)  governs every aspect of our marketing strategy. Whether it is our product portfolio – where we promise to keep it simple or our core disruption – “Any colour one price” which promises transparency in pricing, we have stayed consistent with our promise. Our campaigns have been conceptualised around this core thought and we will continue to be thoughtfully innovative.  

JSW Paint's core communication has revolved around family and its values, keeping  #letsthinkbeautiful at the centre of it all. Can you elaborate on the brand's overall marketing theme that you explore? 

“Think Beautiful” drives home the brand's promise - Thoughtful is Beautiful. Always putting forth interesting takes on what beautiful truly means, JSW Paints believes that real beauty is in our thoughts which leads us to actions that benefit our home, community,  society and country. Since our launch, we have been standing by the clarion call to 'Think  Beautiful'. Hence, we have ensured that every aspect of the JSW Paints brand has a Never  Done Before quality and a promise to deliver true value to our consumers. It appears everywhere - from our product innovations to price, community and marketing interventions. 

What does JSW Paints' marketing roadmap for 2023 look like?

We will continue to stay true to our brand promise and build upon our last few campaigns  centring around “Any colour one price” and “think beautiful.” In a way, our marketing campaign for 2023 has already started with our support for the DC WPL team.