ICC ODI World Cup: How Can Startups Benefit From It?

The ICC ODI Cricket World Cup is just around the corner and the cricket frenzy nation is bound to be engulfed in the festivity of the cricket extravaganza. With emotions riding high for the citizens of Bharat to see the Indian Cricket Team raise the coveted ICC trophy after a span of almost years. The highly anticipated tournament is bound to achieve record viewership as has been the case in the country for other cricket tournaments. 

As per the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) in 2023, cricket TV viewership has surged dramatically, irrespective of the format, with the IPL 2023 setting new records with over 500 million viewers and a 34% higher TV rating compared to 2022, as reported by BARC. Additionally, the World Test Championship Final achieved a historic reach of 124 million viewers, marking a 32% increase from the 2021 final.

These numbers are evidence enough that the viewership numbers for the ICC ODI Cricket World Cup 2023 will blow through the roof. The fact that the ICC ODI World Cup is being held in India is another reason why the viewership numbers are bound to be off the charts. The question that arises then is why are we talking about the cricket World Cup on a news platform that covers talent, idea, capital, and entrepreneurship.

Well, the ICC World Cup is a great opportunity for startups to leverage this mega tournament for greater audience reach, innovative marketing, and growth. 

In conversation with TICE, Rajesh Joshi a serial entrepreneur and startup evangelist shares his expert insights on how startups in India can use the ICC World Cup for their benefit through various techniques and strategies. 

How can Startups Leverage the ODI World Cup in India?

Target Emotions - In India, most things run on emotions. Be it hardcore fans waiting in line for tickets for Bollywood stars like Shahrukh Khan, Rajnikant, Amitabh Bachan or chasing cricket stars like MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, etc. for just one selfie. Such acts are evident that emotions run high in Indian veins. During the World Cup, startups can leverage the two major emotions that would be in the minds of millions of Indians, primarily that of victory and fear of losing. 

"India is a cricket frenzy nation with a panache for emotions. Startups can ride this emotional wave and encash the emotions and feelings of victory, pride, fear of losing, etc. to reach a greater audience," Rajesh Joshi mentioned. 

Leverage Locality - The ODI World Cup will take place all across India with cities hosting the top cricketing nations around the globe. Ten venues in India: Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Dharamsala, Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Kolkata will host the revered tournament. 

"A startup in Pune will have a greater audience reach when the matches are being held in India. They can go to the stadium and come up with innovative ideas to showcase their brand to reach customer segments across India," 

Ambush Marketing - Ambush marketing is a tactic where a brand attempts to link its products or services to a major event that already has official sponsors, often occurring during sporting events, with the goal of increasing the brand's visibility without official sponsorship. 

"Startups have an excellent opportunity to market their brand without going over budget and spending a lot. They can use ambush marketing or guerilla marketing techniques to make the world aware of their brand as the whole world will be watching the tournament from the comfort of their homes," he explained. 

Special Screenings & Events - B2B Startups can organize special screenings to build networks, and connections around the World Cup to garner more business. 

Social Media Marketing - Social Media Marketing is as crucial as it gets. The importance of social media marketing cannot be stressed enough with India going the digital path with Digital India and a majority population using the internet 24/7.

"Startups can come up with special campaigns around trending words, topics, etc. to promote their products and services. For example, they can come up with promotional offers such as Virat Package or Sixer Dhamaka to entice customers with keywords surrounding cricket and the ICC Cricket World Cup," serial entrepreneur Rajesh Joshi said. 

How can BCCI Promote Indian Startups During the World Cup? 

"BCCI should take a cue from India's G20 presidency and how Indian Startups were showcased to 25+ countries and their delegates during the last 1 year at all events of G20. BCCI can enable, and promote Indian local Startups at all the Venues of the ODI World Cup by giving them the opportunity to showcase. Qatar did something similar during the FIFA World Cup. Though time is less now, but Indian Startup Ecosystem is nimble and ever-ready to embrace opportunities. The ODI World Cup is a great avenue for India to showcase its vibrant and growing Startup Ecosystem and further, the world will be given a message that during India's G20 presidency, a new engagement group of Startup20 was established which Brazil and South Africa are going to take ahead during their Presidency," Rajesh Joshi mentioned. 

Final Thoughts

"Try out cause-based marketing. Be authentic by tapping into your own Startup background and values. Leveraging the World Cup just for the sake of doing so is not enough. Millennials and Customers favor a strategy correlated to a truthful aspect of your Startup's business," he concluded. 

This year’s World Cup is taking bold steps from location to schedule, and startups should embrace this feeling. Discover your Startup’s innovation opportunities during this time, and relate to people’s emotions as much as possible. Lastly, be assertive with B2B scopes and disrupt with ambushing efforts to take your World Cup marketing strategy to the next level. This only happens every four years, so make sure to make it count.

Given the viewership and traction that the ICC ODI World Cup is expected to garner, startups should embrace this opportunity to scale their growth through innovative ideas for marketing, branding, customer engagement, etc. The ICC ODI World Cup will begin in India on October 5 with the final to be played on November 19. The startups have a window of more than a month to encash this mega opportunity and ascend greater heights.