Star Disney India owned video streaming platform Disney+ Hostar has tied up with 12 official sponsors. As per exchange4media, the company has decided to up the prices for the unsold ad slots by 20 percent from April 1 with the streaming platform targeting more sponsors.
With the Indian Premier League set to beging on April 9, Hotstar has played their cards well by increasing the rate for unsold slots. The interested brands will now be forced to negotiate with the streaming platform before the deadline. If Hotstar hadn’t taken this step, then brands would have leveraged the last few days before the tournament to get cheaper deals. Sportsmint understands from a source close to Disney+ Hotstar that 90% inventory for IPL 2021 has been sold.
With earlier Dream11 as their co-presenting sponsor, Hotstar brought Upstox and Vimal Elaichi as co-powered sponsor for the tournament. PhonePe, Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI), Unacademy, Pharmeasy, Livspace, Swiggy, and Parle Agro are the associate sponsors for Hotstar. The streaming platform recently confirmed about roping in two more associate sponsors – Amazon Prime and Coinswitch.
Not surprisingly, the key features on Disney+ Hotstar like Super 4s, Super 6s, Fall Of Wickets (FOW), Milestones, and Super Savers all have been sold much before than expected. In order to provide and meet various spheres of requirements of its viewers, the platform is offering certain features including interactive advertisements, along with distinct ad features that will make sure the advisers to reach their target audience. Hotstar spokesperson confirmed in this report that they will be looking to bring in more distinct and interactive features for brands during this tournament.
“To further increase the element of excitement, Disney+ Hotstar is introducing another social feature called Watch Parties, which will give our viewers the experience of a stadium in the safety of their homes. The feature will be rolled out to provide advertisers with immense opportunities to form deeper engagements with the right set of audiences.”