Mapping Sponsorship-linked Marketing in Indian Premier League

Sponsorships have not been subjected to extensive research in an emerging economy like India, till date, which is considered virgin in terms of sponsorship research. Having this in mind, the article focuses on mapping sponsorship scenario in Indian Premier League (IPL) and aims at meeting three main objectives: (a) Mapping sponsorship scenario in Indian Premier League (IPL), (b) to categorize sponsors in Indian Premier League into various categories and highlight the importance of Industry-IPL fit and (c) to discuss the impact of micro-level factors on sponsorship-linked marketing. For the purpose, official websites of IPL and all teams were scanned (from 19 March to 3 April 2012) resulting into the identification of 119 sponsors with varying level of prominence, relatedness and sponsors' hierarchy. Researchers advised brand managers that they should first weigh their brand's prominence and relatedness coupled with taking into account their target customers rather than taking impulse decisions to compete with their competitors' sponsorship activities. The study contributes to the knowledge of the academicians who will be able to understand the potential of future researches that could be done. On the other hand, the study also provides an advantage to marketing executives/sport managers about how they can effectively and efficiently manage their individual brands in a cluttered media environment.