From the IPL to the YBPL, Rana Kapoor, the former MD and CEO of Yes Bank, has conquered it all by promoting sports.
Cricket is India’s most popular and watched sport, despite the fact that it is not the country’s national sport. The word ‘cricket’ is used interchangeably with the word ‘religion’ in this context. The viewers’ enthusiasm, craze, thrill, and excitement, as well as the players’, are genuinely extraordinary. Cricket’s passion and enthusiasm triumphs over all. One of the most popular ice-breakers in India is cricket. Most Indians can bond over the sport and have endless talks and chats about it.
Yes Bank’s founder, former managing director, and CEO, Rana Kapoor, used a “remarkable marketing strategy to facilitate brand recognition and further propel his pan-India retail banking franchise.”
In 2013, YES BANK, India’s fourth largest private bank, snatched the ultimate opportunity and became the official financial services partner of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The private sector lender was added to the IPL’s partner list shortly after Pepsi signed on as the official title sponsor and Vodafone’s affiliation with the competition was renewed. This collaboration with IPL enabled YES BANK gain enormous recognition among the general public, particularly among Indian youth.
According to a BARC India research, 93 percent of all sports watchers tuned in to cricket programming in 2018, with women accounting for a significant portion of the viewership. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the country’s most popular cricket tournaments. The number of people watching the IPL climbed from 77% in 2018 to 81% in 2019. It’s being broadcast across the country and in a variety of languages. As a result, Rana Kapoor was ahead of his time in betting on this platform when it was still in its infancy.
Yes Bank did not simply sign up as an official partner of the IPL like any other, but Kapoor made sure that the bank got the most out of its sponsorship. It leveraged the sponsorship of sixes, dubbed the “Yes Bank Maximums,” to bring attention to its 6-percent savings account interest rate. Yes Bank acquired a household name with enormous brand recall as commentators routinely mentioned “Yes Bank Maximum” every time a batter hit a sixer. Yes Bank’s retail expansion strategy aligned perfectly with this marketing strategy.
This campaign was lauded by many, as YES BANK won many awards at the CMO Asia’s Social Media & Digital Marketing Excellence Awards, sponsored by the World Brand Congress in Singapore, during the tenure of seasoned banker Rana Kapoor. For the 360-degree campaign during the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016, YES BANK was also awarded the award for Best Social Media Campaign of the Year.
The reason behind Rana Kapoor’s collaboration with IPL was to help Yes Bank develop popular appeal and reach. Yes Bank’s collaboration with IPL was easily the largest and most visible branding approach, hence the goal was met. Yes Bank has grown and reached new heights over the years, because to the IPL’s pioneering success.
Yes Bank and its collaboration with the IPL generated 180 million impressions across 25 million actively engaged cricket fans on platforms like Facebook and Twitter over a five-year span. The following climbed by 1.5 million followers across social media platforms as more than 10 million cricket fans engaged with the content. Yes Bank’s IPL media value increased from INR 118.66 crore in 2013 to INR 274.36 crore in 2016. The media value of the first 20 matches of the 2017 IPL season was INR 58.12 crore.
In addition to securing a five-year deal as an official partner and on-field sponsor with the Indian Premier League (IPL), Rana Kapoor launched the YES BANK Premier League to bring his brand and cricket together.
MSMEs are emerging as the major drivers of the country’s ongoing strong development, according to the market veteran. The YES BANK Premier League was founded by Rana Kapoor with the goal of encouraging the same team spirit among the business sector (YBPL). It is a first-of-its-kind sporting platform that promotes engagement with India’s MSME population, which is the country’s economic engine.
YES BANK came up with this annual cricket festival to bring together MSME teams from across India to play live in stadiums across the country, as Rana Kapoor wanted to encourage and uplift the team spirit among his employees as well. As an ardent believer in community cohesion, YES BANK came up with this annual cricket festival to bring together MSME teams from across India to play live in stadiums across the country.
In the year 2019, the league was held in ten Indian cities, with a total of 160 matches and over 2400 participants from MSMEs. YES BANK Premier League was one of the bank’s most successful endeavours during Rana Kapoor’s tenure as MD and CEO. It reflected Kapoor’s effort to get to know his clients and build stronger ties with them. This initiative has undoubtedly aided the private bank in forging personal connections with the commercial and retail communities, as well as fostering deeper relationships by getting to know one another better.
