Mumbai, July 1, 2026: Tata Sierra, Cadbury Dairy Milk, Tata AIG, Rapido, Google AI Mode, and Wonder Cement emerged as the six brands that benefited the most from their association with IPL 2026, according to Ormax Trac20: Ad & Sponsorship Effectiveness Research for IPL 2026, a new report from media consulting firm Ormax Media.
The six brands recorded the highest Ormax Mpact Scores among the 54 brands evaluated in the research. Ormax Mpact is Ormax Media’s proprietary brand-lift measurement tool. It calculates a single, benchmarkable score based on statistically significant movement across important brand metrics, including top-of-mind awareness, spontaneous awareness, total awareness, consideration and purchase or usage intent.
The research is based on 15,000 online interviews, comprising 7,500 interviews conducted before the IPL season and another 7,500 after its conclusion. Each of the 54 brands was evaluated among 300-500 consumers in each phase (pre & post IPL) from its relevant target group. The study covers urban India across franchise home cities and other key commercial markets, with representation from metros, mini-metros and small towns.
The six leading brands used a range of advertising and sponsorship approaches to create impact. Tata Sierra combined the privileges of title sponsorship with in-stadium visibility, commentary mentions, its presence as the official trophy car for the final and the ‘Escape Mediocre’ campaign. Cadbury Dairy Milk’s association was led by the ‘Khaas Seat’ initiative, which created a dedicated section at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium for first-time match attendees. Tata AIG integrated its ‘Fan Box’ activation into the live match experience, supported by commentary mentions and a television and streaming campaign.
Rapido, an official broadcast sponsor across JioHotstar and Star Sports, generated impact through extensive visibility and its ‘First Ride Free’ campaign. Google AI Mode used contextual cricket integrations and commentator references to introduce its AI-powered search experience. Wonder Cement combined its role as the Official Umpire Partner with in-match branding, viewer engagement around DRS decisions and its ‘Farq Nazar Aayega’ campaign.
Commenting on the findings, Keerat Grewal, Head: Business Development (Streaming, Television & Brands), Ormax Media said, “Cricket delivers exceptional scale, but scale by itself does not guarantee brand impact. The six strongest-performing brands in our research adopted very different approaches, but their campaigns were united by clear messaging, contextual relevance and consistent reinforcement across multiple consumer touchpoints. The report is intended to help brands and media agencies make more informed decisions around cricket advertising, extending well beyond the IPL to international cricket and other major tournament properties.”
In addition to evaluating individual brand performance, the report compares the effectiveness of different forms of cricket association, including title sponsorship, tournament sponsorship, in-match and in-stadium branding, commentary-led integrations, franchise sponsorship and conventional advertising exposure.
The findings examine how factors such as the nature of the association, continuity of visibility, strength of creative execution and integration with the viewing experience influence brand impact. The report offers comparative benchmarks and actionable learnings for brands and media agencies planning, executing and evaluating investments across the wider cricket ecosystem.
The complete Ormax Trac20: Ad & Sponsorship Effectiveness Research for IPL 2026 report is available from Ormax Media through subscription.
About Ormax Media:
Headquartered in Mumbai, Ormax media is India’s first specialized media analytics & consulting firm. Using its proprietary consumer research, forecasting and data analytics tools, Ormax media provides strategic solution for businesses operating in media & entertainment sector in India, in areas such as content testing, campaign tracking, brand equity research, audience and category understanding among others. Since its inception in 2008, Ormax media has built a slate of more than 20 proprietary products in the areas of forecasting, modelling and business analytics that are used extensively by the industry as a gold-standard in decisions related to content selection, brand & content strategy and strategic business investments.
Ormax Media partners with more than 85 leading media & entertainment brands in India, including JioStar, Zee, Times Network, Sony Pictures Networks, Amazon Prime Video, JioHotstar, Yash Raj Films, Dharma Productions and many others.
