Royal Challengers, HSBC, HP, Airtel, Coke, Samsung to sponsor YouTube IPL channel

Google has signed a number of sponsors including Royal Challengers IPL team, HSBC India, HP India, Airtel, Coca Cola and Samsung for its dedicated IPL channel YouTube.com/IPL that will live stream all DLF IPL 2010 matches – spanning 60 matches over 45 days.

According to Google, sponsors’ ads will appear throughout the 60-match tournament, across several ad formats, including pre-roll and mid-roll ads, YouTube homepage ads, and banner ads next to the live player and on video watch pages.

Royal Challenger’s IPL team will take the spot light during the final match of the tournament, while HSBC India and HP India will cover the semi-finals. Ads from sponsors will appear in all countries where YouTube is available except UK. Sponsors ads will also get featured on the IPL-branded Orkut community page, which will host team and player interviews, contests and match polls to engage fans and audiences.

Shailesh Rao, managing director, Google India and Media & Platforms, Asia Pacific, has said, “We are extremely delighted with the response we have received from leading brands in India to be part of this first-of-its-kind initiative on YouTube. The combination of on-demand access and interactive community features on YouTube provides a whole new avenue for advertisers to engage their audience.”

Siddhartha V Mallya, representative, Royal Challengers, has said, “Today visibility on digital media is an important element to reach out to an increasingly tech savvy youth. YouTube is providing us a whole new avenue to engage with our audiences wherever they are.”

Maitri Kumar, head of marketing, HSBC India, has added, “If Cricket is a religion in the sub-continent, then IPL is its fast-growing cult. This association with YouTube is a great way to participate in this IPL hysteria and engage with our key target audience.”