Mumbai: India’s biggest advertisers may have dominated airtime during IPL 2026 on Connected TV (CTV), but when it came to actual consumer recall, banking and financial services brands emerged as the strongest performers.
According to data released by COTT | Chrome Digital Ad Track, BFSI brands delivered the highest recall efficiency during IPL 2026 despite accounting for a relatively modest 4.8% share of total impressions. The category generated 6.9% recall, making it the only sector among the top advertising categories to record a Recall Efficiency Index above 1×.
The study noted that while categories such as FMCG, automobiles, and digital commerce drove scale-led visibility during the tournament, BFSI advertisers succeeded in converting impressions into stronger consumer memory and brand recall.
The report estimates that within the total 255 million IPL cricket CTV viewers in India, BFSI advertising during IPL 2026 was recalled by nearly 1.7 crore banking and investment consumers, highlighting the category’s effectiveness on premium streaming environments.
Among individual brands, Angel One emerged as the top-ranked advertiser by recall volume, recording an 11.8% Impression Share and 14.2% Recall percentage, translating into a Recall Efficiency Index of 1.20×.
However, IDFC First Bank emerged as the standout performer in terms of efficiency. The bank generated an 11.1% Recall percentage from an 8.7% Impression Share, resulting in the highest Recall Efficiency Index among the analysed brands at 1.27×.
Groww, despite securing a 9.0% Impression Share, delivered a comparatively lower 8.4% Recall percentage, bringing its Recall Efficiency Index down to 0.93×. PhonePe recorded a 6.3% Impression Share and 6.8% Recall percentage, achieving an efficiency score of 1.08×.
The report highlighted that the collective performance of BFSI advertisers reinforces IPL CTV as a high-value environment for financial services advertising across both traditional banking brands and digital-first investment platforms.
The study also examined metro-market performance across banking brands, covering audiences in Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, and Kolkata.
Among metro audiences spending over two hours weekly on banking and insurance services online, IDFC First Bank led recall rankings with an 11.7% Recall percentage against a 9.0% Impression Share, achieving a Recall Efficiency Index of 1.30×.
SBI followed with a 7.8% Recall percentage and 0.95× efficiency score, while HDFC Bank recorded a 6.2% Recall percentage with a 0.97× efficiency index. Kotak Neo posted a 5.9% Recall percentage and 0.80× efficiency score.
The report observed that recall outcomes among banking brands were not always directly linked to impression share, pointing instead to the growing importance of creative formats, platform relevance, and audience engagement quality.
According to the findings, banking brands investing in integrated “super-app” ecosystems appear to benefit from sustained consumer familiarity beyond paid advertising alone.
The report stated that consolidating multiple financial services into unified digital platforms helps reduce consumer friction and increases habitual engagement, enabling brands such as IDFC First Bank and SBI to maintain stronger top-of-mind recall without relying solely on aggressive advertising spends.
The study further suggested that the IPL CTV audience is increasingly receptive to financial services messaging, with consistent recall performance observed across both traditional banks and digital investment platforms.
The findings were based on COTT | Chrome Digital Ad Track (CTV) data and a primary survey conducted during IPL 2026 between March 28 and May 25, 2026, covering 22,678 respondents who were weekly active CTV users and frequent banking service users.
