Calcutta, March 22: Advertisers are having to re-strategise their on-ground publicity with the Indian Premier League moving out of the country.

Nokia, the lead sponsor for Shah Rukh Khan’s Kolkata Knight Riders in the first season, today said it would re-structure its overall publicity mechanism this time.

“We make one of the largest investments in India in the IPL. But with the change in venue, we may restructure the whole mechanism, mainly the on-ground advertisement message. It would be premature to suggest what the new strategy will be. But the partnership with KKR will be there,” Nokia India Ltd’s vice-president and managing director (markets) D. Shivakumar said.

The second season, scheduled from April 10 to May 24, could be held in the UK or South Africa.

A city-based brand and promotions expert said that “with the change of venue, the on-ground target audience for the advertisers will shift”.

Typically, about 10 per cent of total advertisement revenue comes from on-ground promotions.

Suparna Mucadum, the advertising head of Grey Worldwide in the city, said: “Certainly the on-ground advertisement will be affected. Companies having no business or prospective customers abroad may pull out from on-ground advertisement space.”

Other on-ground promotions would also change.

Mucadum added: “Television promotions will not change. But companies will need to change the language, script and the themes for advertisements that connect their customers on ground.”

LG Electronics, one of the top spenders in India, is planning to call a meeting in a day or two to discuss its on-ground consumer connect activities for the IPL.

Contests, events or promotions, which typically call for a fair amount of logistics planning, are non-traditional forms of advertising that the industry calls consumer activation.

“We will decide our future course of action after we get the official note from the IPL authorities,” an LG spokesperson said over phone.

Some of last season’s top advertisers, including LG, have already cut down their spending for the second season arguing that the IPL advertisement rates for this year are “too high”.

Sony MAX sold a 10-second spot for Rs 2.5 lakh last year, and has raised it to Rs 3.5 lakh for the second season.

An HDFC Standard Life Insurance spokesperson recently said: “Given the chaos surrounding the IPL, many advertisers could jump ship and get on the election (coverage) bandwagon or look for other high-impact properties.”