Cola wars heat up as battle for IPL’s summer marketing dominance gains momentum

Summer’s sizzle is all set to meet cricket’s crackle, and for cola brands, it’s a match made in marketing heaven. As TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 gears up to bowl over the nation, the timing couldn’t be sweeter – or should we say, fizzier? With temperatures rising and thirst growing, cola giants are poised to quench both with a strategic blitz that leverages the IPL’s unmatched reach. This year, the stakes are even higher as Campa from Reliance Consumer Products Limited (RCPL) steps up to the crease as a co-powered sponsor on JioStar, promising to shake up the cola landscape like never before. Get ready for a summer of high-octane advertising, where every six means a sip, and every wicket means a win for brand visibility.

So, how does this perfect storm of summer heat and IPL fever translate into concrete marketing strategies? It's more than just slapping a logo on a jersey; it's about crafting an immersive experience that resonates with millions of cricket-crazy, thirst-quenching fans. This year, with Campa's strategic play on JioStar, the stakes are higher than ever, pushing established cola brands to innovate and engage in ways that go beyond traditional advertising. From immersive digital activations to hyper-local campaigns that speak the language of every fan, the IPL 2025 season promises to be a battleground of refreshing ideas and strategic plays.

Adgully delves into the insights from industry experts to explore how these cola titans are leveraging the IPL’s timing, reach, and emotional connection to not only boost brand visibility, but also drive immediate sales, proving that in the world of summer marketing, the IPL is truly where the action is.

While speaking about the collaboration with Jiostar, Ketan Mody, COO, Reliance Consumer Products Limited, commented, “Our partnership with JioStar for TATA IPL is a natural extension of our long-standing commitment to cricket. By securing the exclusive co-powered sponsorship across TV and digital, we are amplifying our presence on India's biggest stage. With a portfolio of total beverage offerings, this collaboration not only expands Campa’s footprint but also offers an exciting opportunity to engage with millions of cricket fans, driving brand loyalty and enthusiasm across the nation for our entire portfolio of beverages.”

Ishan Chatterjee, Head of Business, Sports Revenue, SMB & Creator, JioStar, said, “We are excited to welcome Campa as a key sponsor for TATA IPL 2025. This partnership strengthens our shared commitment to delivering high-impact brand engagement during the country’s biggest cricketing spectacle. With JioStar’s unmatched reach and Campa’s legacy in the beverage space, we look forward to creating memorable experiences that resonate with millions of fans across India.”

Shaping summer marketing strategies

While assessing the significance of IPL for cola brands, Atul Raja, International Marketing Consultant and Brand Strategist, notes, “Cola brands in India have historically aligned their advertising strategies with high-reach, high-impact platforms that guarantee mass youth engagement. Given the seasonal nature of cola consumption, the most significant advertising investments occur around the onset of summer, when demand peaks. One of the most effective platforms for this has been the Indian Premier League (IPL), a cricketing spectacle that captures the attention of millions across demographics but resonates particularly with the youth audience, which forms the core consumer base for cola brands.”

He adds that the significance of IPL as a strategic advertising fit for the cola brands is not far to seek:

Massive Viewership & Engagement: IPL consistently attracts one of the largest television and digital audiences in India. The 2023 season, for instance, recorded over 500 million TV viewers and 450 million digital viewers.

Youth-Centric Audience: A significant share of IPL's viewers falls within the 15-35 age group, aligning perfectly with the target audience of cola brands.

Timing & Seasonality: The IPL is held during March- May, coinciding with the onset of peak summer in India, when cola consumption spikes. This seasonality ensures that advertising efforts translate directly into increased sales.

Emotional Connect & Brand Recall: The association of cola brands with high-energy sports, cricketing heroes, and high-octane entertainment strengthens emotional engagement and recall.

Raja further says, “IPL 2025 is going to be special, with Campa Cola having secured the co-presenting rights, considered the second-most visible sponsorship deal, for Rs 200 crore, bringing competition to India’s cola market like never before.”

Amit Gujral, Mentor and Industry Expert, points out, “Cricket in our country is widely referred to as a ‘Religion’. In further terms, Cricket is our ‘DNA’ and this one entity is common amongst all of us. Therefore, for brands choosing Cricket that’s via IPL 2025 coming up soon shall be a great platform to connect with their customers. Over the years, IPL has become a ritual for viewers to watch/ participate and the ritual shall continue. For marketing – ‘Audience’, ‘Time’, ‘Place’ – all are of important essence, and in my experienced opinion, Cola brands have the year’s biggest Audience availability through IPL 2025 to woo their audience. It would be more befitting if brands can add Experiential & Emotive connect on IPL across Digital, TV and On-Ground mediums.”

Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and Marketing Expert, points out, “Traditionally, the cola marketing starts peaking in the month of March. It kicks off in February. And as the Indian summer extends from April, May, June, which are big months, cola marketing is at its peak. As it happens, IPL also happens to be in that March, April, May period. It works perfectly. Therefore, traditionally you’ve seen Pepsi and Coke break a lot of big campaigns with the IPL. And this year, too, of course you’re seeing that Coke launched the “Half time” campaign. Now Pepsi has come back with that “Anytime” campaign. So, I think we see a lot of activity on Cola. And of course, there’s a new player in Campa Cola. Campa has been competing mainly on price, but I think that’s how it’s going to move forward.”

IPL’s summer of content for cola brands

When asked how cola brands can leverage the IPL’s timing during peak summer to amplify their seasonal advertising messages and drive immediate sales uplift, Atul Raja notes, “The March-May IPL season aligns perfectly with the peak summer months in India, when cola consumption is at its highest. This presents a golden opportunity for cola brands to not just boost visibility, but also drive immediate sales through high-impact advertising, celebrity engagements, and interactive campaigns.”

This could be achieved through a 360-degree strategy:

Launching new commercials on ‘Refreshing’ and ‘Youth-oriented’ themes: IPL is the biggest ad battle in India, and new, attention-grabbing commercials can outshine competitors. In IPL 2015, Pepsi came up with a Virat Kohli and Ranbir Kapoor ad, and it was a big hit.

Multi-platform distribution with a TV/OTT, digital-first, and ground activation rollout: Integration of all touchpoints is a must to effectively leverage IPL’s immense reach and engagement and achieve marketing goals. This also helps to drive e-commerce with match-time offers & bundles. Swiggy/ Zomato deals during exciting match moments can drive impulse purchases.

Cricketers and Bollywood celebrities are crucial in IPL advertising as IPL is a cultural phenomenon that brings together cricket, Bollywood, and mass consumer engagement and is a game-changer in driving mass awareness, brand equity, and purchase intent.

Live match engagement during IPL is a game-changer for sales uplift. Real-time digital interaction works very well. Moment marketing, live contests, and fan engagement through on-ground activations for instant brand love & visibility.

Social Media amplification and virality can convert brand buzz into sales. Hashtag campaigns & viral challenges, cricketers/brand ambassadors reposting and reacting to fan content, live engagement on Twitter & Instagram during matches, memes & witty real-time reactions to match moments are just a few ideas that can take a brand’s IPL content viral.

In a similar vein, Amit Gujral observes, “Cola as a product is always poised as ‘Refresher’ during summers. Thus, cola brands can bring about this Refreshing phenomenon, emotively on IPL. Topping the strategy with engaging content and connection would further be beneficial for Cola brands during IPL.”

Like Lloyd Mathias, Atul Raja, too, believes this could be achieved via 360-degree campaigns. He says, “It could be done by multiple ways. Cola companies do a lot of tie ups with the various franchise teams – IPL has 10 teams. In every playing arena, they make sure that they are one of the advertisers, they get the pouring eye. That means they become the beverage of choice in that particular stadium. And all the 10 teams have their home stadiums.”

Continuing further, Raja says, “Secondly, they tie up with a lot of teams for branding and merchandise. Whether it’s the logos on the jerseys, on the caps, on the bats, on the team thing – I think that’s another part that they do which is critical.”

Regional marketing gameplans

Speaking on the role of regional marketing in IPL-driven summer campaigns for cola brands, Atul Raja points out that IPL is one of India’s most linguistically diverse sporting events, with millions of fans tuning in across regional-language channels. “For IPL 2025, JioStar’s sports network will expand to 24 channels across SD & HD formats, covering multiple Indian languages and making vernacular marketing a strategic necessity for cola brands with myriad advantages:

National impact with hyper-local customization
Deeper audience penetration in Tier 2 & Tier 3 markets
Higher engagement through linguistic alignment and comprehension
Greater sales uplift through localized messaging & retail activation.”

Amit Gujral adds here, “The consumption of Vernacular/ Regional language commentary in IPL is well proven over the years. The diverse culture of India bestows is the ultimate testimony, proving brands’ connect with the audience in their local language and flavours. I have always said that marketing should be 3E Marketing – Emotive, Engaging and Experiential. Thus, the vernacular/ regional consumer connect certainly enhances the Emotion Quotient of consumers/ audiences. This would be no different for cola brands and they should strategize the communication and connect accordingly, leveraging the pan India and yet local reach via IPL.”

Lloyd Mathias opines, “Cola companies do regional campaigns and that’s because different markets have different levers. For example, let’s say when you do a campaign in the south, in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, very often you use the local language. Now very often they don’t dub the national ads, but they create separate ads based on the local stuff. Cola brands work closely with a lot of South Indian movie stars. So, a lot of regional campaigns happen parallel to big campaigns.”