Coca-Cola's H2 spending to be the highest ever in India: Arnab Roy

Arnab Roy, Vice President, Marketing Coca-Cola India and South-West Asia, stated during a roundtable that the company's H2 spending will be the biggest it has ever been, despite the fact that it generally sees a decline every year.  

With the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup and festive season around, Roy stated that the spending will a historic uptick despite the fact that it generally sees a decline every year. 

Roy said that this year is unique because it's the ICC event happening in India and the World Cup is a really important engagement platform for the brand. In partnership with ICC Men's Cricket World Cup, the brand markets its two iconic beverage brands- Thums Up and Limca Sportz. 

"This is going to be the highest ever spend we have done in a quarter in the history of our company's presence in India," Roy stated, referring to the World Cup and festival season both falling in Q4. This is a unique opportunity with the World Cup and all of the festivals taking place at the same time. It will be one of the greatest marketing investments in Q4, which has seen a little drop in the past few years." 

Campaigns launched in partnership with ICC 

Roy said that in India Coca Cola has been partnering with the ICC for more than four years. “It is the second largest sporting event in the world and by far the largest sporting event in India. It's obviously a huge platform for us to ensure that we are able to reconnect with our consumers and also go and activate the whole ecosystem in our business.” 

The company has three brands under the ICC platform. The first one is with its core brand Thums Up which has the biggest marketing plan and has been on for a while. The second one is on Sprite and the company also activating a new brand under a new product- Limca Sports- which is an extension of the company’s popular brand Limca. 

For Thums Up, the brand launched the "Toofan Uthao, World Cup Jao" Campaign which embodies the nation's excitement for ICC Men’s Cricket. 

Thums Up's 'Player Manifestos' is yet another inspiring phase of the overall campaign that fuels enthusiasm, confidence, and support for Team India. The campaign features cricket icons like Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja, Jasprit Bumrah, and Shahrukh Khan as the 'Voice of Belief’ focusing on instilling an unwavering belief in the Indian cricket team's World Cup journey and enhancing fan engagement through real-time tech-led responses from expert panels and credible influencers.

Another campaign that the brand launched  -- "Thums Up Utha, India India Macha" -- is a tribute to the cricket team as they prepare for the upcoming World Cup, aiming to inspire and rally fans behind India's quest for victory.

For Limca Sportz, the company launched the "Yo-Yo Test Challenge" and unveiled a host of offline and online activations. It  was kickstarted by Olympic gold medalist Neeraj Chopra on social media with "Yo-Yo test leke Dekhao, World Cup jaane ka Mauka Pao." For Sprite, the company launched  "Thand Rakh" campaign.

“We have been very happy with the partnership in terms of the exposure we've gotten in the last three years. We will continue to work with them closely and explore opportunities which will help us to go and activate and scale,” said Roy. 

Partnership with Disney Star 

As earlier reported by exchange4media, Coca-Cola sealed a sponsorship agreement of Rs 150-160 crore with Disney Star- the official broadcaster of the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup for both TV and Digital. 

Roy reiterated that the brand has a very strong partnership with the broadcaster. In the past, they were the on-air sponsors in the IPL. “In continuation of a belief that live sports is very important, we are going all in with Disney Star.” He shared that for IPL return on investment was phenomenal and the brand is optimistic about the viewership of the ICC World Cup also, on both TV and digital.”

Coca-Cola has collaborated with Disney+ Hotstar for "Thums Up Fan Pulse" ushering in a new era of immersive cricket engagement. The first-of-its-kind platform redefines cricket content, resonating with Thums Up's true spirit featuring lively discussions, expert insights, and fan participation with cricket legends, hosted by Harsha Bhogle, to keep the World Cup excitement alive.