Back to the cola wars as Coke catches Pepsi's drop

18 February 2009

As winter draws to a close, the battle between cold-drink rivals Coca-Cola and Pepsico is getting hotter. The arena this time is Indian Premier League cricket, where the two global giants are bidding against each other for sponsorship of both individual players and league teams.

The battle began a few days back, when Pepsi dropped Shah Rukh Khan, the Bollywood idol and co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), saying it wanted younger brand ambassadors. Even as Khan publicly complained about the manner of his 'sacking', Coke was quick to pick up sponsorship of his entire team.

Coca-Cola, which is planning to push its Sprite brand of clear-lemon drink through KKR, has signed a two-year deal with the team. This will ensure that iconic KKR players like Ishant Sharma (who currently endorses Pepsi) and former India captain Saurav Ganguly (who was dropped by PepsiCo last year) will endorse Coca-Cola's products in the coming season, which starts next month.

Coca-Cola's sponsorship deal includes merchandise branding rights - T-shirts, jerseys, helmets, caps - in-stadia branding rights on perimeters and dug-outs, aligning with the team as a beverage partner, serving Coca-Cola beverages in home stadiums (every team gets to play seven matches in its home stadium) and various promotions by KKR team players. The KKR team and Khan may also feature in Coca-Cola advertising specific to IPL.

At the same time, PepsiCo has closed a new deal with India Cements-owned Chennai Super Kings, which it already sponsors. The two companies are now in talks to produce co-branded cans of beverage. It is also reported to be in talks with Mukesh Ambani's Mumbai Indians.

Meanwhile Coke, which recently bagged the Delhi Daredevils, is also in talks with the Punjab Kings XI, owned by actress Preity Zinta and industrialist Ness Wadia.