Pepsi's Champions Trophy counter to Coca-Cola resurfaces: Times of India takeover from March
Resurfacing a March 2025 move, Pepsi launched its "Anytime is Pepsi Time" campaign in India, responding to Coca-Cola's "Halftime" cricket marketing ahead of the summer and IPL demand peak in the ₹1.37 lakh crore non-alcoholic beverage market.
What happened
Pepsi countered Coca-Cola’s ICC Champions Trophy “Halftime” campaign with “Anytime is Pepsi Time,” using a Times of India print takeover. The rivalry targets
Key facts
- India's non-alcoholic beverage market: ₹1.37 lakh crore
- Coca-Cola FY24 advertising and promotion spend: ₹1,520 crore
- Coca-Cola ad-spend increase: 35% year-on-year
Why this matters
Intensifying cola competition increases the strategic value of acquisitions or partnerships in regional beverage brands, distribution networks and low-sugar innovation that can differentiate portfolios beyond mass-media spend.
What to watch
- IPL-period cola volume growth versus pre-season and prior-year summer sales
- Changes in advertising and promotion expense, especially Coca-Cola's spending after its FY24 increase
- Share-of-voice across television, print, digital, creator and cricket sponsorship inventory
- Discount depth, buy-one-get-one offers and trade-margin changes on quick-commerce and modern-trade platforms
- Cooler placement, stock availability and shelf share at kiranas, transit hubs, cinemas and food-service outlets
- Performance of PepsiCo India and Coca-Cola India bottling/distribution partners during peak heat months
- Heatwave intensity, regional water constraints and any supply disruptions affecting cold beverage availability
- Coca-Cola is likely to expand IPL-linked 'Halftime' media, celebrity, food-pairing and retail activation to defend mental availability.
- Pepsi may extend the campaign into quick-commerce, restaurant partnerships, multipacks and cricket-viewing occasions rather than rely only on mass media.
- Both brands are likely to increase retailer incentives, chilled-display deployments and on-shelf visibility in high-temperature and high-footfall markets.
- Quick-commerce and modern-trade platforms may package cola promotions with snacks, ice cream and match-day baskets, increasing basket-level promotional competition.
- Regional beverage brands may counter with lower-priced packs, fruit drinks and local-language campaigns in tier-2 and tier-3 markets.