Why are Pepsi and Coca-Cola staying away from ICC World Cup cricket?

This is a question that sections of the press are asking as the World Cup gets underway and we’ve seen no advertising from either Pepsi or from Coca-Cola. The reason for both the cola majors might be much simpler than one imagines: the timing is wrong. For the colas, the biggest sales season is the three-month April-June period, which historically account for 40 percent of the annual sales . If the summer is hotter than normal, the three months could stretch to five, spilling over to July and August. [caption id=“attachment_1971825” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Reuters[/caption] As a result, gaining share of voice in the leaner months of February and March delivers much lower return on investment, making media investments questionable. For Pepsi, thanks to their IPL deal, they have assured eyeballs in two of the three months of the peak season. As a consequence, Coca-Cola needs to make investments on non-IPL advertising options during this period to maintain their share of voice. The question that needs to be asked then changes: Why, then, did Pepsi sponsor previous world cups? Sponsoring the 2007 edition wasn’t tough to understand: the tournament began later, stretching to April 28. As far as 2011 was concerned, the answer is as simple: the tournament was held in the subcontinent, so the timing of the matches suited Indian viewing habits, with a number of day-night matches. In the current edition, matches begin as early as 6.00 am, which means that non-India matches in the early stages will receive very small viewership, making the investments unviable. However, if India enters the quarter finals (which begin on March 18, much closer to the onset of summer), one will not be surprised to see the colas enter the fray through spot buys, as the viewership will jump to levels as high as the India-Pakistan match – or even higher.