Coca Cola India’s clear lime beverage Sprite has announced that it is the associate sponsor and pouring partner of Shah Rukh Khan’s IPL team, the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Sprite will be designated the official beverage of the team and Sprite’s logo will appear on the players’ strips – the leading arm as well as on the helmet. Sprite will also have in-stadia presence and activation rights for all seven home matches at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Through a number of soon-to-be-launched innovative activations, selected Sprite consumers will also get an opportunity to interact with the Kolkata Knight Riders team members.
Kolkata Knight Riders co-owner Jay Mehta, says, “From the time of its inception last year, Kolkata Knight Riders has far exceeded the expectation of competitors and compatriots in terms of our fan following and the success of our brand and business. With Sprite now on board as associate sponsor and official pouring partner, I am confident we will together provide more enhanced experiences to our fans and consumers, making the second season of IPL 2009 all the more action-packed and exciting”.
According to Coca Cola India VP-Marketing Venkatesh Kini, “Twenty20 Cricket is clearly a growing passion with today’s youth. The success of IPL 2008 has taken the game to a new high. It provides Coca Cola India with a very exciting platform to connect with all its consumers. We are happy to bat with Kolkata Knight Riders as an associate sponsor and pouring partner. Our entire association with KKR has been conceptualised in an exciting and engaging manner, in keeping with both KKR and brand Sprite’s positioning, ‘Seedhi Baat, No Bakwaas… Clear Hai!’.”
Coke and Kolkata Knight Riders will roll out 360-degree campaign which will leverage mass media, in-stadia and in-market activation and digital platforms soon.