Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s Iconic Century: A Great Moment Marketing Opportunity For Brands

In India, cricket is more than just a sport. It is truly the spirit of our nation. The game is a unifying force, a source of national pride, and a cultural phenomenon that permeates every corner of the country. It holds a special place in the hearts and minds of millions of Indians. And India Vs. Pakistan matches have a different fanbase altogether. With the ongoing Asia Cup 2023, everyone has their eyes glued to whatever screen they can find in order to watch the match. And yesterday two cricketing legends created history.

Virat Kohli and KL Rahul registered the highest-ever partnership in the history of Asia Cup during the IndVsPak Super 4 match in Colombo on Monday. The duo ended up scoring 233 off 194 deliveries and helped India reach a daunting 356/2 in their 50-over quota. What made this sweet win even more special was the fact that both, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul, hit centuries against the neighbouring country and won everyone’s hearts. Virat also became the fastest batter to reach 13,000 ODI runs while KL proved his mettle with this comeback post his injury.

Also Read: Lilly Singh Brings the Haircare Line Everyone’s Been Waiting For!

With the immense integration of brands and cricket that has increased over the past few years, moments like these prove to be a golden chance. Brands get to showcase their products and features very effectively and creatively in front of a wide audience, thus broadening their reach. Many brands were quick to grab this ‘moment marketing’ opportunity and some came up with really cool and quirky posts to celebrate these iconic double centuries on X (formerly Twitter). Let’s take a look:

Swiggy & Swiggy Instamart

The creative genius that Swiggy is, they found the most apt way to highlight Kohli and Rahul’s double century. By using the classic Britannia 50-50 biscuit as their muse, the Swiggy team edited the biscuit’s packaging to read as 100-100. What an ode to their partnership.

Swiggy Instamart took a hilarious route for this moment. They used the widely popular scene from Lifebuoy‘s iconic ad: “Bunty tera sabun slow hai kya?” Bunty is seen washing his hands for a long time while chanting the words “Dhote jao dhote jao dho..” repeatedly. Instamart took this moment to depict how Team India bashed Pakistan in yesterday’s match with that towering score.

Spotify India

No celebration is complete without music, right? Spotify India called the cricket heroes the real “Do Dhaari Talwaar.” They dedicated the recently trending song from the movie Mere Brother Ki Dulhan to their performance. Well, their partnership did prove to be a double-edged sword indeed, positive for us and negative for the opposite team.

“Pappu Can’t Dance” from Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na also made an appearance in Spotify’s tweet celebrating the players’ centuries. The glorious victory can make any Pappu dance for sure!

Boat

Like we said, music is the life of any joyous occasion. Boat takes a guess at which song would be playing at the post-match celebrations. And how “Sauda Khara Khara” would be a perfect fit to commemorate Virat and KL Rahul’s stellar achievement. Also the wordplay on “Sau-da” – nicely done!

Uber India

Truer words have never been spoken, are we right? Uber India had a ‘kill two birds with one stone’ strategy wherein they lauded Virat Kohli’s century along with Shah Rukh Khan‘s “Jawan” craze. Both King Khan and King Kohli are definitely ruling over the country, garnering massive love from all over.

Tinder India

“A match to remember for the ages.” Just the amount of puns in that line makes us giggle. Tinder India‘s cheeky post is so on-brand. Calling Kohli and Rahul not just a 10/10 match for each other but 100/100 is a sweet bromance moment.

Amazon Prime Video

This was phenomenal. Prime Video chose an iconic moment to honour another iconic moment. Anyone who has watched K.G.F Chapter 2 knows the power this scene holds, goosebumps! And such were both the cricket marvels’ performances yesterday. The movie scene’s comparison to Kohli showcases how he and the team crushed the opposite team with their game.

It is awe-inspiring to see how huge the phenomenon of this sport is in our country and how it seamlessly seeps into our daily lives. Given cricket’s wide fandom and reach, brands wish to incorporate this advantage into their social media strategies to gain visibility and traction. These ‘moment marketing’ posts by brands further amplify this concept. It was a delight to see creativity flow for our iconic players.