MAM
Learn what’s inside Coca-Cola’s T20 kit with Consortium Gifts
Mumbai: As the ICC T20 World Cup 2024 gets closer, the excitement is not just about the cricket matches. Coca-Cola, a big name in the beverage industry, has partnered with Consortium Gifts, the official merchandise partner, to make the event special for fans. This year, over 300 Coca-Cola team members will attend the ICC T20 2024, each getting a travel kit worth Rs 8,000. The kit includes exciting goodies namely Thums Up T-shirts, collectable glasses, World Cup-shaped keychains, premium gym duffle bags, and sweatshirts to name a few. New items have been added this year, such as an Assembly branded overnight bag, a Dailyobjects card holder, a travel adapter, a waist pouch, laptop stickers, a tumbler from the premium Boardroom Collection, a Puma cap, and a keychain. These great additions will make the event even more memorable for everyone.
Sharing his insights on the exciting collaboration between the brand’s Consortium Gifts, managing director Gaurav Bhagat said, “Some of the event’s direct sponsors, like Coca-Cola, are very active. They have organized internal and external contests, sending stakeholders to match venues in person. Additionally, they are creating a lot of collateral for contests run in collaboration with their bottling partners. Other brands with a close association with the game are running contests for their dealers and distributor channel partners. Some retail brands and food chains are also producing memorabilia for contests and as gifts with purchases. Despite the distance and time zone differences, it promises to be an action-packed tournament with a lot of buzz. As the official merchandising partner for Coca-Cola at the ICC T20 2024, Consortium Gifts is thrilled to bring innovative and memorable merchandise to cricket fans worldwide. This partnership highlights our leadership in the corporate gifting industry and our commitment to delivering high-quality, sustainable products. Major events like the ICC T20 not only drive economic growth but also provide us with a platform to showcase our dedication to enhancing fan experiences through unique and personalized gifts. We look forward to continuing our journey of growth and innovation in the years to come.”
Coca-Cola’s ICC T20 merchandise, made by Consortium Gifts, shows their strong partnership and focus on quality and innovation. This teamwork goes beyond this event, with Consortium Gifts planning future deals with big brands like Jumbo King, Burger King, PVR, and McDonald’s. The Coca-Cola team will look great in stylish Adidas jerseys, made for both players and fans, bringing everyone together and boosting national pride. This year’s useful and special merchandise makes the fan experience even better and celebrates the exciting cricket event.
Discussing the global communication efforts for the event, Consortium Gifts national sales head Sourabh Daswani said, “This year’s ICC T20 World Cup in the USA was a unique challenge! Making merchandise for passionate Indian fans cheering from afar is very different from doing it for fans at home. But that’s what makes collaboration exciting! At Consortium Gifts, we teamed up with Coca-Cola to create exclusive items that capture the T20 spirit and appeal to fans worldwide. Remember the limited edition Thums Up T-shirts we made last year? They were a huge hit! This time, we’ve stepped it up with a special Assembly-branded overnight bag—perfect for Coca-Cola representatives travelling to the USA to see the action live. These small touches make the merchandise special and help create a lasting connection between brands and fans.”
The ICC T20 World Cup is a worldwide celebration of talent, passion, and sportsmanship. Coca-Cola teams up with Consortium Gifts to offer fans high-quality merchandise. This partnership strengthens Coca-Cola’s brand, improves the fan experience, and creates an exciting atmosphere both in the stadiums and at home.
MAM
ASCI study uncovers how Gen Alpha navigates ads in endless digital feeds
‘What the Sigma?’ ethnographic report maps blurred boundaries between content and commerce for 7–15-year-olds.
MUMBAI: Gen Alpha isn’t scrolling through the internet, they’re living rent-free inside its never-ending dopamine drip, and the ads have already moved in next door. The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) Academy, partnering with Futurebrands Consulting, has published ‘What the Sigma?’, an immersive ethnographic study that maps how Indian children aged 7–15 (Generation Alpha) consume, interpret and live alongside media and commercial messaging in a hyper-digital environment.
The research draws on in-home interviews, sibling and peer conversations, and discussions with parents, teachers, counsellors, psychologists, marketers and kidfluencers across six cities. It examines not only what children watch but how algorithms, content creators, peers and parents shape their relationship with the constant stream of shorts, vlogs, gameplay, memes, sponsored posts and ‘kid-ified’ adult material.
Five core themes emerged:
- Discontinuous Generation, Gen Alpha is not growing up alongside the internet, they are growing up inside it. Cultural references, humour, aesthetics and language sync globally in real time, often leaving adults functionally illiterate in their children’s world. A reference that lands instantly for a 10-year-old in Mumbai or Visakhapatnam feels opaque or disjointed to most parents.
- Authority Vacuum, Parents and teachers frequently lose cultural fluency in digital spaces. The algorithm responsive, inexhaustible and perfectly attuned to preferences becomes the most attentive presence in many children’s daily lives. Rules around screen time feel increasingly difficult to enforce when adults cannot fully see or understand the content landscape.
- Digital as Society, Online and offline no longer exist as separate realms, they form one continuous reality. The phone is not a tool children pick up; it is the primary social environment they inhabit.
- Great Media Mukbang, Content flows as an ambient, boundary-less, multi-sensorial stream. Entertainment, advertising, commerce, gameplay, memes and vlogs merge into one undifferentiated feed. The line between active choice and passive absorption has largely collapsed.
- Blurred Ad Recognition, Children aged 7–12 typically recognise only the most overt advertising formats. Influencer promotions, gaming integrations and vlog sponsorships often register as organic entertainment. Children aged 13–15 show greater ad literacy but remain highly susceptible to narrative-integrated, passion-driven and emotionally resonant brand messaging. Discernment remains low across the board in a non-stop stream.
ASCI CEO and secretary general Manisha Kapoor said, “ASCI Academy’s study is an investigation into the content life of Generation Alpha not to judge them but to understand them. Their cultural reference points seem disjointed from those of earlier generations. Insights on how they perceive advertising is the first step towards building more responsible engagement frameworks, given that they are the youngest media consumers in our country right now.”
Futurebrands Consulting founder and director Santosh Desai added, “While earlier generations have been exposed to digital media, for this generation it is the world they inhabit. This report explores not only what they watch but how they are being shaped by algorithms, content and advertising.”
The study proposes four adaptive, principles-led pathways:
- Universal signposting of commercial intent using design principles that make advertising recognisable even to young audiences.
- Ecosystem-wide responsibility shared among advertisers, platforms, creators, schools and parents.
- Future-ready safeguards built directly into children’s content experiences rather than as optional background settings.
- Formal media and advertising literacy embedded in school curricula to teach age-appropriate understanding of persuasion and commercial intent.
In a feed that never pauses, Gen Alpha isn’t merely watching content, they’re swimming in an ocean where entertainment, commerce and identity swirl together. The real question isn’t whether they can spot an ad; it’s whether the adults building the ocean can agree on where the lifeguards should stand.
