MAM
Pepsi launches ‘Change The Game’ WC campaign
MUMBAI: Soft drink conglomerate Pepsi has announced the launch of a media campaign for the upcoming Cricket World Cup featuring five Indian players – skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Suresh Raina and Virat Kohli.
The first of the television commercials featuring Indian cricket players will be launched on 15 January. Pepsi is an ICC partner.
This ICC Cricket World Cup, Pepsi celebrates the new unorthodox yet immensely popular face of modern cricket with its high decibel and path-breaking campaign – ‘Change The Game’. Through the metaphor of cricket, it also salutes the Youngistaanis who within themselves have found the power to defy tradition, and pave their own way by not breaking the rules but by changing them.
Pepsi says that Change the Game is not a notion but reality that is reflected in the way cricket is played, watched and enjoyed world-over and in India today. With this innovative campaign, Pepsi has become the official sponsor of everything that is unorthodox about the sport; whether it is Sehwag’s Upper Cut, Dhoni’s Helicopter shot, Singh’s Doosra, Tillakaratne Dilshan’s Dilscoop, Kevin Pietersen’s Switch Hit or Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina’s aggressive on-field spirit.
PepsiCo Beverages India marketing director Deepika Warrier said, “Pepsi has always been closely associated with youth platforms such as cricket; and ICC Cricket World Cup is the single biggest event that unifies millions of passionate Youngistaanis. Our Change The Game campaign celebrates the same passion and the new age mantra of cricket, which is irreverent, unorthodox, fun, challenging and unmistakably Pepsi.”
Featuring some of the cricketing world’s biggest superstars, the campaign includes a series of ad films that will showcase out-of-the-box moves that are not text-book and yet help achieve the ultimate goal. Irreverent and youthful in spirit, these films promise to bring alive the passion Youngistaanis share for the game, both on and off the field. The first film as part of the campaign revolves around Indian team skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s famous game changing move – the Helicopter Shot.
PepsiCo India executive VP – marketing, Cola Sandeep Singh Arora said, “Change the Game is a big idea in the context of the game of cricket. With this campaign we will inspire the youth to ‘change the game’, be innovative, take risks, and do things differently even if it has not been done before. We are the official sponsors of the ICC World Cup, but with this campaign we also want to be the official sponsors of everything that is unorthodox, exciting, innovative about the game of cricket”.
Dhoni said, “Change the Game for me is not about what you achieve, but how you achieve it. It is about the confidence to take risks and the courage to take the road less traveled. On field, it is about playing innovative shots or making game changing decisions at critical junctures of the play. Pepsi’s Change the Game campaign captures this thought in an exciting and innovative manner and I am sure Youngistaanis will strongly identify with it”.
Supporting the on-air initiatives is the campaign with cricketers in a painted body look. The company adds that the new body painted look is youthful, fresh and symbolic of the individual player’s passion for the game. Covered only with a layer of colourful body paint, the cricketers’ images reflect their energetic and unique persona on the field. Each design and choice of colour palette has a story behind it which mirrors the athlete’s character.
Taproot India creative director Agnello Dias said, “Pepsi has always been the fearless voice of uninhibited youth. A belief that needed to be interpreted even as the official partner of the event. Only Pepsi could turn this official status on its head by standing up for the brave new, unorthodox face of the modern game. The unplugged, organic face of contemporary cricket that is a reflective of everything that the youth of today live by. That it‘s not the textbook that matters but the result at the end of the day. Because the game can always change.”
Prasoon Pandey of Corcoise Films who directed the TVCs said, “Change The Game is a powerful concept and we have tried to bring alive the same passion and excitement in the films as we would see during the World Cup. The idea was to communicate Pepsi’s celebration of cricketers’ innovative signature moves on the field in a never-seen-before manner. For instance, the first film presents an irreverent back story about Dhoni’s famous Helicopter shot to the thrill of him actually using it during the match.”
The campaign is being launched across various mediums and channels to ensure complete 3D activation across all verticals. It will be supported by a 360-degree approach including thematic ATL and outdoor, consumer engagement programmes, special edition packaging, in-stadia amplification and digital engagement programmes.
MAM
India’s financial sector spent less on TV ads in 2025 but flooded the internet
Banks, insurers and lenders cut tv ads as digital jumps, LIC and Muthoot lead tv and Axis Bank tops online
MUMBAI: India’s banking, financial services and insurance sector, one of the most prolific advertisers in the country, delivered a split verdict on media in 2025. It spent less on television, held its nerve in print, turned up the volume on radio and deluged the internet with a ferocity that left every other medium looking pedestrian. The picture that emerges from TAM AdEx’s cross-media report for the BFSI sector is of an industry in transition, still wedded to the news bulletin but increasingly seduced by the algorithm.
Television: a retreat with caveats
TV ad volumes for the BFSI sector fell 16 per cent in 2025 compared with 2024, a sharp reversal after two years of consistent growth that had pushed volumes 16 per cent above 2021 levels by 2023 and a further 7 per cent higher by 2024. Within 2025 itself, the drop was concentrated in the middle of the year: the second and third quarters saw ad volumes slide 35 per cent each against the first quarter, with a partial recovery of 13 per cent in the fourth.
The retreat did not reshuffle the deck. Life insurance retained first place among TV categories with 19 per cent of ad volumes, mortgage loans held second with 16 per cent, and the top ten categories together accounted for 82 per cent of all BFSI television advertising. The dominance of news channels was equally pronounced: news claimed 68 per cent of ad volumes, general entertainment channels a distant 14 per cent and movies 12 per cent. Together, news and GEC captured 82 per cent of the sector’s television spend. News bulletins alone took 48 per cent of programme-genre volumes, with feature films second at 12 per cent. Prime time, between 6pm and 11pm, drew 34 per cent of ad volumes, followed by afternoon at 22 per cent and morning at 20 per cent. A full 82 per cent of all ads ran between 20 and 40 seconds.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was the sector’s biggest TV spender with 11 per cent of ad volumes. Muthoot Financial Enterprises came second with 9 per cent, followed by National Payments Corporation of India at 6 per cent, Tata AIG General Insurance at 5 per cent and State Bank of India at 5 per cent. The top ten advertisers together accounted for 51 per cent of total TV volumes. Three names were new to the top ten in 2025: Tata AIG General Insurance, IIFL Finance and Tata Capital. At brand level, Muthoot Finance Loan Against Gold led with 9 per cent share, Tata AIG Health Insurance entered the top ten for the first time, and the top ten brands together contributed 35 per cent of ad volumes.
Print: the long climb continues
Print told a different story. Ad space for the BFSI sector has grown every year since 2021, rising 16 per cent in 2022, 30 per cent in 2023, 51 per cent in 2024 and 64 per cent in 2025, all measured against a 2021 baseline. Within 2025, ad space was flat in the second quarter but surged 46 per cent in the third and 33 per cent in the fourth compared with the first. Life insurance led print categories with 21 per cent of ad space, followed by mutual funds and banking services and products at 13 per cent each, and corporate financial institutes at 11 per cent. The top ten categories together took 82 per cent of print ad space. LIC led print advertisers with 6 per cent share, and the top ten together covered just 19 per cent of ad space, a reflection of how fragmented print spending remains. Three new entrants joined the top ten in 2025, with Billion Brains Garage Ventures the only exclusive presence not seen in 2024’s list. In the top ten brands, LIC dominated with a 2 per cent share, while Nippon India Mutual Fund rose to third position from fourth in 2024. English accounted for 62 per cent of print ad space, Hindi for 20 per cent. Business and finance publications took 59 per cent of the genre split. The south zone led regional spending with 33 per cent of print ad space, Bangalore topping that zone, while New Delhi and Mumbai were the leading cities nationally.
Radio: louder than ever
Radio ad volumes for the BFSI sector have climbed steadily, rising 12 per cent above 2021 levels in 2023, 36 per cent in 2024 and 45 per cent in 2025. The quarterly pattern within 2025 was volatile: a sharp drop of 43 per cent in the second quarter and 42 per cent in the third, followed by a near-full recovery in the fourth. Life insurance led radio categories with 22 per cent of volumes, banking services and products second at 14 per cent and corporate NBFCs third at 11 per cent. LIC of India held its position as the leading radio advertiser with 20 per cent of ad volumes; the top ten radio advertisers together covered 69 per cent. Muthoot Financial Enterprises led radio brands with 10 per cent share, five of the top ten brands belonged to LIC alone, and SBI Mutual Fund made a remarkable leap to fifth position from 272nd in 2024. Evening and morning time-bands together captured 84 per cent of radio ad volumes, with evenings at 44 per cent and mornings at 40 per cent. Maharashtra was the leading state for radio BFSI advertising with 18 per cent share; Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 43 per cent.
Digital: the five-times surge
If one number defines the 2025 BFSI advertising story, it is five. Digital ad impressions for the sector multiplied fivefold between 2021 and 2025, having already doubled in 2023 and doubled again in 2024 before the 2025 leap. Within the year, impressions dipped 19 per cent in the second quarter and 12 per cent in the third before recovering 8 per cent above the first quarter by the fourth. Banking services and products led digital categories with 27 per cent of impressions, life insurance and credit cards tied at 19 per cent each, and securities and sharebroking organisations fell from first place in 2024 to fourth in 2025. Axis Bank was the runaway leader among digital advertisers with 12 per cent of impressions, followed by ICICI Bank at 9 per cent, IDFC First Bank at 7 per cent and Kotak Mahindra Bank at 6 per cent. The top ten digital advertisers covered 59 per cent of impressions, and seven of them were new entrants compared with 2024, signalling rapid churn in the digital spending hierarchy. At brand level, Axis Bank led with 9 per cent, ICICI HPCL Super Saver Credit Card vaulted to third place from 921st in 2024, and six of the top ten digital brands were new to the list. Programmatic buying accounted for 91 per cent of all digital BFSI transactions; combined with ad networks, it captured 96 per cent.
The data from TAM AdEx paints the portrait of a sector that still believes in the power of the television news bulletin to sell insurance to the masses, but increasingly knows that the next generation of borrowers, investors and cardholders is scrolling, not watching. The race is now on to reach them before the algorithm serves up someone else’s loan offer first.
