Why Coca-Cola has made World Cup TV ads one part of its sports marketing play

April 24, 2026 Powerade today launched its big FIFA World Cup 2026 campaign, a social-first “Power Your Fate” movement designed to capitalize on the massive soccer event at both global and local scales. With involvement from major athletes Lamine Yamal and Rodrygo Goes, and creators like street artist Devon Rodriguez, the campaign highlights how The Coca-Cola Company is taking a broader approach to its sports marketing in 2026. Advertisement TOP STORY The Sports Marketing Playbook Why Coca-Cola has made World Cup TV ads one part of its sports marketing play The new Powerade World Cup 2026 campaign takes a 360 approach across social, digital, and traditional TV advertising to maximize impact. OTHER THINGS TO KNOW As campaign complexity grows, agency leaders are getting pulled back into the weeds. But clients don’t see process breakdowns — they see unmet expectations. Partner insights from Pathlabs. The agentic era is moving quickly — from concept to live campaigns in record time. Publishers who are agent-ready gain a competitive edge with more RFPs, more direct business wins and higher CPMs. Partner insights from Optable. Combining CTV with purchase data allows marketers to optimize for business outcomes instead of viewership, particularly as streaming platforms introduce more shoppable formats. Partner insights from Circana. MARKETING Member exclusive Future of Marketing Briefing: In the age of AI, taste is the new competitive advantage  in a world where the tools are everywhere and the output is indistinguishable, taste is the last thing that actually compounds. The Sports Marketing Playbook Sports guidance to brands from three sources: Keep the fan top of mind and you might just win Agencies are hiring talent from the big leagues, crystallizing sport-related efforts into full-fledged business opportunities, while others look for the danger in tapping AI in too many places. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM GOOGLE AD MANAGER How programmatic is solving the challenge of making live streaming global During the Cricket Asia Cup, Google Ad Manager’s Dynamic Ad Insertion delivered personalized ads to more than 11 million concurrent devices — establishing a precedent for programmatic live performance and technical reliability. Brand Safety Nike’s Boston Marathon billboard chiding walkers inspires new Asics and Ecco campaigns After Nike removed a controversial Boston Marathon sign late last week, Asics and Ecco responded with messaging focused on inclusivity and everyday movement. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN How native CTV is solving the channel’s attention problem While in-stream remains highly effective for storytelling and scale within premium content environments, native formats can engage audiences at the exact moment of decision, when viewers are actively choosing what to watch. Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM OPENX Why marketing is now the operating system for growth The strategies required to persuade people and to inform machines are fundamentally different, but they must be coordinated and owned by the same function. Now, marketing is the layer that translates business value into signals both humans and AI systems can interpret. ICYMI Content & Commerce NHL looks to TikTok to capitalize on Heated Rivalry and Olympics as it grows beyond U.S. and Canada The league is leveraging a successful TikTok operation to expand presence in Europe, recruit casual fans and pump up the value of its media rights. Marketing on Platforms YouTube is turning audio into an ad product — SiriusXM is selling it The streaming giant has exclusively partnered with SiriusXM Media to sell YouTube’s “audio-first” inventory in the U.S. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy