Case study: How Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy used cricket to build brand relevance and awareness

"Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy launched the “Cheer to Win” campaign during the 2026 ICC Men"s T20 World Cup and IPL season to build awareness and encourage trial for its shareable chocolate product. Starting Jan. 20, 2026, the brand used cricket viewing as a platform to connect with families through limited-edition cricket-themed packs, an on-pack QR contest, cricketer partnerships, social media content, influencer collaborations, retail activations, and digital media.

Consumers could participate for a chance to meet their favourite players. The campaign aimed to position the product around family bonding while sustaining engagement across the cricket season. Category introduction The Kinder brand has been present in India for over a decade, operating within a €2.66 billion chocolate category that is largely dominated by bars and tablets. Currently, the Kinder master brand is led by Kinder Joy, which is driven by its unique “Treat + Toy” proposition in an iconic egg-shaped format.

In 2021, the brand introduced its first tropical innovation for the Indian market, Kinder Creamy, built on the proposition of “Yummy Approved by Mummy.” In September 2023, Kinder launched its first shareable product, Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy. This launch presents a key opportunity to further expand the Kinder master brand beyond Kinder Joy and Kinder Creamy. Brand introduction  Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy leverages social media to build brand awareness, drive trial, and create relevance among older kids and their families by celebrating fun bonding moments.

The brand encourages consumers to have joyful experiences

The brand encourages consumers to have joyful experiences together through engaging content, influencer collaborations, and moment-based campaigns, positioning the brand as the perfect treat to make everyday moments more enjoyable and memorable. Key social media objectives include: Increasing brand awareness and reach among the target audience. Reinforce the brand's positioning around families' fun bonding moments.

Driving product consideration and trial by communicating the product's distinctive taste and texture. Strengthening relevance during consumption moments such as snacking while watching a cricket match with family, family celebrations, and social/family gatherings. Summary To drive awareness and trial for the brand, it leveraged India's passion for cricket to reinforce its positioning around fun family bonding moments.

Through the "Cheer to Win" campaign, tapping into the culture of cricket in India. Families were invited to cheer for their favourite cricketers for a chance to meet them, transforming cricket viewing into an engaging shared experience. The campaign partnered with cricketers Suryakumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj, introduced limited edition cricket themed packs, and activated consumers through on pack QR enabled contest, social media, PR, influencer collaborations, e-com activations, and high-impact visibility through dedicated POSM in Traditional Trade, Modern Trade, and strategic banner placements across leading Q-commerce platforms.

Executed across the entire ICC World Cup

Executed across the entire ICC World Cup and IPL season, the campaign successfully sustained consumer engagement through real-time content and culturally relevant moments. Connecting the excitement of cricket with family togetherness, the brand strengthened its relevance among families, drove trial at scale, and contributed to strong brand and business performance, while earning significant PR visibility and recognition, including the NIQ BASES Breakthrough Innovation Brand of the Year 2025-26 award and got shortlisted in the top 5 sports marketing campaigns in one of the big media industry Awards,  Problem statement/objective  As a relatively new brand in a highly competitive chocolate category, the brand needed to build awareness and trial while establishing a distinctive positioning around fun family bonding moments.

The challenge was to engage both parents and kids through a relevant cultural platform and sustain consumer interest over an extended period. The brand leveraged cricket, one of the most powerful family passion points, to bring its bonding proposition to life through the "Cheer to Win" campaign. By positioning cheering for favourite cricketers as a shared family activity, the campaign connected with both parents and kids.

Brief The brand"s promise of sharing and bonding to life by tapping into India's cricket culture, transforming family match viewing into an engaging and rewarding bonding experience that drives brand love, accelerates trial, and strengthens the brand's relevance as the go-to shareable treat for creating fun family bonding moments. Creative idea  "Cheer to Win"- Turning Cricket Viewing into a Family Bonding Experience with Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy.

Leverage India's biggest passion point, cricket, to bring

Leverage India's biggest passion point, cricket, to bring the brand"s positioning of Fun Family Bonding Moments to life. Encourage families to cheer together for their favourite cricketers and participate in a contest for a chance to meet them, making every match an occasion for connection, excitement, and sharing Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy. Challenges Build awareness for a new brand in a highly competitive chocolate category.

How do we own the culture of viewing cricket together with the family and create fun bonding moments? Sustain consumer engagement over an extended cricket season spanning the ICC World Cup and IPL. Execution  Partnered with Suryakumar Yadav (World Cup-winning captain), Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammed Siraj. Launched with limited-edition cricket-themed Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy packs (6 million Packs) and deployed POSM in top metros, 15 days before the World Cup (January 20, 2026).

Amplified the launch with the help of PR and Activated consumers on the pack QR-enabled "Cheer to Win" contest at the start of the World Cup (February 7, 2026). Amplified the campaign films on their Instagram pages, with 16 million organic views at the group stage (February 8 to February 20)

Went live with 3 dedicated films featuring Surya

Went live with 3 dedicated films featuring Surya Kumar Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, and Mohammad Siraj during the Super 8 stage (February 21 to March 1), which garnered 230 million views and 60% reach at 6+ frequency. Captured impulse shoppers through Q-commerce platforms with topical banners around the World Cup and important matches like semi-finals and finals (March 4 to March 8). We celebrated India"s World Cup win, and 3 of our endorsers shared our film on their Instagram stories during the World Cup finals (March 8).

We initiated our on-ground activation with impact Properties Capturing Attention- digital hoardings and IPL match screenings in residential societies at the start of the IPL (March 28 to April 8). Influencer collaborations in 3 different and unique formats to capture the cricket culture- Vox Pop style, Podcast style, and Vlog style, which garnered us 7 mn+ organic views during group qualifiers (April 20 to May 10) Celebrated Family Bonding Beyond the Screen: When Surya became a father, the brand marked the special occasion by creating a customised Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy pack hamper featuring their family photo.

The personalised pack was shared on the Instagram Stories of both Surya and his wife, creating an authentic and heartfelt brand moment that resonated with audiences beyond traditional content and endorsements (May 7). At the peak of IPL, we kicked off media activation during the Play-offs, Semi-Finals, and Final on JioHotstar, the official partner of IPL streaming, with a reach of 11.5 million (May 20 to May 31) The campaign concluded on a memorable note as the 5 winning consumer families from the "Cheer to Win" contest got the opportunity to meet their favourite player, Suryakumar Yadav, in Mumbai.

The exclusive meet-and-greet generated strong online buzz,

The exclusive meet-and-greet generated strong online buzz, with 77 social media clips driving over 4.9 million impressions and earning around 14 PR mentions. Results  Quantitative Volume growth: +27% vs. year ago Value growth: +57% vs. year ago Market share gain: +210 bps vs. year ago Weighted distribution: Grew by 300 bps vs. year ago Freshness: Improved by 11% vs. year ago, indicating stronger off-take and inventory rotation Qualitative Cheer to Win successfully transformed cricket viewing into a family bonding experience, making Kinder Schoko-Bons Crispy a meaningful part of shared celebrations.

The brand witnessed uplift in Social Chatter (2x), Website Visits (1.1x), and Ecomm Searches (2x). Due to a robust media campaign, aided awareness of the brand grew by 50%, online ad awareness grew by 150%, and message association grew by 167% By combining India's passion for cricket with interactive participation, the campaign strengthened brand relevance, deepened emotional connections with families, and established the brand as a fun, shareable treat that brings people together.

CMO quote Zoher Kapuswala, Marketing Head, Ferrero India, said, "The 'Kinder Schoko Bons Crispy Cheer to Win' campaign was designed to transform India's passion for cricket into authentic moments of family bonding. By shifting from one-way communication to participation-led experiences, we strengthened Kinder Schoko Bons Crispy's emotional connection with consumers while bringing our brand purpose to life.""

Source: www.socialsamosa.com