The news: Coca-Cola and Unilever each delivered some of their strongest quarterly performances in years, with both companies crediting their extensive World Cup campaigns.

• Coca-Cola CEO Henrique Braun said unit sales for the brand’s trademark soda rose 5% YoY in Q2 2026, the biggest increase in 17 years (excluding the COVID-19 recovery), bolstered by World Cup activations.
• Unilever reported underlying volume growth of 5.5% during the quarter, its best performance since 2010, which it also attributed to World Cup-related promotions and marketing.

What worked: The two big consumer companies turned the global tournament into an opportunity to connect with local consumers. While their standing as official World Cup sponsors ensured prime placement and wide reach, that was supplemented by on-the-ground activations that drove deeper engagement and ultimately grew sales.

• Braun said Coca-Cola achieved “intimacy by tailoring activations to local consumers market by market, team by team,” using campaigns like its partnership with World Cup sticker maker Panini to engage audiences in dozens of markets.
• Unilever’s World Cup campaign operated at an “unprecedented scale,” CEO Fernando Fernandez said, as the company tapped over 60,000 creators—with a combined audience of more than 600 million people—and retail partners to help it promote 35 brands across more than 120 markets.

The big picture: Both companies expect to see lasting benefits from their extensive World Cup investments.

Coca-Cola plans to mine the more than 25 million pieces of first-party data collected during the tournament to improve its understanding of its customers and refine its packaging, brand, and price point for all potential occasions. That information could help the company dodge some of the challenges its consumer packaged goods (CPG) competitors are facing as cost-conscious shoppers reassess brand loyalty.

For Unilever, the success of its creator-first World Cup strategy validates its bold bet on influencer marketing, which is helping the company amplify and differentiate its brands. The CPG manufacturer expects the lingering effects of its World Cup activations to contribute to a “significant uplift” in brand image and strengthen its competitive advantages, which in turn could protect its business from economic uncertainty and trade-down behaviors.

Implications for the CPG industry: The sizable volume gains achieved by Coca-Cola and Unilever in Q2 underscore that being culturally relevant and showing up in the biggest moments can significantly lift sales and brand perception. But turning those short-term gains into lasting momentum requires brands to also think granularly and develop a deep understanding of the nuances of each market and consumer segment.

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