New Data Shows BODYARMOR Debut Increased Coca-Cola’s March Madness Visibility By 55%
Analysis shows Coca-Cola increased frequency, creative effectiveness and category share in its first NCAA sponsorship change in 15 years
PHILADELPHIA and LONDON – April 9, 2026 – Kinetiq, the leading AI-powered platform for global media and marketing intelligence, and creative data provider DAIVID, today released new analysis of sports drink advertising across the 2025 and 2026 NCAA Men’s and Women’s March Madness tournaments, marking Coca-Cola’s first shift in official NCAA sponsorship from POWERADE to BODYARMOR in more than 15 years.
The move is part of Coca-Cola’s broader effort to scale BODYARMOR, a premium, “better-for-you” sports drink it fully acquired for $5.6 billion, as it looks to gain ground against Gatorade. Kinetiq’s data shows the switch wasn’t just a brand change – it was a strategic reset.
BODYARMOR ads ran 55% more often during the tournament than POWERADE did the year before. The shift was most pronounced in the men’s tournament, where BODYARMOR drove a 71% increase in ad airings alongside a 33% increase in creative volume. Average airings per creative also rose from 26 to 33.3, signaling a clear move toward higher-frequency execution.
That more concentrated approach translated into stronger category dominance. BODYARMOR accounted for 68% of detected sports drink advertising in the men’s tournament, up from 61% for POWERADE the previous year, indicating a larger share of in-market sports drink messaging during gameplay.
Notably, BODYARMOR’s investment was almost entirely concentrated in the men’s tournament, with little to no measurable presence in the women’s tournament. While POWERADE also skewed toward the men’s tournament in 2025, it maintained at least some cross-tournament presence. In contrast, BODYARMOR’s 2026 strategy reflects a more deliberate focus on dominating a single, high-scale environment.
“BODYARMOR showed up differently,” said Kevin Kohn, CEO of Kinetiq. “What we’re seeing is a shift from Coca-Cola maintaining presence across the tournament to concentrating investment where it can drive the most impact: higher frequency, stronger share, and clearer category leadership.”
To evaluate whether that increased presence translated into performance, Kinetiq partnered with DAIVID to assess the creative effectiveness of sports drink ads across both years. Key findings are:
More mouth-watering: The switch to BODYARMOR resulted in more intense cravings among viewers – a key signal for purchase consideration. BODYARMOR ads were 49% more likely to make viewers’ mouths water than POWERADE’s and 79% higher than the average ad. Despite being just 15 seconds long, BODYARMOR’s “New Look. Same Great Taste” ad generated more than twice (+134%) the cravings of the average ad.
Higher trust: BODYARMOR’s ads were also 26% more likely to drive trust than POWERADE’s ads and were 36% more likely to be trusted than the average ad, suggesting its “better-for-you” positioning is resonating.
Better brand recall: Viewers were 4% more likely to correctly recall BODYARMOR after watching its ads than POWERADE.
Different emotions: While cravings and trust were the most prominent emotions for both brands, POWERADE’s ads were more likely to generate intense feelings of admiration, inspiration and excitement, consistent with its athlete-driven, motivational creative approach.
Ian Forrester, CEO and founder of DAIVID, said: “BODYARMOR’s ads didn’t just appear more often, they were more effective. The ads not only drove stronger craving, but also higher trust and better brand recall, showing that increased presence paired with smart creative can deliver measurable results.”
For complete analysis, category benchmarks or custom reports, contact videoadtrends@kinetiq.tv.
About Kinetiq
Kinetiq is the leading AI-powered platform for global media and marketing intelligence, capturing and monitoring video, audio, and digital content across 40,000 channels in over 120 countries. We transform unstructured data into actionable insights, giving our customers the real-time intelligence they need to optimize investments, outpace competitors, and maximize impact. For more information visit: kinetiq.tv.About DAIVID
DAIVID is a global AI company powering the ad ecosystem with #CreativeData – the untapped signal of ad effectiveness – at unprecedented scale and depth. Its human-trained, AI-powered technology analyzes video and image content to predict creative attention, 39 emotions and impact on brand metrics, giving ad platforms and marketers access to fast, actionable insights to dramatically improve performance and strategy. With simple API integrations, DAIVID’s Creative Data Feed supercharges ad performance and media strategy across the ad tech ecosystem. Partners include ad platforms such as Kinetiq, CreativeX and Mass Analytics, as well as global brands and agencies including Nike, Snapchat, and WPP. Visit daivid.co.