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As Royal Challengers Bengaluru lifted their long-awaited IPL trophy in 2025, it wasn’t just the team that won — the brand did too. One of RCB’s closest partners, Puma, has had a ringside view of the brand's evolution. Virat Kohli may have officially parted ways with Puma, ending his landmark ₹110 crore deal, but his presence still looms large in the brand’s latest campaign, RCB Shotline. 

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/diageo-is-underleveraging-rcb-suhel-seth-on-royal-challengers-bengalurus-ipl-win-and-owners-branding-blind-spot-68786.htm">Read more: 'Diageo is underleveraging RCB': Suhel Seth on Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL win and owner's branding blind-spot</a>

His continued appearance is likely due to prior filming and possible contractual obligations tied to Puma’s long-standing partnership with the RCB franchise. While Kohli’s personal deal has ended, the brand acknowledged the collaboration warmly, calling it “an outstanding journey.”

In an interview with Storyboard18, Shreya Sachdev, Director-Marketing, PUMA India reflected on why the partnership works, how the title win will reshape the narrative, and what consumer brands can learn from RCB’s emotional branding journey.

The Alignment Wasn’t Just Cricket — It Was Culture

For Puma, picking RCB wasn’t simply about cricket. The brand evaluates partnerships through three key lenses: alignment with brand priorities, mutual value creation, and shared positioning. RCB scored high on all three.

“We are a sports brand. We exist to invest in the sporting ecosystem,” Sachdev said, adding that investing in IPL, especially in a property like RCB, was a no-brainer.

More than just sports, RCB’s values around quality, consistency, and fan-centric storytelling aligned closely with Puma’s own. The brand praised RCB for believing in “world-class experiences” and building a community with care and long-term focus.

“What impressed us,” Sachdev added, “was the fact that RCB doesn’t play safe. They’re open to pushing the envelope — in content, in merchandise, in fan engagement.”

The Title Win Changes Everything — Or Does It?

RCB fans have chanted Ee Sala Cup Namde for over a decade. Now that the cup is finally theirs, how does that change the emotional equation?

According to Sachdev, this moment is as much about the fans as it is about the team. “RCB’s journey has shown us that this is a fandom that is loyal… that sticks by the team no matter what,” they said. The question now is — what do fans want next?

Importantly, Sachdev acknowledged that the emotional narrative of RCB has largely been shaped by its fans — not marketing teams. “Ee Sala Cup Namde is not something RCB put out. It came from the fans. And that says a lot.”

Now, with both IPL and WPL titles in hand, the brand believes RCB is at an inflection point. “It’ll be interesting to see what the expectations are going forward. That long-lost dream has been fulfilled. So where does the energy go now?”

Lessons in Resilience and Relatability for All Brands

While the victory cements RCB’s place in IPL history, the real masterclass according to Sachdev has been in emotional branding.

“RCB is a masterclass in emotional branding,” Sachdev said. “The fact that they went 18 years without a title and still retained such a massive, emotionally invested fan base says everything.”

For consumer brands, there’s a deeper takeaway here. “It’s not just about performance — it’s about narrative, identity, and inclusion. The fans are part of the journey. That kind of brand relatability is gold.”

Authenticity and emotional consistency, Sachdev believes, matter more than short-term wins. “RCB shows how to build through the lows, not just the highs. And how to let your audience co-own the brand story.”

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/business-of-belief-what-rcbs-ipl-win-means-for-sports-branding-68758.htm">Read more: Business of belief: What RCB’s IPL win means for sports branding</a>

RCB is a masterclass in emotional branding, says Puma's marketing chief

In the hours following Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s long-awaited IPL 2025 victory, something unexpected trended on Google: “RCB owner.” It wasn’t a search for stats or player rankings; it was a question of who was really behind the most talked-about team in the league.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/business-of-belief-what-rcbs-ipl-win-means-for-sports-branding-68758.htm">Read more: Business of belief: What RCB’s IPL win means for sports branding</a>

That curiosity points to a branding gap at the heart of the RCB story. For a team so visible, so emotionally loved, and finally crowned champions, its corporate identity remains relatively opaque to fans. And to Suhel Seth, Founder & Managing Partner of Counselage India, that disconnect is a branding failure especially given RCB's ownership by one of the world’s largest alcohol conglomerates.

“Diageo is underleveraging RCB. For an alcoholic beverage brand, RCB has been left thirsty in its ability to both leverage and create even greater traction with its consumers. And for that the management of Diageo must be held to account,” Seth says.

“It’s one thing to own a franchise and quite another to build it organically. Had Vijay Mallya been around, you would have seen a totally different RCB right from consumer engagement to stakeholder traction.”

Seth’s critique touches on a core tension in RCB’s evolution — the shift from charisma-led ownership under Vijay Mallya to corporate stewardship under Diageo, via its Indian subsidiary United Spirits Limited (USL).


From Mallya’s Maverick Branding to Diageo’s Compliance Mode

When the IPL began in 2008, Mallya paid Rs 476 crore for the RCB franchise, making it the second-most expensive team at the time. The branding was unmistakable: Royal Challenge, McDowell’s No.1, and Kingfisher - all USL or UB Group brands adorned the team kit. Even the franchise’s name was lifted straight from Mallya’s whiskey label.

But things changed after 2016. Following Mallya’s legal troubles and eventual exit from USL, Diageo took full control. RCB is now owned by Royal Challengers Sports Pvt. Ltd., chaired by Prathmesh Mishra, Diageo India’s chief commercial officer. And while the team has been corporately stable, recently launching its own café, running a successful women’s team and maintaining a strong digital presence - the brand has never quite recaptured the flamboyance or street-level presence it had in its early days.

Which is precisely Seth’s point. RCB has scale, legacy and fan love but hasn’t been transformed into a global consumer-facing brand in the way its potential allows.

Harish Bijoor, Founder, Harish Bijoor Consults Inc., agrees. “Diageo is sitting on a platinum mine of an opportunity in terms of unlocking the potential of RCB,” he says. “The ability to deep-mine Karnataka, all of India, and the Indian diaspora with the RCB fan following in mind is huge.”

He states that the brand has evolved from mere visibility to deep emotional chemistry especially after this year’s long-awaited victory. “The brand thus far was all about physics. Today, I believe it’s about chemistry,” Bijoor adds.

The Trophy Arrives, But the Brand Still Awaits Lift-Off

RCB’s win in 2025 marked a historic moment not just for Virat Kohli, who had been with the franchise since the beginning, but for fans who stuck by the team for 17 years without a title. In that time, RCB became a meme, a movement and a metaphor not for winning, but for undying belief.

This is precisely why brand experts see RCB as more than a cricket franchise. It’s an emotionally loaded brand, with cult-like fandom, underdog mythology and star power. To own such a brand and not align it more visibly with one’s global identity is what Seth argues is a missed opportunity.

“Had Vijay Mallya been around, you would have seen a totally different RCB right from consumer engagement to stakeholder traction,” Seth reiterates.

Indeed, Mallya was known for showmanship - private parties, player appearances, Kingfisher calendar glamour - all tied into the team’s image. Diageo, by contrast, has maintained brand distance, in part due to India’s strict surrogate advertising laws around alcohol. But some, like Seth, argue that creativity not just compliance - is the missing ingredient.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/from-fans-to-feeds-how-brands-celebrated-rcbs-historic-ipl-win-68650.htm">Read more: From Fans to Feeds! How brands celebrated RCB's historic IPL win</a>

What Can Diageo Do Differently Now?

With the title finally in hand, RCB now sits at a turning point. The fanbase is bigger than ever. The emotional equity is peaking. The time to convert passive admiration into active brand storytelling may never be more ripe.

That storytelling, Seth argues, could have easily extended into sharper marketing ideas during the IPL itself.

He also called out the lack of ground-level activation. “Royal Challenge has dealers,” Seth pointed out. “When Coca-Cola does anything, their dealers, their bottlers, their high-stake consumers, whether it's Domino's, or any other brand are all invited. I can take a bet these guys did nothing. They've not run a dealer promotion, they've not done anything with consumers.”

In fact, Seth added with characteristic bluntness, “I can take a bet that every Royal Challenge bottle that someone has bought from whenever IPL started, doesn't even have a mention of the team."

As Seth makes clear, ownership is not just about assets. It’s about articulation. “It’s one thing to own a franchise and quite another to build it organically,” he says.

Who Really Builds a Brand?

In some ways, RCB’s strongest branding work hasn’t come from its corporate backers but from its players and fans. Kohli’s tears. The "Ee Sala Cup Namde" meme. The heartbreak years. The celebratory chaos on the streets of Bengaluru.

All of it, Seth would argue, was waiting to be shaped into a bigger narrative, a more global-facing cultural brand. Diageo may have the toolkit. But does it have the imagination?

Read More:<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/rcb-is-a-masterclass-in-emotional-branding-says-pumas-marketing-chief-68814.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">RCB is a masterclass in emotional branding, says Puma's marketing chief</a>

'Diageo is underleveraging RCB': Suhel Seth on Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL win and owner's branding blind-spot

Before Royal Challengers Bengaluru claimed its long-awaited first Indian Premier League title in 2025, the franchise had already secured something far more enduring: an emotional stranglehold on its fanbase.

For 17 seasons, the team was defined not by trophies, but by its ability to inspire belief in the face of repeated failure. On June 3, that belief was finally rewarded, as chants of “RCB” echoed through the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad and the country's most "emotionally invested" franchise ended nearly two decades of unfulfilled promise.

At the heart of this transformation stood Virat Kohli, the face of the franchise since its inception. Holding back tears, Kohli called the win the “most emotional moment” of his storied career. “I’ve given this team my youth, my prime, everything I had - and finally, this moment is here,” he said. “I never thought it would happen. I’ve finally won the IPL.”

In 2024, RCB ranked third on the brand value leaderboard with $117 million, behind CSK ($122M) and MI ($119M). But that was without a title in hand. Now, backed by a trophy, a projected 20% YoY brand value increase, according to Qoruz.

Qoruz’s data till June 3, 2025 showed that Royal Challengers Bengaluru led the IPL social media buzz with 74.6K mentions by influencers across Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube, far ahead of Mumbai Indians (22.3K) and Chennai Super Kings (19.2K). RCB also recorded a massive 16.2% engagement rate, the 
highest among all teams. With the IPL final just concluded, this momentum is expected to surge even further in the coming days.

On the player front, Virat Kohli is dominating the conversation with 62.6K influencer mentions so far, followed by Shreyas Iyer (18.5K) and MS Dhoni 
(13.4K), reflecting the massive cultural weight Kohli brings to the RCB brand. In the 48 hours before the final, Qoruz recorded a sharp spike in creator-led 
content using RCB-related hashtags. Viral posts came not only from fan pages and cricket creators but also from meme pages and mainstream influencers. 
Qoruz’s virality index shows RCB topped influencer mentions across all teams during the playoff stage.

For brand strategists and cultural analysts, the victory was less about cricket and more about the culmination of a uniquely Indian emotional investment - one that marketers spend fortunes trying to replicate.

“When you have an iconic figure so deeply tied to a team, their identities begin to merge,” said Santosh Desai, Chief Executive of Futurebrands. “RCB isn’t just a cricket franchise. For millions, it’s a part of themselves.”

A Brand Built on Belief, Not Dominance

Unlike perennial champions Mumbai Indians or Chennai Super Kings, RCB’s allure was never dominance. Its value lay in vulnerability - a glamour-laced, emotionally raw underdog story that resonated across generations and geographies.

“RCB thrives on emotional equity,” said Prabhakar Tiwari, Partner at FRN Advisory. “They built a cult following with star players, a high-gloss brand strategy and a narrative of near-misses. Fans weren’t just supporting a team, they were joining a tribe.”

In cosmopolitan Bengaluru, a city teeming with migrants who often lack a unifying cultural identity, RCB became a rallying symbol. “It gave people something to belong to,” said Desai. “It created emotional cohesion in a transient city.”

Over time, that cohesion grew into cultural currency. Children who grew up watching matches at the Chinnaswamy Stadium carried their fandom into adulthood. Even in towns and rural areas, fans embraced RCB as the emotional epicenter of the IPL - loud, loyal and unapologetically dramatic.

Kohli: The Emotional Core

Much of that emotional resonance is rooted in Virat Kohli, whose long-standing association with RCB shaped not only the franchise, but his own mythology.

“Virat has been with the team through every high and low,” said Lloyd Mathias, investor and business strategist. “His loyalty wasn’t strategic. It was personal. And that’s what made the victory so visceral.”

For brands, such long-term emotional alignment is gold. “RCB and Kohli together became a single narrative,” Desai explained. “It’s like watching a story arc complete in real time.”

Kohli’s presence alongside other larger-than-life personalities - Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Glenn Maxwell - amplified the brand’s showmanship. Partha Sinha, Senior Business Advisor, offered a cultural lens. “Where CSK is calm, clinical and led by a monk in yellow, RCB is high-voltage drama. They don’t play cricket. They perform it." 

He added, "Kohli doesn’t just bat - he burns... For years, RCB didn’t chase trophies. They chased narrative. And heartbreak. And oddly viral Instagram reels."

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/advertising/from-fans-to-feeds-how-brands-celebrated-rcbs-historic-ipl-win-68650.htm">Read more: From Fans to Feeds! How brands celebrated RCB's historic IPL win</a>

As RCB clinched their first-ever IPL title in 2025, it also marked not only a sporting triumph but a branding milestone for key partner Puma, which has closely tracked the franchise’s evolution. 

Despite the conclusion of Virat Kohli’s landmark ₹110 crore endorsement deal with Puma, the former captain continues to feature in the brand’s latest campaign, RCB Shotline - likely due to prior commitments and the enduring synergy between Puma and the RCB franchise. 

Shreya Sachdev, Director-Marketing, PUMA India, told Storyboard18 that the brand’s partnership with RCB transcends cricket, rooted in a shared cultural ethos and commitment to fan-first storytelling. 

She noted that RCB stood out on Puma’s three criteria for partnerships - alignment with brand values, mutual value creation and shared positioning and praised the franchise for its willingness to innovate in content, merchandise and community building. 

As the IPL 2025 win reshapes RCB’s narrative, Puma sees the moment as validation of a long-term bet on authenticity and emotional resonance in sport marketing

From Disappointment to Differentiation

It seems RCB’s true marketing masterstroke was its ability to turn collective heartbreak into brand identity.

“RCB fans wear failure like a badge of honor,” said Tiwari. “They’re emotionally invested in the struggle - not just the result.”

That sentiment was echoed by Mayank Shah, Vice President at Parle Products. “This victory was a narrative payoff. Many fans who had tuned out have re-engaged. It’s a story of redemption - a classic brand arc.”

For brand consultants, RCB’s journey highlights a larger truth: success isn’t always measured in wins.

“A brand isn’t owned by the franchise. It’s owned in the minds of fans,” said Harish Bijoor, founder of Harish Bijoor Consults. “And, RCB has dominated mental real estate like few others.”

Still, some believe the franchise remains underleveraged. 

“RCB has been left thirsty,” said Suhel Seth, Managing Partner at Counselage India. “Diageo is underleveraging RCB,” said Seth, adding, “Had Vijay Mallya been around, you would have seen a totally different RCB right from consumer engagement to stakeholder traction.”

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/diageo-is-underleveraging-rcb-suhel-seth-on-royal-challengers-bengalurus-ipl-win-and-owners-branding-blind-spot-68786.htm">Read more: 'Diageo is underleveraging RCB': Suhel Seth on Royal Challengers Bengaluru's IPL win and owner's branding blind-spot</a>

What’s Next for RCB — and for Marketers Watching?

Now that the “Ee Sala Cup Namde” slogan has finally become “Namdu” (This year, the cup is ours), the question for brand strategists is simple: what comes after catharsis?

“There’s now an opportunity to build legacy,” said Shah. “This win changes everything - emotionally and commercially.”

Mathias believes RCB may now be the most powerful cricket brand in India, surpassing even CSK. “It appeals to youth culture, has a vibrant international following and enjoys a unique pub-and-club watching culture - particularly among global Bangaloreans in the U.S., Gulf and beyond.”

Piyush Pandey, Chief Advisor to Ogilvy India, cautioned against comparisons. “Not even Virat - and I say this with full respect - matches the brand power of Dhoni. But in the IPL, only three teams have truly transcended the sport to become cultural brands: CSK, Mumbai Indians, and RCB... What they all have in common is charismatic icons who command deep emotional loyalty.”

Brand and marketing consultant Karthik Srinivasan offered a regional analysis. “Both CSK and RCB had a headstart to build the fandom from the beginning... and both are from cinema-crazy states. Doing it for sporting superstars is not very different.”

The team’s personality remains its unique calling card. CSK is the "monk’s army". MI is the "corporate juggernaut". But RCB? "I think RCB is best defined as the ‘passionate underachievers,’” said Desai.

“Because I don’t think they were ever true underdogs. On paper, the team has always looked strong. It’s this sense of passion that comes from having consistently underachieved despite potential,” added Desai.

Now, with a trophy in hand, RCB has rewritten its story. For marketers and brand builders, it is a case study in how to turn emotion into equity and heartbreak into one of sport’s most powerful identities.

Read More:<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-makers/rcb-is-a-masterclass-in-emotional-branding-says-pumas-marketing-chief-68814.htm" rel="noopener" target="_blank">RCB is a masterclass in emotional branding, says Puma's marketing chief</a>

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