How Coca-Cola is making packaging part of the World Cup experience 

The FIFA World Cup celebration doesn’t end when the whistle blows. For fans, it continues in grocery aisles, at backyard watch parties, and even on the package itself. 

While brands have long leveraged major sporting events for advertising campaigns, the package no longer ends at the product. It has to capture attention, encourage interaction, and extend the excitement beyond the match. Coca-Cola’s World Cup campaigns turn that idea into something fans can hold, collect, and interact with. The company took a different packaging approach in two regions. 

In China, the company partnered with Smurfit Westrock to develop paper-based packaging for retail channels and shopping occasions surrounding the event. For consumers in the United States and Canada, Coca-Cola teamed up with sports collectibles company Panini to turn labels into collectible stickers that link fans to physical and digital interactions. Both make the package part of the campaign. 

Packaging finds its footing 

Smurfit Westrock worked with Coca-Cola China to develop several paper-based packaging formats tailored to different retail channels and shopping occasions during the FIFA World Cup. 

The lineup includes an octagonal gift pack inspired by a soccer ball, basket-style formats for supermarkets, and e-commerce packaging designed to withstand shipping while maintaining shelf appeal. 

“This partnership demonstrates how innovative, paper-based packaging can help brands maximize impact during this major sporting event,” said Saverio Mayer, CEO of Smurfit Westrock EMEA & APAC, in a statement. 

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Each package design emerged from collaborative workshops, according to Coca-Cola, that balanced consumer engagement with merchandising, manufacturing efficiency, and material optimization. 

“The World Cup is a key moment for connecting with consumers, and packaging plays an important role in that,” said Chris Zhong, retail customer marketing manager for Coca-Cola, in a statement. “Working with Smurfit Westrock, we’ve created solutions that not only stand out on shelf but also deliver a unique experience for consumers wherever they shop.” 

Smurfit Westrock said the packaging was designed to support multiple production sites. 

Peel-off labels become collectibles 

Coca-Cola teamed up with sports collectibles company Panini for its U.S. and Canada campaign. 

Instead of simply identifying the product, select Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar bottle labels peel back to reveal one of 12 collectible stickers. Fans can place these stickers in a dedicated Coca-Cola section of Panini’s official sticker album or scan them into the Panini Digital App to create a virtual sticker collection. 

“As the FIFA World Cup™ comes to North America for the first time in more than three decades, we saw an opportunity to introduce a global fan ritual to a new generation – one that celebrates the joy of collecting, the thrill of the reveal, and the shared passion that unites fans everywhere,” said Shakir Moin, Chief Marketing Officer, Coca-Cola North America, in a statement. 

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More than 1 billion of these special-edition stickers will appear under Coca-Cola labels worldwide. The campaign turns the bottle label into something fans can collect and interact with. 

Packaging beyond the product 

Coca-Cola’s World Cup campaigns show how packaging is moving beyond its traditional role. Whether through paper-based formats designed for retail or labels that connect physical and digital experiences, the package itself is becoming another way for brands to engage consumers.