On 9 February, Lay’s launched a global campaign leveraging its UEFA Men’s Champions League and UEFA Women’s Champions League rights fronted by some of football’s most famous faces and running under its #LaysUnited football brand platform which is based on uniting fans and bringing joy to people around the world through football.
The campaign from PepsiCo’s Firto-Lay’s snack division seeks to bring the excitement of Champions League match days into fans’ living rooms as supporters remain unable to get to the stadium to watch the world’s most watched club soccer tournament.
Called ‘Apartment Arena’, the creative features six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, World Cup winner Paul Pogba and UEFA Women’s Player of the Year 2017 Lieke Martens.
The hero commercial sees Messi and Martens spark a stadium style atmosphere at-home by uniting an entire apartment building as they watch the tournament together – socially distanced – from their balconies. Before, lured by the sound of a bag of chips/crisps being opened, Pogba stops his pre-match warm-up to join them all.
As well as the spearhead spot, the campaign also seeks to create the familiar camaraderie and connections which fans have been missing since the start of the pandemic through interactive campaign strands.
One of these sees Messi send a set of lucky fans personalised videos in 10 different languages.
There is also further supporting digital content, point-of-sale at shelf assets, a search strand and the campaign urges fans to join in the conversation online and enjoy the 2021 Men’s and Women’s UCL matches with Lay’s and #BETTERTOGETHER.
The campaign launch was timed to roll out a week ahead of the tournament’s mid-February restart when games will include a heavyweight match-up between Barcelona and PSG, Liverpool and Liepzig, Porto and Juve, Sevilla and Dortmund, Lazio and Bayern (amongst others).
“Lay’s brings a fresh perspective to the everyday: like watching a match from your couch with a bag or bowl next to you,” said PepsiCo Global Foods Marketing VP Sebnem Erim.
“Even in the toughest of times, joy is all around us: we just need to be open to spotting and sparking it. Lay’s is an every-fan brand that can relate, and we know there is no greater joy than shared football fandom. We’re looking forward to creating these moments with this year’s program.”
Comment:
Messi and Pogba may be familiar endorsers in Pepsi’s football marketing, but thus campaign marks the first time that Lay’s has blended its multi-year Premier Partnerships with both the men’s and women’s UEFA tournament.
The work follows on from previous Lay’s CL work including one of our favourites, from back in 2016, Lay’s Snapchat lens ‘Cheer For Champions’.
Links:
Lay’s
UEFA Champions League
https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/
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