PepsiCo on Celebrating the Summer of Football with Walkers
If there is any brand that knows how to connect with fans during football season, it has to be PepsiCo. As the UEFA Champions League Final came to Wembley for the first time in 11 years, with matches continuing through the summer months, snacking moments are increasing as we all reach for the crisps cupboard.
So, it’s only natural that Brits will also be looking to watch sports with friends and family, and the country’s most loved crisp brand – Walkers. “What’s more, Walkers’ parent company, PepsiCo, have been a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League for nine years, so we knew this would be a huge moment to get behind,” says Wayne Newton, senior marketing director, Walkers Snacks at PepsiCo.
“At Walkers, we love it when the nation is talking, and we champion being part of those conversations,” he added, “So we knew we had to deliver a campaign worth talking about.” This is how ‘No Walkers, No Game’ came to be – a reference to the global ‘No Lays, No Game’, which has been running for two years in partnership with Thierry Henry.
While paying homage to its Lays cousin campaign, ‘No Walkers, No Game’ taps into a truly local insight, given that the final came to Wembley this year. From May 6th, shoppers also have had the chance to win £500 every 90 minutes by purchasing a new, limited-edition talent pack of crisps. To enter, shoppers only need to purchase a promotional pack, scan the QR code and register their details on the website.
LBB’s Zoe Antonov spoke with Wayne about the 360 campaign, what reactions it’s gottens so far and why the campaign needed its two stages to set the scene.
LBB> Where did the idea for ‘No Walkers, No Game’ come from and what did the initial conversations around it look like?
Wayne> At Walkers, we really love the idea of delighting people, and so were inspired by the work our colleagues at Lays had created, whilst really making it our own. We know people love to enjoy a tasty bag of Walkers while watching the football. The ‘No Walkers, No Game’ campaign gives people another reason to have Walkers in hand and aims to reward those who are matchday ready with their packet of Walkers crisps.
LBB> How involved have UEFA been throughout the creation of the ‘No Walkers, No Game’ campaign?
Wayne> Whilst UEFA were not creatively involved in this campaign, we continue to champion our relationship and this year celebrated the 9th anniversary of PepsiCo’s global sponsorship of the UEFA Champions League. We’re extremely proud of the partnership and this shines through in the way we market our brands and the scale of our execution when it comes to key football moments throughout the year. From our ‘No Walkers, No Game’ TVC, to our Walkers pack takeovers with not just one or two iconic players featured, but five football legends featured across Walkers packs – our passion for the game is evident. Ahead of the UEFA Champions League final, we’ve also worked with Britvic and Sainsbury’s on a never been done before building takeover of the Civic Centre, right on the doorstep of Wembley Stadium. To stand out and make an impact, it’s vital that our marketing activity truly celebrates the game and gets behind the moments and tournaments that football fans are most passionate about.
LBB> Tell me more about the Walkers Crisp Cam with David Beckham and Thierry Henry that kicked off ‘No Walkers, No Game’ and what went into its creation?
Wayne> When creating the ‘No Walkers, No Game’ campaign, we knew we wanted it to include two phases. The first being the global ‘Walkers Crisp Cam’ TVC set in the San Siro, and the second being the ‘Not Again Thierry’ TVC that went live on the 24th May.
The now viral crisp sharing moment between Thierry Henry and David Beckham, kicked off the campaign and introduced the tag line, ‘No Walkers, No Game’. The goal of the ‘Walkers Crisp Cam’ ad was to set the scene for the wider campaign, whilst creating something that was culturally relevant to the UK audience. As we now go into the second phase of the campaign, viewers will have seen the ‘Walkers Crisp Cam’ content and know that Thierry Henry ate the last crisp. So, when David is once again left with no Walkers to watch the match in the latest TV campaign, Thierry hunts for another pack of Walkers surprising fans as he shows up on their doorstep. The ‘Walkers Crisp Cam’ context makes the latest material all the more powerful as viewers continue on the journey to being match-day ready with Henry and Beckham.
LBB> Recently, you’ve announced a huge prize draw with customers set to win £500 every 90 minutes by purchasing new limited-edition talent packs – what went into creating these talent packs and what insights informed this addition to the campaign?
Wayne> Whilst Walkers has put talent on pack before, to release packs which celebrate, not one, not two but five footballing legends, is unprecedented for us. As Britain's most loved crisp brand, we are constantly looking for ways to delight consumers, so being able to combine consumer’s favourite footballers on pack alongside their favourite flavours, made perfect sense.
The limited-edition packs and on-pack promotion allow us to be positively disruptive and give us another reason to be unmissable on-shelf during the huge summer of sport. Consumers can continue to get their hands on packs of Walkers featuring football icons: David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Leah Williamson, Lionel Messi and Gary Lineker, until the 14th of July.
LBB> Tell me more about the Meta Detector activity and what findings came from that.
Wayne> As a brand, we continue to look at new and innovative ways to reach consumers. We knew the majority of conversations would be happening online ahead of matches, so we wanted to develop a way to be a part of these conversations, whilst giving back to consumers.
To do this, we gave crisp lovers and football fans the chance to meet footballing legend, Gary Lineker, in a private pitch side box at Wembley Stadium for the final of the UEFA Champions League. All consumers needed to do was simply scan their bag of Walkers using its brand-new Walkers Detector and follow the instructions on their phone screen. The unique digital experience went live via Instagram for 24 hours each day during the quarter and semi-final matches of the UEFA Champions League and was developed in partnership with Meta.
LBB> What next should we expect from ‘No Walkers, No Game’ and what are the most recent developments?
Wayne> We recently announced the launch of the second phase of the ‘No Walkers, No Game campaign’ as we revealed the ‘Not Again Thierry’ TVC. The TV campaign saw football legends Thierry Henry and David Beckham run out of Walkers again, leading Henry to continue his search for Walkers, whilst surprising fans on their doorstep. At the heart of the latest advert was a stunt where genuine fans were recruited via social media for what they believed was a documentary for PepsiCo. The twist then came that Henry knocks on their door for his favourite Walkers crisps, and if the fans had a packet of Walkers in, they were invited to watch a UEFA Champions League match with him and his friend, only to find out that the football icon David Beckham was the one waiting for the arrival of the Walkers crisps.
Content from the campaign will continue to run until the 14th July and will be tailored as the summer of football continues – so let’s see what happens if France and England meet each other.
