The spot from VaynerMedia comes as NFL advertisers try to strike the right tone amid COVID’s resurgence. In that sense, Pepsi’s ad can be viewed in a couple of different ways. Yes, it encourages at-home viewing. But the premise of the ad is that Costabile is delivering a rallying cry for people to ignore newly available social activities for the simple pleasure of watching football.
It is debatable how appealing such outings will be if the delta variant continues to spread rapidly leading up to the NFL's first game on Sept. 9 and as the season continues into the fall and winter. But Pepsi Marketing VP Todd Kaplan says he thinks the premise still works.
“One of the big differences from last year is that now in the world socializing … is more accepted and cautiously encouraged. People now have other plans that are starting to conflict with their football-watching experience on Sundays,” he says. “But that is directly in conflict with our brand point of view, which is really around unapologetic enjoyment and around fandom for football.”
The upside for Pepsi is that no matter what the COVID situation looks like in the coming months—like, for instance if stadiums are again forced to ban in-person attendance—the spot will avoid any awkward scenes of showing people at games or tailgating (which has been a common tactic for NFL advertisers over the years).
Even so, Pepsi’s strategy is more about playing into longtime fan habits than trying to adapt to short-term COVID developments. As Kaplan notes, the majority of football is viewed at home—91% of it, according to Pepsi.
Pepsi is also planning a major retail program in partnership with NFLShop.com that involves giving away more than $1 million in NFL gear such as t-shirts and hats. Fans must scan QR codes on Pepsi products to earn points that can be applied toward the gear.
Pepsi is a major NFL sponsor and its football campaign often sets the tone for its fall and winter marketing plans. The brand has previously said it would dedicate a significant portion of its spend to Pepsi Zero Sugar, as it steps up its battle against Coke Zero Sugar.
Pepsi’s decision to use VaynerMedia for the new ad is notable given that Omnicom’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners handled last year’s NFL campaign, which similarly plugged watching football at home. Kaplan says the brand will re-run some of those ads this season. (Pepsi's 2019 NFL campaign from Goodby focused more on the experience of watching a game at a stadium.)
Asked about the brand’s relationship with Goodby, he says: “We currently don’t have any active work with Goodby but we know they are an active creative partner for us across a number of our PepsiCo brands,” referring to products such as Cheetos and Doritos.
“At the end of the day we have a number of PepsiCo agencies and the model that we are really imploring right now is being more fluid with how we work between agencies and really prioritizing this idea of speed and agility … and we want the right partners for the right assignments we are looking to do.”
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