Lay's wanted to boost sales in Brazil, so it became a sponsor of the UEFA Champions League and hosted a competition to find the first female soccer announcer in Brazil. By becoming a UEFA sponsor, Lay's was able to connect with millennials while boosting sales and brand affinity.
Objective and Context:
Lay's is one of the biggest and best-known food brands. With over 80 years of history, it's a name that's synonymous with potato chips around the world. However, in Brazil Lay's has only been available since 2014. To increase awareness among Brazilians and develop brand affinity, Lay's partnered with the UEFA Champions League.
Target Audience:
The target audience for this campaign was millennials, ages 25 to 35, who were also soccer fans.
Creative Strategy:
Lay's noticed that all the soccer announcers in Brazil were men, even though women were also big soccer fans. It created a reality TV competition show called The Announcer that focused on the search for the first female UEFA commentator in Brazil.
Overall Campaign Execution:
Lay's partnered with one of Brazil's biggest sports channels, Esporte Interativo, to host a competition that led to the selection of a female announcer who called a UEFA Champions League semifinal match in April 2018. The show ran for 26 episodes and featured 12 contestants.
Mobile Execution:
Applicants for the show were invited to submit videos that were featured on a mobile hub. The 12 women selected to be part of the show participated in a number of competitions over three months, all of which were featured on social media.
The winner of the contest was hired by Esporte Interativo to be a permanent commentator for UEFA soccer games. Additionally, sales of Lay's grew by 18 percent, while brand awareness rose by 7.5 percent and affinity increased by 6 percent.
