Coke Leverages Premier League Partnership Via Integrated, Diverse ‘Where Everyone Plays’

Coca-Cola puts real fans front and centre of the hero commercial that kicked-off a new Premier League sponsorship campaign celebrating all the everyday fans who play a role in making the league the most diverse and exciting in the world.

The drinks behemoth’s initiative, following its new 3.5 year Premier League partnership (its biggest sports sponsorship in the UK), aims to act as a core pillar in its project to boost its business beyond its core brand and drive sales of its healthier, low and no-sugar variants (Diet Coke and Coke Zero Sugar).

The activation is led by a spearhead spot, ‘Where Everyone Plays’, which sets out to champion everyday football fans – from groundskeepers to spectators – from all 20 Premier League clubs.

The film, developed in harness with creative agency M&C Saatchi, explores not just how fans watch the game, but also the role they all play in making the competition what it is today.

Debuting on 8 February and set to Yazoo’s 1982 synth pop ballad ‘Only You’, the film features cameos from Manchester United attacker Jesse Lingard, former Newcastle and Spurs midfielder turned commentator Jermaine Jenas (as a fish) and more than 250 real supporters.

The hero 90-second version, which is followed by 30- and 10-second cuts, aims to act as a kind of love letter to all Premier League fans

The spot was directed by Stacy Wall through Rogue Films and lead agency M&C Saatchi (which won the brand’s advertising work in summer 2018) worked in tandem with sister agency M&C Saatchi Sport & Entertainment (which is handling the activation’s experiential and PR strands), as well as with Kameleon (which is steering the social media activity),

Welcome to Where Everyone Plays As a proud partner of @PremierLeague we're about to bring you closer to the game than ever before… Are you ready? #WhereEveryonePlays pic.twitter.com/nZ4dy2mZUo

— Coca-Cola GB (@CocaCola_GB) February 7, 2019

while on-pack work is by Haygarth and is media being run by MediaCom.

The campaign content aims to bring fans closer to the game they love and to drive fans to find out more about the partnership at a bespoke microsite at www.coca-cola.co.uk/premierleague.

Supporting the kick-off advertising phase, the partnership activation also includes the first Official ‘Coca-Cola GB Trophy Tour’ (taking place during March and Apr) to give fans across the country an opportunity to see the Premier League trophy up close.

Our tour bus will travel through most major UK (and Premier League cities offering people a chance to see the trophy in person, as well as play FIFA, enjoy live entertainment, meet Premier League legends and scoop some Premier League prizes.

There is also a parallel on-pack promotion across the Coca-Cola Original, Zero Sugar and Diet Coke variants which offers fans/drinkers a chance to be their club’s ‘12th Player’ by winning fan experiences that including hospitality packages, merchandise and tickets.

The campaign is also supported through media partnerships with Talksport and Joe.co.uk.

Coca-Cola’s new UK marketing director for the UK and Ireland, Paul Grace, stated that the brand is focused on ‘celebrating the people who make the Premier League the best in the world, as well as raising awareness of our wide range of drinks’.

“The Premier League was a strong fit for Coke because it is one of the most diverse leagues in the world. It has widespread appeal with men and women of all ages across the country, so it offers a fantastic opportunity to reach a broad audience, all with a shared passion for the game and many of whom already enjoy our drinks,” explained Grace.

According to the campaign creators Dom Moira and Kieron Roe, the brief was to reflect the contribution of fans to the life of the Premier League and the diversity among them.

“The Premier League is the most multicultural, diverse league in the world,” said M&C Saatchi ACD Moira. “Not just in terms of the players but the fans. The crossover we found with Coca-Cola is it’s about a lot of different kinds of people coming together.”

Thus, the fans in the film and the still imagery are drawn from all ages, ethnicities and appearances and the focus is on celebration and camaraderie rather than tribalism and rivalry.

“The fans really are what make the Premier League,” says Manchester United and England player Jesse Lingard of his starring role.

“I wouldn’t be able to do what I do each week without them and so it’s great to be working with Coca-Cola to give more people the opportunity to get involved.”

Comment:

Coca-Cola has, of course, long been supporter of football and sport and it isn’t the first brand in football to focus on positivity and camaraderie, but we have to admit that we support the approach of looking at everyday fans from across the league through a positive lens.

There is also an element of unpredictability in the creative – think of Jenas as a battered piece of fish – which should help boost the ad’s memorability and create a campaign conversation hook.

But what’s the story behind the mid-season launch?

The campaign follows the September 2018 announcement that Coca-Cola had penned a three-and-a-half year partnership with the Premier League: a first for the soft-drinks giant in incorporating its entire brand portfolio.

Of course, on the surface this campaign is all about football fans, but it is also really all about sugar..

Coca-Cola is making its healthier variants increasingly central to its marketing as it aims to encourage consumers to switch over from full-sugar Coke.

Something partly driven by the introduction off the UK sugar tax in April 2018.

Indeed, Jon Woods, general manager of Coca-Cola Great Britain, said when the deal was announced last year that it is part of Coca-Cola’s strategy to boost growth beyond its core brand and increase sales of its healthier alternatives.

“Our strategy is to become a total drinks company and that means growing beyond Coca-Cola to develop a range of drinks to suit more consumers on more occasions. What this partnership allows us to do is to amplify and talk about all those different brands,” he said.

“We will have some brands lead at different times. Some of the brands we haven’t supported that much historically and it allows us to bring them back in the fold in a way we wouldn’t normally do.”

Coca-Cola’s sponsorship is also part of the Premier League’s tweaked partnership strategy which saw the rights-holder shift its strategy away from a primary title sponsor with the aim of bringing more premiere brands into its portfolio.

Coke joins the Premier League’s six strong sponsorship roster which inlcudes former title sponsor Barclays, Cadbury, Nike and Carling.

Links:

Coca-Cola / Premier League

www.coca-cola.co.uk/premierleague

Coca-Cola UK & Ireland

https://www.coca-cola.co.uk/

https://www.instagram.com/cocacolaeu/

https://twitter.com/cocacola_gb

https://www.facebook.com/cocacolaGB/

https://www.youtube.com/user/cocacolacompanyuk

https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company

M&C Saatchi

http://mcsaatchi.com/