Coca-Cola leverages its English Premier League sponsorship in Nigeria with a campaign from FCB
Coca-Cola
is leveraging its sponsorship of the English Premier League with an
integrated campaign currently running in Nigeria, and created and
implemented by the soft drink’s marketing partners on the continent
including FCB, Isobar, Dentsu, Ogilvy Nigeria, Town Criers and R&B
Public Relations.
The
company’s IMC Director, Monali Shah, tasked FCB to engage the myriad
EPL fans in Nigeria in a refreshing and unexpected manner to ensure
they’d ‘offer Coca-Cola a seat at their table’ during this year’s
season.
“In
Nigeria, football is not just a game, it is a way of life,” she said.
“The fans here live the EPL seven days a week, not just on match days.
Coca-Cola wanted to honour these fans and their passion for the game
every day, not just during the 90 minutes of play.
“The
big ask to the agency was to ensure that the brand stood out in the sea
of EPL communications and to create a campaign that resonated with the
fans and invited Coca-Cola to become part of their conversations,” she
explained.
After visiting Nigeria to uncover consumer insights first hand, ‘Banter Better with Coca-Cola’ was conceived and fine-tuned.
An
integrated campaign featuring a TVC, social executions, PR,
out-of-home, shopper activations and customer partnerships, it speaks
directly to the passion of the fans, who constantly banter with each
other about the league, the teams, the performances and the statistics.
The
TVC driving the campaign was created by FCB’s team of Executive
Creative Director Suhana Gordhan, Copywriter Mbeu ‘Snooze’ Kambuwa and
Art Director Jonathan Wolberg with collaboration from Designers Liana
Liebenberg and Thabang Lehobye.
According
to Gordhan, the insights informing the creative approach are grounded
in West African fans’ special relationship with the league’s clubs.
“The
key difference between a West African fan’s relationship with the club
he or she supports and that of a fan in the UK is ‘choice’. In the UK,
you don’t choose your club, you are born into it. For this reason, if
someone disrespects your football club, they disrespect your place of
birth, your home, your family. As a result, there’s an aggressive,
territorial undertone to football banter and discussions.
“By
contrast, in West Africa, they choose who they support, and are drawn
to a club by its popularity and performance. Banter is, therefore,
friendly and sporting – a passion point. What’s more, banter, in the
West African EPL context, brings people together. Never aggressive, it
is a way of good-naturedly sharing your knowledge of the game, and
building anticipation for the coming weekend’s battles on the pitch.
“And yeah, while what happens on the pitch is fair banter fodder, that’s where the battle stays … on the pitch,” she quipped.
The
TVC was directed by Anton Visser of Patriot Films with post-production
from Left Post. Tiger Fight composed the soundtrack. The campaign broke
in Nigeria in December 2019.
Credits:
Client: Coca-Cola
Campaign: Banter Better with Coca-Cola
IMC Director: Monali Shah
Content Excellence Manager: Odunayo Dada
Marketing Manager: Abiodun Ajiborode
IMC Manager: Hilda Gullacksen
Media Manager: Omomeda Ashofor
Digital Manager: Ines Tahi-Ezan
Creative agency: FCB
Business Unit Director: Struan de Bellelay-Bourquin
Account Director: Carol Chidoba
Executive Creative Director: Suhana Gordhan
Copywriter: Mbeu ‘Snooze’ Kambuwa and Matthew Shafto
