Frito-Lay CMO Brett O'Brien at SBJ's Brand Innovation SummitTony Florez
Frito-Lay CMO Brett O’Brien detailed the successes of the company’s ad campaign during last year’s Men’s World Cup this week at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit. During the tournament, Frito-Lay’s “Football or Soccer” campaign boosted sales of their products by 15% while their ads garnered over 9 billion total impressions online. According to O’Brien, they wanted to make the spots “less about awareness of our products” and more about “attaching our products to the moment around something special.” O’Brien: “In the U.S., you’re still an emerging soccer fandom. So creative (wanted) to ease into having fun with it as opposed to getting into the nuances of the game.”
However, with the upcoming Women’s World Cup, Frito-Lay will use a different strategy. O’Brien: “I think (the U.S. has) a really good shot of winning the whole thing and I think that’s really special. It’s not just about cheering on the team, it’s about ‘no, let’s get behind this team’.” The new campaign will debut in July and feature “the new crop of players” on the U.S. team as well as “bringing back some of the heritage.”
