Mars v Kit Kat
The first quarter-final pits an official England team sponsor against an unofficial one. It’s also a grudge match after Mars discussed the possibility of legal action over Kit Kat’s ad, accusing Nestlé of "passing off" an association with the England team.
The strength of Mars’s ‘Three Lions on my Mars’ promotion lies in its simplicity. It’s also brave, because there’s no tangible offer for the consumer. Mars is simply an ‘official supplier to the England team’. In-store, the pack adorned with the England flag works really well on the shelf. The supporting POS is also strong – it’s a trade activation promotion as opposed to just being a consumer promotion.
Kit-Kat’s ‘Fingers Crossed’ campaign also has simplicity at its heart, and builds on the nation’s (as it turns out, misplaced) belief. The creative execution is genius. It’s so well thought through – Kit Kat owns the ‘finger’ proposition, and this campaign plays on that really well. Nestlé has been very clever in establishing an everyday positioning with it, because customers can ‘win a grand every day’ and £1,000 is a believable reward.
Mars maybe should have gone further in flexing its muscles and given consumers part of the reward – for example by offering consumers the chance to win World Cup tickets. It should be commended for a courageous performance, but Kit Kat has bought its A game and got its tactics spot on.
Result: Kit Kat 3 Mars 2
Walkers Flavour Cup v Pringles ‘Pringoooals’
It’s a walkover. Walkers’ promotion is built on very strong brand equity and that ubiquitous value the brand has. It’s a very clever campaign. Walkers’ previous ‘Do us a Flavour’ promotion worked really well, and it has built on that. The creative is strong, it has used celebs really well in its TV execution. Walkers has also celebrated the campaign at a trade level, and it has had a lot of fun with the whole thing. The brand has not taken itself too seriously, which comes across here.
Compare that with Pringles. Pringoooals. It started badly with a terrible platform. The endorsement from England striker Peter Crouch verges on the cringe-worthy. It’s a seriously wooden performance from the big man – he’s had a ’mare. It just hasn’t been well thought through. Pringles was obviously keen not to miss out on leveraging the World Cup, especially because it’s a sharing, social occasion.
A walkover. Walkers 4 Pringles 0
Budweiser v Carlsberg
Budweiser’s Predict and win, an on-pack promotion that asks fans to go online and predict who they think will win in each round of the competition, is a really nice mechanic. Most football fans fancy themselves as a football pundit, and it gives them the chance to prove their knowledge and claim a reward. It’s a huge promotion – it appears on 10 million packs in the UK, although there is very little chance of winning the £100,000 prize. Budweiser has made a lot of effort to embrace the tournament as an official sponsor. The on-pack and website creative looks great, and people who win it will say it’s the ‘best promo ever’. There’s a lot of style here to complement the substance, but overall it’s more of an ‘instant lose’ than ‘instant win' for Budweiser.
Carlsberg’s team talk promotion, on the other hand, appears on 2.5 million packs and in point of sale material, as well as being a viral and TV campaign to which fans can contribute with their own team talk. Carlsberg has put a lot of money into it and not cut any corners. It has used all the best personalities to endorse its brand that goes well beyond the footballing arena and rides the emotional wave that washes over the country with every World Cup. Is team-talk the best? It probably is, because it’s so well executed.
Carlsberg 4 Budweiser 3 aet (3-3 after 90 mins)
Pepsi v Coca-Cola
There are some really nice touches in both promotions from two strong teams that would have looked to avoid meeting each other before the final. Pepsi gives consumers the chance to ‘win £1,000 every 90 minutes’ when they go online and enter their on-pack code. The promotional website itself has so many nice elements to it, from the images of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard et al adorned with African body paint to the African-themed ‘Football Hero’ game. Pepsi also picked up on Argentina coach Diego Maradona’s promise to streak naked if his team lifted the trophy by promising to sell bottles with no label for a week in Argentina, if they win the World Cup. The performance of the whole team – all the elements of the marketing mix – make it a strong showing.
Coca-Cola is, however, the side that every other brand would look to avoid. Encouraging fans to upload their own celebrations makes for a very all-inclusive campaign, as you’d expect from Coca Cola, and gives consumers the chance to get involved in the tournament in an emotional way. The Coke Zone online is really well thought through and has loads of daily prizes on offer, so everyone can participate. Coke is running the campaign across 150 markets, so it’s on a huge scale.
Very difficult to call, but it would be fair to give it to Coke, just because of the effort they’ve put into it and the overall team performance.
Coca Cola 3 Pepsi 3, aet. Coke wins 7-6 on pens
SEMI-FINALS
Kit Kat v Walkers
Two fantastic campaigns. But Walkers is so ubiquitous and perfect for ‘anytime occasions’, so if you’re watching a match in the afternoon or a match in the evening, Walkers can be part of that experience. Kit Kat traditionally performs better in that ‘take a break’ way, and is at a distinct disadvantage being a confectionary brand rather than being a snack brand. So simply because of the nature of the product, Kit Kat has to work a lot harder to win over a brand like Walkers. Walkers has prolific World Cup marksman Lineker on its team, too.
Walkers 3 Kit Kat 2. Another high-scoring game between two of the tournament’s fancied sides.
Coca-Cola v Carlsberg
Coca-Cola has been very thorough in all the elements of the marketing mix. It’s got in-store activation, online activation, and a viral element to it. It has invested heavily in social media, and has its own African ‘grass roots’ projects. Its attention to detail is also exemplary.
Carlsberg has put a lot of effort into an outstanding TV campaign, which should be applauded, but the overall campaign hasn’t quite got the depth to beat Coca Cola.
Coca-Cola 4 Carlsberg 2. A couple of absolute screamers from Carlsberg, but it’s not enough to overcome the Coke machine.
THE FINAL
Coca-Cola v Walkers
The final between two teams who have equipped themselves brilliantly throughout the competition would be a mouth-watering classic. For me, it’s too close to call.
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