How Lay’s met the moment of bandwagon fandom this World Cup

Call someone a “bandwagon fan” in the US, and you can usually expect to be met with some hostility.

But during the men’s World Cup, some people seem willing to own up to their bandwagon fandom—especially now that Team USA has been knocked out. While soccer has been gaining popularity stateside in recent years, its fandom still doesn’t hold a candle to that of leagues like the NFL or the NBA—meaning there are plenty of viewers who have only recently become obsessed with Norway’s Viking Row or Cabo Verde goalkeeper Vozinha.

That’s why the marketing team at Lay’s made the call to embrace the bandwagon for its World Cup campaign.

“We decided to turn what is normally an insult into an invitation,” Denise Truelove, SVP of marketing for Lay’s US, told Marketing Brew.

Given the negative connotation that can surround the term, the campaign was rooted in plenty of consumer research and testing, Truelove said. But no amount of research could have predicted just how overflowed the bandwagons of teams like Norway, Scotland, and Cabo Verde would become this summer, a twist that so far seems to be boding well for Lay’s, she said.

Tread carefully

The bandwagon campaign does exactly as the name suggests: encourages people to become bandwagon fans of whatever World Cup team they choose. It stars Will Ferrell, David Beckham, and Marshawn Lynch in several ad spots in which Ferrell drives a large yellow truck—the literal bandwagon—across the country, picking up fans.

“Who cares?” he asks when they’re disappointed over a result. “Just pick another team!”

The creative concept is based on a key finding from the brand team’s consumer research, which found that while many people were excited for the tournament, they were still more passionate about sports other than soccer, Truelove said. When asked about World Cup fandom, she said participants were more flexible about who they’d root for, wanting to participate but acknowledging it was unlikely that the USMNT would go all the way.

“There was then a lot of conversation after that, and a lot of rigorous testing of our concepts and scripts and animatics and all of the things, because it is a really delicate balance to get it right,” Truelove told us.

Don’t be salty

To strike that balance, Truelove said her team wanted to create a campaign that was “lighthearted and funny,” and landed on Ferrell. After that, they brought in Lynch for some “football” v. “fútbol” wordplay, and Beckham as a nod to longtime soccer enthusiasts.

Truelove said her team was hyper-aware of more intense soccer fans tuning into the tournament, but proceeded with the concept because their research showed that even many of the die-hards recognized the humor in other people’s bandwagon fandom.

“We wanted to sort of out-fun some of the other sponsors,” she said. “That’s been really rewarding, and I think we made FIFA a little nervous, but in the most positive way.”

Back of the net

With almost 100% household penetration in the US, according to Truelove, the main goal for the World Cup campaign isn’t sales, but salience—aka brand association with the tournament.

To achieve it, the Lay’s team implemented a 360-degree campaign that includes TV spots, in-stadium activations, OOH ads, a “Fan of the Match” program with FIFA, and a Bandwagon Tour making stops in Los Angeles, Dallas, and New York City with samples and other experiences like watch parties.

While Truelove said it’s too early to share full results of the campaign, she feels it’s “headed in the right direction” as fans notice the work. In its most recent quarter, PepsiCo’s North American food business (which includes Lay’s) reported flat volume after a slight increase in the first quarter; execs said inflation and rising gas prices caused softer-than-expected results.

Pass it off

The bandwagon campaign became even more relevant when the US lost to Belgium on Monday, falling out of World Cup contention. In anticipation (but not hope) of the USMNT’s possible loss, Truelove said her team took the spot where Ferrell encourages fans to pick another team and “intentionally rotated that more heavily in social” ahead of the game.

While the men are out of the running, US soccer fans now have the women’s World Cup to look forward to next summer in Brazil. Lay’s is an official sponsor of that tournament, too, and Truelove said her team is already thinking about how the brand will show up—though perhaps not with the same bandwagon approach.

“The US [Women’s National] Team, they’re contenders, so it shifts the dynamic a little bit,” she said. “We’re working through [the fact that] this has been so successful, [so] how could we carry it through? What does that look like when you’ve got a team that’s a real contender, and the entire country will be behind?”