Vatom Coverage: Brand Innovators “Frito-Lay Embraces Web3 at FIFA World Cup”

https://www.brand-innovators.com/news/frito-lay-embraces-web3-at-fifa-world-cup

Frito-Lay has launched its first-ever Web3 campaign to promote the launch of three new flavors during the FIFA World Cup.

The packaging for the new Lay’s Adobadas, Lay’s Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Popper, and Lay’s Wavy Carnitas Street Tacos come with QR code that fans can scan to win soccer-inspired merchandise and prizes – including a trip to the FIFA World Cup 2022 final.

“Soccer is the fastest growing sport in North America and, with snacking so intrinsically tied to the at-home viewing experience, now is the perfect moment to enter the game and offer our consumers new ways to heighten their FIFA World Cup experience,” said Tina Mahal, senior vice president of marketing, Frito-Lay North America, in a statement. “As teams from around the world compete in the FIFA World Cup, we wanted to provide a way to connect fans over their love of the game – and love of snacks – to deliver even more smiles throughout the tournament.”

The PepsiCo brand printed QR codes on more than 200 million bags of Frito Lay snack foods, and customers simply have to scan it to engage with the experience. Fans can put their picture on a giant 3D gold ball that features people from all over the world. Consumers can share their image and name and end up next to one of the celebrities on the ball. The first 350,000 individuals that registered received an NFT with their image on it. Seventy percent of the people who registered for this program have come back daily to engage with the campaign.

“They were looking for new and improved ways to engage with their customers,” said Brian Wallace, chief marketing officer of Vatom, the platform used for building the Web3 experience. “We can track and target as well as you could with cookies. With cookies going away and with the new policies on Apple this is causing a real crisis for marketing organizations. Frito-Lay saw what we’re doing in Web3 as a potential solution to this. The solution is how do you reach out to your fans and customers, get them to engage with you, and then have an ongoing channel of communication, where you can reward and incent them for weeks, months, years to come. Customers are opting in to engage with PepsiCo and Frito Lay because they’re getting rewarded to do so.”

“In this case, it was prizes and rewards related to the FIFA World Cup,” Wallace continued. “But after the World Cup, it could change into something else. It could be Super Bowl or it could be different prizes. The whole point is you’re getting rewarded continuously through this Web3 solution for engaging with this brand, which is really very different than say, following them on Facebook, and then getting advertised to relentlessly.”