Pepsi and UEFA have just announced details of the 2023 UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show, which will see the biggest musicians perform ahead of the culmination of the world’s most prestigious club football tournament. In this article, Eric Melis, PepsiCo VP Global Brand Marketing, explores how brands can utilise the intersection of sport and music to create entertainment propositions for fans around the world.
It’s no secret that the lines between sport and popular culture are rapidly blurring. At an ever-increasing rate, we’re seeing the once often segmented worlds of music, fashion, art, and sport collide to spark fresh, creative ideas and cultural moments. The landscape is forever shape-shifting across platforms, channels and mediums but one thing remains constant: the fans at the center of it all.
Brands can never lose sight of that. It’s no longer enough to solely broadcast a new campaign across TV or inundate consumers with information about a new product. Fans are multifaceted and curious, and those brands that can tap into the nuances of their interests, and take measures to truly understand the richness of the cultural spaces they play in, are the brands that will connect with fans on a deeper level.
At Pepsi, we are obsessed with understanding how fans interact with popular culture and unpicking all the layers and nuances that get them excited about the world. The sweet spot of sport and music has always been a space we leverage – we have worked with the biggest names for many years, and we will continue to do so, but we are forever challenging ourselves to find newer, smarter and richer ways to do it. Brands should never rest on their laurels; and we have found that it is only with a relentless mindset that we can create genuinely fresh and explosive entertainment platforms to satisfy fans’ thirst for life and for culture.
The 2023 UEFA Champions League Final Kick Off Show presents us with an opportunity to truly double down on our work in the sport and music crossover. It’s the seventh year we’ve worked with UEFA to mark the biggest annual sporting event in the world with a truly unmissable music performance, and this is the biggest year yet. It’s an opportunity to unite music and sports fans; to spark a cultural moment that satisfies fans’ wants and needs.
This year’s performance will be co-headlined by award-winning megastar Burna Boy, and the campaign features a unique blend of component parts: some of the most exciting musicians of a generation, the biggest fixture in club football, the most iconic players in football today, and – most importantly – millions of fans around the world. It will play out across digital and social media, in the stands of the Atatürk Olympic Stadium and on the streets of Istanbul, and broadcast on the screens of millions of football and music fans globally. We have the opportunity to unite all of those component parts through one unmissable, iconic moment; the Kick Off Show performance.
However, to speak of the most important component of all, we must return to the start of this blog and revisit that one constant at the center of an ever-evolving cultural swirl: the fan.
This year we are giving seven fans the opportunity of a lifetime to be part of the performance themselves. We will literally put them on the pitch alongside our artists and in front of the eyes of the world, and give them a role in one of the biggest sports entertainment moments just minutes before the Champions League Final kicks off. Our football ambassadors Leo Messi, Vini Jr, and Leah Williamson have led the call for fans to partake in a Pepsi TikTok challenge – giving them a platform to express their love of football and music, and to show off their skills and dance moves. The best, most creative interpretations will be selected to feature in the Kick Off Show and to become part of history with Pepsi and UEFA. I’ve detailed how and why the fan is at the center of our ethos, and we’re so excited to give them the opportunity to be part of the epic showpiece itself.
When it comes to the intersection of sport and entertainment, there are so many stories to tell, a multitude of interesting ways and spaces in which to tell them, and an abundance of passion points that can be leveraged to genuinely connect with fans. It can be challenging to keep up with that, but one thing is clear: the quickly-changing nature of sport and entertainment should be embraced. The fan won’t stand still, and neither can brands and sponsors.
Picture credit: Shutterstock
