Food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo<\/strong> has announced a new multi-year global partnership with EA Sports<\/strong> to position three of its flagship brands \u2014 Pepsi, Gatorade and Lay\u2019s \u2014 as partners of EA\u2019s upcoming EA Sports FC title.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
The partnership aims to broaden audience reach and deepen fan engagement with the football fandom via the newly-independent EA game<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
EA and PepsiCo will collaborate on activations with Pepsi football ambassadors including Vini Jir and Leah Williamson. The deal will also feature in-game integrations, on-pack promotions, exclusive experiences and in-game rewards. Further details of upcoming activations will be revealed at a later date, but PepsiCo said it was keen on collaborating around competitive gaming with EA.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
The drinks conglomerate, best known for its flagship soft drink Pepsi, said the partnership forms part of its overarching business strategy to deliver activations that unite the realms of football, music and gaming. It will also provide a platform to further collaborate on the existing PepsiCo initiatives of promoting participation and gender equality.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
The global, multi-year deal \u2014 the exact length or terms was not disclosed \u2014 is the result of a \u201cshared agenda,\u201d PepsiCo\u2019s Head of Global Sports and Partnerships, Adam Warner<\/strong>, told Esports Insider.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cWe have somewhat of a crush on each other from a brand perspective,\u201d Warner said. \u201cThere’s a very mutual opportunity here, we realised when we first sat down with [EA] properly 6-12 months ago, to broaden each other’s reach from an audience perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
The partnership comes after EA\u2019s acrimonious split<\/a> with long-time partner FIFA for the eponymous FIFA video game series, as a result of which EA is moving forward<\/a> under the new independent name EA Sports FC.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
FIFA notably has a decades-old partnership with Pepsi rival Coca-Cola. With FIFA out the way, EA is free to broaden its horizons.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cWithout getting into the details, there’d been some constraints on our ability to partner together,\u201d Warner said. \u201cBut because of some of the very strategic and exciting choices that EA have made, [there\u2019s an] opportunity for us to come together and do some great stuff together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
With Pepsi\u2019s weight behind it, EA will be confident going into the launch of the first EA Sports FC title, anticipated to be coming later this year.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
Pepsi, for its part, is confident about driving both sales and brand awareness through the major sponsorship deal.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
Warner told Esports Insider he thinks the partnership can both grow brand equity for Pepsi, Gatorade and Lay\u2019s \u2014 which were chosen because they\u2019re PepsiCo\u2019s biggest global brands with established heritage and equity in the football space \u2014 and at the same time create momentum from a sales point of view.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cAnything we do at scale \u2013 and what we\u2019re doing with EA going forward certainly falls into that bracket \u2014 they\u2019ve always got to drive against both of those objectives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
Albeit gaming-focused, Pepsi\u2019s major deal with EA Sports FC will be a boost for the industry at a time when some brands are reportedly sceptical<\/a> of ROI in the competitive gaming space.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n
But Warner said he sees esports as one touch point in their broader gaming strategy \u2014 one that PepsiCo is confident in. \u201cWe see great scale and continued momentum in the gaming passion point,\u201d he added. \u201cIt is a priority now and will continue to be a priority going forward.\u201d<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
(ESI Illustration) Image credit: EA Sports \/ PepsiCo Food and beverage conglomerate PepsiCo has announced a new multi-year global partnership with EA Sports to position three of its flagship brands \u2014 Pepsi, Gatorade and Lay\u2019s \u2014 as partners of EA\u2019s upcoming EA Sports FC title. The partnership aims to broaden audience reach and deepen fan … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":141288,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","esi_template":"default","excluded":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,77,8999,50,55,54,106,8713,8703],"tags":[642,154,16391,1175,16756,1573],"class_list":["post-141287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commercial","category-eafc-esports-news","category-editors-picks","category-features","category-esports-titles","category-interviews","category-latest-news","category-partnerships-sponsorships","category-sports-simulation","tag-ea","tag-ea-sports","tag-ea-sports-fc","tag-esports-partnerships","tag-pepsi","tag-pepsico"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n