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We watched Coca Cola and Pepsi’s ads for the Super Eagles’ World Cup campaign and here’s what we think

Coca-Cola and Pepsi launched ad campaigns ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia to promote ideals and strength of the Super Eagles.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles campaign to win the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia has received quite an overwhelming support from global and indigenous brands as well as the Nigerian government.

At least, six big brands supported the Nigerian football national team with over N6 billion in its campaign to come out top at the 2018 global football event.

Out of these brands are two major beverage manufactures- Coca-Cola Nigeria and Nigerian Breweries plc - funding the Super Eagles campaign with over N2 billion.

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With Coca-Cola, being an official partner of FIFA World Cup since 1978, the global brand has not left out this year’s support.

In the same vein, Coca-Cola Nigeria joined the list of corporate entities that bankrolled the World Cup campaign of the Super Eagles.

Rival brand, Pepsi, on the other hand, was unable to officially pitch its tent with the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles for the 2018 World Cup.

However, Pepsi has endorsement deals with at least five Nigerian players that include ex-internationals and home-grown entertainers.

To further promote the ideals and strength of the Super Eagles,  both Coca-Cola and Pepsi have launched a major ad campaign for the Super Eagles ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

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Coca-Cola tagged its campaign the Spirit of Naija while the Pepsi campaign focused on Naija all the way.

So the question must be asked? Which campaign ad is better? ‘Share a Coke with the Super Eagles’ or ‘Naija All The Way’?

Using some parameters alongside professional opinion from campaign ad executives, we compared the two videos and here are our findings as well as verdict.

The campaign in relation to football and Nigerians

The Share a coke with Super Eagles ad by Coca-Cola captures the essence of the brand’s support by marrying the age-long relationship between football and Nigerians. It further sells it brand as the choice drink while watching the Nigerian football matches.

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However, the Naija all the way ad by Pepsi rarely married football with Nigerians aside the use of some of the past and current and popular football stars to have represented Nigeria in the sporting activity.

The campaign in relation to youths and urban pop culture

Without a doubt, the Naija All The Way ad by Pepsi clearly ticks all the items on the checklist of urban pop culture. The ad is easily relatable by youths who will find it exciting and be appealing for the faces and gestures. Just like the idea employed by Nike in appealing to Nigerians with the Super Eagles kit, Pepsi went for the kill with the infusion of the urban pop culture theme.

For Coca-Cola, it was ideal to tell a story but the need for the members of the Super Eagles to feature in the campaign left the campaign quite boring and fixated on an advert based in the 1990s.

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The campaign in relation to appeal, theme and story

Judging by the release of the two ad campaigns few weeks before the 2018 World Cup kick-off in Russia, it’s safe to say the ads were geared towards the support of the Nigerian national team, Super Eagles.

For the Coca-Cola ad, the theme and story were clear - supporting Nigerian national team to do well at the World Cup by sharing a coke with your favourite player. The storyline for the Coca-Cola clearly wants to tell the world how a Nigerian young boy searched all viewing centres just to get a bottle of coke with the picture of his favourite player but after a fruitless search, he came in contact with his favourite Super Eagles player before a match training and got what he wanted.

On the theme, the spirit of Naija is cool but definitely not catchy, how often will a Nigerian say I have the spirit of Naija? For the average football lovers, who the ad is expected to wow and relate to, the theme isn’t that strong.

For the Pepsi ad, the was no story to be understood, hence there was no storyline in relation to the Super Eagles. However, the theme of the campaign tried to tell a story of individuals who are passionate about Nigeria and have one thing in common - the Nigerian spirit as infused in the video by the beating of the chest. With this, recitation of the national anthem comes to mind and it becomes not only relatable to but easily accepted by Nigerian youths, kids, and adults alike. There is no contest in the video appeal.

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For anyone supporting the Super Eagles, Pepsi’s theme is easier and quite relatable. It’s possible for individuals to say to themselves, “Na Naija all the way ooo for dis world cup.”

The campaign in relation to aesthetics of the video

The story was well told by the Coca-Cola ad, however, the manner with which the story was depicted in pictures and quality would not catch the appeal of many Nigerians who would only see it as a mere advert but nothing to relate with. Before now, aesthetics in the ad campaign was not a priority but now, this is actually the yardstick to define how successful a video would go. The video was released and pinned to Coca-Cola Nigeria Twitter page on June 2, 2018.

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Pepsi on the hands used the opportunity of the bright lights and relatable events to attract the Nigerian youths, adults, and kids with its Naija all the way campaign. The video was brightly coloured and the main characters not only had on some of their best attires but were equally happy and smiling all the way leaving the video much better and acceptable. The video was released and pinned to Pepsi Nigeria Twitter page on June 2, 2018.

Experts take

An Advertising Executive with Quadrant, Laolu Odusan feels strongly that the Pepsi commercial trumps the Coca-Cola ad.

“Pepsi's advert was a bit versatile and wasn't directly aimed at supporting the Super Eagles. It plays more into the hands of youths and has a heavy touch of Urban pop culture. It's undoubtedly more appealing but probably has a weaker story compared to the Coca-Cola advert which didn't particularly have a fantastic storyline either. But all in all, the Pepsi commercial trumps the Coca-Cola advert in my opinion.”

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In the same vein, Toyin Mohammed, a social media manager said the infusion of the heavy pop culture sealed the ad for Pepsi.

“In as much as I am not a fan of having too many superstars star in commercials, I will take the Pepsi advert over the Coca-Cola advert in this case. While the Coca-Cola advert was obviously totally aimed at showing their support and obvious sponsorship of the Super Eagles, the Pepsi commercial infuses heavy pop culture which made it a lot more appealing,” he said.

Continuing, Mohammed said: “The Coca-Cola has a heavy Naija touch to it and will definitely be a viewers' choice when the tournament starts. The story behind the Pepsi commercial is a bit weak but all in all, I feel it trumps the Coca-Cola advert in most of the parameters stated.”

Our Verdict

And the winner is…Naija All The Way by Pepsi.

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Yes, the Coca-Cola advert has a storyline, theme and all the boxes for the checklist of an ad campaign were rightly ticked, unlike the Pepsi ad. And yes, the Coca-Cola ad showed dedication to the theme by marrying Nigerian spirit with the game of football but the reality is, the ad was not directed in the acceptability of the obtainable vision on the current Nigerian TV scenes. Our view of the Pepsi ad was interesting to watch so much that it gets you hooked in the first five seconds. The Pepsi ad delivered a similarly evocative viewing experience though without a storyline. While not as raw as the Coca-Cola in aesthetics, the Pepsi was more than enough to put a smile on your face. And that smile remains with every view because interesting it has the ‘Naija spirit all the way’.

In addition, the marriage of football stars and music stars by Pepsi clearly sells the ad with a smart take away from the Nike ad campaign which is truly impressive. Its combination of pop culture, tech, luxury, and performance make it well worth the view.

Overall, both ads proved the brands to be patriotic. But the Pepsi ad proved to be an all-around cool ad.

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