How suppliers and operators are benefiting from the summer of football

Previous articles have shown how retailers and away from home operators are attracting consumers into their outlets through a range of activities. Having got them into their outlets, both sets of companies have looked to maximise the opportunity, using the hook of the summer of football, to market a range of brands to shoppers.

Pringles’ football-themed packaging in B&M

In B&M, Mars Inc’s Pringles brand is clearly capitalising on the “summer of football” through standout themed packaging that drives visibility and incremental purchase. Two distinct formats are merchandising the same products but at different scales, multi-pack mini cans. The upper shelves feature SKUs with a goalkeeper design, using the Pringles can as a goalkeeper in a penalty shootout scenario, while the lower shelf SKU takes a more premium, giftable and shareable approach, presenting the product as a football stadium containing double the number of mini cans.

The stadium-format pack in particular stands out at the shelf-edge, with bold colours and varied shape to the usual cylindrical cans of Pringles seen below. This positions the SKU as a novelty sharing item, likely to resonate with families, children, and football fans purchasing for match-day occasions. Meanwhile, the smaller multi-pack option also provides novelty but at a lower price point, allowing further accessibility.

As a recognisable name in snacking, Pringles can use its influence during major sporting events, by aligning packaging innovation with high-engagement events like the World Cup, Mars Inc can drive impulse purchasing and encourage bulk purchasing.

Mars Wrigley’s branded bay captures attention in Sainsbury’s

In Sainsbury’s, Mars Wrigley is using a branded bay to capture attention and drive confectionery sales during the World Cup. While the activation isn’t specifically tied to the tournament in its branding or packaging, the prominent header board creates a clear association with football.

Featuring three England national team players alongside the messaging “A chance to win extra time together”, drawing on the excitement of the tournament and linking it to its confectionery offering. The messaging is further reinforced with “Buy. Scan. Win” prompts across the bay, adding promotional mechanics encouraging shopper engagement beyond the point of purchase. This prompting elevates the activation above a simple piece of promotional material into a more interactive experience for shoppers.

The breadth of SKUs within the bay is a key strength, spanning multiple brands within the Mars Wrigley portfolio. This wide assortment supports a “one-stop shop” mission for confectionery snacking on matchdays. The bay hosts an assortment of individual and sharing pack sizes, providing opportunities for those hosting social occasions for the games and also those casually watching from home. To entice further shopper spending, improve its value perception, and drive volumes, Sainsbury’s uses Nectar pricing across all SKUs in the bay.

Heinz and Stonegate aim to build a connection with consumers

Heinz and Stonegate demonstrate how suppliers can create a connection with consumers. With 88% of World Cup followers planning to celebrate in pubs and
bars out of home, Heinz’s ‘Best Seat in the House’ puts the brand at the centre of action.

Branded decor and a personal screen help followers to link Heinz to the tournament.
A physical space associates Heinz with the experience of watching the World Cup, elevating the brand from a tabletop condiment to a ‘must-have’ during sporting events. By pairing the activation with a private booth, Heinz creates an exclusive viewing experience, encourages brand advocacy and builds a sense of the fear of missing out.

PepsiCo’s campaign aims to make Doritos an out of home meal solution

PepsiCo is working with Chef Gordon Ramsay to elevate Doritos from a half-time snack into a flavourful meal out of home. The Doritos Loaded campaign encourages consumers to visit participating away from home operators with a bag of Doritos and add a range of freshly prepared toppings.

By linking the promotion to Gordon Ramsay, PepsiCo elevates Doritos' perceived quality. At the same time, the tagline “Football is better with Pepsi” links Doritos and Pepsi to the World Cup, pushing consumers to choose both brands during the games.

For Away From Home, the Doritos Loaded campaign is supported by hundreds of operators across London, Manchester and Glasgow. Consumers can visit participating operators with a bag of Doritos and have it topped with fillings of their choice.

Heinz is getting in on the act in the Netherlands

Also by no means an official participant, Heinz has found a way to latch onto the World Cup bandwagon in the Dutch market. Oranjefeest, originally the ‘orange festival’ associated with the King’s Day event in the Netherlands, has become a portable feast synonymous with major international football tournaments, making it a non-specific soccer signpost for brands.

Heinz has deployed POS across multiple retailers, urging shoppers to ‘make your orange festival complete with Heinz’ and has redesigned its bottles with orange labels and has linked bottle designs to consumption occasions such as drinks, lunch and evening snack.

Another way Heinz and other brands like Nestlé have got involved is via retailer campaigns. Jumbo is selling orange jackets for the World Cup, complete with collectable iron-on badges that can be applied to the jackets. The jacket can be bought outright or exchanged for loyalty points. The badges include generic football emblems as well as logos for brands such as Lays, Heineken, Campina, M&M’s,  Coca-Cola and Heinz.  

In addition to badges being earned by hitting broader spend thresholds, they can be earned by purchasing certain SKUs, such as Heinz ketchup. These SKUs are flagged up via POS in-aisle as well as by dedicated displays that host several eligible items and the collectable badges. This is a nice example of a retailer-led ‘loyalty’ scheme buoyed by supplier participation and funding, tapping into a broader event.

Wegmans brings more suppliers into the game

In the US, Wegmans’ Score Big with Easy Entertaining’ event significantly broadens the type of suppliers that can benefit from the World Cup. Tying into the retailer’s long-standing authority in entertaining, the activation extends beyond traditional match-day categories into cheese, charcuterie and sweet treats. This shows how a tournament can create relevance across a much wider group of suppliers, especially where products help shoppers host, share and treat around the games.

Innovative activations built from understanding shoppers

If these activations tell us anything, it’s that the World Cup can stretch far beyond the categories we instinctively associate with it. Looking beyond the full-time whistle, the brands that grow will be those that spot new consumer occasions, understand emerging missions, and build credible ways to show up.

Our consulting team partners with businesses to uncover these opportunities, develop a clear commercial vision, and create the story needed to sell it in.

Get in touch to explore where your category could play next.