Cannes Lions 2023: ‘Create emotional advertising as functional advertising does nothing for a brand’

On the sidelines of day one of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Cesc Fabregas, footballer (former FC Barcelona and Arsenal); Pola Gomez, freestyler; Bradford Ross, VP - global sports and entertainment marketing and partnerships, Coca Cola; and Benjamin Braun, CMO – Europe, Samsung, discussed the fan culture around sport on Spotify’s beach.

 

After touching upon how Fabregas and Gomez took to football as their career choices, the duo revealed their first tryst with stardom.

 

Fabregas said, “I was 16 and had just signed with Arsenal after winning the player of the tournament at the U-17 FIFA World Cup. I was signing jerseys and taking photographs with fans and it was unreal.”

 

Gomez explained how she has more of an online fan base and discussed how she interacts with them.

 

“I am on social media to share my tricks. I try to be close to my community and share tips. I want to motivate girls to take on their dreams. I try to be authentic and also want to keep up with the trends,” she said.

 

Adding on the authenticity bit, Braun stated why associating with sport comes naturally to Samsung.

 

“In 1988, Seoul hosted the Olympics. Our then CEO stated how it’s imperative to partner with it because it’s a magical occasion when everyone comes together. We wanted to get behind something that everyone likes. When we partnered with the Olympic Games in 1988, we also started a grassroots programme to get more athletes (from Korea) to participate,” said Braun.

 

Ross stated that Coca-Cola’s partnership with sport is an outcome of looking at the consumer.

 

Referring to the brand’s partnership with the FIFA World Cup, he said, “Football is a passion point for fans along with music, food and gaming. We ran a survey recently which revealed that 53% of football fans really care about the sport/team they support. So it comes down to who you connect with and how.”

 

He added that Coca-Cola tries to create an ecosystem around the sport and be in touch with the fan beyond the 90 minutes of the game.

 

“We are a global brand but need to be local. Along with the World Cup, we also work with local teams to know what resonates with the fan. In 2010, when South Africa hosted the World Cup, we created a campaign to resonate with the continent. This was Africa’s World Cup and we wanted to put that out, even if some parts of the world didn’t agree with it,” he added.

 

Braun stated how Samsung’s philosophy of sports sponsorship has changed.

 

“We used to sponsor teams, we’re now looking at players who resonate with the Samsung brand message. They need to do something that resonates with the fans,” said Braun before explaining why the brand partnered with Raheem Sterling.

Gomez and Fabregas were then asked about what they look for when they partner with brands.

 

Gomez said, “I need to see if the brand matches my image and value,” while Fabregas said he looks for brands that match his culture. He also wanted to bring people together to fight for what’s good.

 

The talk ended with Ross and Braun stating how their brands look to bring passion to a campaign.

 

“We don’t try to become the rights holder. We want to engage with tribes. It’s about working with partners to learn more about the tribes. Co-creation is vital,” said Ross.

 

Braun added, “We need to remember that we’re not the audience and we want to develop a campaign for the audience. We also look to create emotional advertising as functional advertising does nothing for a brand.”