The Champions Show | 2021

Designers: PepsiCo Design & Innovation, PepsiCo, Inc., New York, New York, USA
Manufacturer: PepsiCo, Inc., New York, New York, USA

For years, PepsiCo has partnered with the UEFA Champions League (UCL) to create unforgettable events for the UCL Final. In years past, PepsiCo has welcomed corporate guests at the UCL Final in the host city. This year, with the Coronavirus pandemic limiting travel, celebrating the big event required even greater creativity to pivot from the usual strategy to dream up and execute a virtual event that would still bring PepsiCo partners the excitement of the football final.

This year, PepsiCo created a world-class live pre-match sports broadcast, The Champions Show. Designed exclusively for PepsiCo stakeholders and partners, the broadcast incorporated PepsiCo brands and corporate messaging in creative and relevant ways. The PepsiCo Design Team played a key role in ensuring the campaign was rooted in consumer-centric, innovative design. The team created a cohesive and energetic Visual Identity System for the broadcast, complete with on-screen and in-studio graphics for the event, as well as art-directed animations with a partner agency. The Champions Show was streamed live from London and hosted by a renowned football moderator, including three former UCL Final winners, who gave insights into past games and the approaching UCL Final.

With this broadcast, PepsiCo was able to increase its visibility to an even wider audience, while still delivering a unique guest experience online. Those who tuned in virtually could ask questions directly to world-renowned football talents and participate in live polls. This kind of unique access offered an experience that brought guests closer to the stars of the UEFA Champions League than ever before, as more customers and partners could join from around the world since they were not limited by the usual hurdles of travel restrictions.

The Champions Show broadcast was a resounding success, with nearly 1,000 guests watching the show on livestream, with 56% internal and 44% external guests in attendance. The recording of the show was also shared with all PepsiCo employees via Corporate Communications on the same day, generating an additional 635 views. The audience was highly engaged, actively participating in polls (59.6%) and submitting questions for football pundits (22.5%). The event received an excellent overall rating of 4.6 out of 5.0 and great feedback from senior stakeholders.