Lay’s uses WhatsApp to create a group chat for World Cup fans

The Sports Marketing Playbook
Lay’s uses WhatsApp to create a group chat for World Cup fans
 •  March 16, 2026  •
Ivy Liu

Against a saturated — and more expensive — sports marketing landscape, Lay’s is trying to recreate one of the internet’s most intimate spaces: the group chat

The PepsiCo-owned snack brand is hosting a FIFA World Cup watch party through Meta’s WhatsApp. The group chat features celebs like Lionel Messi, David Beckham, Alexia Putellas, Thierry Henry, and Steve Carell — all of whom are posting photos, voice notes and messages around the sporting event. The group chat is part of Lay’s broader “No Lay’s, No Game” campaign, which is now in its fourth year.

Lay’s is fresh off of the Super Bowl season, where some brands shelled out up to $10 million for a single ad slot. This is the first year “No Lay’s, No Game” campaign is being extended to the World Cup as more marketers look to expand their sports marketing portfolio

“Our strategy is not about necessarily being in every sport,” Alexis Porter, VP Marketing of Global Foods at PepsiCo, told Digiday. “We’re making deliberate choices about growing sports — sports that are widely adopted and people are excited about.” Porter declined to outline specific details about Lay’s sports marketing budgets

The chat is through WhatsApp Channels, which are one-way broadcasts rather than a traditional conversation. The WhatsApp channel is open to anyone, but users are limited to likes and shares. Other engagement opportunities include guides and quizzes. 

In part, it’s a push for more market share in sports, and to reach global audiences outside of the four walls of traditional social media. It’s also a move to get into the so-called second screen, where users are reacting to sports moments in real time. 

“Brands will keep investing heavily there [in sports], but the marketing increasingly has to extend beyond the broadcast — into bars, phones, group chats and real-world fan experiences,” Mick Sutter, chief creative officer at WHITE64, an independent agency, said in an email to Digiday. 

But perhaps most importantly, it’s first-party data play. 

“The reason you do this is for first party data acquisition — full stop,” Porter said. The goal is to glean insights around flavor preferences, player picks, sports team affinity and other data points to better learn how Lay’s can embed itself in the sports marketing arena. She also added, “Ultimately, it does help us with conversion and a broader relationship with the brand, but you can’t have that unless you put something out there that is worthy of coming back.” 

Marketers have ramped up sports marketing efforts thanks to sports being one of the last bastions of live cultural moments. Unilever, one of the planet’s largest advertisers, has had its World Cup plans laid out since at least last fall. Disney reported its operating income from sports ads grew 10% in the first quarter of 2026

Despite a saturated marketplace, live sports is expected to push overall global ad spend to $1.04 trillion this year, per Dentsu’s 2026 forecast report. As marketers continue to clamber over one another for a sports marketing spot, the next phase of maturation is less about sponsorship and more about participation, said Sutter

“It’s no longer just about a logo on a jersey or a TV spot during the match,” he said. “Brands want to behave like fans inside the culture of the sport.”

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Source: digiday.com