Ideas We Love: PERi PERi Saka 🌶️
Issue No. 12: Nando's teams up with Arsenal & England's Bukayo Saka
This week is the second of three short weeks in a row for the both us, with a double Bank Holiday this weekend following a mental-health recharge day last week across Omnicom Towers. Dreamy.
Typically, time away from the day job hinders our ability to find new Ideas We Love, but thankfully this week a new idea’s popped up that’s made this week’s issue both an easy and enjoyable one to get out of the door.
The Idea. PERi-PERi Saka 🌶️
Following up on his scene stealing side-eye in their last brand film, this time Nando’s have gone one step further in their collaboration with Arsenal & England’s rising star Bukayo Saka - this time co-creating his very own, limited-edition sauce that combines his favourite flavours with Nando’s trademark PERi-PERi sauce.
In celebration of the launch, we see Bukayo star in a playful take on the heat of the kitchen; firing up a team of chefs (including a real-life Arsenal chef from their London Colney training ground) to bring his creation to life in a film entitled Yes Chef!
Check out the film below.
Adding some artistic flair to the recipe, Nando’s enlisted London-based artist and Arsenal fan Reuben Dangoor to design the official sauce bottle; marking another first for Nando’s working in collaboration with an artist.
Why we love this idea
Making things people want → Making people want things
In the spirit of John V. Wilshere… sometimes it’s better to make things people want, rather than just try to make people want things.
When reading the various P.R. releases around this launch, we couldn’t quite believe this was the first sauce colab Nando’s had released; knowing these types of colabs work on a number of levels for brands looking for a rejuvenating shot of cultural and commercial potential in the arm.
Firstly, from a product perspective.
In a world where young people need to pay upwards of $100 to wear Saka’s name on their back of an official football shirt, this colab offers up a slice of li’l chilli at a price point where loads more fans can get their hands on it.
Giving new reasons for Nando’s superfans buy from them again - creating new ways for Saka’s 6M+ Instagram followers to extend any merch collections they’re building with his image.
Secondly, from a restaurant perspective too.
In a world with an ever increasing array of casual dining options, the chance to simply try this new sauce gives new reasons for first-timers to give Nando’s a try, or for regulars to bring forward their next visit.
Both of which will no doubt help this partnership wash its face investment wise vs. investing in more conventional comms.
Faux Fresh authenticity
In a week where Stella Artois became the latest in an endless list of brands, signing big cheques so they too could ‘Brand it like Beckham’ - PERi-PERi Saka feels way fresher and more authentic owing to a heavy dollop of mutual respect and admiration.
Whilst there’s no doubt some money’s exchanged hands, you get the sense Bukayo a) genuinely loves Nando’s and b) genuinely can’t believe he has his own sauce line across the country.
So much so he even took it on England duty with him! Much to Arsenal and England team-mate Declan Rice’s delight.
What we’d love to do with it….
The core ingredients of this idea - Nandos, Saka and Heat - means that there is plenty of room to push this idea into some interesting comms territories; territories that could have lifted some of the magic out of the protagonists Instagram feeds and more vividly into a broader group of diners everyday lives.
1. Bring the fire. Use Heat 🔥 as a red thread
Given the significance of heat in this idea, and in Saka’s nickname li’l chilli, there is plenty that could be done within media to dramatise this collaboration further.
This could quite simply range from activating advertising based on specific temperature conditions (e.g. when things get hold or cold), or aligning to other content where heat is a central editorial component (giving you a role in everything from Dune 2 in cinemas to Hot Ones on YouTube).
To enable the medium to accentuate the message even further, you could even bring the heat to different media formats, akin to the way Frith Ross & Mick Brownfield f***** around with the frames in their St. Martin’s Lane commission.
Fiery OOH cabinets, burnt copies of the Standard, scorched football turf, spiced up POS, sponsored 🌶️ emojis - what fun could have been had with a little more license beyond the film.
2. Go On Tour. Up, down and around the country with Arsenal ✈️ 🚆 🚌
There is a clear opportunity for Nando’s to do more with Arsenal as a media vehicle too.
Whereas rights may make it tricky for any official tie-ins, Nando’s could have slipstreamed the clubs own content machine to make this sauce launch feel even more significant.
From placing ads in and around clips and highlights involving the club, to ‘going away’ with the club - using their fixtures list as a contextual lever to activate media in support of their national restaurant chain.
This thought could be taken one step further, offering people going to an Arsenal fixture (on either side of the terrace) meal deals and vouchers, or doing limited ‘dynamic’ pricing promotions on dishes for customers when Saka’s play changes the course of a game that weekend, ala Snicker’s Hungerithm.
There’s also a Nando’s restaurant within 150M of the Emirates stadium too.
Feels like a missed trick to not use it as a hybrid experiential, taste and OOH space; in the same way luxury fashion houses use their city-centre retail estate as the first line in their media plans.
3. Go Deeper & Broader into Sport 🏉 🏏 ⚽️
This sort of partnership is incredibly flexible.
If Nando’s were to decide that Football was a strategically important space for them, then they could extend this model by recruiting players from lower leagues to be spokesmen and women. Whilst they might not get the full Saka treatment, they could add items to their local restaurant’s menu in either a formal or ‘off menu’ capacity.
This would cement associations between the restaurant and the towns, cities and communities they serve.
Whilst Football is globally popular, there might be some countries or territories where Football is too crowded or where other sports are more popular with Nando’s target market. In this instance, the model is exactly the same - identify a sporting superfan, produce something in collaboration, promote….
It’s the authenticity and mutual respect that provides the recipe for success, much like the early success Nando’s had with their Black Card (a loyalty card which provided famous fans of the chain a free meal for them + four of their mates in return for P.R.).
The individual ingredients of colabs like this one can be flexed depending on which country or global events are taking place. You could see how a similar approach could stretch into supporting the upcoming Olympics for example.
If you liked this, you’ll love….
Collaborations between brands and athletes is a well trodden path, here are some of our favourites.
Jordan - ‘Beyond’
Nike’s relationship with Michael Jordan is foundational where modern ‘collab’ culture is concerned. The partnership also yields work that is of such a high standard, time after time. The latest campaign by Uncommon Creative Studio is no exception. Another good example of ‘do stuff, tell people’
Palace x Gap
Also breaking this week was Gap and Palace’s collaboration. Anyone who features Roy Davis Jr’s Gabriel in an ad is alright by us. Also, there are plenty of examples of Palace’s trademark copywriting style on display for those who like that sort of thing
Paul Newman’s Salad Dressing
Actor Paul Newman launched a range of Salad Dressings. In itself, not that interesting. What is interesting is that he did this because he used to love making the products himself (and would often asked waiters in restaurants to let him make his own dressings) and it’s interesting because of what he did with the profits as Nick Asbury tells us so brilliantly. Playfully, the bottle were adorned with mottos which would have made Innocent Smoothies and Oatly weak at the knees. A playful, purposeful set of products.
Bukayo Saka x New Balance for Aimé Leon Dore
Football shirts, boot bags and scarves feature in the terrace-inspired collab which was the first major brand to tap into the star-power of England’s starboy.
Until next time
If this kind of thing is your thing, we both write regularly on other stuff too. Tom’s blog can be found here and Matt can be found building out “The A to Z of Media Planning” here.
As always - we’d love to know what you think!
Cheerio
Matt & Tom