Pepsi Hits "Refresh!"

I could make an argument that Pepsi has been the most important brand for the development of digital sales and marketing. I’d have to put Samsung, Apple and AT&T up there too, but Pepsi has certainly been a bellwether. In the late 90s it planned and executed one of the first and still one of the most effective cross-promotional campaigns in the CPG category with Pepsi Stuff. Now it’s breaking new ground again.

Most of this new ground has been misinterpreted by the business press. Pepsi has not abandoned Super Bowl advertising as many headlines suggest. Anyone who has watched an NFL game over the past two weeks will have a hard time doubting its commitment to TV, and football. But rather than spend money on Super Bowl ads, Pepsi will spend around $20 million to launch the Pepsi Refresh Project on Wednesday. At that time, users can submit their ideas to Pepsi via social media for ways to “refresh” their communities.

I applaud the move and not because it values the Internet over other media. I have never been an internet exclusive advocate. I believe that cross-promotions and a balanced media approach is where brands should be. Taken on balance, the Internet will win out and continue to grow based on its ability to target the right audience and interact with that audience. The online social media component, from my way of seeing it, gets Pepsi closer to the engaged audience it will need to make this campaign work from both a participation and branding perspective. Voting will begin on February 1, 2010, and the projects that get the most votes will be funded by Pepsi. Pepsi expects to spend $20 million to fund thousands of projects.

Pepsi is a competitive brand in a competitive space. One mistake in the Coke v. Pepsi wars is worth millions. So it's worth noting that a bellwether brand is taking another big calculated risk online, more than ten years after its first one blazed a trail for everyone else.