Pepsi Refresh Project

Pepsi substantially abandoned its long-standing commitment to traditional advertising in favor of social media. It canceled its annual Super Bowl advertising. It diverted tens of millions of dollars from traditional advertising to create the "Pepsi Refresh Project." Pepsi Refresh was an online social media initiative. The Pepsi Refresh Project was a 2010 initiative by Pepsi Co to award 20 million USD in grants to individuals, businesses and non-profits that promote a new idea that has a positive impact on their community, state, or the nation. The project is completely separate from the Pepsi Corporate Foundation and uses money budgeted for marketing.  

Pepsi has always been at its best as a catalyst for change. In the Great Depression, it doubled the amount of ounces for the same cost. During World War II, it adopted its patriotic red, white and blue colors. It was always leading culture.

The Pepsi Refresh Project was an idea formed from consumer insights. The Pepsi Refresh Project gives financial grants to anyone’s causes or ideas that gain the highest number of votes. With enthusiastic support from Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi and company bottlers, the TBWA\CHIAT\DAY developed its rollout plan to the public.

Grant submissions began online in January 2010, with a cap of 1,000 on a first-come, first-serve basis each month. To give an idea of how popular the Pepsi Refresh Project has become , that 1,000-submission quota was reached in 30 minutes when opened for April.

The Refresh Project gives Pepsi the extra marketing power Super Bowl commercials fall short on – customer engagement. Where companies pay millions for celebrities to endorse their brands, Pepsi now has celebrities coming to them wishing to participate. Rihanna, Jenny McCarthy, Eva Longoria and Mariska Hargitay are just a few who have submitted grant ideas.

A great example of how the Refresh Project has helped its consumers is the case of Johnny Greenshield, a 14-year-old who won $25,000 with his homemade video of a new aerodynamic hood invention for buses.

Pepsi symbolized youth, but some of its most loyal consumers are boomers. It needed an idea that bridged gap between millennials and boomers. Both groups are powerful agents of change, but because of psychographics rather than demographics.

Used IMC Tools  :

Advertising:
Advertising is one of the most important promotional tool used worldwide because it have the maximum reach. Pepsi used two TVC so far.

Public Relations:

Sponsoring: As another PR tool of our IMC campaign, Pepsi sponsored different youth oriented concerts. This creates buzz about our product among the target market.

Billboards : Pepsi also used billboards

     A great example of how the Refresh Project has helped its consumers is the            case of Johnny Greenshield, a 14-year-old who won $25,000 with his    homemade video of a new aerodynamic hood invention for buses.

Direct Marketing:

Free T- shirts and caps: Pepsi distributed free t-shirts and caps to some of our consumers and dealers to raise awareness about our product. The t-shirts have Pepsi logo in them and our tagline will also appear there.

Interactive Marketing:

Every type of people were sharing their ideas. The majority of ideas are submitted by boomers, and they are the fastest growing demographic on Facebook. They have time, are computer-savvy, and it’s a way for them to keep in contact with friends and family.

This campaign is one of the best successful campaign for pepsi and also a idol for other campaign campaigns.For the first time in 23 years of Pepsi they made such a big and history making campaign.In this campaign they successfully hit their target.