Pepsi Watches Super Bowl From the Sidelines
As it becomes clear that social networks provide a real opportunity for performance advertisers, I'm nevertheless surprised about PepsiCo's announcement in December to sit out Super Bowl XLIV and not purchase an advertising spot, instead investing $20 million in a social marketing campaign.
Pepsi plans to launch a cause-related social media campaign in coming weeks called "Pepsi Refresh Project." Under the program, Pepsi will award grant money for community projects proposed by consumers. The $20 million is earmarked for the grants. According to the Wall Street Journal, Pepsi declined to disclose the new campaign's total cost but says it will spend 60 percent more on online ads in 2010 than last year.
When I heard the announcement that the biggest Super Bowl advertiser will withdraw from the most-watched broadcast of the year (last year's Steelers/Cardinals matchup drew 98.7 million viewers) I thought it sounded risky. Social media is, in many ways, the opposite of advertising. Advertising is about driving people to a purchase; social media is about building relationships and caring for them after the fact.
Therefore the two entities must work together, and to be successful, a marketing program must be integrated. Why wouldn't Pepsi leverage the Super Bowl to announce the social media campaign and drive viewers to the site? And let's not forget about the viral nature in recent years of people forwarding YouTube clips of Super Bowl commercials to their networks. This factor also could have led to greater participation in Pepsi's social campaign.
Surprised by Pepsi's decision, I spoke yesterday to Augie Ray, senior analyst of social computing at Forrester, to get some answers. He dissects some potential ramifications of this decision in his blog this week.
Turns out he agrees, saying "A social media campaign is something that should not happen in isolation...there was a part of me that was a little surprised that they didn't think about layering a social media program on top of a Super Bowl ad. There is a risk of course--it is the most-watched event of the year."
Ray says it comes down to this question for Pepsi: "Can we produce an ad with five or six spots during the Super Bowl, or can we make a difference and engage with people on an emotional level?" "When you stack those things on top of each other, Pepsi thinks there's more risk than meets the eye," Ray said.
Clearly Pepsi is not alone. Companies have shifted their marketing budgets to include social media, so Ray expects to see fairly large increases in social media marketing this year. But the larger trend, he said, will be to "find ways to make all your media work together."
So while Pepsi's decision may be a bit of a gamble, the social program could potentially be a big opportunity...if executed correctly. I'm sure marketers will be watching closely to see how this plays out.
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Thanks everyone for your comments.
Augi, I also believe this campaign will work out well for Pepsi too. I just think it will work even better if it's integrated with traditional marketing efforts.
Toni, I also saw those ads and liked them a lot. I just think that advertisers need to think more creatively going forward in terms of integrating all channels to drive purchases and encouraging participation in the brand.
UPDATE!!!!
I discovered while watching the NFL Wild Card playoffs this weekend that Pepsi appears to have a very nicely blended, and perhaps more cost effective, strategy regarding football audiences.
The games were covered by wall-to-wall Pepsi TV ads, and pretty good ones at that.
Looks like no customer segment is being ignored - good job Pepsi!
Mila,
Good article, and thanks for the mention!
While clearly there's risk in swapping one medium for another, I'm firmly in the camp this is going to work out well for Pepsi. Instead of 100M people laughing at ad, they have the opportunity to connect with even more people in a meaningful way. Of course, time will tell--and we'll all be watching!
I see your point, I think Pepsi missed out on an ideal opportunity to blend Social Media into their marketing plans.
I think their Social Media plans are noble but they are missing the point that their consumer base is a social one as well as mobile. Engaging them at the highest point of interest (Super Bowl) with a blended mobile call to social media action would have really hit the mark.
Marketing is not all about push but more engagement today.
Then again we are all discussing it via social media means so there is promise in that don't you think? The buzz is not just in the carbonation!
Not only do I find Pepsi's decision a gamble I think it also makes a statement that they believe they have a good handle on the demographic profile of their core customer base...I wonder.
While social media is a force to reckon with there remains a significant number of soft drink beverage consumers who have not yet engaged in this channel, nor would rely on this channel to make purchase decisions. With this strategy Pepsi is ignoring this segment.
Could this be Pepsi's "new coke" misque?