Last year, in a move that shocked the marketing world and broke a longstanding advertising tradition, PepsiCo opted to forego purchasing TV commercial spots in the 2010 Super Bowl. Instead, the beverage giant reallocated the $20 million to launch a cause-related marketing initiative through social media.
Dubbed The Pepsi Refresh Project, Pepsi created an ongoing, online contest for people to submit their ideas and compete for votes to win grants. According to the contest website, Pepsi provides funding to people, businesses, and nonprofits with ideas that have a positive impact. Each month, Pepsi accepts 1000 ideas in the following categories: health, the planet, neighborhoods, education, food &shelter, and arts & culture. Pepsi customers then vote for their favorite ideas. Ideas with the most votes are awarded grants between $5,000 and $250,000. To date, more than $20 million in grants has been distributed to about 400 winners.
But what about the R.O.I? Did the Pepsi Refresh Project sell more cans of soda? In a word, no. In fact, Pepsi sales fell.
However, in this must-read article published by The New York Times, Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo, notes the Pepsi Refresh Project was not a sales-driving program, but viewed as an investment to build brand awareness and cultivate a long-term relationship with consumers. “It was designed to drive brand health,” he said. “We look at brand equity, brand health and sales – and we have seen movement in all of them.”
Moreover, using social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook allowed the program to have significant reach, particularly to the millennial generation. Singh said “There have been 120,000 ideas submitted. It gives us a strong sense of what matters to them and what is exciting to them.”
