Pepsi Forgoes Super Bowl Ad for Philanthropic Marketing

It looks like Pepsi Co. is making waves on the internet with its decision to skip the Super Bowl for an entirely different marketing strategy that is a huge step up from the direction their competitors are going in. Pepsi is looking to make an impact not through a funny commercial, but by genuinely affecting change in the daily lives of a community.

I think marketing has always been about developing a presence and more importantly, an emotional bond between the consumer and the brand. Sophie Ann Terrisse, founder and CEO of STC Associates, a brand consulting firm, stated that "these days, brands need to become a movement, instead of just relying on good reviews for their Super Bowl commercials," and I believe she's an associate that gets it. A Super Bowl advertisement is an excellent way of communicating to a huge audience all at once, but is an extremely poor way of instilling brand loyalty and cultivating a lifetime consumer, especially when the cost is 2.5 million dollars.


What I find a little mind boggling is the assumption that if Pepsi doesn't pull in great yearly earnings that somehow this Super Bowl advertising decision is the reason for that decline in revenue. In the article, they seem to suggest that, "Pepsi's sales will determine whether the company blew a golden opportunity by skipping this year's Super Bowl, and whether goodwill actually increases the bottom line." I'm sure that Pepsi has no problems regarding awareness in the United States, and as pointed out in the article, it would be a little contradictory to spend 2.5 million to inform people about a 20 million dollar philanthropic endeavor. Pepsi has the right idea by using a cheaper alternative, social networking, to reach people and inform them of the project.

Companies tend to operate in the short-term, so if Pepsi Co. doesn't show some sort of ROI from this campaign, I'm sure people will chock it up to poor decision making. However, I feel that this campaign is an excellent way of guaranteeing long-term revenues through building an emotional intimacy between brand and consumer. This is what I love about social networking; it's an absolutely cost effective way of reaching a larger audience and establishing a two-way channel of communication.

It will be interesting to see what kind of measurable result Pepsi will garner from this campaign, but I think it is definitely a step in the right direction for securing a loyal and reliable consumer base.