IN AN effort to take a bite out of Coke's massive market lead, Pepsi has launched its biggest ad campaign to date. And in a 'surgical strike' that will have television and magazines worried, the $5m spend is concentrated almost entirely on out-of-home media.
Pepsi marketing director Tony Thomas believes this is the largest outdoor campaign of its kind ever run in Australia.
Over the next three months the soft drink marketer will roll out a strategic metropolitan area billboard and street furniture campaign featuring celebrities such as soccer star Harry Kewell, singer Holly Valance and model Chloe Maxwell.
Thomas says the placement of ads was aimed at targeting teens “where they hang out with their friends and where they have the opportunity to buy Pepsi”.
“ROAM data has provided a map of key attraction points such as retail areas, the CBD, universities and near schools. Then we have overlain this with purchase opportunities where consumers can buy Pepsi.”
The marketer aims to reach teenagers 10 times a day with the Pepsi brand message.
“Multiple impressions is important to us. Teens do a lot in a day and if they see celebrities a number of times a day then it reinforces the brand.”
The prime objective of the campaign is to gain several percentage points in market share from market dominator Coca-Cola.
In the total soft drink market, Pepsi has 10.5% share while Coke has 55%, with other soft drinks making up the remainder. In the cola market, Coke has about 82% share and Pepsi has 16%.
Over the past few years Pepsi has gradually been gaining half a share point annually, Thomas says.
“This is a big market so a share point here and there has a significant impact. Australia is one of Coke’s leading markets in the world in terms of strength over Pepsi.
“This is a pivotal time for our brand. We are a global icon and we really want to make inroads in the market.”
To achieve this, Thomas says Pepsi needs to be innovative, which is why it has chosen to do such a targeted and strategic campaign.
“We’ve tried to remain relevant to teenagers. What we did was go out onto the street with video cameras and asked teenagers who they would like to have dinner with—to get down to the bare bones of which celebrities Australians relate to and aspire to. The three celebrities we chose really stood out.”
Pepsi is also leveraging the celebrities in various different ways through Nova radio stations’ other opportunities. The radio campaign aims to link the outdoor to another medium.
Nova is also running Pepsi competitions during the three month campaign.
Meanwhile Pepsi has also relaunched its Pepsi Max product following research into the minds of cola drinkers.
This showed that two key segments—full sugar and diet—did not reflect consumer or current market needs.
“The notion of full cola and no-sugar cola is a little outdated and Pepsi Max is a hybrid of the two. It is a no-sugar cola dressed up in male clothes,” Thomas says. “A lot of men are not entirely happy with their options because the imagery associated with diet drinks is too female and gives the wrong impression.”
Pepsi Max has been repositioned to target 20–29 year-olds as a more accessible drink with more emphasis on intense enjoyment. In a new TVC for PepsiMax, launched last weekend, a group of friends is seen heading down a street in a large wheelie bin, ending up in Sydney Harbour.
While Pepsi Max marketing has traditionally taken a male angle with its use of extreme sports, Thomas says it has now developed a more relevant, everyday approach.
One strong message is that Pepsi Max is sugar-free, of which consumers were sometimes unaware.
As part of the new strategies for both brands, the “Pepsi Challenge” taste testing has also been made redundant.
“It is a pivotal time for Pepsi and it is time for a change and we must prioritise our activities,” Thomas says. “We are focusing on really strong media and promotional campaigns.
“When you have a restricted budget you have to cut some elements out.
“It has been a really effective campaign for us but now it is time to rebuild our image perception.”
