Pepsi Max Takes Aim At Coke In New Work Via Special

What’s in a name? A lot, especially when you want a drink that tastes better than OK to maximise the flavour of food. That’s the playfully provocative premise of a new campaign for Pepsi Max via Special.

The ‘Tastes OK’ campaign, is the latest iteration of the established Pepsi Max ‘Tastes Better’ brand platform, highlights a design flaw that’s been hiding in plain sight in the name of the brand’s biggest competitor, reminding Aussies that food tastes better with Pepsi Max.

The creative highlights the unfortunate comparative term ‘OK’ in the spelling of the competitor’s name and invites consumers to choose a better tasting partner for their favourite meal by ordering Pepsi Max.

The OOH-led campaign lets drinkers of the competitor’s product know they’re settling for just ‘OK’ when they don’t choose Pepsi Max, with ads appearing on OOH sites across the country. The media strategy also spans print, display, publisher partnerships, an influencer program, and social signs.

“We have long known that Pepsi Max tastes better than our main competitor and this latest campaign helps us reinforce our position as a challenger brand. Australia’s meals are not being done justice, palates across the nation are being deprived, whilst consumers settle for OK. Working with Special Group to bring to life our bold and disruptive nature with a little light-hearted fun is something we know resonates well with customers,” said Vandita Pandey, chief marketing officer ANZ, Snacks & Beverages at PepsiCo.

“Getting briefed to work on the ‘Tastes Better’ campaign is exciting and intimidating in equal measure. It’s such a bold and direct line and it’s led to great work in the past, so we all knew we needed to do something that lived up to it. Then, our competitor did it for us. We saw an image they put out into the world and noticed something we couldn’t unsee,” said Simon Gibson and Nils Eberhardt, creative directors at Special.

The campaign launched today.

CREDITS

CLIENT: PepsiCo

Chief Marketing Officer, Snacks & Beverages: Vandita Pandey Head of Marketing Beverages: Susan Press Marketing Manager: Tiana Handel Brand Manager: Candy Wong

CREATIVE AGENCY: Special

Partners/CEO: Lindsey Evans & Cade Heyde

Partners/CCO: Julian Schreiber & Tom Martin

Partner/CSO: Dave Hartmann

Client Services Director: Richard Sweetman

Creative Directors: Simon Gibson & Nils Eberhardt

Team Lead: Michelle Braslin

Business Director: Maddie Armstrong

Head of Stills: Nick Lilley

Integrated Producer: Danielle Senecky

Integrated Producer: Emily Willis

PR Managing Director: Alex Bryant PR Account Director: Sarah Halpin Creative Strategist: Kate Wilkinson

MEDIA AGENCY: Trio (PHD Australia) Group Business Director: Jen Jones Planning Director: Gilbert Lee Senior Investment Manager: Mikeah Irving

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Pool Collective

Photographer: Danny Eastwood Production Company Producer: Zoe Izzard Retoucher: Mark Sterne

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