Could a soft drink really engage people and make the world a better place? Pepsi thinks so, if you take a look at one of the brand’s latest marketing initiatives, Pepsi Refresh Project. In 2010, Pepsi shunned their advertising budget for Super-Bowl (of over $20 Million) and decided to put it into social media and the Refresh Project. But, how does this project work?
Each month Pepsi gives a grant of 1,3 Million USD to businesses, people and non-profits having a positive impact on their community. Anyone can submit their ideas and promote people in their network, then visitors on the Pepsi Refresh site get to vote for their favourite projects. At the end of each month, finalists are selected to receive granted money in categories such as art & culture, health and education. The maximum 1000 submissions per day were entered in less than one day when the project first began. And the results, apart from an intense media coverage, is more than 1 600 000 fans on Facebook (still counting) and thousands of project submissions every month.
With the Refresh Project, Pepsi has succeeded in creating strong customer engagement across the US, by connecting emotionally to people. Through this project, Pepsi has also linked the brand to experiences of value; all ‘refresh projects’ have a good impact on society. The result of the campaign is that people associate the company with doing ‘good’. Besides this, the campaign also shows a bit of Pepsi’s brand personality, differentiating them from competitors. In this way Pepsi possesses an exclusive position in the minds of many.
The American technology company Intel is one of the top ten best-known brands in the world, positioned in the same league as Coca-Cola, Disney and McDonald’s. But what is it that makes Intel, a company providing consumers with computer processors and chips housed deep inside their computers, this successful?
Except for being known for its five-note sound logotype, we’d say its strategic marketing campaigns. Most recently, Intel combined creativity, bright young minds and technique to provide its audience with valuable brand experiences, connecting emotionally with the global youth. Earlier this year, Intel launched a new network, the Creators Project, together with media agency Vice. The Creators Project is a multi-year, multidiscipline, and multi-country campaign exposing new artists and facilitating the production and dissemination of new work with these artists and their collaborators in a world where artists can struggle to get by. Intel’s audience can watch 45 videos submitted by creatives from across the globe. They are also able to experience the brand live, through a series of exhibitions and performances in different urban centres rolled out around the world. Attendees can engage in all-day cultural extravaganzas featuring some of the world’s leading artists in music, art, film, design and architecture. The project is set to last for several years.
Intel is a brand already owning an exclusive position in the consciousness of many. But with the Creators Project, Intel positions itself also amongst the younger generation, not traditionally targeted by the brand - a generation of creative whiz kids and artists who use technology as their creative tools.
