Pepsi Refresh Project

It was a great idea when Aviva Canada did it last year www.avivacommunityfund.org. This will be the first time in 23 years that Pepsi will not air an advertisement during the Super Bowl. That’s a big deal, both culturally and financially.


Instead of advertising during the Super Bowl, Pepsi is focusing its energy and money on its online presence where the brand believes a younger and accessible demographic is spending its time. 


The Pepsi Refresh Project is a multi-million dollar marketing platform that invites people to submit and vote for ideas that help make the world a better place. Pepsi is a brand that has always embodied the spirit of youth. Whether through social initiatives, or its place in pop culture, Pepsi has always fuelled and created culture. In 2009, Pepsi launched the Refresh campaign, celebrating optimism and its role in our changing world. This year, Pepsi is putting that optimism into action, with the launch of the Pepsi Refresh Project. Over the course of the year Pepsi will be awarding millions of dollars in Pepsi Refresh Grants. Rather than simply donating the money to charity, the Refresh Project promises to connect to consumers on a personal level, increasing their involvement with the brand by letting them decide which projects to fund. Submissions are welcome from all walks of life: consumers, for-profits, non-profits. Anyone with an idea is eligible. As for how the money is distributed, that’s up to the public too. Voting is open to everyone, and only the most popular ideas will be awarded Refresh Grants. This isn’t a cause marketing initiative. It’s not an advertising campaign. It’s not a social media campaign. It’s a refreshing new way of doing business, based on a firm belief at Pepsi that doing well means doing good.


The Pepsi Refresh Project will feature social-networking campaigns that leverage the participate/contribute-and-vote-online model that many brands have used in the past to encourage consumers to engage with their products via the Internet.


Pepsi is looking to appeal to the consumer’s more compassionate side by offering grants "to those presenting the best ideas to improve the communities we call home and, perhaps, transform the society we call America.” The $20 million digital-based project will highlight a new website and Facebook presence – because isn't that where all the kids are these days? And their parents for that matter?
Ralph Santana, VP of marketing for PepsiCo North America, felt strongly about the new strategy: “We’re living in a new age with consumers. They are looking for more of a two-way dialogue, storytelling and word of mouth. Mediums like the digital space are much more conducive towards that.”

Pepsi Refresh Project

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Pepsi is giving away millions each month to fund refreshing ideas that change the world. The ideas with the most votes will receive grants. We're looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Look around your community and think about how you want to change it.

Join the Pepsi Refresh project today; anyone can submit their ideas and vote for their favorites. Your idea could help change the future. Your vote will help great ideas become reality. For grant ideas, or to submit your own, visit www.refresheverything.com.

The big winner is this development, however, is Facebook. Major brands such as Budweiser and Coca-Cola are increasingly investing advertising dollars and building their marketing strategies around the popular social platform. Facebook allows corporations to contact consumers directly with the creation of brand-centric pages and themed applications. 

And now, Pepsi will skip commercials during the Super Bowl in favor of a more contemporary and personal form of advertising.

If it is successful, look for big changes in how brands invest in Super Bowl commercials in the future and Channel selection guided by reach of your target market should always apply.


Advertising Agency: TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles, USA
Global Director of Media Arts: Lee Clow
Chief Creative Officer: Rob Schwartz
Group Creative Director: Brett Craig
Interactive Creative Director: Michael Tabtabai
Associate Creative Director: Xanthe Hohalek
Art Director: Dustin Artz
Copywriter: Chris Jones
Managing Director: Erica Hoholick
Account Director: David Dreyer
Management Supervisor: Kristen Latto
Executive Producer/Agency Producer: Anh-Thu Le
Assistant Producer: Doris Chen
Production Company: Paranoid US
Director: Francois Vogel
Director of Photography: Michael Cleary
Executive Producers: Cathleen OConor/Claude Lettessier
Line Producer: Janice Biggs
Editorial: Union Editorial
Editor: Einar Thorsteinsson
Assistant Editor: Daniel Moreno-Luna
Executive Producers: Michael Raimondi, Megan Dahlman
Producer: Joe Ross
Visual effects: Resolution
Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor: Todd Iorio
VFX Artists: Amir Qureshi, Seth Silberfein
Compositors: Evan Guidera, Jason Jenson, John Nierras, Mannix Richenbacher
Music: The Black Eyed Peas One Tribe
Mixing Facility: Resolution LA
Mixer: Josh Eichenbaum

Pepsi Hit Refresh

In January 2010 Pepsi takes to the streets with one of the heaviest weight outdoor campaigns in Australia’s history: Hit Refresh.
Hit Refresh introduces the evolution of the renowned Pepsi globe logo with a massive outdoor campaign hosted by newly announced MTV VJ Erin McNaught and stable mate Darren McMullen.

Hit Refresh outdoor advertising encompasses large format billboards, bus shelters, street furniture, bus sides, bus interiors, mobile outdoor sites and will run from the first week of January to mid February.
While the outdoor headlines the campaign, the core of Hit Refresh is a partnership with youth channel MTV and a social networking based scavenger hunt, as well as online media, in-store media, in-store promotions and product sampling.
Through the MTV partnership, the pay TV channel has created and produced multiple television commercials (1 x 60, 2 x 30, 2 x 15 second). The Hit Refresh commercials launch from 1 January 2010 on MTV, VH1, Network Ten and Nine’s digital GO! Channel.   In the spots, MTV VJs Erin McNaught and Darren McMullen literally “Hit Refresh” by being transformed into a different scene each time they Hit an oversize Pepsi logo, or “Refresh” button.
The commercials support the HitRefresh.com.au website, the hub of a social network scavenger hunt via which consumers can win one of 101 Pepsi Refresh Cards loaded with $250 to “Refresh their world” however they choose – be it their style, lifestyle, destination, tunes, social life.
With over $25,000 worth of Pepsi Refresh EFTPOS cards up for grabs, the “Hit Refresh to Win” promotion takes place through 101 hunts over 40 days in 8 cities around Australia starting from 4 January and requires consumers to follow Pepsi’s twitter or Facebook pages.  Winning a hunt requires a consumer to locate and be the first to “Hit” the Pepsi Refresh button by following clues “tweeted”  & “Facebooked” during the hunt by a Pepsi team member, known as a Pepsi Refresher.
HitRefresh.com.au aggregates the Pepsi Twitter and Facebook sites in a single location to give consumers the opportunity to schedule hunts in their area and follow the clues. The activity is further supported with online media as well as street activations.
At a retail level, In-store media extends the reach of the outdoor into the retail environment both in and outside stores such as Coles, Woolworths, Caltex and 7-Eleven. PepsiCo Beverages business partner Schweppes Australia has activated account specific support and promotions in Coles, Coles Express, Woolworths, Woolworths Petrol Plus and 7-Eleven.  These will run in conjunction with a traditional route (up and down the street) trade promotion offering the chance to win a share of $25,000 in instant prizes.
Australia is the first PepsiCo International market to launch the new look Pepsi trademark across the four Pepsi brands – Pepsi Max, Pepsi, Pepsi Light and Pepsi Light Caffeine Free. The new look packs started appearing on Australian shelves in October 2009 and are a major update to the Pepsi globe which was created during the World War II period.
In the US, the new look Pepsi was launched a year ago during the American Presidential inauguration.  A year on, the latest US campaign – ‘Pepsi Refresh Project’ launches 1 February 2010.
The latest iteration in the Refresh Everything campaign sees Pepsi pull its entire Superbowl budget - a staggering US$20 million - in favour of a CSR initiative.  The move will mark the end of a 23 year investment in the game. The Refresh Project is a US-based campaign set up to reward those with big ideas for improving communities across the areas of health, arts and culture, charity, ecology, neighbourhood and education.

The campaign website will launch officially on January 13th on which users can submit their big ideas. From February 1st the public can cast their vote to decide the most worthy causes. Grants will then be awarded up to the total value of $1.3m per month over the course of the year.

The project will also be closely tied with an online reality show titled 'If I Can Dream' which will track five youngsters trying to crack Hollywood. Frank Cooper, SVP and chief consumer engagement officer, Pepsi-Cola North American Beverages said the show, which will be aired across Hulu and MySpace 'is one of many innovative ways the Pepsi Refresh Project will be featured in the digital space'.

The campaign follows the announcement by Pepsi that it will increase online advertising by 60% from 2009 expenditure. Cooper went on to say 'In 2010, each of our beverage brands has a strategy and marketing platform that will be less about a singular event, less about a moment, more about a movement'. 
Website www.HitRefresh.com.au
Twitter http://twitter.com/Pepsiaustralia
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/PepsiAustralia

Limited Edition Halloween Pepsi Cans

Pepsi is just on a roll with their packaging: "We didn't want our cans to feel left out this Halloween, so we dressed them up, too. Look for these limited edition Pepsi cans in the Halloween Section of your local Walmart.