Pepsi today launched “Press Play On Summer,” a recent campaign that pairs the beverage brand with global music superstar Bad Bunny. As a part of the hassle, consumers who purchase select bottles of PepsiCo soft drinks can scan a QR code to unlock three free months of Apple Music.
The campaign sees Pepsi doubling down on a storied connection to music culture during a season when 75% of consumers are listening throughout the day. Over 100 billion songs are streamed every summer, in line with data shared by the corporate. The seasonal push also comes as Pepsi continues to evolve its marketing strategy around music after relinquishing sponsorship rights to the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Apple Music took over the rights last 12 months and made its first appearance on the massive game stage in February.
“[The campaign] is definitely very consistent with the strategy we’ve had, which is thrashing the drum on music for therefore a few years,” said Todd Kaplan, Pepsi’s chief marketing officer, in a recent interview. “It’s really what Pepsi has been all about, this concept of unapologetic enjoyment and this concept that folks can enjoy their summers more with a Pepsi in hand and listening to some great Apple Music.”
The fully integrated campaign spans TV, digital, out-of-home, retail activations in each English and Spanish, gas station TV plays and more. To expand the campaign beyond its flagship soda, PepsiCo is putting QR codes on over 400 million bottles across its carbonated soft drink portfolio, including various flavors of Pepsi, Mountain Dew and its recently launched Starry brand.
The tie-up with Apple Music, a fast-growing platform that had greater than 88 million users in 2022, calls back to a past Pepsi campaign across the iPhone maker’s last great musical innovation, the iTunes library. While a 2004 effort to present away 100 million songs on iTunes faced technical and provide chain issues, using QR codes could make “Press Play on Summer” go down smoother.
Pepsi is tapping into QR code-enabled packaging that has change into popular because the pandemic made touchless experiences the norm. The codes slot in nicely into Pepsi’s recently overhauled — and newly maximalist — visual identity and are a part of the brand’s embrace of phygital channels.
“Press Play On Summer” also continues Pepsi’s tradition of working with the largest names in pop music, from Michael Jackson and Britney Spears to Beyoncé and now Bad Bunny. The Puerto Rican star is the most-streamed artist on the earth, with the number-one album of 2022 and the highest-grossing tour of 2022, amongst other superlatives.
For now, Bad Bunny appears in only a temporary six-second teaser for the campaign, but Kaplan noted that the brand has more touchpoints and plans in store for the summer.
The musician has a previous relationship with Pepsi, having appeared as a part of the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2020, right as his global stardom was taking off. He also was a part of a campaign around PepsiCo brand Cheetos, collaborated with Adidas and has wrestled at major WWE events, making him a ubiquitous celebrity across popular culture.
“Bad Bunny transcends culture,” Kaplan said. “He is so hot with all different touchpoints… He’s at all times very authentic to [himself] as well. He would not partner with us unless it was a very deep authentic connection and something that he cared about and we were going to be doing something special together.”
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