- Pepsi is vying to be recognized as the preferred cola pairing with rum as a part of its #BetterwithPepsi brand platform, according to a news release.
- The PepsiCo marketer conducted internal research that found 56% of surveyed adult consumers prefer its product as a mixer with spiced rum compared to Coke. New ads reveal hidden Pepsi globes within the logos of leading rum labels like Captain Morgan and Bacardi.
- The campaign timed to summer cocktail season is supported by high-profile print and out-of-home (OOH) placements, social media and search engine optimization buys and a promotion with alcohol delivery platform Drizly. It also arrives ahead of National Rum Month in August, when Pepsi will implement a wide-ranging rebrand for its one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary.
Pepsi continues to spend money on a #BetterwithPepsi brand platform that appears to establish a position as the superior soft drink pairing with other food and beverages. While past iterations have focused on dining staples like burgers, pizza, and most recently, hot dogs, the marketer is targeting the alcohol market and on-premise drinking occasions with its latest tackle the campaign.
The goal is to unseat Coke as the mixer of alternative for rum, a difficult task given how culturally enshrined rum and Coke is as an order for this particular highball cocktail, also referred to as a Cuba libre. To gin up more consumer interest in the concept, Pepsi is working with Drizly on special delivery offers when users apply a #BetterWithPepsi code at checkout.
Stretching back to the unique Pepsi Challenge within the ‘70s, Pepsi has used taste tests and consumer research to get a leg up on its larger competitor. The Pepsi and rum initiative is not any different. Working with an independent sensory and product evaluation firm, the brand surveyed 226 consumers aged 21-54 within the Chicago, Phoenix and Tampa markets in June 2022 and located greater than half thought Pepsi was higher with rum than Coke.
Pepsi can be deploying some less statistically minded tactics to shore up the rum and cola association. New ads zoom in on crinkled napkins and labels printed with Captain Morgan and Bacardi logos to discover Pepsi globes buried in the small print. Tag lines for the campaign, which appears in print and OOH placements in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami and New Orleans and New York City, encourage consumers to query whether or not they’re making the precise alternative with their drink orders. “Not behind the bar? Always in the image,” one reads, seemingly acknowledging that Coke is more commonly stocked at watering holes and other venues.
The hidden logo approach has won Pepsi accolades before. #BetterwithPepsi launched in 2021 with a mess around burgers that addressed how Coke has more substantial partnerships with the biggest U.S. fast food chains. Creative showed crumpled paper bags from those chains that also carried hidden Pepsi globes.
Pepsi’s National Rum Month promotion dovetails right into a wide-ranging overhaul that can see the corporate switch up its visual assets for the primary time in 14 years. The brand’s more aggressive marketing strategy appears to be winning some consumer favor. Pepsi has seen its brand value increase 17% year-over-year to $18.8 billion, according to Kantar’s latest BrandZ rankings, which placed the PepsiCo unit back in the worldwide top 100. BrandZ attributed Pepsi’s gains to “great promoting.”
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