The Soda Wars: Pepsi's Refresh Everything vs. Coke's Live Positively

I was thrilled to see my work highlighted on the Huffington Post Impact page in February and only just remembered to share it with you all as well. Many thanks to HuffPo Impact and the good folks over at Agency Spy, who also picked up the story. I've made a habit lately of posting some of my work that I write for other groups here on Conversation A, and though I'm sorry that I often have to link you away to another site, I hope you understand I have to do my due diligence to my wonderful, talented editors at Causecast, Huffington Post, and Social Media Marketing. Anyhow, without further ado...

For years, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have been at odds in the beverage category, pushing each other forward in the race for market share, innovation, and advertising impressions. Though amicable, there has never been any doubt that they were competing for the preference and consumption of the same audience. As a result, their actions have often been compared, and their recent mirrored campaigns of social responsibility have introduced another opportunity to draw comparisons.

These campaigns mark what may be a seismic shift in corporate responsibility. While grassroots initiatives have fought tooth and nail to enact change, Pepsi and Coca-Cola's new campaigns exhibit the bold leadership that is necessary to change the way companies look at their role within the greater global community. However, it is hard to believe that these initiatives would be totally selfless, and many are wondering what these companies stand to gain from their efforts. Are these efforts integral to the brands, or a tactic for press? A sign of the modern corporation, or just two companies capitalizing on a trend? Let's take a closer look.

Please do go read the rest on Huffington Post.

Requisite Super Bowl Reflections

I had intended to just ignore the whole Super Bowl commercial buzz and not add to all the noise that we all make over and over again like records on repeat, but I've caved. You got me.

Loved it:

Teleflora- "No one likes to see you naked." Placement packed a punch with a strong male audience and close proximity to Valentine's Day. SO awesome.

Cash4Gold- I had NO idea they could possibly have a Super Bowl budget, not to mention actually get MC Hammer and Ed McMahon--"Goodbye old friend..."

Monkeys! Too bad the Castrol ad was otherwise forgettable. I still liked it for the adorable kiss.

Hang in there, Jack- I usually hate JitB ads, but I LOVED this. Hilarious, and I actually want to go to the website now. 

Doritos- Can't explain why, but I enjoyed the snow globe spot. Crotch joke meh, but whatever.

NFL/Sprint Mobile "football season never ends" spot- AWESOME communication of the value, and reward, of having Sprint mobile all year. Beautiful AND strategic. I would have liked it even if it hadn't been strategically strong. Sprint mobile ad at the beginning was really beautiful too, when it opened up into a stadium--really loved it.

Denny's- Ok, I hated the one that's been showing recently when they're talking about hard times, but I loved the new spot with our mobster trio. And what a great call to action, getting people in for a free grand slam on Tuesday? Perfect. Cheers to GSP for that one.

Coke Zero- New Mean Joe Green spot was GREAT, and it finally starts tying all the Coke Zero advertising efforts together. Hey Pepsi! This is how you REFRESH, not by showing people dancing in the 50's. For more on Pepsi, check out Reflushed from my man Anthony.

Career Builder- Just the right amount of crazy--DEFINITELY memorable.

Disappointing:

Bud Light w/ Conan- How can you mess up with Conan?

G- Meh. I haven't been big on the campaign in general, though.

Go Daddy- This idea is so tired...

Comcast Fastest Speed Ever- I get that its trying to be just ridiculous, but it's still boring.

Captain Morgan apparently offered to donate $ to charity every time one of the players did the Cap't Morgan stand. I didn't see it happen a single time. No buzz about it either. Eek.

Cars.com- They could have gone ANYWHERE with this (including launching a new Wes Anderson flick) but they totally killed it with a lame ending.

Sobe- Sorry but this was boring, and I couldn't quite tell if it was supposed to be in 3D or not. The glasses didn't do anything, but the picture otherwise looked like crap.

Coke avatars- "Ooo! New* technology! There's an ad in that!" Nope. 

*Right.

Vizio- poorly produced, really boring, and actually had tech stats on the screen. If someone understood those stats, they wouldn't be considering a value tv like a Vizio. (That said, I have a Vizio and I LOVE it, and apparently their site had more traffic than it could handle)

In general, they just weren't enough to interest me. I still found myself getting up to help with the food, grab a drink, or talk to everyone, and I was actively taking NOTES on the commercials. That's bad.

I expected more from the Super Bowl. Now to find out if consumers did too, or if I'm being overly critical.

Can Pepsi pull it off?

I don't like using this platform as a forum for reactionary conversation, but I think there's some big things going on behind the new changes Pepsi has made and what it means for the age-old relationship between Pepsi and Coke.

With the new logo and new campaign "Refresh Yourself" produced by TBWA\Chiat\Day, Pepsi has firmly aligned itself with the themes of the Obama campaign-- hope, optimism, and change. (Whether or not they have any legitimate ties with the Obama campaign I do not know. Care to enlighten me, anyone?) 

My initial reaction was that the campaign would have been just as well suited for Coke as it would for Pepsi--I more associated the ideas of hope and optimism with Coke than with Pepsi in the first place. So I considered more closely what the brands stood for.

Coke has always stood for happiness, togetherness. It meant polar bears sharing Cokes with penguins. It meant singing together on a hill. It's message is timeless; Coke means happiness, now and forever.

On the other hand, Pepsi has always been based in what is timely. Between "Generation Next," Britney Spears and her comrades, and the brand's young, irreverent tone, Pepsi has always been the "cool" alternative. So their new campaign begs the question, is Pepsi taking to this attitude of hope and change because that's what's "in" right now, or are they doing it because its an integral part of the brand?

It does make me wonder if "current" can be considered a strategy. Earl Cox, director of planning at The Martin Agency, told my class at VCU Brandcenter that "Cool is not a strategy," which I wholeheartedly agree with, but there's an important distinction between "current" and "cool." Going with current seems to work for MTV, but one could argue that is because they're better able to both reflect and create what's current, building some of the trends to begin with. 

Similarly, I considered whether or not Coke can break out of their role as a timeless brand. For what events had Coke ever shed its timelessness? Perhaps the Olympics, but to be fair that's a tradition in itself and of course based in bringing people together. The new millennium? Again, the work was still a reflection of the past and introducing Coke as a relevant part of our future, too.

So who's to say this won't work for Pepsi? As for the consumers participating with the campaign, will it translate into increased consumption? Improved brand health? Paul Isakson recently wrote about how sometimes you just have to remind your consumers you're there and give them something to be excited about (though his discussion was more in the context of the weird and wonderful). Aligning themselves with Obama certainly a great way to piggyback on the enthusiasm of the public. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Any predictions??

Related: John Eighmey of the University of Minnesota just posted Coke's newest work, translating "the Coke Side of Life" to "Open Happiness" so as to make the message clearer across global communities. As always, though the translations change, Coke remains steadfast in their images and ideals.

EDIT: I just saw an ad that actually tied it together a lot more for me. It took iconic images of generations through the ages (with, of course, Pepsi in every hand) all the way up to current times, all set to "My Generation." It ended with the super "Every generation refreshes the world. now it's your turn." This ad served as the glue. Still not sure I'm convinced, but if the images through the generations are clips from old Pepsi ads, then it seems pretty solid.