Pepsi Chose Social Media over Super Bowl Ads
Go Viral

For the first time in more than 20 years, Pepsi did not advertise during the Super Bowl.

In 2008, the food and soft drink giant spent a reported $33 million on ads for various products during the football event to hit the 100 million-strong audience. But this year, Pepsi is pouring millions into a refreshingly new, innovative social media campaign.

Pepsi is encouraging people, businesses, and non-profits to submit ideas that will have a positive impact. Once an idea is chosen, it's listed on the Pepsi website and people vote on their favorites. At the end of the month, if a project is in the top 10 vote receivers, it will be funded to freshen up the world.

What sounded like a crazy idea - to abandon a traditional market with 100 million viewers, has cracked open the access can to millions of website viewers. As of June 8th, they have funded over 100 projects and injected more than $5 million back into local communities. Through the end of May, over two million users have registered on the Refresh Project site, which has captured over 5,000 new ideas from all 50 states.

Refreshing Facts and Stats from the Pepsi Refresh Project**

• 127 refreshing ideas have been funded by the Pepsi Refresh Project
• Over 5,000 ideas have been submitted, including ideas from every state
• Submissions come from a mix of Boomers, Gen-Xers and Millennials
• Refresheverything.com has registered over two million users and receives approximately five million unique visitors a month
• Pepsi Refresh Project ideas have received over 25 million votes
• Pepsi has more than doubled Facebook fans since the start of the program
• @Pepsi has grown to more than 24,000 Twitter followers
• The volume of online conversation has been exceptional, with more than 60,000 tweets (175 million Twitter impressions to date), including celebrities like Lance Armstrong (@lancearmstrong), Ice T (@FINALLEVEL), Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin), Moby (@thelittleidiot), and Tori Spelling (@torianddean)

The Bedford Education Foundation submitted a project to address anti-bullying. They have requested support to build a rock climbing wall at the John Glenn Middle School.

Here's how it works. Crack one open:


Watch the Video click on the image ====>

Vote for community service projects

You don't need to be Pepsi to share your juice. You can go viral!


Here's how to create a viral campaign:

• Focus on the people you know-your community recognizes your name and will read your message.
• Make an appeal--show them how they will benefit from this and they will be motivated to rally. Or show people how they can make a difference about a project that they care about.
• Offer people incentives to spread the word--if you get your friends to vote for this idea, together you support the project.
  
  

Moral

Learn from the big companies, refresh your marketing campaigns. You don't always need to use expensive, traditional means like advertising and print to make a splash. You can use viral marketing and websites, in conjunction with your e-newsletters.



And, if you want to "rock on" and make a difference and help the anti-bullying campaign in Bedford, you can vote for Bedford's climbing wall project at http://www.refresheverything.com/climbingwall

** To Vote for the Climbing Wall Grant:

*** Stats are care of Pepsico,