Thursday, April 21, 2016

Coca-Cola Is Revamping Its Iconic Packaging

via HypeBeast

First introduced way back in the 1930s on hand-painted advertising, Coca-Cola’s “Red Disc” is going to be front and center on its packaging going forward as the iconic company introduces its new “One-Brand” initiative. Putting a contemporary spin on the old design, the disc will once again decorate Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Diet Coke/Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Life labels as Coke looks to identify its various imprints with a more identifiable, cohesive look. Said Chief Marketing Officer Marcos de Quinto:
Packaging is our most visible and valuable asset. By applying the Coca-Cola Red Disc to our packaging in such a bold way, we are taking the next step towards full adoption of the “One-Brand” strategy, uniting the Coca-Cola family under one visual identity and making it even easier for consumers to choose their Coca-Cola with or without calories, with or without caffeine.
Coke’s VP of global design, James Sommerville, went on to add:
The unification of the brands through design marks the first time in our 130-year history that the iconic Coca-Cola visual identity has been shared across products in such a prominent way. When applied across packaging, retail, equipment and experiential, this new approach becomes a global design language that utilizes a historical brand icon to present the range of Coca-Cola products available today in a contemporary and simple way.
For more on the redesign, head on over to Coke’s website to read a Q&A with Sommerville.
The new packaging will be available in Mexico beginning in May before a staggered rollout sees it making its way to additional countries throughout 2016 and 2017.

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

The Latest Twist on 'Share a Coke'

via CSPnet

ATLANTA -- The next iteration of Coca-Cola Co.’s "Share a Coke" program will bring an array of song lyrics from recent chart-toppers, classic hits and traditional favorites to the packages of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coca-Cola Life as the soda maker looks to inspire music fans across the United States "to celebrate a moment, a memory, a mood or a feeling, bringing people together through the universal love of music," the company said.
The "Share a Coke and a Song" campaign signals an evolution for one of the company’s most successful U.S. campaigns of all time, which in the past two years featured first names, group names and colloquial nicknames.
“We’re setting the summer to music to inspire and connect fans through the special moments that are created when they share a Coke,” said Joe Belliotti, head of Global Music Marketing, Coca-Cola North America.
The debut collection of "Share a Coke and a Song" packaging will feature song lyrics spanning a range of sentiments, from the feeling of falling in love (“The Way You Love Me” and “You Belong With Me”) and celebrating victory (“All I Do is Win” and “We Are the Champions”) to moments of friendship (“Lean On Me”), flirtation (“It’s Getting Hot in Herre”), sass (“We Never Go Out Of Style”) and motivation (“I’m Your Biggest Fan”). The campaign also will feature patriotic lyrics (“I’m Proud To Be An American” and “Sweet Land Of Liberty”), as well as lyrics from iconic Coca-Cola and Diet Coke ads, such as “I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke” and “Just For The Taste Of It.” The complete list of lyrics featured on packaging will be available at www.ShareaCoke.com beginning April 18.
Song lyrics will be available all summer while supplies last on 8-ounce glass bottles, 7.5-ounce minicans, 20-ounce bottles, 1.25- and 2-liter bottles, and 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Coke Zero and Coca-Cola Life. Beginning April 18, music lovers can also visit ShareaCoke.com to choose from a list of lyrics to customize bottles, access crafted digital images to share on social media and participate in the #ShareaCoke photo gallery. The website will continue to sell “Share a Coke” individual 8-ounce glass bottles and six-packs of 8-ounce glass bottles of Coca-Cola that are customizable with names. New this year, fans can also purchase customized Diet Coke and Coke Zero packaging, making it easy to share a Coke for nearly any special celebration or occasion.
“During the past two years, we have seen incredible enthusiasm from people who loved the personal touch of our 'Share a Coke' campaign and invited our brand into their lives,” said Racquel Harris Mason, vice president, Coca-Cola/Coke Zero, Coca-Cola North America. “Evolving the campaign from providing individual names to now expressing the limitless sentiments that music lyrics communicate is our way of celebrating that excitement and inviting fans to continue to celebrate special moments in new ways over an ice-cold Coca-Cola.”
This year’s program features an all-new social sharing opportunity that’s all about the music.
Lyrical enthusiasts can tap into a digital experience by using the Shazam mobile app to scan the lyric on specially marked "Share a Coke" 20-ounce bottles and signage, allowing them to record a digital lip-sync video and share their creations on social media with the hashtag #ShareaCoke.
“Share a Coke and a Song” will be supported through a nationwide advertising and marketing campaign, including a suite of music-themed TV commercials, cinema ads, social and digital engagement and a summer-long experiential tour making stops at major music events throughout the country.
The Coca-Cola Co., Atlanta, also welcomes multiplatinum international pop star Jason Derulo as one of the brand ambassadors for the program.

Monday, April 4, 2016

Pepsi Transforms Its New Bottles Into Two Kilogram Dumbbells

via HypeBeast

Pepsi is aiming to contribute to your body goals with a new manner of presentation. Its 2-liter Pepsi Light bottle has been transformed to a two-kilogram dumbbell in order to server a better purpose after being guzzled down. Although Pepsi taking this step may be a surprise to some, the effort may work out in its favor with the heavy trend of being fit and the responsible action of repurposing plastics. With the ability to be filled with water, sand, marbles or any other effective product for that matter, let us know your thoughts on Pepsi’s latest move.

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Pepsi Partners with Jay Pharoah to Promote Pepsi Spire

via BevNet

PR Newswire (PURCHASE, N.Y.) March 28, 2016 —Jay Pharoah, comedian and cast member of NBC’s Saturday Night Live, is teaming up with Pepsi Spire, the innovative digital beverage fountain, to inspire consumers to raise the flavor of their favorite Pepsi beverages with totally customizable creations.
To encourage consumers to raise the flavor of their favorite beverages, Pharoah “crashed” the Pepsi Spire fountain at the Arby’s restaurant in New York City that recently opened near Times Square. Through virtual technology, Jay appeared on the machine’s digital touchscreen to the delight (and sometimes surprise) of unassuming guests – he challenged some to dance-offs, serenaded a few, introduced a couple of new characters and ultimately, helped fans create their very own Pepsi Spire concoctions. Watch the shenanigans unfold here.
Pepsi Spire is a sleek, innovative beverage fountain that puts hundreds of drink combinations at people’s fingertips. Pepsi Spire can pour up to three flavor shots simultaneously (think: lemon, vanilla, cherry and more), with fan-favorite beverages, like Mountain Dew, Pepsi or Brisk Iced Tea.
“Pepsi Spire at its core is all about fun and the sometimes surprising, always extremely personalized experience with our products and innovation,” said Todd Kaplan, senior director of marketing innovation at PepsiCo. “We are all about discovering new ways to engage with our consumers and love the way that Jay’s hilarious antics took that engagement to a totally new level with Pepsi Spire.”

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Pepsi Doubles Down on Craft Soda With 1893 Cola Concept

via Eater

 

PepsiCo launched a new product this week: The soda company's new 1893 Original Cola and 1893 Ginger Cola pay homage to its founding year and add to the growing list of similar craft products on the rise in the U.S. The beverages will be available in 12-ounce cans at retail locations across the country, according to The Street.
The 1893 colas are meant to appeal to a source-conscious mindset. Ingredients include kola nut extract, certified fair trade sugar, and sparkling water. The rollout of the beverage sparked surpriseand curiosity on social media, where people posted their own reviews, with one user comparing it toPepsi's "real sugar" offering, and another recommending the ginger cola for any ginger beer fans.
This is not Pepsi's first foray into the trendy craft beverage realm. In 2014, the company introducedCaleb Kola, named after founder Caleb Bradham, and later launched its lineup of Stubborn Sodas, which embrace more offbeat flavors like agave vanilla cream, black cherry with tarragon, and lemon berry açai.
Pepsi is also working on plans for a restaurant in New York City. Kola House, slated for Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, does not have a menu nailed down, but will certainly feature the brand's craft sodas in any cocktails served.

Wednesday, February 24, 2016

Coke Is Learning to Think Outside the Bottle

via Industry Week

As the concept of the “gig” economy continues to gain currency in supply chain circles, helped along by Uber-like startups that offer one-off package and parcel deliveries, the trend has extended into warehousing. Just as you can now hire a driver to pick up and deliver freight of various weights and dimensions, you can also hire temporary staff to manage your inventory or stock your shelves.
One of these under-the-radar startups is Wonolo, which operates off an app that connects companies with potential employees. While the Wonolo name is unknown to most, the company largely responsible for its funding is one of the best-known food & beverage companies in the world: The Coca-Cola Co.
Out-of-stocks are a big deal for consumer goods manufactures like Coke, and the company reportedly loses $1 billion annually in sales due to the difficulty in quickly replenishing its retail customers with fresh stock. That led to Coke’s investing in Wonolo in 2013, a startup that could quickly develop an app that would match workers with employers, based on the latest mobile and logistics technologies.
In 2014, Coke launched The Coca-Cola Founders platform, which operates on a similar premise as the “Shark Tank” TV show by identifying entrepreneurs with ideas that line up with technologies or service models that could prove useful to Coke. In exchange for its providing resources and seed capital, Coke acquires a minority stake in the startups. The key is that the startups are free to pursue initiatives that fully embrace new technologies and business models that might get bogged down were they to be launched through Coke’s traditional, century-old corporate structure.
“Most established companies struggle with the speed and flexibility they need to stay ahead of the digital revolution,” says David Butler, Coke’s vice president of innovation and entrepreneurship. As he notes in his recent book, Design to Grow, “The way startups design everything from their products, to their staff, partnerships, and revenue model enables agility.”

Overcoming Decision Fatigue

Too many manufacturers are afflicted with “decision fatigue,” notes Mike Burnette, director of the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute, and that can have a detrimental effect on their agility and profits. “Coming to work every day and making complex changes to meet the latest product regulations that the consumer does not value on thousands of SKUs can depress the best supply chain talent,” Burnette says.
One way companies can manage this complexity is to apply a standardization strategy known as platform lifecycle management (PLCM) to their supply chains. One company aiming to do just that is snack-food giant Mondelez International, which worked with the University of Tennessee on ways to standardize SKUs, suppliers and supply chain processes. The idea of PLCM is hardly new, dating back at least 90 years to its emergence in the U.S. auto industry.
“Platform management is a simple concept that requires company-wide coordination and adoption,” explains Daniel Myers, Mondelez’s executive vice president of integrated supply chain. “A focus on standardization will drive speed and margin improvement.”
In a UT study sponsored by Mondelez, a global fragrance company used PLCM to reduce 16 different lavender fragrances down to just three, leading to a 15% cost savings. “When companies simplify their offerings, they can standardize their suppliers and processes,” Burnette points out. “That means less time spent on daily business and more time to improve strategies and respond to market influences."

Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Pepsi Max unveils star football line-up for global 'Blue Card' TV ad campaign

via Marketing Magazine

Pepsi Max has unveiled a star-line up of football players, including Manchester City's Sergio AgĂĽero and Vincent Kompany, for its latest global television ad.
The ad is themed around the 'Pepsi Max Blue Card', which the soft drinks giant wants to associate with fun, unlike red and yellow cards.
It features two unsuspecting delivery drivers that get the "surprise of a lifetime" when they get to play a football game with members of the Pepsi Max team.
As well as AgĂĽero and Kompany, the Pepsi Max lineup of superstars also includes Colombian James RodrĂ­guez (Real Madrid), Belgian team captain Vincent Kompany (Manchester City), Chilean leading scorer Alexis Sánchez (Arsenal) and Spanish goalkeeper great David de Gea (Manchester United).
"The Pepsi Max Blue Card was created to stop boredom in its tracks and unleash unexpected moments of fun," said Carla Hassan, SVP, global brand management, PepsiCo Global Beverage Group.
"While the traditional red or yellow card might stop play, the Pepsi Max Blue Card signals that things are about to get exciting – which is a perfect kick start to the year for our iconic brand."
PepsiCo’s flagship brands Pepsi Max, Lay’s and Gatorade have joined forces with the UEFA Champions League, as an official sponsor.
As part of the deal, Pepsi Max is launching the 'Maximum Football' programme across Western Europe.
Pepsi Max fans will get access to an app giving them the chance to win football prizes, including match tickets to the quarter-finals and semi-finals. There is also a trip to the UEFA Champions League Final on 28 May in Milan up for grabs.
The app will also allow fans to scan football-themed PepsiMoji designs found on limited edition Pepsi Max bottles to find out if they could be a winner.
Watch the spot here.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Emojis to Grace Pepsi Products in Summer Campaign

via USA Today

PepsiCo is planning an emoji-clad packaging campaign, with hopes that the characters will encourage people to pick up its drinks, as well as promote the beverages on social media.
The company's "Say It With Pepsi" campaign is slated to spread to than 100 countries this summer, including the U.S., Pepsico CEO Indra Nooyi told attendees at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York Conference, which took place in Boca Raton, Fla. this week.
Pepsi confirmed for USA TODAY that it created hundreds of emoji designs, including some that will have global appeal and some tailor-made for local markets — all based the shape on the iconic red-white-and-blue Pepsi circle.
"Emojis are the language of today but no one has put them in the world like Pepsi will in 2016," Nooyi said, according to an archived webcast of her presentation. "Our design center has designed all these emojis."
The company tested the PepsiMoji campaign in 2015 in certain markets, including Canada, Thailand and Russia. Marketers urged Pepsi product drinkers to post images to social media paired with hashtags #PepsiMoji and #SayItWithPepsi.
The quirky emojis featured in test markets include one taking a selfie, another one snorkeling, one waving a flag and another gushing tears of joy.
Emojis deliver marketing messages "graphically, quickly and in a relatable way," Toronto-based branding consultant Jeff Swystun said in an interview.
"They are a shared language now across cultures and I think that’s why brands are gravitating to them," he said.
The move comes after rival Coca-Cola first launched a popular Share-a-Coke campaign in 2014, and revived t in 2015. Coke tagged bottles with hundreds of different first names and other phrases like "BFF" and "Better Half." Many consumers posted pictures of themselves with bottles that used their name.
Like Coke's Share-a-Coke campaign, the Say It With Pepsi campaign is aimed at bolstering soft drink sales as consumers increasingly ditch sugary beverages. Pepsi's carbonated beverage sales fell 2% in 2015 and 2% in 2014, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Duane Stanford, editor of trade publication Beverage Digest, said the popularity of the Share-a-Coke packaging helped convince stores to place large bins of highly profitable 20-ounce sodas in prominent spots last summer.
Tweaking product packaging to win customers' attention is commonplace among consumer product companies. But Stanford said Coke's effort was particularly successful because shoppers began searching through stores to find their names and the names of friends and family on bottles.
Pepsi's campaign is "a way to create a reason to get more shelf space and floor space in major retailers," Stanford said. "They’re trying to give people new reasons to pick up their soft drinks."
A heavy emphasis on social media is central to the campaign, much like Coke urged consumers to post photos of their drinks to Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and other social media. Pepsi wants users to post photos of their emojis and use bottles to communicate with each other in places, such as loud concert venues, where it can be hard to hear what someone is saying.
But Swystun cautioned that it's important for Pepsi, whose brands include Mountain Dew, Diet Pepsi and Sierra Mist, to maintain authenticity as it embraces emojis.
The company needs to take into account that they may "turn off" older generations, or could come off as trying too hard to "look cool," he says.

Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Jeep Has Created Mud in a Can to Make Your SUV Look More Authentic

via HypeBeast

Jeep has launched an authentic mud mask to give city-bound SUV owners that authentic off-road look. The tongue-in-cheek product, launched by the iconic automotive brand’s German team and GQ Man of the Year Elyas M’Barek this week, is limited to 75 beautifully packaged cans of 100% real dirt. Head to Jeep.de to get your hands on a can of adventure.

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Mountain Dew Presents Interactive NBA All-Star Experience

via the Source

PURCHASE, N.Y., February 11, 2016 – Today, Mountain Dew® announced its plans as an official NBA partner to deliver a damn good time throughout NBA All-Star 2016, including “Court Vision: An Interactive Virtual Reality Art Experience” and “Make An Introduction,” a television spot airing in the U.S. and Canada featuring DEW® athletes and 2016 NBA All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Jimmy Butler, and rising star Julius Randle.

In 2015, PepsiCo and the NBA announced a multi-year marketing partnership to unite the passionate fans of the NBA with the power of PepsiCo’s food and beverage brands, including Mountain Dew, Aquafina, Brisk and Ruffles. Mountain Dew serves as the lead brand in North America for the partnership, joining longtime PepsiCo brand Gatorade, which has been an NBA partner since 1984.

“The Mountain Dew brand is all about finding and delivering awesome, one-of-a-kind experiences to DEW Nation,” said Greg Lyons, senior vice president of marketing, Mountain Dew. “The NBA partnership has been a natural fit for us, and we’re pumped to help deliver an immersive All-Star experience to hoops fans – one that symbolizes how the game starts on the court, but lives everywhere.”
Mountain Dew plans to unleash a number of interactive and energizing events in and outside of Toronto during NBA All-Star 2016, including:
Court Vision: An Interactive Virtual Reality Art Experience
Hosted by Mountain Dew at Artscape Sandbox in downtown Toronto, convenient to both the Air Canada Centre and Ricoh Coliseum, this highly interactive fan event will feature Tilt Brush, Google’s virtual reality application which lets you paint in three-dimensional space with endless possibilities. In collaboration with PepsiCo Creator, the company’s marketing innovation team that co-creates never-before-seen, culturally-relevant programs for consumers, the event will showcase emerging artists from Toronto and the U.S. who will create basketball-inspired 3D artwork with Tilt Brush.

Fans on-site will also be able to demo Tilt Brush and create artwork while sampling DEW products and enjoying the sounds of live DJs, as well as experience live appearances from Mountain Dew athletes and NBA All-Stars throughout the weekend. Visitwww.mountaindew.com/nba for event details. Fans beyond Toronto can follow the excitement via the Mountain Dew social channels to get all-access coverage throughout the weekend using #DEWxNBA.

“Make An Introduction” TV Commercial Launch
Mountain Dew is excited to debut a new TV commercial titled “Make An Introduction” featuring NBA All-Stars Russell Westbrook and Jimmy Butler, as well as rising star Julius Randle. The commercial will demonstrate how the game starts on the court, but the lifestyle around the game lives everywhere. It will air for the first time in the U.S. and Canada during NBA All-Star, extending the reach of the Mountain Dew All-Star experience outside of Toronto. Fans can view the digital version here to check out the very first DEWxNBA TV commercial.
Painting Union Station Green
Mountain Dew is going to make an NBA All-Star Weekend splash throughout several high traffic areas around Union Station in Toronto with a major out-of-home advertising installation. From wall murals and door decals to floor and column wraps, the artwork showcases how DEW athletes charge the game both on and off the court, and celebrates the vibrant personalities and unique styles of the NBA’s biggest stars.

DEW All-Star DJs
Mountain Dew is charging the DJs throughout NBA All-Star by bringing top NBA DJs to various NBA events around Toronto. Fans everywhere can visit www.nba.com/dewwarmup starting Thursday, Feb.11 at 12 p.m. ET to vote to choose their favorite East Conference and West Conference team warm-up songs to be played live while NBA players get warmed-up for the 2016 NBA All-Star Game.

NBA All-Star Celebrity Game Presented by Mountain Dew
Mountain Dew is the presenting sponsor of this year’s NBA All-Star Celebrity Game on Friday, Feb. 12, at 7 p.m. ET, on ESPN in the U.S. and TSN and SportsNet 1 in Canada, which will feature some of the hottest celebrities from film, TV and music, along with top NBA & WNBA Legends taking their skills to Ricoh Coliseum for a fun and entertaining basketball game. The game will pit Canada vs. the U.S., with DEW athlete and 2016 NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas as an assistant coach on the U.S. team.

Monday, February 15, 2016

Cindy Crawford Hilariously Recreates Her Iconic Pepsi Commercial With James Corden

via Huffington Post

 While we were all still basking in BeyoncĂ©'s Super Bowl halftime glory yesterday (how could we not?), we totally neglected something very important which went down after Sunday night's big game: a hilarious recreation of Cindy Crawford's legendary 1992 Pepsi commercial.
James Corden hosted a special episode of his show "The Late Late Show with James Corden," where he got the 49-year-old supermodel, who may or may not be retiring soon, to parody one of the best ads of the early '90s.
cindy crawford pepsi parody
The parody follows the original step-by-step — Crawford pulling up to the deserted gas station, two young boys blown away by her beauty and a good ol' Pepsi machine waiting to quench her thirst. But in Corden's version of the ad, things take a turn for the weird. As the mother-of-two is about to grab a can of Pepsi, the machine jams. In comes James, matching the supermodel perfectly in a white tank and denim shorts combo.