Pepsi Next Partners With Airbnb for Promotion, Joins Instagram

via http://mashable.com

So what's next for Pepsi Next? Airbnb, Instagram, Flavorpill and Kamio.

The soft-drink company, which previously partnered with buzzy startup TaskRabbit, is using these other hot tech names to anchor Unbelievable Taste Escapes, another promotion that begins Tuesday.
Winners will get trips to Hawaii, Los Angeles or Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where they will stay at an Airbnb location. Then on Wednesday, Pepsi Next will launch its official Instagram page in partnership with Kamio, which will provide three branded photo filters: Unbelievable Escapes, Unbelievable Good Time and Unbelievable Glitz.

"We’ve historically engaged with our consumers online," said Esperanza Teasdale, senior director of Pepsi Next. "Our new partnerships go a step further, allowing consumers the opportunity to customize their Pepsi Next experience."

Launched in 2011, Pepsi Next is PepsiCo's latest attempt at a mid-calorie cola. Boasting 60% less sugar, Pepsi Next has 60 calories for a 12-ounce can, versus 150 calories for regular Pepsi. In addition to a "virtual taste test," (in which comedians impersonate viewers trying the cola), Pepsi has rolled out traditional marketing, including a television campaign.

Pepsi Next's embrace of Airbnb comes after New York's attorney general asked the accommodations company to hand over data on 15,000 New York City hosts as part of a probe into the city's illegal hotels.

Pepsi Next Videos Get 'Sexy' In English and Spanish

via adweek.com

 

Pepsi Next is launching an English-Spanish online video campaign today featuring Telemundo and Univision star William Levy—who is playing six spoofy "bring sexy back" characters that represent a continuation of the brand's focus on parody. Levy will cheesily play an action figure, a rock star, a doctor, a romantic, a Captain Kirk-inspired sci-fi guy and a show-biz wannabe.

The videos are available on YouTube in both languages, while supported by display ads, social media promos and in-store marketing. Copy will push consumers to a "Wheel of Levy" site, where they can play a game by selecting one of the previously mentioned characters. PepsiCo, the Purchase, N.Y.-based beverages-and-snacks giant, will give away a single two-liter Pepsi Next bottle to 400,000 participants.

The effort, which runs through May 20, harkens back to the brand's Funny or Die videos from this time last year. Though Levy—who has appeared in a Jennifer Lopez music video in addition to Spanish-language soap operas and reality TV—may have worked cheaper than former Saturday Night Live player and The Hangover actor Rob Riggle did for the 2012 production.

Meanwhile, Pepsi Next also ran TV spots last year that were designed to be funny. The mid-calorie beverage is marketed towards drinkers of regular sodas. Perhaps consumers are willing to trade sugar for laughs.

CSD Super Bowl Spots: Pepsi Next and Coke

Paula Patton Serves Up Pepsi Next in LA

Yesterday Paula Patton, actress and star of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, served up first sips of new Pepsi NEXT, fueling the “Drink it to Believe it” momentum on the West Coast following actress Eva Longoria’s New York appearance on Friday, April 6.

Lucky cola lovers at The Grove in Los Angeles received their first taste of Pepsi NEXT straight from Patton who was on-hand to distribute the first cola to deliver real cola taste with 60% less sugar than Pepsi-Cola.

“Tasting is believing when it comes to new Pepsi NEXT,” said Patton. “Yesterday we turned cola fans into believers! I’m so excited there is finally something with an amazing taste and 60% less sugar.”

Cola lovers who weren’t in Los Angeles yesterday can visit select Walmart Supercenter stores for a risk-free taste of Pepsi NEXT. From now through the end of April, Pepsi NEXT will be handing out free samples at 800 Walmart Supercenter stores and across 40 cities. You can also “try it” online with the Internet Taste Test, a unique experience on www.facebook.com/pepsinext that invites cola lovers to opt-in for a chance to watch themselves “taste” new Pepsi NEXT through the power and humor of improv.

Watch Video Here

Pepsi Next gets comedians to impersonate you based on your facebook profile

Pepsi is taking Facebook-based narcissism to a new level with a campaign that gets comics to impersonate you based on your profile on the social network.
The beverage giant has linked with longtime partner Funny Or Die for a program that will choose consumers for an online taste test for Pepsi Next. Since users can’t actually taste the cola online, Pepsi has opted for the next-best thing: comedians attempting to simulate you will try the drink.

Such fans will opt in to be chosen. “We’ll analyze their Facebook persona,” says Shiv Singh, head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages. “It will be very close to who they actually are. We have improv comedians on standby.” The shoot will take place in Los Angeles over five days, using four simultaneous sound stages and 12 Funny or Die improv comedians. The fan videos will then be edited and posted back to selected users within approximately 24 hours of the shoot.

To give a taste of how the program will work, Pepsi, Funny Or Die and ad agency partner The Barbarian Group have created three videos. The video above is an explanation of the program by comedian Rob Riggle. The two below goof on Gary Vaynerchuk, the YouTube-based wine expert and Internet meme Scumbag Steve.

Pepsi Next, a mid-calorie soda with 60% less sugar than Pepsi’s flagship beverage, is being released this spring with distribution in Walmart and national sampling. The Facebook program combines the thinking behind programs like Intel’s “What About Me?” app and Old Spice’s 2010 “Responses” campaign to create what the brand hopes will be a viral phenomenon.

What do you think? Will you try the program? Will it get you to try Pepsi’s new soda? Sound off in the comments.

Source

Pepsi Next "Baby"

Name of Company/Competitor: Pepsi Next

Name of Campaign/Spot: Baby

Date Launched: 3/12/12

Description: Baby tries to impress parents who are too preoccupied loving Pepsi Next

Media Details: TV