Pepsi cola is entering social media–through a niche that to date, is quite rare. Pepsi We Inspire is a lifestyle social media and marketing campaign targeted to African-American women (this is unique because most blogging communities are dominated by Caucasian women). Pepsi is teaming up with Essence and Black Enterprise (predominately African American womens’ magazines) to promote the campaign and even created a Facebook fan page to attract attention to the ‘We Inspire’ campaign. In their ads, Pepsi has enlisted the help of famous black women–like actress Taraji P. Henson who shares about her mother’s love in a paper ad currently running in the magazines. Other celebrities Pepsi has tapped for the campaign include Raven Symone, Queen Latifah and singer Keyshia Cole. BET (Black Entertainment Television) will also feature the ad in commercials promoting the campaign starting in October 2009. These celebrities talk about black women empowerment and about what inspires them. The only branding of Pepsi is in the name and logo that are shown briefly in the commercials.
Queen Latifah Talks about Representing Pepsi-We Inspire
In an interview, Queen Latifah discusses the Pepsi campaign and what inspires her.
The campaign has 6 ‘key messages’ which include:
- Love
- Laughter
- Hope
- Joy
- Beauty
- Wisdom
The campaign is part of Pepsi’s RefreshEverything.com–a campaign that aims to reinvigorate the positive, upbeat messages and stories associated with the company.
The We Inspire portal is centered around blogs. Short posts (that can be no longer than 255 characters) can be written by any one and can even include pictures. The only catch? The author/user must ‘connect’ through Facebook and become a fan of the Pepsi We Inspire page. Once she does this, her Facebook user profile appears on the Pepsi website beside any post she writes. It also connects both Facebook and the campaign website so that the user can log in to one of the sites and see all of the Pepsi updates. (This is a good example of how utilizing two aspects of social media can be more convenient for users). Users can comment on any blog post and share the blog post through RSS feed, Facebook or e-mail to anyone they’d like to. Users are also encouraged to upload photographs of women that inspire them–these mostly include family members–and comment on each other’s. The ‘most popular’ photographs appear on the site’s main page. When a user does blog or upload a photograph she must tag her post–what is the post about? What are the key themes? These allow Pepsi and users alike to track what people are ‘talking’ about and what themes from the 6 key messages are the most popular.
Nichelle Stephens, a well known blogger, bookkeeper and cupcake enthusiast (she has appeared on the Martha Stewart Show and has been blogging about cupcakes for over 5 years) was dubbed the main blogger/editor for Pepsi We Inspire. Posted on the main site, her blog will be a lifestyle blog that covers art, food, family, music and people. Example posts include new music from black entertainers, ingredients every woman should have in her pantry for the Fall season, and new recipes on creating delicious cupcakes.
Pepsi’s multicultural marketing unit came up with the campaign concept, and it is the first of its kind. With ‘mommy bloggers’ growing rapidly, Pepsi wanted to capture that blogging enthusiasm and give African American women a place to find every day optimism and encouragement–especially in these tough times.
SUCCESS?
Pepsi hasn’t been able to measure the campaign’s success just yet–it began in early October–but the company is seeing an increase in users of the site. Over 200 people are ‘fans’ of the Facebook group: Pepsi We Inspire, and almost 100 pictures have been uploaded by users. So what? By connecting with its consumers, Pepsi is gaining trust with the African American female market. Their subtle branding, and overall company mission will eventually lead to a higher consumer trust and brand success within this market. Plus, kudos to Pepsi for jumping on the social media train at full speed!
6 responses so far ↓
Jared Ruppert // 10/19/2009 at 4:44 am |
Cool concept by Pepsi! I wouldn’t imagine that Pepsi would narrow in on such a specific demographic, but it seems like it is destined to be a success. I feel that being forced to become a fan and login through facebook is a detriment to their campaign, as internet barriers are on a decline. However, I do think that this campaign will succeed. Great post!
Anne Blessing // 10/26/2009 at 3:27 am |
I agree with you about the internet barriers. I do think it is the reason their ‘fans’ are not as much. However, you can read any blog post without signing up through Facebook, you just cannot post your own.
Kristen Cicala // 10/25/2009 at 10:09 pm |
It’s so interesting to see how companies are using social media in really creative ways like this. I think this is a really neat idea to target a specific demographic using very influential people, like Queen Latifah and Raven Symone. I was surprised as well that Pepsi decided to narrow the campaign to African American women. Since the goal behind the campaign is to empower and inspire women, it makes sense to have a smaller demographic where Pepsi can connect to women on a more personal level. Cool idea!
Anne Blessing // 10/26/2009 at 3:27 am |
The idea was to get “Mom Bloggers” who want a space to blog. White women are already plugged in, so Pepsi is using these ads and influential women to get African American Women online and blogging. The narrow market works!
Allie Rogers // 10/26/2009 at 1:45 am |
I really like how Pepsi is targeting a small demographic. That shows that they are reaching beyond their target audience and trying to connect with those they may not have connected with in the past. I’m glad that they are doing so by integrating social media. It is smart of them to only allow people to make comments if they sign up on the Facebook fanpage because it guarantees that people will be a part of campaign. Great post!
Anne Blessing // 10/26/2009 at 3:28 am |
That is the flipside of the “sign up through Facebook” argument. It guarantees fans! Thank you for responding.