Many more did not, and held rallies outside the PepsiCo Philippines offices. 489,170 people accepted this figure, at a cost to PepsiCo of 240 million pesos, or £6.6 million. PepsiCo at first refused to pay any money, but eventually capitulated and decided to pay 500 pesos as a ‘gesture of good will’. Theoretically, these bottle caps were cumulatively worth a staggering £24 billion. PepsiCo had meant to print 2 bottle caps with the winning number, but due to a computer error, had accidentally printed 800,000 caps with the winning number inside.

On May 25th, PepsiCo announced that the winning prize was 1 million pesos. It consisted of a lottery in which numbers printed inside of bottle caps corresponded directly with prizes. In 1992, they ran a sales promotion in the Philippines called ‘Pepsi Number Fever’.

Not many companies can boast that they have run a marketing campaign that led to riots and the deaths of 5 people. Their marketing has been, at times, a disaster-class. However, Pepsi is far better known for its marketing blunders, rather than its successes. Brands rely on these conflicting attitudes to sell further product.

As argued by Martin Lindstrom in his book Buyology, this ‘us vs them’ mentality between Pepsi and Coke helps ensure brand loyalty, by creating a contrast between the two competitors, and forcing consumers to pick one over the other. This campaign started what became known as the ‘cola wars’ between the two companies, which ultimately benefitted both. PepsiCo has run its own successful campaigns, most notably their 1970s ‘Pepsi Challenge’ campaign, in which they asked consumers to blind test Pepsi and Coke, with far more consumers stating that they preferred the taste of Pepsi. Timeless, easily communicated across all relevant territories, and straightforward, their messaging is universal. ‘Enjoy’ and ‘Refresh Yourself’ are perfect examples of this marketing strategy. Over the years these slogans have evolved but are typically made up of this same formula. Whilst the use of jingles was nothing new in the marketing world, Coca-Cola ensured its relevancy by appealing to a younger demographic with multi-faceted approaches to advertising, ensuring their campaigns spanned radio, television, and print.Ĭoca-Cola’s approach to marketing Coke generally has always been to keep it simple creating easily digestible slogans that evoke emotive responses. It was later re-released as ‘I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing’, which caught on amongst school children in particular. As part of this campaign, they released a song, ‘I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke’, which proved particularly popular to the catchy nature of the tune. This had the added benefit of subtly reminding consumers that they were the original cola. In the 1970s, Coca-Cola created the ‘It’s The Real Thing’ campaign, seeking to capitalise on the sentiment of young people who sought genuine experiences and products, and rejected inauthenticity.

This is one of the most successful subliminal marketing campaigns ever created by any brand. After Coca-Cola commissioned ads for the drink during the holiday season featuring Santa Claus as a jolly fat white man in a red suit, Coca-Cola’s vision was widely adopted as the official version and is now firmly integrated into holiday tradition. Prior to 1931, Santa was typically depicted as either a tall gaunt man, or even an elf. This immense investment has led to Coca-Cola’s predominance in the beverage market, helped turn Coke into a household name with revered brand iconography, and even made the brand synonymous with Santa Claus and the Christmas holiday.Ĭoca-Cola’s official website boasts that it is at least partly responsible for helping shape the image of Santa. In just the last 7 years, Coca-Cola has spent an average of $4 billion a year on advertising worldwide. Over the years, Coca-Cola has invested tens of billions of pounds into marketing. PART 3 Christmas, Catchy Campaigns, and Coca Cola In this final part, we’ll be looking at the more traditional forms of marketing employed by Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, and examining what went right (and wrong!) for both companies. In the last 2 parts, we’ve examined the effect of PR and product development in the making of an iconic, global brand.

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