Can you believe there are hundreds of people arguing (including Seth Godin) about whether or not Pepsi should have redesigned their can? Even worse, people are lambasting the company for reaching out to influential bloggers ... GASP!If you aren't familiar with the idea, they sent influential bloggers all of their cans dating back to the stone age. How they actually delivered the cans is brilliant. Read Peter Shankman's post on it ... (Yes, they did ask for addresses. Otherwise, that would be creepy.)
So why, when you go to Chris Brogan's post, is there outrage in the comments over how much this endeavor must have cost?
Are you serious? This endeavor, in total, probably cost less than one ad buy on television talking about the new logo. Moreover, they didn't even have to talk about it ... this strategy enabled us, or You, to talk about it. This is the way brands should communicate. The problem is, when you do talk about it ... you completely miss the point.
Darryl Parker compiled a list of people who received the 'gift basket.'
One of things that I think PR people and agencies should really think about moving forward wit h a program like this is: What kind of pickup did it get?
Sure, this got posted in many of the most influential blogs online. But it seems mostly only in the PR, Marketing and Communications field. This is the one issue I have with outreach programs like this, the Nikon D80 Campaign, Virtual Thirst, and, less so, the Acer Ferrari program. All of these programs got a lot of views and had a lot of conversation around it online. However, with the exception of the latter, they were in sites surrounding the PR, Ad, and Marketing communities. The programs that do the best, or will do best in the future, are the ones that reach out to the community at large ... the 'regular folks' that aren't in the biz.
Regardless, I love the new design and am very proud of Bonin and his team over at Pepsi for what is a new approach to blogger outreach ... one that ethically guaranteed pickup, unlike so many of the precedents.
If you like, go to FriendFeed and participate in the conversation at the Pepsi Cooler.
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4 comments:
Yep. 100% on target. Kudos again Dave.
Amen. Good conversation in the echo chamber, but zero impact in the real world. (Except maybe for a week when the new cans start showing up in stores.)
Check out the conversation over at Amber's Altitude blog: http://altitudebranding.com/silly-wabbit-brands-arent-just-for-customers/
Thanks for the comments. If I wasn't clear, I really like the design of the new cans. In fact, I like the design of some of the old cans so much I think they should probably intermingle some of them into contests and campaigns ... Thanks for coming!
DW
Excellent points. I couldn't understand the fuss myself and said as much. Unless it's because they sent cans to bloggers. Surely Pepsi can do what they like, when they like - with their brand?
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