Use Of Celebrities In Pepsi Advertisements example essay topic

Promotion In its long history of advertisements, Pepsi has come from once being, "The Original Pure Food Drink", to the ideal product for "Generation Next". It has come a long was ever since it was created nearly one hundred years ago. It's success in advertisement and promotions have made a multi billion dollar corporation out of a company that once filed for bankruptcy in the early 1920's. The company first went international starting with Mexico in 1907. It also expanded its markets in other parts of the world including South America, the Middle East, eastern Asia, the former USSR and Africa. During the 1940's, Pepsi's "Nickel, Nickel" song became a worldwide hit and it lead to a major increase in sales.

It persuaded the general public to purchase the drink because they would get an awful lot for their money. The tune was also translated into 55 languages worldwide. Also, the company decided to change their signature colors to red white and blue (which are still used today) in support of the war effort in the early 1940's. The military 12 ounce cans were commercially sold in 1965 and canteen shaped 2 litre bottles were also as environmentally friendly products. A group that was always targeted from Pepsi since the beginning has always been African Americans. During World War 2, Pepsi was the only drink available to African American soldiers.

The company also sponsored the Martin Luther King Jr. institute and it continues to do so today. The Pepsi challenge, which was first used in 1975 then again in 2000, created a unique marketing opportunity to really test consumers. It consisted in giving the consumer a blind test between a sample of Pepsi, and another one of Coke, which has always Pepsi's main competitor in the Cola Wars. In the ads, the people who faced the Pepsi challenge always ended up choosing the taste of Pepsi over Coke.

Due to this marketing campaign, Pepsi saw an incredible boost in its total sales. Another promotional tool that Pepsi relies on is consumer endorsement. The use of celebrities in Pepsi advertisements began with Michael Jackson in 1984. His commercial with Pepsi was the eagerly awaited advertisement of all time. The message it was sending the American public consisted of Pepsi being the "street" drink aimed at targeting minorities and young "hip" teenagers who wanted to be cool and feel good about themselves. The slogan back then was, "Be Young, Have fun, Drink Pepsi".

Celebrities who followed in Jackson's footsteps include Elton John, MC Hammer, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Ray Charles, etc. During the 1990's, Pepsi entered the world of cross-promotion. It signed contracts with Yahoo. com, Star Wars, Taco Bell and KFC. At one point, the notion of Pepsi points was introduced in the North American market.

It encouraged consumers to purchase enough Pepsi products to accumulate points in order to collect prizes. The points were found under the cap of each Pepsi bottle. The more points a consumer collected the better prize he was able to win. An important moment for Pepsi's advertising history was when it signed Britney Spears in the late 1990's. Her image blended in perfectly with the Generation Next campaign and the re introduction of the 1961 campaign, "for those who think young". Youth is a vital market for Pepsi and signing up a pop-star that is so involved in the youth culture lead to the ultimate product identification.

Britney Spears is the most recognizable celebrity teens between ages of 12 and 19. This is the same age group that influences 130 billion dollars in family spending in addition to their personal expenditure of 93 billion dollars. Pepsi didn't decide to limit their target audiences to just children and teens, their "Now and Then" ad moves beyond targeting the young because it shows Britney in various decades. All of these decades, from the 1950's and on, remind adults of their childhood thus triggering an emotional response from them. Therefore, children and adults of all ages become target audiences for the product. By creating a diversified target market and knowing exactly how to trigger various segments, Pepsi has earned much success and expansion throughout the world with its intelligent advertising campaigns.