For the 2010 Super Bowl, Pepsi announced that they were not going to be a sponsor. I was completely surprised by this decision because they had been a sponsor for the past 23 years. Millions of fans watch the Super Bowl and Pepsi was a popular company in which viewers looked forward to their commercials. They have had famous celebrities in their commercials in the past such as Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, and Ozzy Osbourne.
Pepsi was making a risky choice on pulling out of the super bowl and instead to advertise online. It could either be a success or fail.
The internet is gaining popularity for advertising aiming to attract Generation X, Generation Y, the Millenial Generation, or baby boomers. Internet technology has major advantages. Companies are able to have their ads be effectively targeted to the right demographics (age, income, location).
"By providing the proper consumer profile and keywords, an Internet Advertiser is able to place their ads in front of prospects at a much lower per image cost than tradition media advertising" (Weaver).
Internet advertising has the advantage of being cheaper then other types of advertising but my question is how effective it really is. I know I don't usually pay attention to the internet ads when I am online trying to do something. I don't think Pepsi should have made such a drastic decision by turning away from the super bowl. It was a very big risk.
Source:
Weaver, Rick. "Pepsi drops Super Bowl ads, emphasizes Internet advertising." Review. Web log post. Examiner. 17 Dec. 2009. Web. .
Prior to reading your blog, and even after watching the Superbowl, I failed to notice that Pepsi did not have any commercials. Now that you have mentioned that they have been sponsors for over two decades, I'm as surprised as you to find out they moved to Internet advertising. As I've learned last semester in COM 236, TV commercials are the most expensive ads out there; yet, Pepsi is so successful, and rich, that I wonder if money had anything to do with it. Pepsi is an established brand, so they don't necessarily have to use certain strategies to target specific people. I believe they already have the proper marketing, so it is interesting to find out why they decided not to sponsor the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteI didn't watch the Superbowl, but I viewed ads online and I too did not realize that Pepsi was missing from the bunch. I agree with Oksana that Pepsi is a very established brand, so they can potentially use alternative media to advertise and not necessarily have their sales take a hit. How did Pepsi advertise the launch of their online advertising though? I had no idea they were moving online. But I don't buy soda regularly to notice anything on their cans and bottles. One thing Pepsi should be aware of, despite being such a large successful company, with a product like soda, because it is so cheap and many people do not have a brand preference they buy whatever is on-sale. Without having a Superbowl Commercial present on TV, they might have missed out on sales from the people who saw their commercial and thought it was well done.
ReplyDeleteI was just as surprised as you were when I didn't really see any Pepsi commercials during the Superbowl. I didn't watch every second of the game so I guess I just assumed I must have missed them or something. The part that you bring up about Internet Advertising not being as affective, I totally agree with. When I am online and surfing the web I NEVER pay attention to all the advertisements going on around me or on the page. I click out of as many as I can if they are distracting to what I really want to look at. In my opinion, Pepsi lost out on a lot of good advertising during the Superbowl.
ReplyDeleteI didn't even realize up until reading this blog that Pepsi didn't even have any commercials. I always look forward to the commercials of Pepsi because like you said they have celebrities and are usually pretty funny. However, seeing an advertisement on the Superbowl doesn't make me run out and go buy the product, especially buying Pepsi. I know Pepsi is there, so I have to think that this was a good move on their part. I don't exactly think that its worth the money, even after considering they have been supporting the Superbowl commercials for the past 23 years. I think we all get the point by now
ReplyDeleteI think that because Pepsi is such a well known brand, advertising is not what they feel is most important right now. Why would they waste their money on the Super Bowl when everyone knows their products. People watch the Bud Light commercials because they are funny, but I do not know any person who does not know what Bud Light is and I'm sure seeing those ads aren't going to really make a difference in their profit. Pepsi probably did not want to waste their money this year because they are probably putting their efforts towards something else.
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