Oh come on! Drink the Pepsi
Pepsi Ad: Starring Rajeev Bakshi, Lab Analyst, Model, and the Pepsi Bottling Plant.
Rating: 1.0/5.0 (Only because the media planner chose the right spots to place the ad.)
Let me start this blog with a strong background of branding, which I constantly advocate. Though I try to live the brand, I most often fail to be as calculative or manipulative. Sometime back, I was producing a 5 minute video segment on the Jain College Management Fest (Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College – Centre for Management Studies). As work demanded, I was forced to attend this particular event which was on the lines of a Mock Press.
In the mock press, participants (BBM graduates) were the HR Managers who represented a major Cola Brand. They had to hold their own during a press conference (press was being represented by the audience members and a panel of judges). Press members were expected to do what they do best – criticize, blame and sensationalize (on the latest pesticide controversy). This particular event was more a test of metal. Six teams with two-members in each team participated. And all of them walked into the conference and debated with the press while drinking to their mineral water (in this case Manikchand Oxyrich) bottles.
Once the event got done with, I couldn’t resist myself from taking the mike and addressing these young students. “You need to learn to live the brand. Cola is not bottled coloured water. It is a Brand. Walk in with your bottles of the cola instead of mineral water and you’ve won 60% of the battle. The press will automatically become believers. Even if they do criticize, somewhere, they would give you credibility for living the brand” I said. And that is the key lesson here. The lessons are not how to answer (or deny) the press, instead how to give a certain impression of confidence to the press. Walk in with your bottles of Cola to a Press Conference and drink that stuff. I would assure you, you’ve won the battle.
Going on the same terms, I was shocked to see the latest Pepsi ad. The ad shows, Rajeev Bakshi (Chairman, Pepsi India) giving a monologue on how Pepsi is safe for everyone (including his family, friends etc.). As a friend pointed out, not once does he include himself in the script. But there was something graver to the ad. In my eagerness, it dawned to me that not one person drank the liquid from the bottle. Every cast member kept passing the bottle to each other, but nobody drank from it. If you want the public to believe, make the Chairman drink from the bottle. Shoot him in various situations during the day (breakfast, lunch, tea-time, meetings, in the car etc.) and show him drinking Pepsi wherever he goes. This would make the public buy into your argument (no matter how fake). I am obviously quite shocked how brands such as Pepsi or Coca Cola have gotten it all wrong. * I think they need to get in touch with me for suggestions on a serious image makeover – they seem to be doing an awful job of it. :-) *
So guys (and gals), if you ever plan to present an image of yourself or the brand you represent, make sure you are:
Rating: 1.0/5.0 (Only because the media planner chose the right spots to place the ad.)
Let me start this blog with a strong background of branding, which I constantly advocate. Though I try to live the brand, I most often fail to be as calculative or manipulative. Sometime back, I was producing a 5 minute video segment on the Jain College Management Fest (Sri Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain College – Centre for Management Studies). As work demanded, I was forced to attend this particular event which was on the lines of a Mock Press.
In the mock press, participants (BBM graduates) were the HR Managers who represented a major Cola Brand. They had to hold their own during a press conference (press was being represented by the audience members and a panel of judges). Press members were expected to do what they do best – criticize, blame and sensationalize (on the latest pesticide controversy). This particular event was more a test of metal. Six teams with two-members in each team participated. And all of them walked into the conference and debated with the press while drinking to their mineral water (in this case Manikchand Oxyrich) bottles.
Once the event got done with, I couldn’t resist myself from taking the mike and addressing these young students. “You need to learn to live the brand. Cola is not bottled coloured water. It is a Brand. Walk in with your bottles of the cola instead of mineral water and you’ve won 60% of the battle. The press will automatically become believers. Even if they do criticize, somewhere, they would give you credibility for living the brand” I said. And that is the key lesson here. The lessons are not how to answer (or deny) the press, instead how to give a certain impression of confidence to the press. Walk in with your bottles of Cola to a Press Conference and drink that stuff. I would assure you, you’ve won the battle.
Going on the same terms, I was shocked to see the latest Pepsi ad. The ad shows, Rajeev Bakshi (Chairman, Pepsi India) giving a monologue on how Pepsi is safe for everyone (including his family, friends etc.). As a friend pointed out, not once does he include himself in the script. But there was something graver to the ad. In my eagerness, it dawned to me that not one person drank the liquid from the bottle. Every cast member kept passing the bottle to each other, but nobody drank from it. If you want the public to believe, make the Chairman drink from the bottle. Shoot him in various situations during the day (breakfast, lunch, tea-time, meetings, in the car etc.) and show him drinking Pepsi wherever he goes. This would make the public buy into your argument (no matter how fake). I am obviously quite shocked how brands such as Pepsi or Coca Cola have gotten it all wrong. * I think they need to get in touch with me for suggestions on a serious image makeover – they seem to be doing an awful job of it. :-) *
So guys (and gals), if you ever plan to present an image of yourself or the brand you represent, make sure you are:
ConsistentDon’t let the consumer catch you with your lips sealed.
Believable and
Live 'the' Brand
posted by MC Preetham | 12:09
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