PepsiCo Inc.

Overview of PepsiCo Inc.

“Pepsi-Cola hits the spot / Twelve full ounces, that’s a lot / Twice as much for a nickel, too / Pepsi-Cola is the drink for you“.

This was the radio advertising campaign which Pepsi came up with during the Great Depression – a catchy jingle created to encourage price-sensitive consumers to switch from Coca-Cola (which was a nickel per 6.5 ounce bottle) to Pepsi (a nickel per 12 ounce bottle). Coming at the time of a severe economic crisis, the advertising campaign succeeded in heightening Pepsi’s popularity and caused Pepsi’s profits to double from 1936 to 1938.

Brief Overview of Research Focus

Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo Inc., a food and beverage company which manufactures and distributes its products in over 200 countries. Food products manufactured by the company include chips, cereals, rice, pasta, flavoured snacks, and dairy-based products while beverages produced by PepsiCo include carbonated soft drinks, ready-to-drink coffee and tea, sports drinks, juices, and bottled water.

For the purpose of this research, we will be focusing solely on the carbonated soft drinks segment, in particular, Pepsi. Pepsi was produced in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and the rise in popularity of this carbonated soft drink came during the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Research Question

Fast forward 80 years later, Pepsi’s revenues are falling and it continues to face stiff competition from Coca-Cola, especially in terms of its advertising reach to consumers all over the world. Despite spending billions on advertising, just like Coca-Cola, Pepsi has not been able to engage their customers as successfully as Coca-Cola has and their advertising efforts are also not as effective when it comes to capturing the attention of consumers.

Hence, our research aims to analyse if PepsiCo Inc.’s large spending on advertising is justified by its current reach and how Pepsi can maximize its advertising reach through the use of social media. In other words, we aim to substantially increase Pepsi’s followers on social media platforms, generate a word-of-mouth effect on Pepsi’s marketing content and enhance Pepsi’s brand recognition particularly in the carbonated soft drinks industry.

Brought forth by: Cari, Jae Mie, Jun Wen, Lynette, Shermae 🙂