You would possibly assume boosting model consciousness wouldn’t be a significant concern for PespiCo, one of many largest meals and beverage manufacturers on the earth.
However you’d be improper.
Model consciousness is high of thoughts for PepsiCo’s senior director of media technique and funding Katie Haniffy. And PepsiCo is targeted on adjusting its model consciousness campaigns in response to shifting client habits, in addition to pivoting to maintain up with the most recent evolutions in advert tech.
“We’ve been on a journey for the final couple of years to ensure that, as client habits has gotten extra digital and linear TV has decreased in a number of rankings, we’re persevering with to attach with our shoppers,” she stated. “So our technique has been together with extra digital than ever.”
As a result of PespiCo’s priorities have shifted extra towards reaching shoppers on streaming companies and video-heavy social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat, video stays an essential car for the corporate’s model consciousness campaigns.
“Video is a giant a part of what we do within the digital area and on social,” Haniffy stated. “Whereas we have now groups that drive lower-funnel ecommerce enterprise, I give attention to model constructing and client relevancy, which normally is available in video format. So we’re very video heavy in our digital technique.”
Open-web programmatic and direct
Self-service DSPs play a significant function in PepsiCo’s open-web programmatic technique for social media and different platforms. For years, the corporate has relied on its company companion OMD to handle campaigns by self-service advert platforms. And PepsiCo’s YouTube promoting is basically carried out by Google’s Show & Video 360 marketing campaign administration platform.
However direct advert buys and programmatic direct are additionally a significant part of PepsiCo’s technique. For direct offers, PepsiCo works with holding corporations which have entry to a variety of writer stock, and the corporate has pursued direct writer partnerships with massive names like Spotify, Billboard, Complicated, Pop Sugar and BuzzFeed. Direct partnerships are additionally key to PepsiCo’s advertising and marketing efforts within the gaming channel.
“Once we do direct partnerships, we wish to ensure that they’re extra sturdy or 360,” Haniffy stated. “For instance, we’ve achieved stuff with Spotify or Billboard that’s actually embedded in music tradition and has a dwell occasion activation and a streaming part.”
Balancing linear TV and different channels
Though shoppers have shifted away from linear TV, PepsiCo needs to have a presence on all platforms. Subsequently, linear TV remains to be a useful a part of PepsiCo’s general media combine, at the same time as channels like CTV, social and video video games develop into extra essential for reaching shoppers.
“Pepsi has been identified for its partnership with the NFL, and we wish to ensure that we’re a part of cultural moments like dwell sporting occasions,” Haniffy stated. “However we additionally wish to be on streaming units. It’s a balancing act to ensure we’re not over investing in a single or the opposite.”
Nonetheless, whereas some advertisers have lowered their spending on linear TV amid adjustments to client habits and fears of an impending recession, PepsiCo is maintaining its spending plans near the vest.
“Proper now, we’re not able to touch upon our promoting and advertising and marketing funding for the longer term,” she stated when requested if PepsiCo is contemplating pulling again on its TV advert spend. “However, sure, everybody within the firm is making an attempt to grasp client habits and pricing commodities price to ensure we are able to steadiness our spending and nonetheless achieve success transferring ahead. However we’re not there but in saying whether or not or not [the recession] would influence our spending.”
Measurement and knowledge
Knowledge is king in digital advertising and marketing, and PepsiCo is reinventing itself to develop into extra data-focused in its media planning and measurement.
“We’re going to be utilizing extra knowledge to tell our linear technique,” Haniffy stated. “We have gotten extra audience-first, nearly behaving like a digital firm. Self-service, real-time knowledge and with the ability to optimize our buys throughout platforms are issues we’re simply beginning the journey on.”
When it comes to measurement, PepsiCo retains an eye fixed on model elevate, model affiliation and even model love, which seems to be at how manufacturers construct emotional attachments with prospects. The corporate works with quite a lot of measurement companions, together with Nielsen, Oracle Moat, Catalina and ComScore. It has additionally labored with consideration measurement firm Eyespot and CTV measurement firm Samba TV.
“It relies upon who the writer or the platform has a relationship with, however we work with just about all of them,” she stated. “We’re making an attempt to take a pulse on everyone’s providing, so we are able to work out one of the best ways to do measurement. In the end, the supply of fact for us is our in-house combine modeling software, the ROI Engine, that brings all of it collectively.”
Forex and cookie alternate options
In the case of the choice foreign money wars raging within the CTV and linear TV markets, PepsiCo is agnostic.
“We’re going to check and study throughout the board,” Haniffy stated. “On the finish of the day, if our campaigns are driving enterprise and we are able to measure ROI, I’m undecided it actually issues what the foreign money is, so long as I can present proof of efficiency.”
And regardless of Google kicking the can on third-party cookie deprecation, PepsiCo remains to be all in on constructing out its first-party knowledge capabilities.
“We’ve been making ready for [third-party cookie deprecation] by buying first-party knowledge and activating in opposition to it, and we’re going to do this no matter what Google does,” she stated. “So the delay offers us a little bit bit extra time, and that’s nice. However we want to have the ability to personal our personal knowledge and use it so we are able to make smarter selections and buys throughout the board, and never be so reliant on different corporations. For us, the precedence is to personal our personal knowledge versus shopping for it from sellers.”
Nonetheless, as a result of PepsiCo is a consumer-packaged items firm and never a direct-to-consumer (DTC) firm, it’s nonetheless within the early levels of constructing out its first-party knowledge operations.
“Most packaged-goods corporations are most likely in the identical boat we’re, the place we don’t personal client knowledge as a result of we don’t personal the acquisition of the product,” Haniffy stated. “We have now inner capabilities the place we mix third-, first- and second-party knowledge, and we have now been utilizing a mix of third-party and first-party knowledge to tell our media shopping for. However we’re making a much bigger push to accumulate extra first-party knowledge by DTC methods like client sweepstakes.”
PepsiCo can be growing a unified buyer relationship administration (CRM) technique that can embody all of its manufacturers and permit cross-promotion, relatively than every model having its personal siloed strategy to CRM.
And PepsiCo can be working with buyer acquisition and retention platforms like Fetch Rewards, which presents present playing cards and money again in change for buy receipts, to assemble extra behavioral and demographic knowledge on its prospects.
