PrintToday an article in the marketing publication Media Post appeared focusing on the "Pepsi Refresh" effort. Briefly, Pepsi Refresh is a project launched by Pepsi to provide financial support for a range of charitable initiatives. To date, Pepsi considers the effort a success, telling the Wall Street Journal that the cause marketing project has raised awareness of and improved the Pepsi brand. In addition, the company said it gave away nearly $1.3 million each month during the program's first year.
While Pepsi is pleased about the program's impact, Pepsi Refresh has had its share of problems. For example, recently Pepsi decided to revamp the Project after fielding complaints about vote rigging.
In addition, despite the buzz about Pepsi Refresh, the program appears to have had little impact on Pepsi's sales. In fact, sales slipped 8.6% since the program's launch.
Some have called Pepsi Refresh a failure because it did not increase Pepsi's sales. However, are we asking the right questions about the impact of the program?
Clearly, when you look at "ROI" and how we calculate it ($$ in sales versus financial investment) the argument against Pepsi Refresh's success is pretty straight forward. However, what about other measures of impact, such as good will from Pepsi's stakeholders and the collective (social good) impact of the programs Pepsi has funded? When it comes to cause marketing and social media, should we be focused solely on sales, or something else?
What's your take on the ROI of social media fueled cause marketing? Is Pepsi Refresh a boon or bust for the company? Is Pepsi's cause marketing effort having a positive or negative impact?
Re: [Living the Path Q&A Center] Social Media ROI, Cause Marketi
By merryjwhitney on Wednesday, February 2, 2011
From: "community@pathoftheblueeye.com" <community@pathoftheblueeye.com>
To: merryjwhitney@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Mon, January 31, 2011 3:50:54 PM
Subject: [Living the Path Q&A Center] Social Media ROI, Cause Marketing & Pepsi Refresh: Are We Asking the Right Questions?
Pepsi Refresh: Boon or Bust?
The Pepsi Refresh project, like the “best laid plans of mice and men,” is a good idea that has gone astray. The intention seems noble, and the marketing plan appears sound: Diversion of $20 million or so of the annual advertising budget, from a single day’s Super Bowl expenditure to a year’s worth of humanitarian good works.
The project was launched a year ago, January 13, 2010, with a simple, straight-forward format: a social marketing campaign to solicit and award grant requests for good causes. Grant amounts ranging from five thousand ($5,000) to a quarter-million ($250,000) dollars, to be given to applicants with the best charitable proposals as determined by the highest vote totals for the respective “great ideas” submitted.
The project is a theoretical “win-win” plan because Pepsi could reasonably anticipate generating enough accolades and good will by funding good works, to off-set the deficiency in commercial-broadcast coverage and recoup any lost ROI (return on investment) value. The problems arise where the theory meets the road.
There are two serious problems with the Pepsi Refresh project which may, or might not, be interconnected: Allegations that some participants have cheated by using a proxy service to garner winning numbers of votes (and unfairly snagging the grants); and security glitches in the Pepsi Refresh web site. In the latter case, an applicant attempting to submit a grant proposal is linked instead to some other applicant’s personal information, containing their full name, email and street address, city, state and zip, contact number(s), their entire grant plan, and the amount of money requested.
So, is Pepsi Refresh a boon or bust for the company? The problems are serious, but not necessarily fatal. Aggressive, swift public relations measures could … could … counteract or at least mitigate the negative impact before disillusioned participants twitter and tweet their reasons for a new-found preference for “the other cola.”
Tight-lipped company responses thus far, however, would not encourage me to invest in this company’s stock.
http://adage.com/article?article_id=148042
http://techcrunch.com/2010/01/13/pepsi-refresh-security/
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