Pepsi, Not So Super?

Pepsi just announced the un-thinkable in beverage marketing. The un-imaginable. I wasn't sure that we would ever see this day come from a soda brand.

Pepsi is pulling out of the Super Bowl ... now pull yourself up off the floor.

Along with the announcement is the declaration that the brand will instead pour those marketing dollars into social media and online marketing. They didn't say that they weren't going to do television advertising at all, just not on the Super Bowl.

Wow. Now I have gone on record many times saying that television isn't dead. And I still believe it that there will be a role for television and television advertising, at least in our lifetime.

But what is certainly alive and thriving is the desire to effectively reach and engage consumers with a compelling brand experience. And to do that, especially in this economy, requires smart thinking, good budgeting, and a healthy marketing mix. A mix of advertising, retail, public relations, online marketing, and of course social media. All carefully planned and designed to work together.

So it's really no surprise that Pepsi is carefully watching where it spends its marketing money, shifting dollars from one arena to another, to capture consumers where and how they live. Which is becoming more and more online, interacting with them socially.

What's your experience? Jim.