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Social Media Marketing



Social Media Marketing

Introduction

The Pepsi Refresh Project was a rather bold move taken in 2010, by the executives of PepsiCo, to award individuals, businesses and non-profits organizations with $20 million grants that promoting innovative and out of the box ideas that have a positive effect on their community, state, or the country. Completely detached from the Pepsi Corporate Foundation, the project uses money allocated for marketing. (Howard, B. C., 2010) Less money would be spent by the company on advertising for the promotion of Pepsi brand; instead the money would be spent on investments for helping communities. Customers were invited to submit their applications and take part in voting for the most vivid ideas. The most popular programs were then funded by Pepsi.

Though the marketing outcome of the campaign was declared to be a failure as during the campaign period, Pepsi's market share declined. But in terms of social media metrics, the campaign was excitingly successful with the registration of more than eighty million votes; approximately 3.5 million “likes” on the Facebook page of Pepsi; and almost 60,000 followers on Twitter. This overall success in metrics of social media entails that a level of interaction is created by social media activities with the brand.

The marketing playbook is being in the process of rewriting with the rise of social media and mobile, even by the most established companies. Despite the fact that many brands are yet casting a suspicious judgment for business at social media, the technology has been embraced by Pepsi, laying down a striving social strategy intended at making liaisons with the Millennial generation, the potential largest consumer group in history of US. (Bhatnaturally, 2011)

According to Jay Baer, founder of Convince & Convert- a social media strategy company, brands are actualizing that they have to market for the long run. He considers Pepsi strategy for marketing campaigns in social media as a good move for Pepsi. He wonders that if every brand can carry off this strategy.

The social strategy of Pepsi is analyzed by David Hatch of US News and World Report in his recent article focusing on the Pepsi's marketing campaign of “Live for Now”. According to Hatch, the campaign is a great example of an established brand, targeting 18-35 year olds, bringing in to play five significant features of social media marketing i.e. engagement of consumers, user-generated content, data aggregation, geo-local, and inbound marketing. This paper seeks to analyze the reasons for the popularity and the pros and cons of social media marketing. This paper also anticipates getting an overview that to which extent this strategy engages more customers of Pepsi and the other brands that have adopted social media marketing will also be discussed.

Discussion

Social Media Marketing

The marketing strategies that are being employed by business so as to be a part of a network of people online are termed as Social media marketing. Over the years, a number of distinct styles of online communities have turned up. However, newly created communities, within the ...