The Onion: Pepsi to cease advertising
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/pepsi_to_cease_advertising
You know, it may not be a half-bad idea...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/pepsi_to_cease_advertising
You know, it may not be a half-bad idea...
Comments
Wow, $1.3Billion in
Wow, $1.3Billion in advertising! That's a lot of suds!
Of course, the ONION is
Of course, the ONION is satire. Not a "half good idea" either. It won't sell enough to be profitable w/o advertising...market to competitive.
:)
Well, I don't drink soda
Well, I don't drink soda anyway, so what do I care? Never could get used to the fizz.
Love the last line:
"Hey, there's a slogan for you," Nooyi said. "Spend more time with your families."
ONION is still satire.
ONION is still satire. Pepsi is not cutting its advertising budget to zero in any lifetime. And yes, we should spend more quality time with our families. It would do the whole World alot of good.
Can we overstate the
Can we overstate the obvious! OK, I am being too harsh!
Growing up, I remember our
Growing up, I remember our local PBS TV station would run fund-raisers every year. During those campaigns, they pleaded for donations...10-15 minutes at a time during intermissions of a show. They always seemed to struggle to make enough to meet their budget. I don't believe much has changed.
One year, I recall our affiliate tried something rather risky: During the time when the station would normally have their intermission, they simply displayed a static message with an announcer who stated they weren't going to campaign, but rather have a 2-minute "quiet on the set" - no begging, no pleading...but asking folks to support PBS in lieu of the normal 15 minute break. During that campaign they received a record number of donations since people obviously preferred the non-intrusive break & reminder, and our affiliate was rewarded accordingly.
However, they tried it during the next campaign season, but I don't think it worked. A one hit wonder, I suppose. In any case, the first time demonstrated that a promise to not advertise (and advertisement in itself) was effective.
All of my Mad Ave experience
All of my Mad Ave experience says that in a competitive market like soft drinks, not advertising is a losing strategy.
This is also known as
This is also known as permission marketing and letting people "vote" on what they preferred. "You can pay me for 2 minutes of silence, or be subjected to our 15 minute haranguing!" Hum wonder what people would prefer?
Still good point!
Permission marketing?
Permission marketing? Advertising buys share of mind. No advertising, depend on people to go on their memories of why they liked you versus Coke. That is consumer marketing 101, even in today's world.
When did a TV commercial constitute 15 minutes of harangiung?
No, I replied to the PBS
No, I replied to the PBS post, not this one. BTW.
Ah-h-h, a thready error. So
Ah-h-h, a thready error. So sorry :)
Ahh, thanks for the
Ahh, thanks for the nomenclature. I don't know the proper marketing jargon. :)
What if Pepsi did carry out
What if Pepsi did carry out that campaign? It would be revolutionary. If it's a commodity, and a ubiquitous drink in American society, everyone knows it exists. Coke and Pepsi are as popular as water. If people like it, they will drink it; if they don't, they won't. No commercial is going to change that. I don't like either, and no SuperBowl halftime sponsorship will sway me in the slightest.
But, what if Pepsi did advertise that they will take the money they once spent on huge advertising and turn that into donations to select charities for every Pepsi sold? Even draw in Pepsi drinkers on their website to recommend and vote up charities. Suddenly, buying a soda means more than satisfying thirst, but perhaps helping a good cause. Pepsi may even run periodic (much less frequent) advertisements to show where the money has gone.
It's so crazy, it just might work.
OK
OK
Yes, being different
Yes, being different sometimes really gets you noticed. Imaging all the FREE publicity they would receive for stopping the advertising! Better yet, they could also say they are going to take all that money and do something great, like help kids with diabetes or develop exercise programs for overweight kids or develop a water filtration systems for undeveloped countries. Hum, wonder what would happen.....?
Again, I'd bet they'd lose
Again, I'd bet they'd lose share of market. No advertising, no promotion, no coupons, lose shelf space.
Marketing and advertising 101...basics, even in today's new world.
I bet they would not!
I bet they would not! Sometimes doing the right thing, even for the wrong reason, can generate success.
OK, I yield to your judgment
OK, I yield to your judgment and experience. Without any advertising, promtion etc., at a minimum, no one would know that they did a "good thing."
Back to my Giants game.
For products that are not
For products that are not widely known, I agree with NY2TX. But again, Pepsi is rather ubiquitous in American society. Shoot, it's neck and neck with Coke for practically being a common noun reference to any soft drink.
So a promise to never advertise Pepsi again would be too restrictive. However, temporarily turning off their advertising engine in exchange for a radical move as described above would be huge for Pepsi...if done right.
Oh, for the record, when I
Oh, for the record, when I first read the article, I completely missed it was from the Onion. I was excited because it was such a radical idea and interesting experiment...and then I realized it was satire.
What a downer :)