Pepsi-Cola Rolls Out Collateral for Pepsi Stuff Campaign

Pepsi-Cola Co.'s recently introduced "Pepsi Stuff" campaign includes a barrage of P-O-P materials unmatched in the company's history. The program includes a variety of new merchandising pieces for every type of distribution channel being introduced through October."Retailers have never seen a Pepsi program like this before," says Charles Blecker, manager of promotional print and premiums for the Somers, N.Y.-based company. The campaign, which is said to be five times larger than any previous Pepsi promotion, supports the company's summer program, "Drink Pepsi. Get Stuff." The promotion offers more than $125 million worth of clothing and merchandise in exchange for Pepsi Points found on cartons and bottles. The inventory of "stuff" is featured in two sizes of catalogs that are available in-store and inside cartons, with a print run of more than 170 million copies, nearly one for every two people in America.The P-O-P materials feature an array of items, including shelf talkers, mobiles, end-aisle displays, lobby displays and aisle spanners, Blecker says. More than 30 different vendors were called on to produce the pieces. "We've used everything from 8-point board to corrugated, with a lot of styrene work included," he says.Many of the pieces will be aimed at the grocery and c-store markets, with options for on-counter, end-aisle, coolers, cold barrels and other pieces. Other channels will also be targeted including restaurants, fountain sales, and even vending machines. Points won't be available to users of the latter format, however.The campaign was designed to offer as much flexibility for the display pieces as possible, so retailers could use them to their best advantage. An example of this can be seen in the injection-molded styrene catalog holder created by Art Merchandising Inc., New York. The holder was designed to contain either 75 of the 7-inch-square versions of the catalog or 250 copies of the 3-inch-square catalog.The holders offer several accessory pieces to adapt to many in-store environments. They include suction cups to stick onto a cooler door; clips so they can slide into the channel sleeve; different clips that allow two units to be attached side by side or top to bottom in a staircase format; and a back with a curved shape so it can be attached to the radiused side of a cooler barrel. The holders also offer a flat bottom so they can be put directly on the shelf or counter without additional support.Another adaptable piece features a three-dimensional Pepsi logo-ball, which typically is surrounded by a pedestal base. This campaign does away with the pedestal to focus attention completely on the ball icon. The result is a vacuum-formed styrene ball 14 inches in diameter inside a banner with the words, "Pepsi Stuff" written on it.The ball features a motor assembly that hangs from the ceiling and rotates the ball to attract attention. It can also attach to a cube-stacker display, which is comprised of four 18-inch cubes that stack together and offer a hole in the center of the top piece, where the motor inserts. The ball goes on top of this and rotates above the stacker. The motorized ball can also be attached to a mini-pole variation that traditionally has been used with the company's two-liter bottles, Blecker explains. A wider pole is provided for this application, to provide support. "This is kind of a unique piece and shows the versatility we were aiming for," he says.The first wave of materials began rolling out to stores in late April, breaking along with two television commercials in spot markets that promote the Pepsi Points. Additional materials will be added as the campaign continues, Blecker says. "We have a variety of P-O-P materials that will cover the entire spectrum of the program's time frame." The program initially was test-marketed in October and November in the Northwest and then set nationwide for the spring and summer."In the quagmire of [Olympic] Summer Games advertising that will no doubt flood the marketplace this summer," says Brian Swette, executive vice president of marketing, "we believe that Stuff will break through and connect with people where they live and where they buy our products."

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