In 1963, agency BBDO introduced a radically new concept to the field of youth marketing – lifestyle.
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The slogan “Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi Generation” and Pepsi’s self-proclamation as “The choice of a new generation” not only struck a resonant chord with the increasingly socially mobile and affluent youth demographic of the early 1960s but also, through its ensuing success, identified that marketing to youth was no longer about identifying the features but by drawing the line of relevance from the brand to the consumers’ lifestyles attitudes.
Pepsi Generation Vintage Commericial
Pepsi emerged as an iconic 60s youth brand thanks mainly to the trailblazing work of BBDO. It identified the need across the generation to connect in a communal identity which fashion an emerging consciousness of “youth” but also a share belonging to a value system that contravened the mainstream adult opinion of the day.
The BBDO/Pepsi partnership not only brought youth iconic slogans but also celebrity endorsements from Michael Jackson, Michael J Fox, Beckham and Madonna – proof that youth responded to the bold statements.
45 years on, Pepsico headquarters New York announces to the media community that it’s dropping BBDO in favour of more boutique agencies (mainly internal) that can handle the brand’s push into new media. TV, print and magazines are no longer effective it appears and Pepsi’s generation is voting with its feet.
Pepsi Generation Michael Jackson
That was back then, when youth attention didn’t command such a premium as it does today. In the forty years following the Pepsi generation, advertising to youth through the big statements, huge awareness campaigns and the cult of celebrity confirmed that back then – it costs plenty of bucks to conduct a campaign. With no Youtube, internet or twitter to fall back on, youth brands needed deep pockets to reach out to youth, attention wasn’t an issue as they didn’t have anywhere else to go.
Barriers to entry created a unique dynamic. Only large companies could advertise. Youth therefore trusted advertisers because they were, to some degree, successful. When Pepsi positioned itself as the self-proclaimed “choice of new generation” it was no different to Pears Soap 10 years prior claiming that “ladies love the feeling of Pears Soap”. Spam was relatively non-existent and advertiser claims were largely heeded by the consuming public.
From 1960 to 2000, advertising and planning comprised the largest financial outlay in marketing a product. The boozy lunches and cocaine apetites of the 1980s ad execs were legendary and while mainly apocraphyl they reinforced the belief that there were serious bucks in advertising.
Now, in the 21st century, attention is your biggest cost. Because it is relatively easy to advertise (send an email), everyone is able to do it. The economics of spam are testament to the sheer volume of marketing messages out there. Spammers can profit on click-through rates of 0.00001% because they are sending 10-100 billion messages a day.
Now, advertisers have to look beyond simply spending big bucks and celebrity endorsement. Youth trust is a commodity where demand far outstrips supply. When the price is high, tactics need to be rethought.
When your marketing dollars stop – what happens to all that goodwill you created? Do you stop featuring in campus bar conversations and across school refectory halls? Do young girls continue to gossip about your brand and boys discuss how they’d improve your products sitting out in the shade drinking soda and tired after an afternoon of soccer?
Marketing’s biggest weakness is its own soil – it’s inorganic. Marketing seeks short term results and as every caffeine fuelled overworked agency exec knows, short term is the client’s push-button.
TV doesn’t work like its used to but we’re still prepared to pour resources into the channel because it’s what we know, we have the relationships and we’re never going to get fired for committing the bulk of our budget to youth programming.
The future lies in a more organic process – one that requires nurturing the soil, one that requires innovation beyond the ability to wield buying power, one that requires marketers to think up why youth should consider your product the choice of their generation.
What do you think the Pepsi/BBDO split means for the advertising industry?
Technorati Tags: pepsi, bbdo, attention, lifestyle, tv, advertising, youth marketing, trust
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