Pepsi Skips Super Bowl TV Advertising for Social Media
To Pepsi, and to companies around the world, the days when mass-market media is the sole vehicle to reach an audience are officially over. Instead of pouring millions of dollars into a Super Bowl commercial, Pepsi has started a social-media campaign to promote its “Pepsi Refresh” initiative. Pepsi plans to give away $20 million in grant money to fund projects in six categories: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20100204/us_time/08599195840000
This is an interesting move by Pepsi. Yes, it’s generous of them to promote such a worthy cause. But also it’s a confirmation of the growing importance of social media in our culture today.
About the current social media phenomenon:
I think it’s like when economists announce that we’ve been in a recession since such-and-such date — indicating that we’ve been in a recession for six months and haven’t (officially) realized it. We’re at that point now with social media. A year or so from now we’ll look back and see when social media reached the tipping point and began the dominant role it plays today. My bet? The Obama presidential campaign.
As we discussed the other night, I think your analogy to economists and recessions — you only know you’re in one after the fact — is the perfect expression of what’s happening right now with social media and advertising. I’ll add that many people in the ad biz who are waiting for the economic recovery to boost their business will miss the recovery entirely unless they get hip to SM in a big hurry and start offering some SM solutions to their clients.
Kinda awkward when a paradigm shift coincides with a massive economic downturn. It’s way too easy to focus on the wrong problem.
As fast as we / I read everything I can on trying to keep up with the social medium issue, I realize that trying to understand it well enough to provide counsel to a paying client, is unfair to the client. For me the only way to keep up is to align myself with those that actually are considered expert…and genuinely experienced. Bluffing your way through only undermines your own credibility. Don’t even try.