Brand Health and PepsiCo

I remember some excitement and some controversy when huge corporations began running contests for grant money. You prepared your pitch and emailed it. You waited. If enough people "voted" for your cause, you won. If your project didn't win the competition, you didn't win. American Express and others got involved in this competitive scheme for the public good, and won some brand recognition.

Today, the New York Times published an account of PepsiCo, makers of Pepsi Cola and other brands, going into the market of selling their brand on social networks by offering money if you can collect enough votes for your cause. PepsiCo, in a surprise move, withdrew its advertising from the 2010 Superbowl, and they will do it again this year, better to invest the $23 million in something more worthy, and more advantageous.

If you read the New York Times article carefully, you will see that the corporation is not trying to finagle a purchase out of you and not even a heartbeat of affection for their product. No, they want to promote the health of their brand by getting it in front of the Millennial Generation. I'm for it, number one because it will benefit a wide array of worthwhile causes, and also because it presents a new way of getting grants, besides the old way, to which I have become accustomed, of working very hard on the proposal and then tossing it out there to see what happens.