#BetterWithPepsi campaign intrigues creative agency heads in SEA

Pepsi's latest #BetterWithPepsi campaign has caught the attention of consumers by using the scrunched up carriers of various burger joints and circling portions of the bag that resembles its logo. By doing so, Pepsi claimed that all burgers go #BetterWithPepsi. "Even when we are not on the menu, we are always in the picture," the brand said boldly.

Done in collaboration with VaynerMedia US and Alma, the campaign includes a National Hamburger Day promotion which encouraged customers to share photos of themselves with a Pepsi and any burger of their choice purchased that day, including burgers from restaurants that do not serve Pepsi. This allowed consumers to receive a rebate from Pepsi itself after verification processes. Pepsi also tweeted: "We are not on the menu, but on #NationalBurgerDay, we are here to show you that ANY burger is #BetterWithPepsi."

https://twitter.com/pepsi/status/1397522949633159171

The campaign garnered chatter on Twitter, with 1,228 retweets, 1,246 quoted tweets and 13.6k likes. Instagram had 29.1k likes and 618 comments. With this gaining traction, MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out to creative agency heads in Southeast Asia for their thoughts: 

Benson Toh, executive creative director Tribal Worldwide

Soda beverages paired with burgers have been on the menu ever since it was created. And for Pepsi to be known as the beverage of choice, it hasused research data and art to demonstrate it. This superb pairing of using paper fold to resemble the iconic logo with the free Pepsi to go with your burger campaign further cements its claim.

Joseph Tan, CEO ROMP

Love the idea and execution! It’s clever, cheeky yet tasteful. Really like the way Pepsi gets personal by responding to every Instagram comment. When a food or beverage product can’t be altered or improved further, it can always innovate the way it is being packaged (squirt bottle for condensed milk), innovate the way it’s being consumed (the Tim Tam Slam), propagate desirability (grey poupon) and moment association (Indomie Goreng and breakfast) or ideal pairing as in this campaign.

Anish Daryani, M&C Saatchi Indonesia

Pepsi is the perfect example of a challenger brand. And challenger brands need to be disruptive, edgy and spontaneous. This campaign stems from that aspect of the brand’s DNA. And though Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s have been around for long, it took someone’s observation to find a Pepsi logo in theirs. But the idea isn’t new. M&C Saatchi Stockholm created an ad called the “Flag of Flags” for Norwegian Airlines a few years ago, where they created the flags of five other countries from the Norwegian flag.

Lee Kai Xin, client services director, Wild Advertising and Marketing

Beyond the clever execution of showing the hidden Pepsi logo within the food wrappers, what I felt was spot-on for this campaign is how Pepsi has gone back to its roots of being a challenger brand. The sense that people aren’t given the choice to enjoy Pepsi with their favourite fast food because of big corporate exclusive contracts can potentially rile up consumers just enough to support the “underdog”. And of course, the small cash incentive to get on board with this helps to get this movement started. It’s authentic and doesn’t try to latch just another trend. To me, that’s the real lesson from marketers of today. Stay true to who your brand is. Dig deep into the insights and there is always another way to tell your brand’s story.