Pepsi to continue charity program for “refreshing” communities, expand it beyond North America
By APWednesday, September 8, 2010
Pepsi to expand charity project in 2011
NEW YORK — PepsiCo plans to expand its popular Refresh Project, a charity program that has generated tens of millions of votes and countless Tweets, news stories and Facebook posts.
The project helps people “refresh” their communities by paying for projects they create and submit online. Web users vote on their favorites.
The program represents a shift away from traditional marketing for the Pepsi brand. Pepsi sat out this year’s Super Bowl — where it was a regular advertiser for years — in favor of the Refresh Project.
The company said Wednesday it plans to expand the project to Europe, Asia and Latin America in 2011.
Active since January, the Refresh Project has drawn plenty of online buzz, including 7,500 project ideas and, according to PepsiCo, 42 million votes on those projects.
The program has given away $1.3 million in 32 grants each month for projects ranging from rebuilding houses to helping students who are the first in their families to go to college.
Pepsi is still determining what it will spend next year in the international markets, said Ana Maria Irazabal, marketing director for Pepsi. Decisions likely will be made on a local market basis.
She said expanding abroad seemed like a natural fit for Pepsi because the brand is sold everywhere.
Irazabal said the Refresh Project is helping sales by linking charity in customers’ minds with their feelings about the brand, though she could not say how much it has helped revenue.
The effort has been getting buzz as people promote their projects online to friends and family to garner votes.
“It’s definitely something that’s becoming viral,” she said.
But Irazabal said the company is not ruling out the Super Bowl this year for Pepsi.
On the Net:
www.refresheverything.com/
