Pepsi and Doritos make a 'Super Powerful Combination'

Over the years both Pepsi Max and Doritos have worked hard to become an integral part of the lives of young people and keep their finger on the pulse of what is meaningful in their world. OMD needed to encourage an additional 345 000 households to co-purchase spicy 'Jalapeno Fire' flavoured Doritos, alongside the complementary cooling Pepsi Max 'Citrus Freeze'; two products that together make a "Super Powerful Combination".

The target audience, "Millennials" is fickle. Overnight, something previously considered to be 'cool' can become outdated. Summer 2011 saw a revival in the popularity of comics; successful TV series and films such asKick AssandCaptain Americamade comic book heroes accessible. The target audience has a good knowledge of the digital world and willingness to try new technologies online. With this in mind, an online interactive comic was created, showcasing the adventures of two new heroes, Gary Lime (Ice Fist) and Jack Scoville (Fire Fingers).

The duo gained their powers during a freak meteor shower and while they have very different superhero styles, they work best together. As users clicked through each scene of the comic, they were able to explore the story in more depth through gaming elements and video back stories of the characters.

Two phases

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The campaign was executed over two phases, underpinned by dialogue with an influential community of bloggers. To kick-start the campaign and introduce the characters and the superhero theme, OMD ran a 4-page editorial feature in the Metro, read by three million commuters. Next, an interactive YouTube masthead went live for 24 hours, enabling users to turn their own pictures into 'comicified' images, which they could then download or submit, to a live gallery streamed into the ad unit. This was a UK Media First. TV activity was heavy weight and high impact. The campaign secured two advertising spots during the X Factor, reaching 46% of Millennials in three days.

TV continued to maintain awareness, while digital activity drove comic views. Comic and sci-fi fans were targeted, as well as a broader audience of film lovers and social gamers. To drive engagement, a Comic Yourself app was launched on Facebook where fans could upload photos into their own comic and share it with friends. Throughout the campaign, OMD maintained dialogue with an influential group of handpicked bloggers. Bloggers were sent teaser e-mails to ignite initial interest, following up with a "Superhero Survival Kit".

Results

• Pepsi Max and Doritos' joint purchasing doubled with 380 000 households jointly purchasing both brands; 10% more than our target!
  
• Both brands saw significant value growth; Pepsi Max achieved a 41% increase, of which 41% was the new 'Citrus Freeze' product. Doritos achieved a 16% increase, of which 81% was the new 'Jalapeno Fire' product.
  
• YouTube generated 12m impressions and 40 000 clicks, giving a click-through rate of 0.31% (3x DoubleClick benchmark). Over 11 000 photos were uploaded and the overall interaction rate was 11%.

Digital media successfully accounted for the majority of comic visits, with YouTube and Facebook generating 70% of total click-throughs.

Overall, the campaign reached 9m unique users and generated 87 000 interactions. With minimal budget specifically driving traffic to the Facebook app, we still generated 25 000 views and 775 photo uploads. Blogger feedback was 100% positive with an estimated reach of 262 000.