Pepsi calls for TV scripts

Consumers can submit 200-word TVC scripts and vote on other entries at a website hosted by NetEase, in an eight-week marketing campaign designed to deepen involvement with Pepsi. "How the consumer is involved is much more important than the end product," said Leo Tsoi, Greater China marketing director for Pepsi-Cola. "If you were to make a submission, if you were to vote, you have to spend quality time to think, evaluate and create; that is the real interaction with the brand — the moment of truth." Tsoi will sit on a three-man marketing panel alongside Richard Lee, marketing VP for PepsiCo China, and singer Jay Chow, who will star in the final ad. The panel will selectfive ideas from the most popular 100 by the online poll every fortnight over a six-week period, leading to a shortlist of 15. The final choice will be left to the consumer, however, voting on which of the finalists will be made into a TVC to air in October. The winner, in addition to an Rmb100,000 (US$12,500) prize, will also be invited to an interactive pre-production meeting to pick props, casting and location. The possibilities created by the internet and mobile technology in which consumers interact with brands has opened up an "irreversible" dynamic, Tsoi said. "(Consumers) are now also the media, because they are the ones spreading it but, more importantly, they are also the marketer and the advertising agency. It is four or five roles in one." This change is also elevating Pepsi's agencies to a more strategic role, he added. "They are here to design the experience of the campaign, rather than communicate the message." The Pepsi Creative Challenge continues a drive by the soft drinks brand to develop a two-way communication with its target in China, following its Chinese New Year campaign which invited people to build sculptures of Pepsi cans in their home cities in another online competition also hosted by NetEase.