SATELLITE & CABLE: Pepsi's Star Wars promotion gets special treatment

<p>In Singapore, Pepsi-Cola International was one of the sponsors of </p><p>the movie, Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Challenge facing MindShare </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Pepsi's Star Wars Episode 1 </p><p>consumer promotion (to win Star Wars collectibles from Pepsi) was </p><p>delayed, and would only kick-off a month later after the launch of the </p><p>movie in Singapore on June 3, 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>MindShare had to help build quick association and awareness of Pepsi </p><p>with the movie during this interim period, prior to Pepsi's consumer </p><p>promotion. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The key marketing objective </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>To capitalise and maximise on Pepsi's worldwide association with Lucas </p><p>Films/Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Communications materials </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>At that point in time, only print materials were approved by Lucas </p><p>Films, produced by Pepsi-Cola International, and adapted locally. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The Media Strategy </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The following key elements were taken into consideration: </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>1) Target audience </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Pepsi is targeted at people aged 15-39 years; however, the core of the </p><p>business is very much focused on teenagers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>2) Scheduling </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Even though Pepsi's consumer promotion was going to be a month late, it </p><p>was very important to ride on the hype of Star Wars Episode 1, and to </p><p>create awareness of Pepsi's brand during the launch of the movie. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>3) Creative consideration </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Only full-colour print materials were available. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Relevant editorial environment that reflected the interest and lifestyle </p><p>of Pepsi's target audience would be sought. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Evaluation and analysis concluded that weekly magazine 8-Days surpassed </p><p>the rest of the publications in meeting the communication objective. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The creative media solution </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The idea was to do something loud, innovative, original and impactful in </p><p>execution, so as to build Pepsi's association with Star Wars Episode </p><p>1. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>8-Days' editorial includes news update on TV, music, movie and the </p><p>entertainment industry, which was the right fit for this brand. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>8-Days created a collector's issue, highlighting four characters from </p><p>the movie, each on a different cover: Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, Obi-Wan </p><p>Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>And on the same cover fold, a half-page, full-colour flap for Pepsi was </p><p>devised. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The editor got Lucas Films' final approval and printed 85,000 copies of </p><p>this special issue, an additional 10,000 copies above the regular print </p><p>run. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>This 14 per cent increase was in anticipation of the popularity of the </p><p>special issue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>No additional cost was incurred by Pepsi-Cola or MindShare for this </p><p>execution. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>8-Days also bought spots on Channel 5 to promote the special </p><p>edition. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The result </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Word-of-mouth on the special edition was extremely positive. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The challenge faced by MindShare was successfully carried out in the </p><p>above scenario. In terms of creative media idea and usage by MindShare </p><p>to help build Pepsi's association and hype in a-never-before creative </p><p>execution in Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>* This ongoing National Geographic Showcase series features selected </p><p>material from winners and other entries in the Best Use of Media </p><p>category in MEDIA's Agency of the Year Awards 1999. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>