What’s the Point of Pepsi Refresh?
Posted by Allison Fine on March 25, 2010
The first round of the Pepsi Refresh Project has just concluded its first round of funding. The Chronicle reported on the initial grant awards to 32 groups of $1.3 million here.
Pepsi will continue to give out monthly grants until it reaches it’s proposed grant amount of $20 million. That’s all great, but when the awards were announced I began to wonder what it all means. To their credit, Pepsi created a very easy-to-use site, that worked after some initial glitches, and a fairly transparent process (although there are some grumbles of gaming by Pepsi and participants), but, in particular, I keep going back to what Beth wrote initially about the contest, “what’s the theory of change?”
When the contest was first announced it was framed in the media as Pepsi choosing philanthropy over Super Bowl ads. But as Mashable warned, if the campaign worked, “..the company can build brand awareness while also helping out communities across the world. On the flip side, if not executed properly, the company could wind up spending $20 million on philanthropic causes (which is to be commended), without getting the benefits of a buzz-generating ad campaign.”
As Geoff points out, this is quite a delicate dance. He writes, “Perhaps the greatest trend of the moment is the fusion of corporate and philanthropic interests, which in turn is producing growing pains and change. It’s likely that the requirements of online transparency will demand a new era of authenticity in corporate community investment efforts.”
One area of transparency I’d like to see Pepsi transcend is that of their intended outcomes for this effort. Which is it, Pepsi? Are you interested in the kinds of returns that an expensive ad campaign would create? For instance, are you interested in greater sales? Or are you interested in philanthropic outcomes, improved reading skills or greener classrooms or better health outcomes? Or are you betting that that this new form of philanthropy can create a hybrid of the two? One thing I do know is that if it is philanthropic outcomes, then this model needs to be extended beyond the contest to a platform for reporting and sharing results. I need to know, Pepsi, please tell me!
14 Responses to “What’s the Point of Pepsi Refresh?”
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Mazarine said
It’s stumbling because it IS clumsy and stupid to expect people to just overlook the cavities Pepsi has created in favor of some new “charitable interest.”
Perhaps Pepsi could invest in ending childhood obesity (the new cause celebre) or better yet, instituting gardens at K-12 schools to help children learn how to grow, cook and eat their own food.
If Pepsi really wants more than cause-washing, this might be a way to get people more interested in what Pepsi represents as a company.
I wrote a post on this earlier this month:
http://www.wildwomanfundraising.com/greenwashing-whitewashing-pinkwashing/
Geoff Livingston said
Branding, not change. That’s become very clear to me. This is fanfare to put a halo around Pepsi. I don’t think they really care in the end so long as the crowd is happy.
Alex, aka SocialButterfly said
I like what Geoff said. Pepsi wants branding. But we want change. I think that’s the paradox and where things don’t add up. Because Pepsi and (some) of the people they are connecting with want different things.
But, it’s a step in the right direction. We as consumers just need to continue to show and demand what “more/change” is, in a way that equals a win-win for all.
David said
I still have questions. What does Pepsi do with the data collected in this effort? Will it be used for future marketing of Pepsi products or something else?
Bonin Bough said
Allison,
Thanks so much for your post. It raises an important question, and one that we’ve considered throughout the development and implementation of the Refresh Project. At its heart, Pepsi Refresh is about engaging with America – engaging with consumers, engaging with social entrepreneurs, and engaging with great ideas that can help move the world forward.
We hope that some of that social engagement will lead to more brand awareness, and yes, greater sales for Pepsi. But that’s not all that Pepsi Refresh is about. We’re betting on the American people (never a bad bet) to submit and vote on ideas that will really make a difference in their communities. That’s why we’re working with GOOD and Global Giving, and that’s why we’ve conducted extensive outreach with the nonprofit community: we want to make sure that the grants that Pepsi Refresh gives will go to ideas that can truly make a difference.
Whether that comes from greener classrooms, as you suggest, or by providing financial literacy classes to students, as one of our first-round recipients does, we’re leaving it up to everyone to decide how to spend these $20 million. And yes, there’s an element of risk in that.
But our commitment doesn’t stop when we write each grant recipient a check. Each is assigned a grant manager from GOOD and Global Giving, to make sure that they find success in implementing their idea. The larger grant sizes are disbursed based on agreed-upon milestones. And we’ll be working with each recipient to share their story, and helping them to pool best practices. Finally, we’re committed to extending the results of Pepsi Refresh beyond our grant recipients. We’re looking for third parties who are willing to rigorously examine the grant recipients and the impacts their ideas have. We’re optimistic about what they’ll find.
Our first batch of grant recipients was just announced, and they’re just starting to put their ideas into practice. As their stories unfold, we hope their impact will become evident. And we hope that you’ll be there, with us, watching them succeed.
I look forward to continuing this dialogue with you throughout the course of the program. It’s only with strong partners in the philanthropic community that we can truly be successful.
Bonin Bough
Global Director of Digital & Social Media, PepsiCo
Allison Fine said
Bonin,
Thanks for your thoughtful response and clarifications. I look forward to hearing more about the lessons learned from the contest and the results from the grantees. Best wishes,
Allison
Beth Kanter said
Thanks for this! Great conversation last week – and here’s the post that I mentioned to you that I was working on
http://beth.typepad.com/beths_blog/2010/03/are-proxy-vote-for-me-tactics.html
X Prize for Social Good « A. Fine Blog said
[...] What’s the Point of Pepsi Refresh? [...]
What Could Your Cause Do with a Full Page USA Today Ad? | Geoff Livingston's Blog said
[...] Now, from a change impact standpoint, we have a scattershot approach to the ad. No theory of change means whoever gets the ad will either be a great creator of ads or a bust, but USA Today doesn’t seem to care with this effort. Nor do they care what type of cause (health, environment, etc.) will win the effort. They’ve taken the Pepsi Refresh approach of trusting the crowd. [...]
scott soltau said
I’m impressed with what I’m reading. Allison’s questions seem pretty legit, although I don’t think there are any rules that preclude Pepsi from having blended objectives that don’t necessarily fit neatly into either box A or B, are there? It also seems legit that Pepsi should be able to keep their objectives to themselves, especially after a popular round of bashing peppered with cynical dismissals. Sure, maybe Pepsi is just trying to catch the spotlight, but it appears to be a courageous effort and must have taken mountains of effort to get a multi billion dollar, multi national corporate culture to expose themselves to publicly adventuring into such an unproven endeavor. For me, that’s laudable. But mostly I’m impressed with the humble, authentic response from Bonin Bough that expressed a transparent and genuine desire for others to be the judge. Bravo Pepsi.
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[...] Voting contests without matching grants have additional weaknesses, too. If a contest is completely crowd driven, it risks becoming a popularity effort rewarding organizations for their ability to successfully galvanize their networks. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the best organization for change will be selected. This has been the largest criticism of Pepsi Refresh to date. [...]
David Yeend said
Given the choice between a huge cola company spending millions on a funny ad, versus spending millions on trying to help people improve their communities, I’d choose the latter, warts and all.
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[...] Some bloggers have commended Pepsi for its contest innovations, while others have been less enthusiastic. [...]
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[...] Pepsi Refresh did not have a tangible theory of change, a measurable approach towards social good, one can conclude that these outcomes are natural. They [...]