Pepsi Refresh Project

The PRP began on January 13, 2010 when the website, refresheverything.com began accepting ideas online. In contrast to the extensive requirements of Federal and Philanthropic organizations, the application process did not require skill in grant writing. The rules of the project state that the first 1,000 ideas proposed online each month will be considered for a share of $1.3 million available[5] It took less than a week for one thousand "January" ideas to be submitted and the site stopped accepting ideas.

Voting started February 1, 2010 for the group of ideas proposed during January. On March 1, the first grants were announced[6] in six categories: Health, Arts & Culture, Food & Shelter, the Planet, Neighborhoods and Education.[6]

Up to 32 ideas may be selected every month in each of the following grant segments: $5K; $25K; $50K; and $250k. Individuals, non-profits, and socially beneficial businesses are eligible to compete in all categories.

In September 2010, the Pepsi Refresh Project was criticized for allowing a coalition of progressive, nonprofit organizations called the 'Progressive Slate' to participate in the project, accusing the company of violating its own terms.[7]

The Pepsi Refresh Project generated more than 80 million votes and "37% of Americans were aware of the Refresh Project".[2]

Before engaging in any marketing campaign, we should examine the reason why it's needed: to increase your market share, brand awareness, the profitability of the business, either way, the purpose of a digital marketing plan for any organization is to guide you through the process of researching and enunciating the goals of your digital initiatives. In a digital marketing campaign, we should identify a sustainable goal that will help create exposure to company values, build service into a brand for a target market, generate positive actions and huge traffic to the company/website and increase customer loyalty. We should be able to change our vision from the traditional goal, which focuses on meeting business objectives such as brand recognition, profits, etc. to a sustainable goal that concentrates on a benefit for the community as well as the business.

We must be able to establish relevance for our targeted audience by designing a campaign that will help your company form a link between your messaging and your audience that will strengthen the effectiveness of your campaign. Is it a good strategy to emphasize audience metrics such as likes, retweets, views per page even though it little to do with product sales?

The Pepsi Refresh Project is the ideal example of the risk associated with digital promotions, due to the nature of the campaign. "This was not corporate philanthropy. This was using brand dollars with the belief that when you use these brand dollars to have consumers share ideas to change the world, the consumers will win, the brand will win and the community will win. This was a big bet. No one has done it on this scale before", declares the head of digital, Shiv Singh.

Prior to Super Bowl XLIV, the National Football League website hosted a one-week Pepsi Refresh Project contest for ideas suggested by NFL players. Drew Brees was the winner of the "Super Bowl Refresh Project" with more than half a million votes. A $100,000 grant was given to the Hope Lodge in New Orleans for no-cost housing of cancer patients and families.[9]

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, on July 12, 2010 a special competition was announced within the PRP: Do Good for the Gulf. An additional $1.3 million was committed to projects for communities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas which were adversely affected by the disaster.[10] The application period was a full month, the response was overwhelming, and 32 projects were funded with grants,[11] which ranged from providing mental health services for oil disaster victims, to building seafood farms to help employ displaced workers, to creating shelters for animals that lost their homes.[12]

• Pepsi Refresh Project