Assignment
PepsiCo, the world's leading snack marketer, aims to gobble up more market share through careful targeting and creative marketing. Most of PepsiCo's sales come from North and South America, where it has traditionally been a strong competitor. Among its ever-expanding pantry of brands, 19 are already billion-dollar businesses, including Pepsi-Cola, Diet Pepsi, and Mountain Dew soft drinks; Lay's, Doritos, and Tostitos chips; Lipton teas; Tropicana fruit drinks; Gatorade sports drinks; Quaker foods; and Aquafina bottled waters. The company faces aggressive competition from Coca-Cola and Draft Foods, both of which are making marketing waves in the Americas, across Europe, and in Asia. It must also deal with a variety of local brands that, in some cases, have large and loyal customer bases. Therefore, PepsiCo's marketers constantly research customers' needs and study the influence of environmental forces so that they can develop the right marketing mix for the right market.
One global trend that PepsiCo's marketers have identified is increased interest in healthier eating. Several years ago, the U.K. government mounted a campaign warning consumers of the dangers of high salt intake and urged them to change their diets. In response, PepsiCo slashed the amount of sodium in its locally popular Walkers snacks by 25 percent. With U.S. health experts also calling for lower salt in processed foods, PepsiCo is now reducing the level of salt in many other snacks worldwide. It is also lightening up on fats and sugar and making nutrition labeling more prominent so that consumers can make educated choices. "What we want to do with our ‘fun for you' products is to make them the healthiest ‘fun for you' products," says the CEO. Another trend that PepsiCo's marketers noticed is sharply higher use of digital media among teenagers and young adults, a large and lucrative target market for snacks and beverages. As a result, PepsiCo has stepped up its use of the Internet, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to communicate with and influence these consumers.
Its Democracy campaigns, for example, invite customers to vote online for their favorite new Mountain Dew flavors. It has also run contests asking customers to create and submit homemade television commercials for Doritos chips. After posting the finalists online for public viewing and voting, PepsiCo airs the winning advertisements during the Super Bowl, giving winners cash prizes and their 30 seconds of fame. PepsiCo's recent Refresh Project, one of its more unusual marketing efforts, combined digital marketing with social responsibility. During the year-long program, PepsiCo invited consumers to apply online for grants to make a difference in their community. Every month, the public voted on which grants they thought were most deserving of funding. In all, PepsiCo awarded nearly $20 million in grants, got tens of thousands of customers interested in the project, and earned positive publicity for its good works. Of course, PepsiCo hoped that customers would also notice and respond to its social responsibility when they were making buying decisions about snacks and beverages.
These days, PepsiCo is keeping up a steady stream of new product introductions, based on marketing research that helps it understand the preferences of customers in each country. For example, catering to Russian palates, it offers Lay's chips flavored with red caviar. In China, its Cao Ben Le drinks feature herb flavors that local customers favor. In Japan, knowing that its customers look forward to seasonal variety, the company has launched a series of limited-edition soft drinks such as Pepsi Baobab (with the tang of African fruit flavor). In India, it markets Nimbooz by 7Up, its unique twist on a traditional lemon drink. What will PepsiCo do next in its quest to satisfy its global customer base? Questions
1. What is PepsiCo's approach to target marketing?
2. How are forces in the marketing environment affecting PepsiCo's marketing strategy?
3. Which influences on consumer buying behavior should PepsiCo pay particular attention to, and why?
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.