Until last spring, there seemed to be a silent peace between Coca Cola and Pepsi in Europe: Coke focused on women with Coke Light, Pepsi on men with Pepsi Max.
But this year was different. Coke broken the unspoken rule and launched Coke Zero in Europe: a soda with zero sugar and a great taste. The same positioning as Pepsi Max (launched in ’94) but different execution. Prime prospects are young men.
For PepsiCo France this was the perfect opportunity to start with comparative advertising, as both companies have been doing in the past few decennia in the US. Yet, as the advertising rules are stricter in France, they’ve done it in a subtle way.
Pepsi started with a press campaign from June to December 2007 on Pepsi Max. The ad shows a cursor from ZERO to MAX. On the left, you see an ordinary guy. On the right a very sexy looking guy. They’ve done the same with a boring looking and sexy looking female nurse. It’s not real comparative advertising, but you can clearly see this is about both brands.
Furthermore, PepsiCo launched this year Pepsi Light, for a more female target. With this sexy fashion brand, Pepsi again tries to stand out: you drink it to stand out the crowd.
Agency Pepsi France: CLM BBDO.
1 comment:
;-) Both very good campaigns, I think. A bit cruel towards CocaCola perhaps, but Pepsi has always been percieved as a "fighter", so they can allow themselves to be a little bit controversial.
Post a Comment