It’s been a while since we’ve seen a good, old-fashioned soda smack-down contest between Coke and Pepsi. But as the summer months approach, both beverage giants are getting ready to release some seriously competitive social media marketing maneuvers and we the next generation of the cola wars brewing.
Yesterday, Pepsi unveiled its latest marketing weapon: Pepsi Pulse. Pepsi Pulse is an interactive social media dashboard that covers all things pop culture happening right now. The enticing, headline-driven dashboard is right on trend for Pepsi’s “Live for Now” campaign, which launches on May 7. Pepsi Pulse hopes to cash in on our thirst for the latest pop culture headlines by using Twitter hashtags like #LiveforNow and #Now on tweets about celebrities, movies, music and television.
“Pepsi Pulse is a cheat sheet for pop culture,” Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages, told Mashable. “It’s not enough anymore to have phenomenal TV ads — brands have to do more.”
Pepsi Pulse is hoping to evoke memories of its past memorable ads featuring pop culture icons like Britney Spears, Michael Jackson and Madonna.
Speaking of music, Coca-Cola is going all in on a partnership with Spotify to push its Coca-Cola Music campaign this summer.
“We want to… have a sustained conversation around music with our consumers because it is an everyday passion point for them. This is just the next chapter in that evolution where you take the product and the services and social ability of Spotify and bring it into the Coca-Cola brand experience,” says Joe Belliotti, director of global entertainment marketing for Coca-Cola, in an interview with indystar.com.
Coke and Spotify will be rolling their global music domination campaign this summer during the Olympic games. Expect Coke’s Facebook page to serve as the hub for the partnership.
Which “sodie pop” is gonna wind up on top after all the Facebook and Twitter marketing moves are said and done? Stay tuned. In a summer filled with big sporting events and major marketing opportunities, the battle is just heating up.
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