Dive Brief:
- PepsiCo Inc. is using its NFL sponsorship to score one for Diet Pepsi by featuring the NFL in marketing campaigns to promote PepsiCo's new aspartame-free Diet Pepsi.
- PepsiCo's initial marketing strategy for aspartame-free Diet Pepsi doesn't include TV ads and instead features simpler ads posted in stores and on digital channels. The ads are devoid of flashy promotions or celebrity endorsements, which is unlike its last Diet Pepsi reformulation in 2013, when the company used Sofia Vergara as part of a major ad campaign to promote the product.
- Because PepsiCo has defended aspartame as safe in the past, the new ads for aspartame-free Diet Pepsi notably focus on taste rather than health issues.
Dive Insight:
PepsiCo's departure from the Diet Pepsi brand's flashy campaigns and the company's new focus on digital advertising demonstrate a shift in marketing strategy. Digital advertising enables a more targeted approach to reach the right audience, and in Diet Pepsi's case, it has "a very, very specific consumer segment," said Seth Kaufman, senior VP for the Pepsi and flavors portfolio in North America, according to Ad Age.
Aspartame is an ingredient met with controversy for food and beverage companies. Some believe the chemical causes health problems, though the American Cancer Society said that "for most people, no health problems have clearly been linked to aspartame use."
However, it is concerns about aspartame and other artificial sweeteners that are contributing to diet soda's downfall, including Diet Pepsi, which lost 5.2% in volume last year.
In other beverage news, Coca-Cola Co. is funding scientists who are promoting an exercise-focused approach to fighting obesity rather than cutting calories and otherwise focusing on dietary changes. Coca-Cola has provided financial and logistical support to the nonprofit Global Energy Balance Network to enable these scientists to spread the message via medical journals, conferences, and social media.