PepsiCo has grown exponentially since its 1893 debut as “Brad’s Drink,” recently ranking 29th on Forbes’ “World’s Most Valuable Brands” list. It is one of the world’s largest companies with products sold in more than 200 countries and territories and 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each year in estimated annual retail sales. This leading food and beverage company approached 6 Pillars Marketing with its national vision and tagline, “Live for Now.” To add local flair and increase awareness of Pepsi’s local manufacturing, 6PM designed the exciting “Drink Aloha” campaign, making the brand relevant and tangible to our island culture. By branding the PepsiCo Hawaii division as a high-quality beverage manufacturer with production in the islands, 6PM effectively elevated the company’s priceless local profile.
Many national and international brands have come to understand that Hawaii consumers respond best when there is a deep connection to the community, a deeper connection than may be required in other major markets. However, achieving that “local connection” can be elusive. As an internationally known brand, Pepsi did not need to be introduced to Hawaii consumers. Rather, Pepsi sought out to be the soda brand of choice within Hawaii’s niche beverage market. 6PM’s expert creative team strategized the development and production of the central concept for Pepsi’s successful local marketing campaign, “Drink Aloha.”
6PM created a campaign that rooted the brand in the islands and established Pepsi as a locally made product. It was not widely known that Pepsi’s bottling facility on Oahu locally produces and packages its products and provides jobs to more than 300 employees. Our marketing department created “Drink Aloha” to emphasize the culture of Hawaii and reinforce Pepsi’s strong local connection. Since its launch, the campaign has been widely used to promote Pepsi products and has become popular across the islands, evidence of the effectiveness of the strategy by 6PM.
6PM Scope of Work:
Advertising, marketing, strategy, digital & social media, video production, public relations, branding, graphic design, creative strategy, events, media, entertainment, experiential marketing, photography, drone videography, retail activations, partnership marketing, new product launches, celebrity bookings, model casting
6PM’s public relations campaign gained strong traction, positioning Pepsi favorably among Hawaii’s diverse media. Our team effectively communicated Pepsi’s local ties and brand philosophy through numerous publications and broadcast outlets. We achieved a wide reach with our announcements of Pepsi events throughout our communities, simultaneously elevating the Pepsi brand in the islands.
6PM understands that a successful campaign begins with a strong presence in the community. Our knowledge of the local community and its beloved culture ensured that all messaging we developed and disseminated would appeal to and resonate with the local audiences.
Our PR team and the marketing professionals at Pepsi know the value of high-profile partnerships. To that end, on behalf of Pepsi, our well-connected 6PM team secured several partnerships with the NFL, including Pro Bowl tie-ins, appearances by celebrities, including Grammy-winning DJ and rapper Lupe Fiasco, and Grammy Award-winning recording artist Foxes, along with several NFL pro football players. These partnerships provided win-win opportunities for all involved partners to leverage respective audiences and boost brand equity through association.
To further demonstrate Pepsi’s strong local connections in Hawaii, our team created campaigns that directly engaged local consumers. Specializing in experiential marketing, 6PM arranged tasting booths in strategic locations with heavy foot traffic where potential customers could experience “Drink Aloha” for themselves. We generated excitement in the community with exciting games, prizes and product tastings to create lasting impressions among target audiences. Our tasting booths helped to create an authentic connection between Pepsi and the people of Hawaii.
6PM also secured a partnership with L&L Hawaiian Barbecue, a local institution, to activate the national campaign, “Find the Golden Pepsi Can.” The limited-edition, Pro-Bowl ticket giveaway was a cross-marketing success, resulting in additional publicity and sales for both Pepsi and L&L.
When executing Pepsi’s concept, our graphic design team aimed to create memorable visual elements that captured what it means to “Drink Aloha.” 6PM centered the campaign design around the traditional Aloha Spirit, a positive and iconic frame of mind and heart prevalent within the islands. Bold, creative designs were on posters, digital media, event graphics and more.
A very mobile and noticeable design from our Pepsi campaign was a colorful vehicle, wrapped with the Pepsi brand. The vehicle wrap, designed by 6PM, always got looks wherever it went — further reinforcing the campaign messages of “Live For Now” and “Drink Aloha.”
6PM’s strategic designs promoted the Pepsi brand and incorporated details that best represented Hawaii, including the island lifestyle, unparalleled outdoors, beautiful beaches and glorious year-round sun.
The professionals of 6PM have mastered the power of social media. To promote “Drink Aloha,” our social media team used leading platforms, including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, to grow the campaign from a relatively unknown concept into a statewide recognized slogan.
Through an ongoing variety of engaging posts and high-quality images, 6PM presented PepsiCo as a brand that encapsulated and practiced the Aloha Spirit in a genuine way. Due to the dynamic and interactive nature of social media, this provided Pepsi with numerous positive customer touchpoint opportunities.
After our initial success with Pepsi’s local campaign, we continued to work with the company throughout the years. When Pepsi teamed up with the NFL to promote the Pro Bowl in Hawaii, the company selected 6PM to produce numerous high-profile, large-scale opportunities in support of the marketing campaigns.
Recognizing the large community of sports-lovers in the islands, 6PM also linked the “Drink Aloha” slogan to various sporting events. Through our specialized marketing and public relations efforts, we hosted the following events:
To this day, remnants of Pepsi’s “Drink Aloha” campaign can still be found around Hawaii, a true testament to its success. 6PM’s comprehensive efforts to establish a lasting connection between this international brand and island consumers continue to benefit our valued client.
