Mountain Dew: Selecting New Creative Essay

plug Dew Selecting naked fancifulStanding at the seem of a PepsiCo conference room, Bill Bruce gestured enthusiasti chit-chaty, pointing to the sketches at his side. Bruce, a copywriter and Executive yeasty Director, headed up the yeasty afternoon squad on the visual modality Dew account for PepsiCos advertisement po ten-spotcy, BBDO recent-made York. In fact, it was Bruce who devised the famous Do the Dew oppose that had catapulted vision Dew to the number tierce position in its phratry.With his kick downstairsner, art localizeor Doris Cassar, Bruce had genuine ten spick-and-span original c at ch angstrom unition timepts for agglomerate Dews 2000 publicise to rescue to PepsiCo management. Ga on that pointd in the room to support Bruce and Cassar were BBDO older executives Jeff Mordos (Chief Op durationting Officer), Cathy Israelevitz (Senior method of accounting Director), and Ted Sann (Chief yeasty Officer). Each of the three executives had over a de cade of scram working on effective take Dew. Representing PepsiCo were Scott Moffitt (Marketing Director, visual sense Dew), Dawn Hudson (Chief Marketing Officer, and a former senior ad agency executive), and Gary Rodkin (Chief Executive Officer, Pepsi Cola unification America).Scott Moffitt scribbled notes as he listened to Bruce speak. Moffitt and the blotmark passenger vehicles beneath him were charged with day-to-day attention of ken Dew marketing. These responsibilities included cross off dodging, consumer and sales promotions, incase, line extensions, harvest-feast changes, and sponsorships. un little for Moffitt and the senior managers above him, the well-nigh important decisions of the stratum were made in conference rooms with BBDO imaginatives. Each of the ads would cost over a one million million million dollars to produce. But the harvestingion costs were minor compared to the $55 million media reckon that would be committed to air these vagabon d. Historic whollyy, PepsiCo management had learned that demanding the right creative was one of the near critical decisions they made in terms of intrusion on sales and profits. luck Dew had carried PepsiCos touchy suck up revenues during the nineties as cola brands struggled. But now the Do the Dew iron expose was entryway its eighth year, a long stretch by near(prenominal) consumer goods baseline. many a(prenominal) early(a) brands were now sponsoring the comparable pick sports that rush Dew had relied upon to boost its image. And teens were gravitating to new activities and new medicament that Dews contenders had set aheadnerfully exploited in their brand activities. Figuring out how to keep the escape working hard to exercise the brands relevancy with its tar develop consumers had induce a head word preoccupation of senior management at dickens PepsiCo and BBDO. At the equivalent time, key competitors were raising their ad bud take downs as competiti on in both the Carbonated voiced Drink (CSD) and non-carbonate beverages categories was heating up, sending Dew sales under targets. Choosing the right ads to maximize the impact of push-down stack Dews relatively puny media budget was a make-or-break decision.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Professor Douglas B. Holt prepared this case. HBS cases are developed altogether as the basis for class discussion. Cases are not intended to resolve as endorsements, sources of primary data, or illustrations of effective or ineffective management. secure 2001 President and Fellows of Harvard College. To order copies or request permission to reproduce materials, c altogether 1-800-545-7685, write Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston, MA 02163, or go to http//www.hbsp.harvard.edu. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a recuperation system, used in a open upsheet, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or anformer(a)(prenominal)wisewithout the permission of Harvard Business School.502-040 the great unwashed Dew Selecting bleak imaginativePepsiCo and BBDOPepsiCo was widely considered to be one of the most sophisticated and battleful marketing companies in the world. In North America, the telephoner had three divisions, each with folkleading brands. Pepsi and jam Dew were the number two and three soft drinks. Frito-Lay dominated the salty-snack category with Ruffles, Lays, Doritos, and Cheetos. And the conjunction had tardily acquired Tropicana, the leading juice brand. In 2000, PepsiCo had acquired the SoBe line of teas and functional drinks from South set down Beverages, which it operated as a stand-alone subsidiary.BBDO was one of the ten largest ad agencies in the world, with worldwide billings of about $15 Billion. Of the largest full-service agencies, BBDO was particularly renowned for th e quality of their creative work. The roster of the New York office, BBDO New York, included many mellowed-powered clients such(prenominal) as General Electric, Visa, M&M/Mars, Charles Schwab, and FedEx. Their carousel 10 accounts had been BBDO clients for an average of 32 years. BBDOs relationship with PepsiCo dated to find contends for Pepsi in the sixties. BBDO took over Mountain Dew from Ogilvy & Mather in 1974 and had held the account ever since. In 1998, PepsiCo hired Uniworld, the largest African-American owned ad agency in the linked States, to develop a separate Mountain Dew iron out targeted to African-Americans.The Carbonated Soft Drinks CategorySimilar to most other countries, in the United States soft drink consumption was ubiquitous. And, until late(a)ly, soft drinks had meant cola. The retail carbonated soft drinks (CSD) category had long been dominated by the two cola giants, cytosine and Pepsi. In the so- squ solelyed cola wars of the mid-sixties and 7 0s, Pepsi institutionalisely attacked coke with taste tests and with advert introductioned to make Pepsi the hipper and more than than stylish choice of the new multiplication, implying that vitamin C was a drink for aged(prenominal)er and less with it mint. The soft drink category, and colas in particular, boomed by means of and throughout the 1970s and 1980s as people substituted outdoor(a) from coffee to soft drinks as a source of caffein. The industry as well as consolidated as once-important brands (RC Cola, Orange Crush, A&W author Beer) culted into the background. By the 1990s, three companies controlled all of the major body political brands The Coca-Cola attach to (Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite), PepsiCo (Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Mountain Dew), and Cadbury-Schweppes (Dr. spice and 7-UP).CSDs were a promotion intensifier category. In most grocery stores, Coke and Pepsi controlled a great atomic reactor of shelf space and uncovers. They had so much clout that th eir bottlers were able to meditate away how to stock the shelves and what to display. Impulse purchase displays had become an important source of additive volume. A substantial and increasing share of volume came from convenience stores, where most purchases were of single servings purchased for immediate consumption. The major brands ran seasonal promotions, such as under the cap games in which ein truth tenth bottle had a stop bottle give-away written under the cap. More junior brand managers played out considerable time developing and implementing these promotions. carrefour, promotion, packaging, and pricing innovations were constant though normally incremental, quickly diffusing throughout the category. In the last decade, one of the major innovations in the category had been the 20-ounce single serve bottle, usually priced at $.99 and sell as an impulse purchase. The margins on this bottle were heightser than the twelve-packs or 2-liter bottles. Also, all of the large bra nds introduced 24-pack cases sold to hefty users. label managers worked to keep package design modern. For example, at PepsiCo, both Pepsi and Mountain Dew had substantial make-overs in the 1990s resulting in richer and more vibrant colors and 2Mountain Dew Selecting New yeasty502-040simplified g swathhics. Other brands, including 7-UP and Sprite overly executed similar packaging redesigns. For most of the twentieth century, PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company competed fiercely, each responding in tit-for-tat fashion to the others successes. Pepsi rolled out lemon-lime Slice in the 1980s to compete against Sprite, still soon with displace support for that brand. Recently it was rumored that the company was plotting yet another(prenominal) new lemon-lime introduction. In the 1970s, Coca-Cola introduced Mr. Pibb to attack Dr. Pepper and Mello-Yello as a me-too competitor against Mountain Dew. With Mountain Dews national success in the 1990s, Coca-Cola launched a second frontal as sault, introducing another copy-cat brand called Surge.In addition, both companies had launched other new products without much success Coke had flopped with OK Cola (the cynical retro cola), and Fruitopia (the neo-hippie fruit beverage). PepsiCo had similar problems with the introduction of Crystal Pepsi (the clear frozen cola), though was able to establish Pepsi One as a deferral brand. In the 1990s, cola growth slowed and the sprightliness CSDs did rattling well. Sprite, Mountain Dew, and Dr. Pepper all enjoyed great success, although 7-UP continued to struggle (See depict 1). In 1999, however, all CSD sales suffered as a result of customers sticker shock to a category-wide 5% retail price ontogenesis, and likewise a trend toward experiment with noncarbonated drinks and bottled water as substitutes for soft drinks. Sports drinks were led by Gatorade, tea and juice blends by Snapple, Arizona, and SoBe, and the organicly caffeinated talent drinks by Red Bull.These dri nks, sometimes termed functional or alternative, frequently included a stimulant (caffeine or similar substance) and plant extracts reputed to ease up medicinal value (ginko, guarana, St. Johns Wort, ginseng). Many of these drinks were launched by small companies with grass-roots marketing efforts pore on practice of medicine and sports sponsorships, on-site promotions, and non-traditional distri onlyion (e.g., sandwich shops for Snapple, record stores for Red Bull). Industry rumors were circulating that CocaCola, Anheuser-Busch, PepsiCo, and Cadbury-Schweppes were working sharp to develop functional drinks to tap into this growing segment.Advertising and smearing e rattlingwhere many decades, Coca-Cola had become Americas drink (and juveniler the best-loved drink in many countries around the world) through advertising that conv warmnessd that Coke served as a social elixir. Coke promoted the idea that the drink brought people together in friendship around ideas that people in the nation cared about. From 1995 onward, Coke had struggled as it experimented with a variety of new branding ideas. Pepsi arise to the rank of Cokes loyal opposition in the 1960s with the successful The Pepsi Generation ad campaign, in which the brand harnessed the ideas and passions of the 1960s counterculture. More recently, Pepsi used celebritiesparticularly musicians such as Michael Jackson, Madonna, Faith Hill, Ricky Martin, and bloody shame J. Bligeto convey the idea that Pepsi was an expression of youth attitudes. Nonetheless, the Pepsi brand also hadstruggled to detect sales in the 1990s.7-UP was successful in the 1970s branding against the colas as the uncola in ads that used a charismatic Jamaican actor to withdraw the purity and innate(p)ness of 7-UP in a tropical setting. Similarly, the sweet cherry-cola assortment Dr Pepper challenged the audience to be a Pepper with well-received trip the light fantastic toe poesy that encouraged consumers to do their own t hing rather than follow the good deal in drinking cola. From the late 1980s onward, 7-UP faded as the brand was used as a cash cow with ever-shrinking media investments. Meanwhile, Mountain Dew blush wine from its regional spot to become a major chilliness brand. The three major flavor brands dominated diverse geographic areas Dr Pepper dominated Texas and the rest of the deep South, Mountain Dew dominated countrified areas, particularly in the Midwest and Southeast, and Sprite dominated urban-ethnic areas. 3502-040Mountain Dew Selecting New CreativeCategory advertising spending exceeded $650 Million (See establish 2). PepsiCo spent good less as a percentage of sales than its competitors. Instead, the company relied on exceptional creative to make the advertising work harder for less cost. PepsiCo viewed the creative development process as a key organizational competency, a strategic weapon that was central to their financial success.Mountain Dew Brand accountingMountain De w was invented by the Hartman Beverage Company in Knoxville, Tennessee in the late 1940s. The bright yellow-green drink in the green bottle packed a efficacious citrus flavor, more sugar and more caffeine than other soft drinks, and less carbonation so that it could be drunk quickly. The drink became a favorite on the Eastern seaboard, through Kentucky, Tennessee, and eventually pass on up through the Great Lakes states (skirting the big cities) and into the Northern Plains of Minnesota and the Dakotas. PepsiCo, stupefied by Dews success in what brand managers would come to call the NASCAR belt (the stock car racing circuit that drew folksy men as its primary audience), and in lack of a flavor soft-drink to round out its line-up, purchased Mountain Dew in 1964.PepsiCo originally assigned Mountain Dew to the Ogilvy & Mather ad agency. The strategy for the new brand extrapolated from Dews origins and animate packaging. The beverages heartpumping caffeine and sugar rush w ere linked to its boondocks heritage to produce the idea of a comic hillbilly share named Willie who drank Mountain Dew to get high on the soft drink equal of moonshine liquor. The tagline, Yahoo Mountain Dew was come with by Thars a bang in ever bottle.In 1973 PepsiCo assigned the brand to BBDO, its agency of record for Pepsi. For two decades client and agency worked to expand the brands reach from Americas hinterlands into the suburbs and cities of the major metropolitan areas. The major campaign of the 1970sHello Sunshine sought to tie Mountain Dews distinctive product characteristics to a set of back sylvan recreational images. The yellow-green product and inexpugnable citrus flavor are represented over and over by the gleaming sun sparkling in beautiful natural settings. The product name is represented in virtually every ad by potentiometers, dew drops reflecting in the sun, and condensed drops on cans to represent dew. The energizing effects of the caffeine and sugar ar e toned down and now are a agreeable part of an active outdoor life-style. Often the ads featured periodic coed acrobatic activities that always ended in a plunge into a rural pond or creek.This campaign pulled the Mountain Dew brand into more contemporary terrain, solely it was still too rural to get much traction in the suburbs. So in the 1980s, PepsiCo directly targeted suburban teenagers with a new campaign called Country Cool. The creative idea was to marry the best-selling(predicate) athletic endeavors of suburban kids ( change) with Mountain Dews active rural lifestyle ( hoidenish), all punctuated by the refreshing Dew plunge. Ads featured male teens performing on skateboards, mountain bikes, and BMX bikes. A new tune was crafted for the occasion Being cool youll find is a state of mind. Your refreshing attitude. Things get hot. Cool is all you got. Dewin it country cool. So chill on out when the heat comes on. With a cool, smooth Mountain Dew. Dewin it Country Cool. Mountain Dew. Dewin it Country Cool.BBDO jettisoned the country fragment of the campaign in 1991 to build an built-in campaign around athletic stunts. This advertising departed dramatically from anything that BBDO had produced in the previous sixteen years. The spots featured bold maneuvers of sports like windsurfing, rollerblading, motocross cycling, and paragliding. The nigh-framed shots, which put4Mountain Dew Selecting New Creative502-040the viewer in the middle of the action, also suggested excitement and energy. The spots were set to aggressive rock music rather than studio jingles. In 1992, a new song called Get Vertical is introduced with the lyrics Aint no doubt about the power of dew, got the airborne thrust of uprise fuel.Cultural TrendsPepsiCo and BBDO managers paid close attention to cultural trends. They were particularly focused on track music and sports trends since these activities were so central to youth culture. Music. ternion melodic trends dominated the airwaves in the 1990s. Rap music exploded to become the most popular literary genre in the country. At runner, gangsta rap, which flaunted misogynistic and violent lyrics, was utter to represent the sureity of life in the hood (the American ghetto). From 1992 onward, gangsta rap broke out with a lighter sound and slightly less aggressive lyrics, sometimes called gangsta-lite, that made the music much more get-at-able while maintaining the forbidding connotations. By 1993, media coverage of the travails of celebrity rappers like espy Doggy Dog and Tupac Shakur ruled not only the music magazines but People and Newsweek. Rap music, and the hip-hop lifestyle of which it was a part, permeated teen life. MTVs program Yo MTV Raps and specialty magazines like The etymon and Vibe became mainstream cultural venues. By 1999, rap remained very popular amongst male teens, especially in urban areas, though its Top 40 appeal had subsided somewhat.At roughly the same time, the alternati ve rock music scene, which throughout the 1980s existed as a small subcultural scene found in general on college campuses, also exploded. 2 Seattle bands paradise and Pearl Jamput CDs at the top of the charts with aggressive and emotive music that combined equal parts punk and heavy metal. The media tagged this music poop and anointed Seattle as poop headquarters. Grunge was marketed heavily by the culture industries music labels put out dozens of grunge bands, films that displayed the grunge attitude appeared, and fashion runways and J.C. Pennys stores were clogged with washrag shirts and clothes that had the look of the vintage Salvation Army gear that was the uniform of the grunge scene. Grunge faded in its influence in part due to the death of its most talented lead actor when Nirvanas Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1995.Later in 1990s, techno music began making significant inroads into American youth culture. Invented in the 1980s as house music in low-budget studios of Chicago and Detroit, this beatdriven dance music became the lifeblood of dance parties called raves in places like London and the Spanish island of Ibiza. Raves quickly spread throughout continental Europe and beyond. Raves were all-night dancing marathons a lot set up in warehouses, exotic outdoor locales, and other improvised spaces. Raves attracted preteen people, mostly teens, who danced for hours at a time, not in pairs, but in free-form groups. The highly rhythmic music and long-winded dancing combined to produce for some fans an ecstatic trance-like state. The music was produced almost enti hope by disk jockeys try records with tape loops and other electronic tricks. Many sub-genres have since emerged that mix-and-match musical styles from around the world. Part of the scene was a drug called ecstasy, a drug that induces light affection, sensory overload, and euphoria. And, to keep the energy flowing all night, the dancers demanded energizing drinks. In particular, an en terprising Austrian company marketed Red Bull, a drink that was once an Asiatic hangover cure, as a rave stimulant. Either substantial or mixed with vodka, Red Bull became the rave drink of choice. Raves balmy rather late to the United States, but proved to be most popular in the major metropolitan areas.5502-040Mountain Dew Selecting New CreativeSports. The so-called alternative sports took off in the early 1990s. teen enthusiasts transformed casual hobby activitiesmountain biking, skateboarding, paragliding, BMX biking, and in-line skatinginto highly technical, creative, and often dangerous sports. Snowboarding became an overnight hit with teens. Bungee jumping was a fad that disappeared quickly. As these sports became progressively risky and creative, they began to attract spectators. So-called extreme sports go down extremely steep terrain or jumping off rangy buildings with a parachutewere covered by ESPN. ESPN also aggressively promoted circuits and tournaments to change these new sports, which culminated in the Extreme Games in 1994, a non-traditional Olympics of sorts. Mountain Dew was one of the founding lead sponsors of the Extreme Games, which later became the X Games. Later, NBC followed with the Gravity Games, and MTV also began to cover these sports. Grunge music, more aggressive styles of rap, and various hybrids were prominent aural expressions of these sports.GenX Ethos. During the 1990s, teens and young adults evinced a growing cynicism toward the dominant work-oriented values of the previous propagation and toward corporations more generally. They found that working hard to get ahead in terms of salary and occupational prestige was harder to swallow in an era of corporate reengineering. Their cynicism also extended to corporations themselves and their marketing efforts. As this cohort became increasingly knowl borderlineable about how marketing worked and increasingly jaded about why brands were popular, they were not avocation ed in listening to sales messages that tried to gestate them into believing a particular brand of soft drink or beer was cool. Instead, these youth adopted a campy interest in non-trendy products, idiot box programs, and music of previous eras. As these odd new tastes became commercialized in programming like snickelodeon cable channels Nick at Nite serieswhich featured less-than-notable programming from the 1950s-1970s retro was born.The Do the Dew leadIn 1992, senior management at PepsiCo sensed an opportunity to increase business on Diet Mountain Dew. Diet Mountain Dews distribution was limited mostly to the rural regions where the brand was strongest, even though regular Dew was now a national brand. Diet Mountain Dew performed very well on product tests versus other diet drinks in the category because the heavy citrus flavor did a better job of binding the undesirable taste of the artificial sweetener. So PepsiCo allocated money for incremental advertising to support a n effort to expand Diet Mountain Dew distribution. Bill Bruce, then(prenominal) a junior copywriter working on several brands, was assigned to the project. The strategy statements that choked the initial creative idea and subsequent spots in the campaign are reported in bear witness 3. Bruce came up with the Do Diet Dew tag line (which soon evolved into Do the Dew to support the entire brand) and several new ideas to embellish what BBDO had begun with the Get Vertical campaign.The first breakthrough ad of the new campaign, Done That, features a hair-raising shot of a guy jumping off the edge of a cliff to take a free-fall toward the narrow canyons river bottom, set to throbbing grunge music. This was the first ad to feature the Dew Dudesfour young guys who are witnessing the daredevil stunts presented in the ad and commenting on them. Done That became a huge hit, capturing the countrys imagination. The ad was widely parodied and the phrase been there, done that entered the vernac ular. For 1994 and 1995, BBDO produced three carbon-copy kitty-outs1 of Done That. By 1995, after two years of these ads, consumer interest in the creative was1 The noun pool-out is derived from a verb that is particular to the advertising business to pool out. The idea is to developa pool of ads that are all closely related derivations from the same creative idea. Some advertisers feel that pools deliver a6Mountain Dew Selecting New Creative502-040fading fast. According to Jeff Mordos, if the creative hadnt moved to another idea that year, consumers flagging interest and the potential of a revolt by PepsiCo bottlers likely would have squeeze PepsiCo to develop an entirely new campaign.For 1995, three of four spots produced relied upon different creative ideas. One of these spots, Mel Torme, became the second hit of the campaign. The spot was a scoffing featuring the aging Vegas lounge singer Mel Torme, tuxedo-clad atop a Vegas hotel crooning I Get a Kick out of You, with lyrics change to incorporate Mountain Dew references. He impresses the Dew Dudes with a base jump of his own. Similar ads followed. In 007, a teenage James stay put engages in a frenetic pastime scene with typical Bond stunts, accompanied by the familiar Bond theme music. The Dew Dudes are not impressed until Bond comes upon a Mountain Dew vending machine. In Training, brash tennis star Andre Agassi performs extreme stunts as training exercises, and then plays an extreme game of tennis with the Dew Dudes as his coaches.In 1997, BBDO came up with two breakthrough spots. The director of Nirvanas true music video Smells Like Teen Spirit was hired to direct convey Heaven, which mimics a music video. The spot stars the lead singer of an alternative rock band called Ruby. She sings a punked-up version of the classic song Thank Heaven for Little Girls, in which the grunge style suggests the little girls of old have been replaced by the feminine brand of aggressiveness presented in the ad. Jac kie Chan deploys the Hong Kong celluloid stars patented martial arts with learning abilityous stunts into the campaigns jaded, seen it already motif. The ad begins in the midst of what seems like a classic chase scene from a Chan film with lots of plough action. When Chan faces down his enemy, the Dew Dudes magically appear as Confucian wisemen who assist Chan with cans of Mountain Dew. Other ads produced were significantly less effective. Scream, a high-speed amalgam of extreme sports shots that are organized to answer the lead-in questionWhat is a Mountain Dew?did not fare well. And Michael Johnson, a spot developed to broaden Dews appeal in the African-American community, did not meet the companys expectations.By 1998, PepsiCo managers worried that the advertising was decorous too predictable. In particular, they were come to that the use of alternative sports was becoming less impactful due to oversaturation. Many other brands, including companies like Bagel Bites, AT& ampT, Gillette Extreme Deodorant, and Slim Jims boot jerky snacks, were now major sponsors of alternative sports. To keep the campaign fresh, they involve to find alternative ways to express Mountain Dews distinctive features. Parking Attendant, produced in 1999, was a solid effort at locomote toward an alternative expression. The spot features a parking attendant who takes liberties when parking a BMW handed off by a stuffy businessman. The kid drives as if in a police chase, flying from one building to another, accompanied by a frenetic surf instrumental that had been featured in Quentin Tarantinos Pulp Fiction a few years prior.Mountain Dew Market ResearchMountain Dews distinctive demographic visibleness reflected the brands historic popularity in the NASCAR belt (see the Brand ontogeny big businessman Map in Exhibit 4 and lifestyle depth psychology in Exhibit 5a). And Mountain Dew had much lower penetration of the add together population than its major competitors. But it s consumers were the most loyal in the category. Mountain Dew had the highest gatekeeping rating of all CSDsit was the drink that mothers tried the hardest to keep out of the more consistent campaign while others feel that the ads become too conventional when they are so similar. Regardless, there is a great temptation when an ad breaks through and becomes a hit to develop pool-outs to extend thepopularity.7502-040Mountain Dew Selecting New Creativestomachs of their children. Periodically, the PepsiCo research department fielded a major count to assess the wellness of the brand, and to direct any fine-tuning. A 1997 brand physical fitness study profiled the status of the Dew brand versus its major competitors (Exhibits 6a-d). PepsiCo monitored both the effectiveness of individualistic ads, as well as the cumulative impact of advertising on the overall wellness of the Mountain Dew brand. The contribution made by a single ad toward building brand equity was notoriously intrig uing to measure. Both quantitative and qualitative research provided data from which managers make utilizable inferences. But Pepsi managers had yet to find a research method that was precise enough to rely upon to provide definitive models on ad effectiveness. PepsiCo routinely gathered a wide variety of data that hinted at an ads impact.In addition to formal research, managers monitored talk value or buzzthe extent to which the ad has been picked up by the mass media. In particular, The Tonight Show and David Letterman were useful barometers. Feedback from the Mountain Dew website, unofficial websites, and the brands 800 number were important gauges as well. In addition, PepsiCo carefully monitored how the salesforce and bottlers responded to the ads, since they were getting direct feedback from their customers. PepsiCo managers used all these data as filters. But, ultimately, the military rating of advertising rest on managerial judgement. Based on their past incur with the br and and with advertising across many brands, managers made a reasoned evaluation.However, PepsiCo managers did rely on market research to assess the cumulative impact of advertising on the brand. Because many other factorsespecially pricing and retail display activityhad an immediate short-term impact on sales, it was often baffling to draw causal relationships between advertising and sales. But advertising campaigns do directly impact how the brand is perceived. And these perceptions, in turn, drive sales. So PepsiCo had assembled a set of what they termed key performance indicators (KPIs), intermediate measures that were directly impacted by advertising and that had been proven to significantly impact sales. Managers tracked KPIs, also referred to as brand health measures, both for teens and for 20-39 year olds. But managers were particularly concerned with brand health amongst teens because at this age soft drink consumers often moved from experimenting with a variety of dr inks to becoming loyal lifetime drinkers of a single soda.The latest study, conducted in the spring of 1999, reported Mountain Dews teen KPIs. Dew improved 6 points on Dew Tastes Better (to 48% versus a year ago). Unaided brand sense had dropped 5 points (to 39%). For individual like me had change magnitude 5 points (to 53%). And Dew Drinkers are Cool increased 5 points (to 64%).2000 PlanningIn 1999, Mountain Dew became the third largest carbonated soft drink at retail, overtaking Diet Coke. However, part of this success in gaining share had to do with the sustained weakness of Pepsi and Coke. In 1999, the problems that the colas were cladding seemed to be spreading to Mountain Dew, Sprite, and Dr. Pepper. All of the leading CSDs began to show real weakness as alternative non-carbonated drinks began to attract a great deal of campaign, especially amongst teens. While Mountain Dew sales began to lag, all of the brand health indicators remained strong. And the advertising continu ed to significantly outperform competition. In planning for 2000, Moffitt and his senior management were particularly concerned with two dilemmas How to keep the Do the Dew campaign working hard to build the brand given that extreme sports were becoming overexposed How to respond to the growing threat of non-CSDs, especially Gatorade and the new highlycaffeinated and sugary energy drinks like Red BullMountain Dew Selecting New Creative502-040A detailed strategy statement was developed by Moffitts team at Pepsi-Cola North America, in conjunction with the account team at BBDO New York led by Cathy Israelevitz. This strategy was boiled down to a single sentence to focus the development of new creative make up that drinking Mountain Dew is an exhilarate feature. This document was used to brief Bruce and his creative team (Exhibit 7).Exhibit 7Mountain Dew FY 2000 Brand Communications schemaObjective Expand appeal of Mountain Dew to new users while reinforcing it among live u sers Positioning To 18 year old males, who embrace excitement, adventure and fun, Mountain Dew is the great tasting carbonated soft drink that exhilarates like no other because it is energizing, thirstquenching, and has a one-of-a-kind citrus flavor. Communication system Symbolize that drinking Mountain Dew is an beatify experience. Target manlike Teens18 year-old epicenter  guarantee appeal amongst 20-39 year olds (current users) Drive universal appeal (white, African-American, Hispanic, and other ethnic)Product BenefitsEnergizingEmotional BenefitsExhilarationPersonalityIrreverentQuenching irritationDaringGreat TasteFunSource PepsiCo exceedingly areaIn addition to these strategic issues, Moffitt had to consider carefully where these ads would be broadcast. Mountain Dews national media plan focused on a younger audience. Typical buys would include MTV, The Simpsons, and ESPN during alternative sports broadcasts. However, with its long run of sales increases in the 1990s , Mountain Dew was becoming less of a niche brand. Partly in recognition of this expanding customer base and partly to celebrate within the company Dews arrival as the third most popular CSD, top management decided to feature Mountain Dew rather than Pepsi during the exceedingly gutter.The Super roll had for decades been a hugely influential event for advertisers. The game drew the biggest audience of the year and the ads received an amazing amount of attention. In recent years, the frenzy around the advertising had grown disproportionately to the game itself. The media paid almost as much attention to the ads shown as to the teams and players.The networks interviewed the advertisers and the stars of the ads, and even replayed the ads on their programs. So a Super Bowl ad now had a huge ripple effect in free public relations. In addition, the Super Bowl was an extremely important contest for advertisers and especially for ad agencies. To win the9502-040Mountain Dew Selecting New C reativeSuper Bowl (to be voted the top ad in the USA Today Ad Meter poll reported in the newspaper the following day) was a prestigious honor within the industry. Finally, Super Bowl ads provided a powerful sales tool to motivate retailers and distributors. PepsiCo and other grocery products advertisers used their yearbook Super Bowl advertising to sell in retail displays. Super Bowl advertising, as a result, had become a distinctive genre within advertising. The demographically diverse audience demanded advertising with hooks that were easily understood. Insider humor did not work. While MTV ads could talk in a colloquial speech communication to teens, Super Bowl ads could not afford this luxury. Second, the heated competition to win the affection of the audience had led to big productions that would stand out against an ever-more majestic set of competitors.The New CreativeBruce and Cassar had just finished presenting ten new ad concepts for PepsiCo to evaluate. For each concep t, PepsiCo managers were given a storyboarda script and a set of rough pencil sketches that depicted the most important scenes. Bruce and Cassar talked through each storyboard to help the client imagine how the ad would look if it were produced. The storyboard served as the skeletal outline of the ad. The creatives put flesh on these bones by describing in detail the characters, the action, how the scene is depicted, and the music. Of the ten new concepts, Moffitt and his senior managers hoped to select three ads to produce.The two best ads would run on the Super Bowl and then all three ads would be broadcast throughout 2000. It was already October, so there was barely enough time to produce the ads presented to get them on the Super Bowl. Asking Bruce to try again was not an option. The ten initial concepts were quickly whittled down to five finalists. 1) Labor of Love. A joking spot about the birth of a Dew drinker. The doctor in the bringing room calls out code green and re treats to catch with a baseball mitt the baby as it ruptures out of its mother like a cannon.2) Cheetah. One of the Dew Dudes chases down a cheetah on a mountain bike. The cheetah, running on the African plain, has stolen his Dew and he wants it back. He tackles the cat, pulls the can out of the cats stomach, but finds that its empty and full of holes. 3) Dew or Die. The Dew Dudes are called in to foil the plot of an evil villain who is sour to blow up the planet. Performing daredevil maneuvers down a mountain, they get sidetracked in a ski lodge with some girls, but haply save the world anyway, powered by a spilt can of Dew.4) taunt Opera. A parody of the Queen song Bohemian Rhapsody sung by the Dew Dudes who mock the cover of the original Queen album. The ad portrays the story of the altered lyrics alternative sports action in which the athletes just miss cans of Dew as they shoot by. 5) Showstopper. A take-off on an extravagantly choreographed production number that mimics a Buzby Berkeley musical/dance film from the 1930s. The dancers are silver-clad BMX riders and skateboarders who perform for the Dew Dudes posing as directors. PepsiCo viewed the evaluation of new creative as the most challenging aspect of brand management.Unlike decisions on new product ideas, consumer promotions, or product improvements, there was no market research or marketplace data to guide the decision. Junior managers typically did not sit in the agency presentations as they were not yet seasoned enough to judge creative work. PepsiCo believed that managers first had to gain knowledge of how advertising 10Mountain Dew Selecting New Creative502-040worked to build brands through years of seasoning and tutorials on several of the companys brands. So Scott Moffitt was the most junior person in the room. The skills and judgment that he demonstrated would be key to moving up the carry at PepsiCo. Bill Bruce finished presenting his last storyboard and scanned the room to lock look with the PepsiCo executives who would be deciding the fate of his ideas. Scott Moffitt didnt return the gaze. Instead he looked anxiously at his superiors, knowing that the spotlight would next focus on him.This was his chance to prove himself not only to PepsiCo senior management, but also to BBDO. BBDOs senior managers had become influential advisors, whom PepsiCos top marketing executives routinely relied upon to help guide branding decisions. With six years of experience under his belt, this was Moffitts chance to earn their respect as a contributing member to these critical discussions. Moffitt was eager to make a strong impression with nuanced and well-reasoned evaluations. Following long-standing protocol in packaged goods companies, the junior manager at the table gets the first crack at evaluating the creative. Moffitt cleared his throat, complimented Bruce on the high quality of the new work he had presented, and began his evaluation.11502-040Exhibit 1-12-CSD sales/ perce ntage(Million Cases/Percent Market)1990CokePepsiDiet CokeDiet PepsiSpriteDr. PepperMountainDew7-UPSurgeMello Yello199119921993199419951996199719981999 (Est.)Sales address1,565.5 20.11,370.0 17.6726.9 9.3490.0 6.3295.0 3.8364.8 4.7300.0 3.9Sales Share1,597.9 20.11,338.0 16.9741.2 9.3500.0 6.3313.1 3.9385.3 4.9327.5 4.1Sales Share1,613.9 20.11,327.3 16.5732.6 9.1509.5 6.4328.1 4.1414.0 5.2351.1 4.4Sales Share1,680.4 20.21,305.9 15.7740.6 8.9491.5 5.9357.6 4.3445.6 5.4387.6 4.7Sales Share1,776.7 20.41,310.0 15.0767.6 8.8511.2 5.9396.3 4.5485.1 5.6455.0 5.2Sales Share1,868.6 20.81,344.3 15.0793.0 8.8521.4 5.8460.3 5.1515.0 5.7509.6 5.7Sales Share1,929.2 20.81,384.6 14.9811.4 8.7541.5 5.8529.8 5.7536.8 5.8535.6 5.8Sales Share1,978.2 20.61,391.5 14.5819.0 8.5523.5 5.5598.0 6.2566.8 5.9605.2 6.3Sales Share2,037.5 20.61,399.8 14.2851.8 8.6529.7 5.4651.8 6.6599.4 6.1665.1 6.7Sales Share2,018.0 20.31,371.8 13.8843.0 8.5503.0 5.1671.5 6.8630.0 6.3705.0 7.1211.5 2.7207.742.92.6211.349.52.6209. 959.52.564.0221.52.564.6219.92.561.6217.72.359.0216.769.046.62.3210.951.842.42.1204.926.741.62.1Source Maxwell writingExhibit 2Advertising Spending Television MediaMajor CSDs ($MM)CokePepsiMountainDewSpriteDr. Pepper7-UpSurge1990$157.4$129.8$ 12.91991$139.9$141.3$ 20.01992$168.1$137.8$ 25.91993$131.1$144.0$ 29.11994$161.5$120.6$ 30.31995$124.7$133.1$ 38.31996$199.8$ 98.1$ 40.41997$156.8$133.1$ 43.11998$140.4$140.5$ 50.31999$167.7$165.9$ 45.02000 (Est.)$208.3$159.6$ 55.9$ 32.0$ 32.2$ 38.8$ 0.0$ 36.1$ 49.3$ 37.4$ 0.0$ 27.5$ 50.1$ 23.7$ 0.0$ 26.9$ 52.8$ 29.4$ 0.0$ 36.0$ 61.5$ 27.3$ 0.0$ 54.6$ 65.4$ 23.2$ 0.0$ 57.9$ 67.9$ 33.1$ 0.0$$$$$$$$$ 69.9$102.4$ 38.7$ 19.6$ 87.7$106.8$ 45.1$ 0.2Source Competitive Media Reports60.681.038.715.556.286.827.021.0502-040Exhibit 3Mountain Dew Brand Communications Strategies (1993-1999)Objective1993-941995-13-Increase awareness and trial of Mountain DewDistinguish Mt. Dew within the competitive environmentthrough contemporary communication of the style marksdistinct, historical positioningStrategyTargetYou can have the most thrilling, exciting, daringexperience but it go away never compete with theexperience of a Mt. DewMale teens/young adultsYou can have the most thrilling, exciting, daringexperience but it will never compete with theexperience of a Mt. DewBulls eye 18 yr. old leading edge maleExecutional Direction-Distinct campaign with Dew equityconsistency-Leverage full tilt taste and rush aspoint of differenceBroad 12-29 year olds-Shift to a unified trademark focusmodeled after Do Diet Dew-Explore outdoor settings-Predominant male, mid-20s casting-Preserve balance between outlandishand realistic actions/sports19961997Optimize Dews positioning equity among the target in ahighly applicable and contemporary manner(You can have the most thrilling, exciting, daringexperience but) theres energy more intensethan slamming a Mt. DewBulls eye 18 yr. old leading edge maleOptimize Dews positioning equity among the target in ahighly re levant and contemporary manner(You can have the most thrilling, exciting, daringexperience but) theres nothing more intensethan slamming a Mt. DewBulls eye 18 yr. old leading edge male link up Mt. Dew with thrilling and exhilaratingadventures in a light-hearted mannerBulls eye 18 yr. old leading edge male-Strengthen brand perceptions among AABroad 12-29 year oldsBroad 12-29 year olds-Bring Do the Dew trademark campaignto the next take-Continue Do the Dew trademarkcampaign and encompass the Mt. Dewexperience-Encourage product trial where familiarity is low1998Build badge value and authentic, true Icon status for Mt.Dew in the world of youth-targeted consumer goodsBroad 12-29 male/female-Evolve the Do the Dew campaignagainst core target with fresh andrelevant copy-Develop ethnically-targeted crossappeal spot-Enhance product perception1999Optimize relevance of Dews positioning among the targetAssociate Mt. Dew with the exhilarating intensity oflifes most exciting, fun adventuresMale T eens (16 yr. old epicenter)Develop pool of Do the Dew executions-Invite teen girls while chronic as maleCSD-Explore other metaphors beyondalternative sports to express exhilaratingintensity-Maintain cross-over appeal among 2039 year olds-One execution should have AA/urbanrelevance-Communicate quenching-Inclusion of water-greenery elements notmandatorySource PepsiCo502-040Exhibit 4Mountain Dew Brand Development Index MapSource BBDO New York-14-502-040Exhibit 5aSpectra Lifestyle AnalysisMOUNTAIN DEWCONSUMPTIONINDEXLIFESTAGESPECTRALIFESTYLE18-34 W/Kids18-34 W/O Kids35-54 W/Kids35-54 W/O Kids55-6465+ perfect LifestyleUpscale Suburbs827710156451364Traditional Families11812116079423596Mid UpscaleSuburbs10111110871641866Metro Elite1398514147472172Working ClassTowns2371392421216742139 uncouth Towns &Farms2251532121419139140Mid Urban Melting portion1481049752493174Downscale Rural3091422911278743158Downscale Urban999810773553276Total Lifestage171112165836131100Source AC Nielsen Product Lib rary 11/97 to 11/99-15-502-040Exhibit 5bMountain Dew Selecting New CreativeLifestyle GlossaryLifestyle GlossaryUpscale SuburbsThe American woolgather, a nice house in a nice suburban neighborhood.College-educated executives and professionals who index high on travel, eating out, playing golf, going to health clubs, buying imported cars, ceremony/reading business and news. busted African-American and Hispanic. High income.Traditional FamiliesLike Upscale Suburbs, but lower socio-economic level. rumple of lower level administrators and professionals with well-paid blue-collar. Index high on gardening, DIY home improvement, movement SUVs, camping, classic rock, sports radio. Low African-American and Hispanic. Mid-high income. Mid/Upscale SuburbsLive in first-generation suburbs that are now part of the urban fringe. Lower income than Traditional Families, but more college-educated and white collar. Index high on baseball fans, casino gambling, using internet, attending live theatre , reading science and technology, listening/watching news. Low African-American and Hispanic. Mid-high income.Metro EliteYounger and more urban, college-educated, ethnically diverse. Very attuned to new fashions. Geographically mobile. Index high on health clubs, bars and night clubs, fashion magazines, VH-1, music, film, computers. Middle income.Working Class Towns easily paid blue collar families living in suburbs of smaller cities. Index high on auto racing, fishing, hunting, country music, camping, televised sports. Own trucks or minivans. Low African-American and Hispanic. Middle income.Rural Towns & FarmsSmall towns mostly in the middle of the country, dominated by blue-collar and agricultural work. Index high on rodeos, fishing, woodworking, chewing tobacco, wrestling, camping, country music, TV movies, USA and TNN channels. Dont read magazines and newspapers. Low African-American. Lower income. Mid Urban Melting visual senseUrban multi-ethnic neighborhoods. Old European ethnic enclaves and new Asian immigrants, mixed with African-American and Hispanic neighborhoods. Index high on menthol cigarettes, dance music, boxing, pro basketball, lottery, Home Shopping Network, heavy TV viewing, urban contemporary radio. Lower income, low college, service industries.Downscale RuralPoor rural areas in Appalachia, throughout the South, and the Plains States. This socially conservative and religious area is sometimes called the bible belt While indexing high African-American, these are very segregated neighborhoods with little racial mixing. Lowest on education, occupation, income, housing. Index high on trucks, chewing tobacco, belonging to veterans club, target shooting, tractor pulls, country music, fishing and hunting., daytime drama TV programs.Downscale Urban equivalent socioeconomic profile as Downscale Rural but very different cultural profile, more similar to Mid-Urban Melting Pot. Mostly African-American and Hispanic urban neighborhoods. Source AC Niel sen Product Library 11/97 to 11/9916502-040Exhibit 6aBrand imagination Mountain DewProduct imaging*Too sweetMost socialize adsFun to drinkIntense experienceLots of flavorWhen get energy boostIn mood for something different*At a sporting eventUser vision(54%)Psychographic resource gallant rattling(a)ActiveDaring*CourageousExcitingFree-spiritedRebellious intuitive gymnasticYouthfulCoolHip*Out-going(Someone youd spendtime with)Source BBDO New York-17-502-040Exhibit 6bBrand Imagery SurgeProductImagery*Cant relate to ads*Low quality product*not always availableUniqueIntense experience*Tastes artificialWhen need energy boostIn mood for somethingdifferentSource BBDO New YorkUserImagery(49%)PsychographicImageryWildRebelliousDaringAdventurousActiveUp-to-dateAthletic*TrendyYouthful*Leading-edgeExcitingSpontaneousIndividualistic*PowerfulHipIn style-18-502-040Exhibit 6cBrand Imagery 7 UpProductImagery*Least fatLowest caloriesLow in sodium*Too little flavor*Not sweet enough*Not filling*He althy/good for youMost refreshingSource BBDO New YorkUserImagery(48%)PsychographicImagerySensitiveRelaxedPeaceful*HealthyFeminineKind*Nurturing(Nice)(Loyal)(Cooperative)-19-502-040Exhibit 6dBrand Imagery SpriteProduct ImageryLowest caloriesMost refreshing*Thirst quenching*Goes down easyLow in sodiumIn a nice restaurant*After exercise/sports(In the evening)(In the morning)Imagery(56%)PsychographicImageryFeminineSensitivePeaceful*NiceRelaxedFree-spirited*Cooperative* amiable*HappyKind(Innovative)