Pepsi unveiled its first new global brand platform in seven years, introducing a new global tagline, ‘For The Love Of It’, which brings the focus of its marketing back to the product, as the new ads focus primarily on the cola drink.
According to Euromonitor International, global retail cola sales rose 5% in value terms despite essentially flat volumes in 2018. The category faced ongoing declines in major markets like the US and parts of Western Europe.
There is growing pressure on cola, and carbonates more generally, as consumers seek to reduce sugar consumption and governments explore sugar and soda taxation regimes as well as other measures like package warnings and marketing restrictions.
At the same time, big cola brands like Pepsi and Coca-Cola are transitioning from a long period of ubiquity and dominance in terms of food and beverage marketing to an era in which small brands with a large footprint on social media can have an outsized impact. As an example, Coca-Cola acquiring Dirty Lemon last month – a brand that gained its cult following largely via Instagram.
Pepsi and Coca-Cola have to work harder to defend and build their identity, with a more streamlined emphasis on what makes both of these brands iconic.
‘For the Love It’ bring the focus back to the cola product itself. These follow efforts by Coca-Cola to simplify their own packaging last year, integrating red packaging across the cola portfolio. "