A Critical Analysis of Pepsi's Ad Campaign Using Marketing Theory

This essay provides an in-depth analysis of Pepsi India Limited's 'Nothing Official' ad campaign launched during the 1997 Cricket World Cup, in response to Coke securing exclusive rights as the 'official drink.' The analysis employs the four-quadrant theory to understand the ad's appeal to both active and passive audiences, highlighting how Pepsi strategically captured attention during breaks. The essay further explores the relevance of postmodernism theory, examining how Pepsi countered Coke's campaign by emphasizing realism and connecting with consumers' desires for authenticity. It also discusses the theory of visual persuasion, explaining how Pepsi leveraged popular players to create a stronger message and ultimately win over the active audience segment, demonstrating a successful marketing strategy against a competitor's exclusive sponsorship.

Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
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Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
Contents
Analysis of Pepsi nothing Official about it Campaign...............................................................3
The relevance of the Postmodernism theory associated with the Advert...............................3
A superficial realism was created and it became a battleground for the brands....................4
No persuasion like visual persuasion.....................................................................................4
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................6
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Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
Analysis of Pepsi nothing Official about it Campaign
Introduction of the Ad-campaign,
it was an ad-campaign launched by Pepsi India Limited in the year 1997 Cricket world cup
when Coke won all the exclusive rights of being the “official drink” of the world cup (Gupta,
2915). On the quadrant of the level of the explanation, this move was targeted for all
audiences devoid of their active or passive status. Pepsi India limited very prudently ran this
advertisement between the breaks and successfully stole the attention of the "active quadrant"
of the explanation sphere. This advert has become a milestone of sorts because of the heroics
of the Pepsi. Please have a look at this video on youtube on the following link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LwlghNfAso
The relevance of the Postmodernism theory associated with the Advert
The theory of the postmodernism advocates that consumers use products based on their
perceptions connected to the lifestyle needs. Sometimes they want to imitate a style leader;
sometimes they just want to join a club. On checking the background of the advert we find
that Coke India Limited tried to form a club of sorts and placed their Cola as an agent of
refreshment among the athletic cricket players. They were promoting their cola as a means to
quench the thirst. The message was subtle; the logos of the Coke were placed on the T-Shirts
of the players. Drinks trolleys were shaped as Coke bottles. It was an artistic approach to
capture the imagination of the individuals. The theories of the postmodernism state that
sometimes an individual can compromise on wisdom and enjoy the flow of feel-good
prospects and make a buying decision (Solomon, 2018).
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Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
A superficial realism was created and it became a battleground for the brands
Pepsi countered this ambitious and expensive ad-Campaign of Coke by adding a touch of
realism. They denounced the term official and picked up all the hot players of the tournament
to participate in this advert. The message was loud and clear; official never means real, the
real fun is with the real performers and not with the head of the players participating
(Neustadt, 2012).
Theory of postmodernism era clearly states that people want to be fooled by you, just give
them a strong method for their foolishness. On the scale of nutrition science, both Coke and
Pepsi have limited capacities to quench the thirst of a person. This limitation makes them an
inert product for the quadrants of passive society and passive customers (Davidson, 2015).
However, both the drinks support different flavors of taste. It can be a factor of choice for
many customers, Coke in the past tried to connect their flavor with the emotions. However,
the aggressive youthful campaigning of Pepsi forced them to change gears.
No persuasion like visual persuasion
Another theory is the theory of visual persuasion, this theory talks about the placement of a
product in a club, Coke created the club of cricketing players and Pepsi won the match by
placing the product among the hottest players of the tournament. Both of them were battling
on a superficial ground where they were trying to cater to the social groups following certain
style leaders of the society. With the help of this commercial Pepsi came up with a stronger
message and captured the imagination of the active level of explanation (Mathur, 2013). On
the bottom line, they catered to an active audience and scored a victory over their rivals.
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Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
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Running Head: ANALYSIS OF AN ADVERT UNDER THE FOUR QUADRANT THEORY
Bibliography
Davidson, M. P. (2015). The Consumerist Manifesto: Advertising in Postmodern Times. Abingdon :
Routledge .
Gupta, S. D. (2915). How India became Pepsi's right choice. Business Standards ,
https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/how-india-became-pepsi-s-right-
choice-114032701308_1.html.
Mathur, N. (2013). Consumer Culture, Modernity and Identity. New Delhi : Sage Publication .
Neustadt, R. (2012). (Con)Fusing Signs and Postmodern Positions. Abingdon : Routledge.
Solomon, M. (2018). Marketers, Tear Down These Walls!: Liberating the Postmodern Consumer. New
Jersay : Book Baby .
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