Pepsi changes the game at EFFIE 2011!

Pepsi's "Change The Game' campaign bagged three awards at the prestigious "EFFIE India Awards 2011' organized by the Advertising Club Bombay - Silver for Integrated Advertising Campaign; Gold for Consumer Product Beverages and the overall Grand EFFIE Award. Pepsi's "Change The Game' campaign for ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 was a path breaking idea, conceptualized by Taproot, that positioned the youth centric brand as the "Official Sponsor' of everything that is innovative and unorthodox about cricket.

Speaking about this recognition, Sandeep Singh Arora, Executive Vice President - Marketing, Cola, PepsiCo India said, "Pepsi has always created memorable campaigns that connect with the youth. "Change the Game', our campaign for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 managed to break the clutter and resonate strongly with our target audience. The success of this campaign is proven by the studies conducted by independent bodies that showed that Pepsi had the highest recall among all the brands advertised during the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011. All three awards received at the EFFIE India Awards 2011 is a further testimony to the campaign's runaway success".

"EFFIEs are amongst the most credible and coveted awards in the marketing communication field. They are even more special because they recognize the effort of the whole team; both the agency and the client share the success of their campaign on this platform. At Pepsi, we are thrilled to be the winners at EFFIE India Awards 2011 along with Taproot and all our other partners associated with the brand", he added.

"Pepsi has always been the fearless voice of uninhibited youth and this campaign reiterates just that. The unplugged, organic face of contemporary cricket that is reflective of everything that the youth of today live by is communicated through "Change The Game'. We are thrilled to see the immense success and recognition it has received so far and these awards at a platform like EFFIE India give us another reason to celebrate", said Agnello Dias, Creative Director, Taproot India.

As part of its high decibel and path-breaking campaign during the biggest cricketing tournament, Pepsi celebrated the new unorthodox yet immensely popular face of modern cricket. The on-air campaign featured some of the most successful players showcasing their own unique unconventional playing styles such as Dhoni's Helicopter Shot, Harbhajan's Doosra, Sehwag's Upar Cut, Pietersen's Palti Hit, amongst others. A consumer engagement cum social media campaign called "Change The Game 11' was also launched where eleven winners got the opportunity to become the voice of Youngistaan during the world cup. These winners got a chance to attend all India matches and expressed their views and experiences via social media platforms created for them by Pepsi. Other elements of the campaign include limited edition bottles and cans; a music video and an impactful outdoor and print campaign that showcased cricketers in a never seen before body-painted avatar.

Pepsi was nominated in the Consumer Products (Beverages / Drink, Confectionary and Food) and the Integrated Advertising Campaign categories. It not only won awards in both these categories, but also bagged the overall Grand EFFIE Award 2011.

Brand Pepsi has also received the "Ad Campaign of the Year' award under the "Awards by Jury' category at the CNBC AWAAZ Storyboard Consumer Awards 2011; and the Best Integrated Campaign (Gold) and Best Innovation Radio (Silver) at The Advertising Club, Bombay's EMVIES 2011.

The brand has also consistently emerged as the most recalled brand in the category shown by various independent studies this year. DOMOR TNS Cricket Survey and Mindshare Pre-IPL Cricket Survey both recognised Pepsi as the most recalled brand advertised during the World Cup. In a study done mid-way through the tournament, NM Incite, a Nielsen McKinsey company specializing in social media intelligence, identified Pepsi as the leader amongst the brands that dominated the social media sphere.