The risk is that customers may loathe the idea of a brand being part of the family reunion. Campaigns such as PepsiCo?s 2015 Bring Happiness Home program, which calls on Chinese around the world to share Spring Festival stories through self-made videos, underscore how the intimate nature of mobile allows marketers to build engagement with a fresh approach in the familiar territory of reunions.

"Our mobile addiction shows the powerful role that technology plays in our lives,? said Dave Parro, account director of marketing technology at Walker Sands Communications, Chicago.

?The danger is that its power can isolate us just as easily as it can connect us. Pepsi's mobile campaign challenges us to look up from our smartphones and engage with the world and the people around us, especially those closest to us," he said.

PepsiCo?s campaign aims to encourage mobile-mad youngsters to interact more with parents and friends during the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, the biggest Chinese holiday.

Fifty-one percent of young Chinese intend to use their mobile phones in the company of their families during the holiday, according to a PepsiCo release. More than 45 percent expect to spend more time on their phones and computers than with their parents.

The Purchase, NY beverages-and-snacks company, in partnership with Meipai, a mobile video production and sharing application, wants Chinese around the world to record and share happy Spring Festival reunion moments.

 

The best videos will become part of a film to be broadcast simultaneously in China and New York?s Times Square.

The Pepsi campaign illustrates the growing role that mobile devices play not just as a marketing channel, but also as a means to involve consumers in the creation of marketing content. 

?Brands are increasingly turning to user-generated content from mobile devices and social media because it adds authenticity and credibility to campaigns,? Mr. Parro said. ?So while Pepsi wants to use mobile devices to connect families, it's also leveraging the power of technology to connect customers with its brand."

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As smartphones and mobile devices continue to be at the core of new technology for communications, PepsiCo-style campaigns are an opportunity to help consumers share moments in a quick, seamless way as a part of their on-the-go lifestyle. 

?I would anticipate we'll continue to see more B2C brands and retailers create similar campaigns to bring consumers together in the future," Mr. Parro said.

PepsiCo is tapping into the same zeitgeist that J.K. Simmons touched on in his Oscars 2015 Best Supporting Actor Speech: ?Pick up the phone and call your Mom and tell her you love her ? don?t text, don?t email.?

?The power of the 2015 campaign slant is that Pepsi is now a positive part of the communication channel that ties the family together,? said Gary Schwartz, CEO of Impact Mobile, New York.

?While they are leveraging the mobile and social channel to drive the campaign, they are also celebrating any channel that connects you to your family more effectively.?

 

In the campaign, Pepsi leverages the ability of phones to bring people together to communicate specific brand themes such as ?happiness? and ?love? ? themes that are more often associated with the brand?s arch-rival, Coca-Cola.

 

In a bit of interesting timing, PepsiCo?s campaign comes after Facebook launched TV ads about reunions that focused on the power of connection between all types of people, making it clear that Facebook remained the gold standard of online friendship ? despite the social networking site?s loss of adolescent users to Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

 

?Young adults have always been avid mobile users,? said Shuli Lowy, marketing director for mobile with Ping Mobile. ?While many feel that children?s obsession with devices takes away from their day-to-day interactions, Pepsi is instead leveraging that obsession to enhance the family bond.?

 

Family is traditionally thought of mainly as an in-person experience, but mobile gives a new meaning to family. With the instantaneousness of mobile and constant connectivity, family members can communicate and express themselves in real time, even if they are far away.

?This campaign will help people to associate Pepsi with thoughts of their family, all while keeping Pepsi in the forefront of their minds,? said Esha Shah, manager of mobile strategy at Fetch. 

?When people spend time with their families, or communicate over mobile with their families they might be more likely to think of Pepsi.?