Pepsi shows off loyalty swag with country music star Dierks Bentley

Dive Brief:

Pepsi announced in a news release that it has partnered with country musician Dierks Bentley for its latest "This Is the Pepsi" spot, which gives fans a look at a new summer collection available via the revived loyalty program Pepsi Stuff. The spot includes the code GETSTUFF that fans can use to win prizes.
The campaign, an extension of the brand's ongoing "Generations" marketing, features music giveaways, including the chance to win tickets to Bentley's Pepsi-sponsored 2018 Mountain High Tour and private meet-and-greets with the artists. Fans can follow the conversation on social media @pepsi with the hashtags #PepsiGenerations, #ThisIsThePepsi and #PepsiStuff.
Pepsi is sponsoring Bentley's Seven Peaks Music Festival in Buena Vista, Colorado, from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. The festival will have performances by Miranda Lambert, Brothers Osborne, Lanco, Elle King, Del McCoury, Sam Bush, the Cadillac Three and more. Pepsi is also partnering with CMA Fest in Nashville on a three-hour special that will air on ABC in August. Pepsi will host an on-site fan activation during the event.

Dive Insight:

With the latest leg of its Generations campaign, Pepsi is hoping to drive sales and consumer interest ahead of the summer by showing off some of the merchandise that's available through the Pepsi Stuff loyalty program, including co-branded JBL speakers and timely gear like beach towels, floating beverage floats and more. Pepsi Stuff, which the company first introduced in the '90s and brought back with the rollout of Generations earlier this year, lets consumers earn points through codes included on Pepsi products that they can then log and spend via an account, with the newer iteration largely centered on mobile channels.

Partnering with Bentley could drive fresh attention to the campaign and Pepsi Stuff, as country music has a growing fan base, with fans generally having higher-than-average incomes, according to Nielsen data.

Some of the Pepsi Stuff offerings include retro brand logos and other vintage iconography, fitting into Generation's larger focus on nostalgia. The campaign launched with a Super Bowl spot that updated a well-recognized commercial the brand aired around the big game in 1992 with Cindy Crawford. Earlier this month, Pepsi also introduced a summer line of limited-edition "icon cans" featuring legacy musicians like Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears, with packaging matching the artists' era.

Generations has so far appeared to deliver positive results, including higher brand and ad recall, PepsiCo executives said during the company's Q1 2018 earnings call. PepsiCo plans to invest more in digital marketing after feeling market pressure from rival Coca-Cola in recent months, leading some to speculate of a return to the "cola wars" between the two beverage giants.

Pepsi putting more marketing emphasis around its loyalty rewards fits into other strategic initiatives announced by the brand. Parent PepsiCo earlier this year said it would reinvest some of its savings from the GOP tax overhaul into e-commerce and other digital initiatives, for example.