Pepsi-iTunes Promo: 5 Million Songs

[jydesign]

So-so for Pepsi maybe, but Great for Apple IMHO

Think of how much money is spent on TV advertising for which there is rarely any way to gain a solid metric of success.

Then think: itunes songs cost .99cents, Pepsi costs more $ most of the time.

Then think: I for one don't drink soda, but I do buy on iTMS, so I'll just buy my songs directly - not indirectly, by purchasing a chance to get a song with a bottle of sugar water. And I'll laugh at the sugar junkies gambling on bottlecaps.

Then think: How much F*n great PR Apple got on this promo, the articles, the buzz, etc.

Then think: Pepsi - an old brand - mainly got a boost from being associated with the iPod - a popular new fangled gadget, but didn't get the same attention as Apple

So for me, if they didn't get a lot redeemed so what. Did any of the other players in the legal download space have both a successful popular useable product + a huge PR stunt centered around the Super Bowl for which people are still buzzin about? NO sireeee

Bottom line, this is a marketing and PR home run for Apple folks

 

[mklos]

It is mostly Apples' promotion and it bombed. The commercial was lame. Nobody could find contest bottles, let alone winning ones. Most people had no idea the promotion even existed.

It wasn't Apple's promotion it was Pepsi's promotion. Apple just provided the service (iTunes/iTunes Music Store). So for Apple is was free publicity. Why don't people understand that! Apple had nothing to do with this promotion except for the ITMS part of it. It wasn't Apple's job to advertise it, or make sure that the bottles got distributed all around the US. Apple didn't design/produce the commercial, Pepsi did. When you see a McDonald's promotion to win a Corvette do you see GM advertising it? Do you see GM making sure all of the game pieces got to all the McDonald's in the US? No, because GM has nothing to do with the promotion except provide the damn Corvette.

Ooops...someone took a **** wrong...lets blame Apple for that too!

 

[sibelius]

A bunch of crybabies

I can't believe the people here!!! First of all, Pepsi stated that they did not expect any MORE than 10 million people to cash in on the iTunes giveaway. Of the 100 million bottles produced there simple are not that many people out there, who drink Pepsi, who even give a crap.

Promotions are ALL about media play... NEVER about actual performance. "We're giving away a BRAND NEW HUMMER H2" is something great to claim. Actually having someone claim the Hummer isn't something you're as interested in. Pepsi and Apple did great... they made a big stink about the promotion and got loads of press from it. What do they care if anyone cashed in on the deal? They don't. They already got their press... that's what they're after (and every other major corporation, by the way).

I am very sorry for those who did not get the caps... or for those who got cheated. That person who claimed to have purchase 100 bottles and never got a winner was either a liar, or was purchasing from places where the stockboys were cheating and stealing the winning bottles (by tippin the bottles about 20 degrees and looking up through the top-side plastic of the bottle which will allow you to see the underside of the cap).

Some areas were void of the bottles alltogether. I was... for a long time. Then they started pouring in. This is the Houston, Texas area. Me and my roommate collected over 100 winning caps. We had about a 70% win rate (without cheating)... so maybe Texas just got most of the winners???

Anyway... I thought it was a great promotion. Both Pepsi and Apple got what they needed in the beginning (all the press). A lack of advertising on Pepsi's part made awareness poor, and helped to hinder Apple from hitting the 100 million downloads mark for their first iTunes year, but oh well. That's marketing for ya.

Either way, you people seem to be yapping about how much you got screwed. IT'S A GIVEAWAY PEOPLE.... YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO ANYTHING. NO GUARANTEES. Be glad if you got anything. geeze


sibelius

 

[JeffTL]

This has been said, and will be said time and time again: Apple's advertising is appauling.

If they had bothered to show commercials more than once (superbowl), maybe do some print ads, radio ads, then they would have reached their goal. they chose not to do this. The same goes for their hardware and software. If they advertised, they'd sell and be in a better position.

Steve's view of Apple is that it's like an exclusive club: so cool that you on't have to advertise. People will just show up (buy) because it's so cool, even though they know nothing about it. That;s not a way to run a publicly traded company fighting the sperad of DRM and insecure systems (M$)

*cue newbies and Apple Store references, but i'm right.

Apple wasn't responsible for this; Pepsi was.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Apple wasn't responsible for this; Pepsi was.

Not to mention why should Apple have paid for what Pepsi should have?

 

[ALoLA]

bottles finally here in LA

Sure enough, as some others have posted, bottles are indeed here in the L.A. area now. I picked up one from 7-Eleven this afternoon. 1-1 with that, and I didn't cheat either. Too bad it's so late in the game. By the way, the cup promo was no longer available.

 

[gregorypierce]

Missing a big point

Did Apple get paid for all 100 million or only the 5 million that were redeemed. If only the 5 million redeemed - I can see how Pepsi wouldn't be falling over itself to get the bottles out there.

 

[gschumsky]

We did get them in a few places in San Diego (really southern california), mainly Target, mobile/exxon stations, and every other 7-11, about late March. All the yellow caps were on the diet pepsi/diet vanilla pepsi only. The regular pepsi still had Lakers(??) or Foot Locker caps. I got 5 out of 8. A couple weeks ago they started showing up in our vending machines at work. The Peecee users here couldn't care less (they have all the music they need from Napster/Kazaaa...) and were giving me their winning caps (their answer was it was only worth .05 cents anyway, and their music player was way better than any Apple product..too bad for them).
I even found one crushed in a gas station parking lot. Now, if Apple had gone to Coke, this would have been way more successful, IMO.

 

[wdlove]

I'm kind of sad that only 5 million has been redeemed. The local deli that I visit each week last week and this week only had the 1 liter size with the yellow cap. Actually they had some of the yellow caps without the free song logo. Because of my poor eyesight a female high school assisted me with tipping. Ended up checking almost all of their stock to get 2 winners. She was 100% accurate. Now I have 21 free songs, because of procrastination I will be downloading. Actually I kind of glad that the promotion is over, it will be nice not to be so concerned about taking the time to check bottle. Especially when I had to depend on others!

 

[bousozoku]

Did Apple get paid for all 100 million or only the 5 million that were redeemed. If only the 5 million redeemed - I can see how Pepsi wouldn't be falling over itself to get the bottles out there.

I would bet that Pepsi has been paying as the codes have been redeemed. I would wonder if Apple would partner with them again.

 

[jkeithh]

Did anyone see any bottles in the L.A. area? All I saw were the cups at 7-Eleven. I was 0-5 with those. Seems like it was more of a marketing flop on Pepsi's part. Weren't they also slow getting the bottles out to the areas that did get them?

We didn't even got those in Louisiana. We never got any sort of Pepsi product here with the iTunes caps.

 

[macjohnmcc]

I imagine the redemption rate was pretty poor considering how terrible Pepsi's distribution was. Throughout the entire promotion, I never saw even one bottle in any of my local grocery stores. In fact, it was pretty much hit-or-miss in local convenience stores as to whether or not I'd find iTMS caps.

I was just in a Rite Aid tonight and saw Pepsi bottles with the yellow iTunes Caps. Didn't buy one. Figured hey I get a free song each day for a week already without paying anything. Though I don't get to pick what song is free.

 

[rdowns]

This looks bad. Apple dropped the ball......again.

This was a Pepsi promotion, not an Apple one. iTMS was simply the vehicle Pepsi used. It was up to Pepsi to promote this. Apple did give the promotion prominent position on their home page for a week or so.

Would have been nice if they ran a simple ad. Pepsi will distribute 300 million yellow cap bottles and 100 million of them will win you a free song that you can download from the #1 Internet music store, iTMS. It works for Windows and Macintosh computers. Choose from over half a million songs. Hurry though, this offer will end on April 30th.

Of course they didn't do that because the promotion would have cost them many, many millions more. The media buzz was what they were after, not increasing their costs. After all, this is a money loser for Pepsi. Giving away a 99¢ song per 3 bottles is more than their cost to produce and distribute those 3 bottles.

 

[InsiderTravels]

Never bought a single bottle, but redeemded 76 winning caps

I don't drink soda at all; I only drink bottled water. However, we (my boyfriend and I) grabbed all the caps out of the recycle bin at his work almost daily. Also, the majority of people who gave him caps for me didn't have a clue what they were for. They continually asked him why he wanted them and seemed confused by the idea of downloading "free songs."

All in all, I ended up with 76 winning caps, and I just downloaded the final 5 songs today. I got over 300 MB of music from this promotion and didn't have to buy a single Pepsi to do it. And this from somebody who doesn't spend all that much time listening to music anyway.

I did think it was rather strange, though, that Pepsi only put the caps on regular Pepsi – not Mountain Dew or anything else they put out. I'd think the promotion would have been more successful if they'd stuck them on all their products. Maybe they'd have actually gotten me to buy their crappy purified water brand instead of the spring water I usually buy.

 

[ALoLA]

I saw the caps on other products, like Diet Pepsi (which I bought) and Sierra Mist. I didn't win with today's bottle, but I did see how the "cheat" works. Of course, it's much easier to see after drinking some of the soda and not having the plastic fog up from the temperature difference straight out of the frig at 7-Eleven. I might try one last time on the way home.

 

[Engagebot]

that was a typical marketing screw-up.

we STILL have no caps around south Louisiana. Entire LSU campus, and not one itunes cap...

 

[mrgreen4242]

The 7-11 here in East Lansing, MI also carried the cups... for a few weeks. The advert stayed up the whole time but no more cups. When they ran out of cups, I asked the manager if they were getting more and he said he had no idea. I liked this option because I could get a Coke.

I didn't see any bottles in the grocery stores either. It was late March and they were still doling out Super Bowl promos. I could get the bottles virtually anywhere on campus but I never saw a six or eight-pack in a store. Still redeemed about 30...

Hey, I'm in EL too. I was doing great from the 7-11 cups at first... like 4 for 4, then I hit a streak of losers... I was getting Slurpees in them, myself, which I also liked, since I don't care for Pepsi much. All in all, I think I ended up with like 20 free songs, 14 of which I actually haven't used yet... Do the codes that you have entered before the 30th ever expire??

On an unrelated note, my dad, who just got his first computer less than a year ago (sorry, it's an old PC I got for him thru eBay... his next will be a Mac, promise... he LOVES my iBook ) went nuts with the iTunes promo... he got like 65 songs (many from coworkers), and he's on DIAL-UP. Not just any old dial-up, but 100 year old farmhouse crappy phone lines <30kbs dial-up! He is apparantly a patient man.

I got him an iPod recently, since he has been systematically converting all his CDs to mp3/aac, and has, since the Pepsi promo, been buying all his new (non-local band) music via iTunes... he loves that, too, so an iMac or an iBook isn't far off for him ;-). So the promo has been successful in that regard, introducing new customers to iTunes.

Rob

 

[geezusfreeek]

I don't think it was so much a failure. Nobody expected so many to be actually redeemed.

I bought about 25 and won about 20. Maybe the people in my area made up about 4% of the redemptions....

 

[ingenious]

"It has exceeded our wildest expectations during its first year, said Jobs. "We are really excited that with iPod and iTunes we can show with Apple's innovation, engineering and marketing can do, when we're not limited by our five percent operating system marketshare ceiling."

So with great marketing, apple could show the world its awesome OS X engineering and marketing! I haven't ever seen an OS X commercial, tho
didnt really know about it til my school got PBs.

 

[Blue Moon]

So with great marketing, apple could show the world its awesome OS X engineering and marketing! I haven't ever seen an OS X commercial, tho
didnt really know about it til my school got PBs.

Operating systems don't really get the limelight when it comes to marketing, hardware is sold as a complete package (including the operating system), although I don't understand why Apple doesn't have more commericials which show more than just the iPod; all those switch testimonials never even featured the hardware itself did they? In my opinion Apple needs to exploit their superiority in creative design a whole lot more (that goes for both the OS and hardware).

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Operating systems don't really get the limelight when it comes to marketing, hardware is sold as a complete package (including the operating system), although I don't understand why Apple doesn't have more commericials which show more than just the iPod; all those switch testimonials never even featured the hardware itself did they? In my opinion Apple needs to exploit their superiority in creative design a whole lot more (that goes for both the OS and hardware).

Maybe they need to show that Mac's are a better computer "tool". Show the advantages of the OS, and the apps. Also show that a vast majority of computer use can be done with programs that are available for both Windows and the Mac.

They could also do something to get Outlook PC to easily port over to either Mail or Entourage.

 

[sibelius]

Why Apple Doesn't Advertise with TV Much

Maybe they need to show that Mac's are a better computer "tool". Show the advantages of the OS, and the apps. Also show that a vast majority of computer use can be done with programs that are available for both Windows and the Mac.

They could also do something to get Outlook PC to easily port over to either Mail or Entourage.

There is a good reason why Apple doesn't spend billions on a television advertising budget. It's simply not worth it. In the advertising world you have to show a good ROI (return on investment). If your goal is to sell more computers then you need to show that the sales numbers increase because of the television commercials. If your goal is mindshare (just putting the Apple brand into people's heads) then you have to prove that works (through more costly surveys and commercials).

The thing about television advertising is this: It's usually not worth it, unless you have billions to toss into it. Consider this, the money you put donw for a commercial on TV is "gone in 30 seconds". One that commercial airs it's over, gone forever, never to be seen again (along with the huge cost). If you print an ad in an industry magazine, however, not only is it cheaper... but it will last forever!! (or at least until the subscriber tosses the publication out). With TV, people flip channels during commercials, go to potty breaks, get something to drink, or just yap with other people in their house. The chances that someone in the computer market (ready to buy) is watching one out of several hundred available stations... in a specific time slot... paying attention to your commercial... well... those are not good odds. That's why you have to toss so much money into commercials for them to be affective. Magazine ads are soooo much more affective for Apple. And they put out a LOT of them.

But Apple doesn't really advertise the Operating System. Why? Because people just don't "get" it. I work at a software development company. And other than the developers there, most people don't understand the difference between a local drive (like your C: drive) a networked drive or a floppy disk. They typically just understand what they're used to using. There is also a general misunderstanding out there about Macintosh computers. Most people think Macs are this mysterious computer only used by graphic designers to do 'cool' stuff. Even those who are interested in looking at a Mac for purchase ask me the same questions... "Can it run my copy of Excel? Word?" Well... technically 'yes', with the appropriate software. But you don't need to worry about that... Microsoft makes a version for the Macintosh.

People just don't understand, though... If the Mac can't run their PC software then they see it as something that isn't for 'them'. "Oh... I do a lot of office work and I have to be able to use PowerPoint and Word, and the Macintosh won't run my version of those applications". They just don't understand that it will run PowerPoint and Word, just not their specific PC-only disks... Mac has their own disk versions. Get it yet? Nope. They still don't get it.

And this is why Apple (and Microsoft) do not put out commercials specifically about the coolness of their operating systems. Microsoft will put out commercials about new Operating Systems being released, or that it makes your life better... but never anything specific. Apple doesn't do commercials about its operating system because you have to educate the viewer too much in order for them to understand what it is you're trying to say... far too much content for a 30-60 second television spot.

That's why these Operating System gaints mostly advertse their hardware/software. Apple will show off it's slick fruity-colored iMacs and show happy people making their own DVDs as if it were as easy as boiling water. Apple will advertise DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro HD, and other major applications, etc. because THAT's what people understand. Get them to want the applications and you've pretty much sold them on the operating system.

Look at PlayStation 2 and XBox. Sure... people can find out about the processor differences, number of active polys on the screen and other items... but that's not selling anyone on the game system. It's what the system RUNS that sells people on it. PlayStation 2 is an excellent system, and a far better value out of the box than the XBox. The XBox, however, plays some games much smoother... plus it has HALO, which alone is worth the price of the game system.

So... sorry for the mini-novel, but that, in a nutshell, is why you don't see the advertising OS wars on television commercials. People don't 'get' it, so it doesn't sell.

sibelius

 

[Multimedia]

I Live 35 Miles South Of Cupertino And NEVER SAW ONE BOTTLE

Did anyone see any bottles in the L.A. area? All I saw were the cups at 7-Eleven. I was 0-5 with those. Seems like it was more of a marketing flop on Pepsi's part. Weren't they also slow getting the bottles out to the areas that did get them?

I Live 35 Miles South Of Cupertino And NEVER SAW ONE BOTTLE.

I looked for them repeatedly in my grocery stores and they NEVER SHOWED UP. What a crock. Really disappointed me. I was poised to buy a bunch and they never reached Santa Cruz County Shelves.

 

[mklos]

There is a good reason why Apple doesn't spend billions on a television advertising budget. It's simply not worth it. In the advertising world you have to show a good ROI (return on investment). If your goal is to sell more computers then you need to show that the sales numbers increase because of the television commercials. If your goal is mindshare (just putting the Apple brand into people's heads) then you have to prove that works (through more costly surveys and commercials).

The thing about television advertising is this: It's usually not worth it, unless you have billions to toss into it. Consider this, the money you put donw for a commercial on TV is "gone in 30 seconds". One that commercial airs it's over, gone forever, never to be seen again (along with the huge cost). If you print an ad in an industry magazine, however, not only is it cheaper... but it will last forever!! (or at least until the subscriber tosses the publication out). With TV, people flip channels during commercials, go to potty breaks, get something to drink, or just yap with other people in their house. The chances that someone in the computer market (ready to buy) is watching one out of several hundred available stations... in a specific time slot... paying attention to your commercial... well... those are not good odds. That's why you have to toss so much money into commercials for them to be affective. Magazine ads are soooo much more affective for Apple. And they put out a LOT of them.

But Apple doesn't really advertise the Operating System. Why? Because people just don't "get" it. I work at a software development company. And other than the developers there, most people don't understand the difference between a local drive (like your C: drive) a networked drive or a floppy disk. They typically just understand what they're used to using. There is also a general misunderstanding out there about Macintosh computers. Most people think Macs are this mysterious computer only used by graphic designers to do 'cool' stuff. Even those who are interested in looking at a Mac for purchase ask me the same questions... "Can it run my copy of Excel? Word?" Well... technically 'yes', with the appropriate software. But you don't need to worry about that... Microsoft makes a version for the Macintosh.

People just don't understand, though... If the Mac can't run their PC software then they see it as something that isn't for 'them'. "Oh... I do a lot of office work and I have to be able to use PowerPoint and Word, and the Macintosh won't run my version of those applications". They just don't understand that it will run PowerPoint and Word, just not their specific PC-only disks... Mac has their own disk versions. Get it yet? Nope. They still don't get it.

And this is why Apple (and Microsoft) do not put out commercials specifically about the coolness of their operating systems. Microsoft will put out commercials about new Operating Systems being released, or that it makes your life better... but never anything specific. Apple doesn't do commercials about its operating system because you have to educate the viewer too much in order for them to understand what it is you're trying to say... far too much content for a 30-60 second television spot.

That's why these Operating System gaints mostly advertse their hardware/software. Apple will show off it's slick fruity-colored iMacs and show happy people making their own DVDs as if it were as easy as boiling water. Apple will advertise DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro HD, and other major applications, etc. because THAT's what people understand. Get them to want the applications and you've pretty much sold them on the operating system.

Look at PlayStation 2 and XBox. Sure... people can find out about the processor differences, number of active polys on the screen and other items... but that's not selling anyone on the game system. It's what the system RUNS that sells people on it. PlayStation 2 is an excellent system, and a far better value out of the box than the XBox. The XBox, however, plays some games much smoother... plus it has HALO, which alone is worth the price of the game system.

So... sorry for the mini-novel, but that, in a nutshell, is why you don't see the advertising OS wars on television commercials. People don't 'get' it, so it doesn't sell.

sibelius

On the other hand Apple has all of these great products and almost no one knows about them because Apple never advertises them. Apple just released a new eMac a couple of weeks ago and I'm willing to bet you that hardly anyone outside the Mac community knows about it because Apple didn't advertise that they now have a newer, faster, cheaper eMac out. You say that Apple advertises on magazine ads, well I've never seen an ad in a magazine that wasn't a Mac related magazine, like MacWorld for example. If advertising isn't so effective then why does Apple advertise the hell out of the iPod? Why does the iPod sell so good? I'd like to think not only because its cool, but also because Apple has gotten the word out to the public about the iPod, and that it will run on Macs and PCs. iPod commercials are all over the place on TV. Apple could even advertise 2 things at once. They can advertise iPhoto running on an eMac, or iMovie running on an iMac, etc... That way they get like a 2 for 1. They advertise the iMac and iLife '04. Many people don't know about iLife '04 and what it can do. There isn't anything like it at all on the PC side. So why doesn't Apple tell people about it! Another thing I don't like is that Apple never gives hardly any incentives to buy their machines. They never give free RAM with a purchase of an iMac, or a free AirPort Extreme Card. They only do these kind of things when they need to get rid of them. Well if they did this in the first place they wouldn't need to try and lower the inventory of a specific machine.

I do agree though that Apple should not advertise its OS. If you can get people to buy the computer they will see and learn the OS. OS X is far easier to learn than Windows is.

You have to spend a little money to make a little money. Apple should quit hoarding its 4.5 Billion and actually start spending some of it on useful things like advertising.

2 more things that Apple should do. First they need to really nail the educational sector and get it back. If you can get Macs in the hands of kids (Apple's future) then when they go out in the world and get their own computer they will get a Mac because that is what they know how to use and thats what they've always used. That being said, Apple also needs to grab a chunk of the business sector. Like I said people will only use what they know. Even Steve Jobs said that. If you can get Macs in large businesses and people start using them then people will start to look more seriously at the Mac. There is a huge myth out there that Macs aren't good for business and thats a bunch of crap! Actually Macs would be better for businesses. They are more stable, no viruses for them (currently), and easier to use. In the business world, time is money and if you have to spend an extra $200 or $300 for a Mac its definitely worth it if they will give you hardly any problems at all. There was a rumor that FedEx was switching to the Mac because it was more secure and more stable than Windows, but seems to have fallen by the way side. That would be a great start for Apple. If it works and works well then I think other companies will see this and start to consider the Macintosh platform.

Apple really needs to do something because they are just barely getting by right now. They are basically breaking even every quarter with sluggish computer sales. Heck Apple can't even sell 1 million Macs per quarter. The iPod even out sells their computers. This is NOT good. They came out with the PowerMac G5 that is really powerful, quiet, etc and its not even selling very good. Apple can't continue to just barely make it.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

There is a good reason why Apple doesn't spend billions on a television advertising budget. It's simply not worth it. In the advertising world you have to show a good ROI (return on investment). If your goal is to sell more computers then you need to show that the sales numbers increase because of the television commercials. If your goal is mindshare (just putting the Apple brand into people's heads) then you have to prove that works (through more costly surveys and commercials).

sibelius

Never said that it should be only on TV. I handle advertising for my company, for me TV IMHO is not a great medium for a lot of the reasons you state. That doesn't say that it doesn't work.

One solution would be co-branding ad with Apple and Microsoft. But that won't happen since M$ is able to have a monopoly with their OS.

Apple should be interested in increasing their market share. It is the key to survival for companies. Sale 101 tells us that you need to answer the customers objections.

The objection that most have in the Mac line is being compatible with the applications they know and use. A majority of those apps are available for the Mac. The other objection that comes up is the number of programs available for each OS. Never mind most are programs that aren't worth the money, or programs that they would never need. I guess it goes back to the SUV mentality.