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Christopher Kyle Marketing Pepsi Case StudyDue 4/14/13Question 1Unfortunately, I experienced severe difficulty in accessing the link provided on Ilearn. I received the following message from the Pepsi Cola website, “We are sorry, but there is not a FAQ section for that subject, and please click the link below to return to the main FAQ page, or select a subject from the dropdown.” I used several other websites in order to gather the information needed for question 1. The Pepsi Cola target market is based on the particular product being and brand personality sold. There is a relative amount of overlap, as very few products are intended for one specific target market. Generally speaking, Pepsi targets the following market segments. Pepsi’s sport drinks line, such as Gatorade, targets those individuals with an active lifestyle. Pepsi’s Diet and tea lines are offered to people who are more health conscience or to those who seek to lose weight. Additionally, Pepsi has targeted people who purchase items from a convenience machine such as Doritos (Market Segmentation, Positioning and Target Market of Pepsi). Pepsi has created a campaign called “Live for Now” which is targeted at young and bubbly younger generations. This campaign has been endorsed by Nicki Minaj, a young and successful pop star (List of Pepsi spokespersons, 2013). Pepsi also tries to gain influence and favor on the societally important issues of the day. Pepsi also realizes the gains which could be realized if they took an active role in people lives. For example, this corporation has enacted various campaigns in order to entrench itself into the communities, e.g. Pepsi Refresh Program. Pepsi has used a wide assortment of spokesmen and women to advertise their products. Over the past three decades, Pepsi has employed the Michael Jackson, Ray Charles, Britney Spear and Beyoncé Knowles to name a few. Each celebrity embodies a certain generational quality, and for this reason they have been chosen to represent this company. (List of Pepsi spokespersons, 2013). The target market has changed over the years as our culture evolves over the years. These changes include the specific segment that is targeted. In 1966, Pepsi established a campaign targeted dieting women and in 1976 the company created a campaign targeting children (Pepsi History). As Pepsi gained notoriety, it needed to incorporate more diverse groups into its target market. Question 2Pepsi has utilized advertising, sales promotion, and public relations as part of its promotion mix. This corporation used advertising to spread the word about its most recent advertising program, the Pepsi Refresh Campaign. It provided individuals with the grants so that they could realistic and sustainable changes within their communities. Moreover, Pepsi has a strong following on many social media. (The Marketing Strategy Critique of Pepsi Bottling Group)Pepsi has also used sales promotion as part of its promotion mix. The majority of the sales promotion manifested themselves via the demonstrations of the Refresh Campaign. These demonstrations were not simply short-lived performances. Rather they are a community building event that is the result of Pepsi’s initiatives. Consumers sent in their proposals to help their local communities, these pitches were then either accepted or denied. Public Relations is also an essential part of their marketing mix because of the special events and sponsorship programs which were held by Pepsi. All of these measures help to establish a stronger corporate image. I personally do not think that I would have taken a different approach to this initiative. I say this because they offered over 20 million in funding to the community. They partnered alongside NBC “Today” and the had many well-known celebrities as spokesmen such as Jeff Gordon and Drew Brees.(The Marketing Strategy Critique of Pepsi Bottling Group) Pepsi has cast a wide net. I do not think that it is possible to have positively changed this program. Question 3The first step in developing an effective Marketing Communication is identifying the target audience. Without a holistic and extensive understanding of who will buy your product it is impossible to determine who the audience is. The target audience will affect the communicator’s decisions in regards to what will be said and who will say it (Kotler et al, 2012). It is important to determine the desired response of the target market. Under this stage, consumers must pass through six stages until they make a purchase. These stages include the following: awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase (Kotler et al, 2012). Awareness and knowledge is achieved once the target or general market has become conscious of a new product. Liking occurs once a consumer has favorable sentiments regarding a product. Preference happens once a consumer will opt for one item over another. Conviction, the last stage, occurs when consumers are determined to purchase a respective item (Kotler et al, 2012). Designing a Message is crucial attracting consumers as these message gain the attention and hold the interest of consumers. Message Content is how the message will be received by the general public. It can manifest itself using rational, emotional and moral appeals. This will then pass on to the message structure and message format, both of these categories help to ensure success as the campaign is viewed by consumers. The collection of feedback is quite possibly the most important step in this process. This measure helps to ensure that the consumers are being satisfied. If customers aren’t pleased with the offering, it is doubtful that these products will have a long life. Question 4On a social level, Pepsi’s Refresh campaign was a success because it helped many communities throughout the United States. Pepsi demonstrated its commitment to the community during an economically challenging period. This company pumped $5 million in several months into various nonprofit organizations, although, this campaign was less than prosperous for this corporation. This program has definitely improved the lives of more than?1.4 million people in the U.S., directing more than?$23 million?to fund over 760 ideas. (Harvard Business Review, 2012)Unfortunately, this program was deemed unsuccessful and it was scrapped for in order to promote other advertising campaigns. Many issues arose while many nonprofits that were vying for grants from Pepsi. Allegations of fraud were rampant as Pepsi could not give the proper attention to each organization. The campaign fell into further disarray because of the lack of Return on Investment. Many non-profits were unable to show an actual change as a result of the received monies. It appeared as though this campaign was based on generosity and not quantifiable evidence. References:Kotler, Philip.?Principles of Marketing. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall,?2012. Print."List of Pepsi spokespersons."?Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc, n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013."Market Segmentation, Positioning and Target Market of Pepsi."?Scribd. N.p., n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013."Marketing Matters: PepsiCo's Strategic Focus."?Marketing Matters. N.p., n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013."The Marketing Strategy Critique of Pepsi Bottling Group."?personal.psu.edu. N.p., n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013.Passikoff, Robert. "Coke Clobbers Pepsi."?Forbes. N.p., n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013."Pepsi History."?Sirpepsi. N.p., n.d. Web. 14?Apr.?2013."PepsiCo Harvard Business Review."?PepsiCo. N.p., n.d. 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