Introduction
Pepsi is a beverage company that commenced its activities in the late 1980s after a merger with Frito Lay Company and provides beverages to consumers globally. As one of the players in the beverage industry, Pepsi competes with Coca-Cola, RC Cola, Dr Pepper Snapple, and Real Cola amongst others. Remarkably, Pepsi was among the first companies to introduce customer friendly plastic bottles, as well as quality beverages to its consumers. The unique brand that Pepsi adopted still features and has led to increased consumer willingness to associate with it. Moreover, the stability portrayed by the brand creates a picture of company steadiness in the minds of consumers, who have developed trust towards the company. Steadiness of brands that companies adopt is essential in increasing trust and faith among the potential consumers (Manzano, Rivas, & Bonilla 2012). To attract the attention of target consumers, Pepsi uses unique advertisements that are appealing to all segments of consumers. As a result, only a few advertisements of Pepsi go unwatched or ignored.
In the provided advert, Pepsi uses female gladiators to captivate minds and create awareness about a Pepsi product among target consumers. As opposed to the common belief in the world that gladiators comprise of men, Pepsi uses women in its advert. From the advert, it is evident that Pepsi aims to increase the level of awareness in all segments of clients, especially women. The advert also creates a picture of togetherness and unity among female gladiators to demonstrate the importance of Pepsi in unity. As the crowd comprised of mainly men, who were cheering female gladiators singing, it depicts gender unity. Paracha, Waqas, Khan, and Ahmad (2012) explain that adverts need to reflect demographic attributes, cultural beliefs, and gender orientations in marketing their products. Therefore, the advert presents the benefits Pepsi products in promoting unity and togetherness, especially between men and women during celebrations. It is evident from the advert that Pepsi targets all potential customers, both men and women. Furthermore, the company uses the advert to market its products to consumers from all segments irrespective of class and social standing. The presence of the king, noble individuals, and the crowd coupled with their collective celebration while taking the beverage is an aspect that markets the drink to all people in the society.
Analysis of Segmentation Variables
Analysis of the advert indicates that it employs variables of market segmentation like gender, age, culture, and social status of individuals. Companies usually market their products basing on these variables and tailor them to match the expectations and preferences of the target customer segments (Hassan & Craft 2012). In the advert, Pepsi uses variables such as gender, social status, and culture to market its beverages to customers. The presence of individuals from different social classes in the crowd presents the fact that Pepsi targets people from all social classes. Moreover, the use of female gladiators, as opposed to men gladiators, demonstrates that men and women can consume products from Pepsi since the beverage has no gender restrictions. Since the crowd comprises of several individuals with diverse ages, Pepsi highlights the fact that individuals with diverse ages can purchase and consume the beverage.
According to the market segmentation theory, companies can effectively use market segmentation to subdivide their consumers. The subdivision uses gender, culture, social status, and education as variables, which create a distinction among the wide spectrum of consumers. Burton, Gary, and Brian (2012) states that market segmentation theory enable marketing firms to employ the concept of market segmentation to identify their target consumers and their behaviours in terms of tastes and preferences. Thus, Pepsi uses the concept of segmentation effectively as it creates a distinction between the crowd and the gladiators used in the advert. Notably, an extensive market research and consumer survey is essential when planning to undertake consumer segmentation as it facilitates an understanding of the preferences and likes of the potential customers. The component of customer survey and research is evident in the advert performed by Pepsi, since it clearly markets the product to the target consumers in a creative and catchy manner.
Analysis of Appeals Used
From the advert, the company of Pepsi uses pleasure-seeking nature of humans. According to the advert used by Pepsi, female gladiators are to fight before a large crowd, who wants to enjoy their fights. Instead, the gladiators start to sing and the crowd cheers them. The performance of female gladiators and the cheering crowd best explains the hedonistic theory. The hedonistic theory states that humans are seekers of pleasure and thus adverts that touch the senses of pleasure are appealing (Kumar 2009). In the advert, the song, the cheering, the bangs, and movements appeal to human senses. The use of utilitarian theory in the advert is evident when the crowd converges to witness and enjoy the performance of gladiators for the benefits of all people. Adverts should obey the utilitarian principle, which supports the distribution of benefits to all parties (Hunt & Arnett 2004). The crowd, the king, noble individuals, and gladiators are in the mood of celebration as the participants enjoy the beverage and the performance in the advert.
The advert considers the cultural perceptions of individuals, which comprise of pop and gladiator cultures. Essentially, the crowd and the king enjoy gladiator cultures because they cheer the performance of the female gladiators. The pop figures in the advert are Britney Spears, Beyonce Knowles, and Alecia Moore (Pink), who are the three gladiators singing âwe will rock youâ in the advert. By considering the culture of individuals, the advert displays an understanding of the diverse perceptions of people. The understanding and concern that Pepsi portrays in its advert shows an inclusion of cognitive theory that describes the diversity of thinking and conceptual abilities of individuals. Overtime Pepsi has continued to perform catchy adverts that are unique and spectacular to the potential consumers. According to Hassan and Craft (2012), marketers should balance conventional and non-conventional elements in producing creative adverts that appeal to contemporary culture. In the advert, Pepsi fuses gladiator culture and contemporary pop song, a combination that is appealing to potential customers. Evidently, the advert is very attractive since it leaves people yearning for the outcome of the performance, which depicts consumer behaviour theory.
From the advert, it is clear that Pepsi employs hedonistic, utilitarian, cognitive, and consumer behaviour theories in marketing its products in a creative way to all the consumer segments. The uniqueness and creative nature of an advert best explains its significance in reaching out to all the segments of customers in terms of cultural, social, and emotional perceptions (Hunt & Arnett 2004). The use of pop and gladiator cultures in the advert increases the willingness of consumers to purchase and use Pepsi products. Thus, the advert is very instrumental in influencing decisions that potential customers make when purchasing beverages. In essence, the creative nature of the advert facilitates the ability of Pepsi to persuade the right consumer segments, which comprise of women and women with diverse ages and from various social classes. In addition, the advert employs the principles used in the theory of customer relationship management in promoting its beverages effectively without harming beliefs and attitudes that potential customers cherish.
References
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Hassan, S, & Craft, S 2012, âExamining world market segmentation and brand positioning strategiesâ, Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 29, no. 5, pp. 344-356.
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Kumar, R 2009, Consumer Behaviour and Branding: Concepts, Readings and Cases: The Indian Context, Pearson Publisher, New Delhi.
Manzano, N, Rivas, L, & Bonilla, G 2012, âExplanatory models of change of consumer behavior applied to social marketingâ, IBusiness, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 246-255.
Paracha, A, Waqas, M, Khan, A, & Ahmad, S 2012, âConsumer Preference Coca-Cola versus Pepsi-Colaâ, Global Journal of Management and Business Research, vol. 12, no. 12, pp. 1-6.