McKenna Whipple

Professor Stipe
CAP 310 02
September 15, 2015
Analysis of Mountain Dews New Creative Case
PROBLEM: PepsiCo and BBDOs chief executives must determine which
advertisement would be most suitable for maintaining Mountain Dews brand image
without oversaturating their current campaign content.
CRITICAL FACTORS: (1) Overall advertising budget (over a million (each) to
produce and around 55.9 million for airing) (a) relatively small budget given to
Mountain Dew, (b) less than Coke, Pepsi, Sprite and Dr. Pepper, (c) PepsiCo relies on
exceptional creativity to make advertisements work harder for less cost, (d) strategic
weapon that is central to their finances. (2) Target Market (adventurous, 18 year old,
male) (a) 21 39 is the lock-in age, (b) maintain appeal to young (12 21) population
to commit them to brand, (c) still appeal to original loyalties (21-39). (3) Maintain brand
image without oversaturating current campaigns (Do The Dew/The Dew Dudes) (a)
exhilarating experience, (b) the cool drink (c) high energy. (4) Junior Executive in
prominent company position (Scott Moffitt Marketing Director for Mountain Dew)
(a) most junior member to sit in during an advertisement presentation, (b) Junior
managers are not normally given sit-in privileges, (c) often seen as too unseasoned to
judge creative work and need experience gaining knowledge, (d) skills/judgment is vital
to PepsiCos future. (5) Carbonated soft drinks being a highly competitive industry (The
Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo and Cadbury-Schwepps) (a) same target marketing, (b)

teens often switch from brand to brand, (c) competeing for brand loyalty, (d) promotion
intensive. (6) Commitment/Loyalty between CSD and ad agency (PepsiCo and BBDO
NY) (a) one of the largest ad agencies in the world, (b) maintained a professional
relationship with PepsiCo since 1960, (c) Bruce (BBDO employee) developed Do The
Dew campaign for PepsiCo, which has lasted eight years in running.
ALTERNATIVES: (1) Keep in trend with their current Do The Dew campaign and
choose three (of the five) presented advertisements to produce. PROS: Maintains
relationship with BBDO, an agency that understands their company and its entirety
(3,5,6,2). Continues their brand image for what people know it as (2,3). Allows company
to stay within their pre-planned budget (1,5,6). CONS: Preserves a predictable campaign
that has been repeated and has not developed a good KPI for brand awareness (2,3,5).
Puts a highly effective (negative/positive) decision in the hands of a young and
inexperienced executive (1,3,4,6) (2) Take the chance of running out of production time
and require Bruce to create different ad options. PROS: Develops new, more creative
ideas (1,3,5,6). Allow junior executives to show his integrity and concern for company
(2,3,4). CONS: Steers away from original campaign that has shown good response
(1,2,3). Lose money or commercial time slot by pushing production back (1,4,5). Take
the chance of upsetting BBDO by insulting their work (4,6). There is a chance of not
producing commercial in time for Super Bowl (1,4,5).
(3) Choose to stop using the Do The Dew campaign all together and go in a
completely different direction. PROS: New brand image could work better for company
(2,3,5). Prevent the campaign from becoming oversaturated, which would negatively
affect consumers image of brand (2,3,5). Give the company room to make marketing

alterations (2,3,5). Could save company money by doing a campaign that is less
expensive to produce commercials for (1,3,5). Executives trying to do something new
and refreshing for the company would reflect well (3,4,5). CONS: Do The Dew is what
Mountain Dew is known for (2,3,5). Going in a different direction would mean creating
an entirely different image (2,3,5). Expenditures could increase depending on new
campaign (1,2,3,5). Chances of company finding it difficult to develop new campaigns
that are still representative of their extreme experience image (2,3,5). Taking the risk of
consumers having a negative response to new campaign (2,3,5). Could possibly offend
BBDO by taking their advertising in a different direction and have them not want to work
with PepsiCo anymore (3,5,6). The time involved with creating new campaigns would set
company back in reference to moneymaking opportunities (1,3,5).
(4) Hire a new advertising agency to develop advertisements. PROS: Gives PepsiCo the
chance to expand their brand image in different, more unique ways (3,6). Potentially help
company save money by hiring a less renowned and expensive company (1,2,3,5,6).
CONS: They have brought a lot of creativity to PepsiCo resulting in successful
campaigns (2,3,5,6). Disrupts the loyal relationship PepsiCo has developed with BBDO
(3,5,6). One of the best advertising agencies in the world and is committed to PepsiCo
(3,5,6). Lose an advertising agency that really understands their brand image (2,3,5,6).
(5) Do not allow junior executives to take part in major company decisions. PROS:
More well-rounded, and experienced executives would be making the important
decisions for the company (1,3,4,5). Prevent a bad decision from being made that could
potentially jeopardize the entire company in the long run (1,3,4,5). PepsiCo considers
new creative evaluation as the most challenging aspect of managing a brand (1,2,3,4,5).

CONS: Undermines Moffitts abilities and could develop a bad reputation for the
company and their relationships with their employees (3,4,5). Insinuates that they put
executives in positions when they were not confident in their abilities (bad image for
company) (3,4,5).
RECOMMENDATIONS: Due to the fact that Mountain Dews Do The Dew has
brought so much success to their company and the fact that the advertisements presented
by BBDO were creative and representative of their brand image, PepsiCo should use
continue to use this specific campaign. However, the company needs to reconsider their
decision to allow a junior executive to determine the future of the companies advertising
by using alternative number five. This move may cause internal relationship issues, but
needs to be understood that it is in the best interest of the company.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: An employee who lacks decision-making experiences on
an advertising panel should not be given the power to make such an impactful assessment
This verdict is not to imply that Moffitt cannot do his job successfully or to insult his
abilities, but to ensure PepsiCo continues on as a successful CSD brand. With more
experience observing higher up executives and more professional interactions with
BBDO Scott Moffitt will one day be in a position to make the type of decision this
problem requires. By having a knowledgeable veteran executive that truly understands
the brand and each aspect of the Do The Dew campaign the advertisement chosen will
be the most suitable for maintaining the brand image of Mountain Dew without
oversaturating Do The Dew.