Every company is doing some sort of social media participatory stunt these days. Make a video, submit your ideas, win a whatever — it’s all starting to look the same.
But these three cans caught my eye when they showed up in the mail:
It’s part of a Pepsi campaign called “Dewmocracy” to promote a new flavor of Mountain Dew. You can see all the details here.
As a blogger who gets 2-3 things in the mail every week, this was the first to catch my eye in a long time.
What I like about the campaign:
- Asking for input before the product is released makes it feel like we’re part of the process, not just part of the promotion
- The unlabeled test cans gave it a real insider feel
- It feels like there is some purpose that is building to something
- A whole year of participation
- There is a big payoff at the end — you see your cans in the stores
Great idea, but is a blank non-branded sample going to take away from the perception testers have of the product? How about a branded product so the testers have a better brand perception and can also give feedback on the packaging in relation to the product?