The Choice

Alan did.

Alan was facing the kind of generational challenge that most marketers do … the company he worked for made just one product … it was good but it had been marketed for over 50 years essentially the same way … while the successful they were constantly outsold by a well-known competitor 6 to 1 …

It was time for a change … so he set up a contest … asking customers to come up with a slogan. The winner was a woman named Ellen from small town in Wisconsin … her suggestion won her a car … her suggestion helped Alan change the fortunes of the company

You see Alan’s company had always advertised that you got twice as much of their product for a nickel compared to the competitors … but the slogan that Alan championed for the company was one of the first “lifestyle” or marketing slogans .. instead of focused on price or taste ….it promoted an image.

It was a big risk as it could have easily alienated whole generations of customers that had grown up drinking what had originally been called Brad’s drink … but the time was right and it paid off … sales exploded before long Alan’s company sold as much product in the US as the major competitor … and the wars were on.

Today, the company Alan worked for markets many products, has sales of over $60 billion annually … and over 50 years later still uses variations of the slogan Alan promoted … The Pepsi Generation!

The Pepsi Generation is a great idea … because knowing what you are truly offering customers can make a world of difference.