SoBe Partners With Blank You Very Much For An Exotic Design Competition

Image via http://www.blankyouverymuch.com/sobe

The Joester Loria Group, has partnered our client SoBe, the original South Beach Beverage Company, with crowd-sourced design platform Blank You Very Much (BYVM) for a “Show Us Your Exotic” design competition.

This collaboration launched on April 23rd and will run through May 23rd. The BYVM community will be challenged to reinvent SoBe’s official brand assets. BYVM’s community consists of almost 50,000 graphic designers, artists and fans. The innovative design platform was created by street wear impresario Darren Romanelli who has worked with a number of iconic sports and lifestyle brands including Disney, Converse, Burton, Beats By Dre, HUF, and Kanye West among others.

As part of this collaboration, designers will have access to official SoBe brand asset files including logos and lizard icons that may be used to create unique designs that will be uploaded to the BYVM gallery. Designs will be critiqued by BYVM community members and a panel of exclusive judges including renowned contemporary visual artist Jen Stark. Contestants have the chance to win $4,000 and other great prizes including exclusive SoBe swag.

SoBe Frozen Bars Coming This Summer

Image via http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/jlg-sends-sobe-freezer-aisle

The Joester Loria Group has brokered a license agreement between SoBe Lifewater & Elixirs and Philly Swirl, extending the beverage brand’s most popular flavors to frozen bars. The bars will arrive in US grocery stores this summer and will include two exotic flavors based on SoBe’s top-selling Lifewater flavors- Yumberry Pomegranate and Pacific Coconut.  The bars will be naturally sweetened with refreshing flavor and contain only 20-45 calories per bar.

“Expanding into frozen novelties allows consumers to experience and enjoy the distinct and delicious flavors of SoBe in a brand new way,” says Joanne Loria, executive vice president, The Joester Loria Group. “Philly Swirl is a leader in the category and will be a fantastic partner.”  The Joester Loria Group is the exclusive licensing agent for PepsiCo North America.

Global License! recently shared SoBe’s freezer fresh news here: http://www.licensemag.com/license-global/jlg-sends-sobe-freezer-aisle

Pepsi Licensing at SXSW

With music as a key passion point for Pepsi, the brand continued their partnership with the South by Southwest (SXSW) Interactive and Music festivals to bring exciting and diverse music experiences to their fans. SXSW Interactive is focused on emerging technology and talent, which has earned the festival a reputation as a breeding ground for innovation. Pepsi put together an exciting SXSW program where fans engaged with the brand and learned about Pepsi’s new licensed products collection, available on it’s ecommerce site, shop.pepsi.com.

The Official Pepsi SongBooth Truck, allowed fans to record covers and film music videos of current pop hits and earn the chance to win Pepsi product prizes. Prizes included Pepsi Shop licensed exclusive iPad cases, apparel and accessories and those in attendance were directed to shop.pepsi.com to see the entire Pepsi collection. The truck also included a Pepsi lounge area, which included four Pepsi Shop graphics directing consumers to the ecommerce site; these signs were visible during MTVu interviews conducted by a variety of vee-jays, including veteran reporter Sway.

The Pepsi SongBooth Truck was at the MTV Woodie Awards, which ran all day Thursday and featured performances & appearances by Travi$ Scott with surprise guest TI, Zedd, Tegan And Sarah, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, Machine Gun Kelly, Trinidad James, Earl Sweatshirt, Joey BadA$$, Pusha T, and Twenty One Pilots. In addition to SongBooth staff, all MTV Woodies event staff distributed PepsiCo beverages and snacks while wearing Pepsi Shop apparel.

Pepsi was also at the Empire Auto Club music venue. Performances at the space included George Clinton, Erykah Badyu, Talib Kweli as well as a DJ set by Young Guru who played an unreleased remix of Lamar’s track “B—- Don’t Kill My Vibe,” featuring a guest verse from Jay-Z himself. All Empire Auto staff distributed PepsiCo beverages and snacks and wore Pepsi Shop licensed apparel.

Further enhancing the consumer experience, 40,000 post cards were handed out at SXSW. These cards included the link to the Pepsi Shop along with a 20% off coupon code.

Pepsi Gets In On The Harlem Shake Craze

Pepsi, named by U.S. News as one of America’s Most Connected Companies for its social media strategy, as reported this past May, understands that digital and social media marketing are important tools for building relationships and engaging with their customers.   Their digital content remains consistent and references pop culture phenomenons, most recently the YouTube Harlem Shake trend.

Recently short viral videos featuring the 2012 song “Harlem Shake” by electronic musician Baauer have become increasingly popular.  Typically the videos begin with one person, who is usually helmeted or masked, dancing to the song alone, surrounded by other people oblivious to the dancing individual. Then the videos usually cut to the entire crowd doing a haphazard dance for the rest of the video.  As of February 15, 2013 approximately 40,000 Harlem Shake videos had been uploaded to YouTube, totaling about 175 million views.

In order to capitalize on this current pop culture trend and remain relevant to its audience, our client Pepsi created its own Harlem Shake video. Watch Pepsi cans do their version of the Harlem Shake here:

Pepsi’s effective social media campaigns drive buzz for the Pepsi brand and Pepsi licensed products.  Pepsi provides a great example of how brands stay relevant and engage with their consumers.

Spotted: Pepsi at the Gap

The Joester Loria group is pleased to share that in partnership with apparel licensee Fifth Sun, Pepsi branded tee shirts are now available at Gap stores across the country.  The shirts feature a retro graphic aesthetic, creating a feel of classic nostalgia that is representative of both the Pepsi and Gap brands.  We look forward to sharing more news on the growing licensing program for Pepsi soon.

Pepsi Utilizes Crowdsourcing For Super Bowl Halftime Show

Image via Halftime.Pepsi.com

Our client, Pepsi, is promoting their sponsorship of the Super Bowl halftime show with a contest where fans can submit their personal photos in the hopes that it will be featured in the introduction video before Beyonce’s halftime performance.  Additionally, 50 lucky fans who enter the contest will be chosen to attend the Super Bowl and see Beyonce’s performance live.

The contest started on December 28 and runs through January 21. Each day fans are given a different photo assignment in order to enter the contest. The promotion has already generated thousands of photos in less than a week. Photos can be submitted on Halftime.Pepsi.com.  Pepsi’s Super Bowl promotion is just another way Pepsi provides fans unparalleled access to celebrities and events and the opportunity for all to Live For Now.  The Super Bowl will air on February 3 on CBS.

Pepsi Ups the Ante for Next “X Factor” Winner

Our client Pepsi is adding additional benefits to the already lucrative prize package it provides for the winner of the hit television show “The X Factor.” Besides a $5 million recording contract with Sony, Pepsi will also help the winner produce and record their first track and an accompanying video that will air during the Grammy Awards on February 10.

While last year’s winner was given the opportunity to appear in the brand’s Super Bowl commercial, Pepsi chose to leverage its association with the Grammys for this season’s winner. Pepsi has strong ties to the music industry and frequently supports and promotes musical artists through strategic marketing partnerships, so the Grammys were a natural extension for Pepsi’s “X Factor” program.

The Hollywood Reporter recently shared the news about Pepsi’s latest “X Factor” plans.

Pepsi’s association with “The X Factor” is a great example of a brand marketing partnership that fully and organically reflects the brand’s personality and attributes.  Pepsi has an authentic and long-nurtured association with the music industry and its collaborations with “The X Factor” and The Grammys further reinforce this relationship.

The Joester Loria Group and Hurricane Sandy

· The Kellogg Company announced a $500,000 donation to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts to The Red Cross and Feeding America through both monetary and food donations.

·Discovery Communications offered a  special website to track the storm.

·Animal Planet launched a new Facebook page with the goal of reuniting pets lost during Hurricane Sandy with their owners.  The new Facebook page is called “Hurricane Sandy Lost and Found Pets” and it has over 19,000 supporters, a number that is rapidly growing.

·Pepsi pledged $500,000 to the American Red Cross’ disaster giving program and $250,000 to Feeding America’s disaster relief fund.

Pepsi Partners with “X Factor” To Pick Its Newest Pop Star

Our client Pepsi recently introduced a new “pop star” in the form of a limited-edition dragon-fruit-flavored soda called Pepsi X. The new flavor is the result of a brand marketing partnership with the hit television show, “The X Factor.” Last spring, Pepsi launched its “Pepsi Flavor Audition Tour” at 20 of the locations where auditions for “The X Factor” were held. Contestants and fans were given the opportunity to sample four new flavors and vote on their favorite. More than 15.000 votes were cast and the dragon fruit flavor was the fan favorite.

The limited edition flavor hit store shelves on Monday, October 8th. The Pepsi X packaging also features “The X Factor” logo. This partnership is an excellent example of using crowd sourcing to develop and market a product. The program also organically integrates two well-known brands from different categories in a way that benefits both brands.

Packaging Digest recently covered this brand marketing partnership.

Sierra Mist and Mug Release Freezer Bars

The Joester Loria Group has secured PepsiCo’s first licensed food extension with the Sierra Mist and Mug brands. The deal, in partnership with Kisko, will bring branded freezer bar assortments to grocery, drug and mass accounts nationwide this Spring 2013.

The freezer bars will be available in the US and Canada in a variety of pack formats and sizes. The Sierra Mist freezer bars will come in Lemon-Lime, Cranberry Splash and Strawberry Kiwi Splash flavors and Mug will be offered in both Root Beer and Cream Soda flavors.

The Joester Loria Group is the exclusive licensing agency for PepsiCo North America.