PepsiMoji given Asian debut in Thailand

The move is aimed at building engagement and emotional connection with Pepsi’s Thai consumers, as well as heightening the company’s leadership as an innovation driver and creating excitement and buzz in the high cola-consumption period during the final quarter of the year.
 Some 40 PepsiMoji designs, including both universally relevant PepsiMoji and designs developed especially in and for Thailand, will soon be seen on a whole new packaging range of Pepsi PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottles and slim-can products.
 Selected from over 100 designs created by Pepsi’s Design & Innovation Centre team in New York, 28 PepsiMoji design options – such as Smile, Laugh, Wink, Kiss, Shy, Love and Selfie – will soon be found on packs of regular Pepsi bottles and slim cans in Thailand, enabling consumers to start a conversation as they make a purchase.
 These designs include a dozen emojis that were specifically developed for the Thai market, reflecting unique Thai emotions and culture such as Muay Thai (Thai boxing), Thai TukTuk (auto rickshaw), Tom Yum Goong (the famous Thai dish) and Thai traditional costume.
 Most of these designs have incorporated the essence of Pepsi’s iconic globe shape and the colours of blue, red and white.
 In the next four months, Pepsi will also be periodically refreshing its PepsiMoji designs as well as locally relevant new packaging.
 A distribution strategy to match different PepsiMoji designs to different channels and consumer occasions is also being implemented.
 For example, Pepsi with the Tom Yum Goong PepsiMoji design will be available at eatery shops and restaurants, while the Party design will be printed on multi-serving sizes of Pepsi available in modern trade channels.
 Following Pepsi’s highly successful summer emojis launch in Canada in May, Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading will invest Bt200 million to launch a 360-degree campaign called “Say it with Pepsi” during the current quarter.
 The fully integrated campaign – featuring out-of-home media, TV commercials, retail and in-store media, and digital and social-media engagement, as well as on-the-ground activities such as the “Pepsi Presents Big Mountain Music Festival 7” – will be rolled out to encourage consumers to enjoy communicating with, and through, their PepsiMoji.
 “For Pepsi, emojis are more than mere icons, they are cultural conversation-starters. There are more than 2 billion smart-phone users globally. Emojis are sent 6 billion times around the world every day and 92 per cent of the online population are using them,” said Somchai Ketchaikosol, marketing director – Beverages of Pepsi-Cola (Thai) Trading.
 According to data from Nielsen, the Thai carbonated soft-drink market’s value reached Bt33 billion in the first three quarters of the year.
 The cola-drink market dominated with Bt25 billion of the market, representing 4-per-cent growth compared to the same period last year.
 Currently, Pepsi is the only cola brand whose growth exceeds the industry rate, with double-digit expansion, he said.
 “We believe that the launch of our latest campaign, ‘Say It with Pepsi’, will drive sales and grow our business performance, especially in the last quarter, which is considered the festive and peak-season period.
 “Besides, the campaign is aimed at heightening brand engagement and emotional connection with targeted consumers, as well as our leading position in ‘brand love’ and as an innovation driver and trendsetter,” said Ketchaikosol.
 “It will also further strengthen Pepsi’s cola leadership in non-returnable packaging, in which we have become the leader with more than a 45-per-cent market share, according to Nielsen,” he added.