PEPSI GENERATIONS
PEPSI GENERATIONS
2018
Pepsi
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
The Context
The Pepsi brand has occupied a special place in pop culture for over 125 years. More than a beverage, it became a cultural signal — the brand of youth, of music, of sport, of the moment. Cindy Crawford on a dirt road. Michael Jackson moonwalking. Britney Spears at the diner. These weren't just ads. They were moments that a generation grew up with.
In 2017, a single campaign — the now-infamous Kendall Jenner ad — shattered that relationship. The ad trivialized social justice movements in a way that felt tone-deaf and opportunistic, and the response was swift and severe. While the ad never aired in the United States and was intended for an international audience, Pepsi pulled the ad from its channels and issued a public apology. Brand sentiment dropped 14 points on social. Purchase consideration among millennials — the very audience Pepsi had always claimed as its own — fell sharply. Its core consumer, Gen Xers who had grown up with the brand, were even more angered.
The Challenge
Pepsi is not a niche brand. When a business of that scale loses consumer confidence, the impact moves markets. Retail partners, bottlers, and a global distribution network all feel the effect. Restoring brand health wasn't a marketing objective, it became a business imperative.
The deeper challenge was strategic. It's tough to spend your way out of an image crisis, and it's even harder to rebuild fan belonging once it is gone. The brand needed an idea that would remind fans what Pepsi stood for.
The Solution
The insight that drove the work was simple but counterintuitive: when a brand loses its way, the path forward sometimes is through the past. Not nostalgia for nostalgia's sake, but a reminder of a shared history that fans believed in. For Gen X — the generation that had grown up alongside Pepsi's greatest pop-culture moments — that shared history was the most powerful thing the brand owned. The campaign was designed to speak to them directly: not as a demographic, but as the original fans.
I spearheaded the development and launch of Pepsi Generations — a 360-degree campaign built around the idea that Pepsi's role in pop-culture was its strength. The campaigns, the moments, the celebrities that made Pepsi synonymous with youth and energy for decades were the brand's most credible assets, even if the brand had been ignoring them.
The creative strategy was deliberately referential, but not retro. It wasn't just a look back, it was a continuation of the story. The message wasn't "remember this?", it was "we haven't forgotten who we are." Cindy Crawford returned, this time with her son Presley reprising her iconic 1992 Super Bowl ad shot for shot. Michael Jackson. Britney Spears. Jeff Gordon racing the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Each moment was chosen not for sentiment but for signal: Pepsi was still the brand that understood culture, still the brand that moved with it.
The campaign launched nationally and culminated in a presence within the Super Bowl LII Halftime Show — the largest cultural stage available, and a statement of intent: Pepsi was not retreating. It was returning.
The Impact
Pepsi Generations became the most significant brand initiative from the trademark in years. It was the highest-testing creative in Pepsi brand history — a signal that we had found the right idea.
In market, it achieved what it was built to do: stabilize Pepsi's brand image, begin the work of repairing fan relationships, and set the foundation for sales recovery. Brand health scores improved within one quarter of the campaign launch. It demonstrated that the brand still understood its own identity, and was committed to protecting it.
The Takeaway
Modern marketing often sees fans like customers — acquirable, retainable, replaceable. It prioritizes transactions, not connection. Pepsi Generations was built on a different premise. Fans who have grown up with a brand like Pepsi don't just prefer it. It becomes part of their identity. When that relationship breaks, it doesn't heal through performance marketing or product innovation. It heals through meaning.
The work I care most about sits at exactly that intersection: understanding what a brand means to the people who love it, and finding the strategic and creative ideas that make that meaning perform. Pepsi Generations was one of the clearest examples of that in my career. The brand was never going to out-argue the critics. But it could remind its fans — through the language they already knew — that it was still worth believing in.
PEPSI GENERATIONS
PEPSI GENERATIONS
2018
Pepsi
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
The Context
The Pepsi brand has occupied a special place in pop culture for over 125 years. More than a beverage, it became a cultural signal — the brand of youth, of music, of sport, of the moment. Cindy Crawford on a dirt road. Michael Jackson moonwalking. Britney Spears at the diner. These weren't just ads. They were moments that a generation grew up with.
In 2017, a single campaign — the now-infamous Kendall Jenner ad — shattered that relationship. The ad trivialized social justice movements in a way that felt tone-deaf and opportunistic, and the response was swift and severe. While the ad never aired in the United States and was intended for an international audience, Pepsi pulled the ad from its channels and issued a public apology. Brand sentiment dropped 14 points on social. Purchase consideration among millennials — the very audience Pepsi had always claimed as its own — fell sharply. Its core consumer, Gen Xers who had grown up with the brand, were even more angered.
The Challenge
Pepsi is not a niche brand. When a business of that scale loses consumer confidence, the impact moves markets. Retail partners, bottlers, and a global distribution network all feel the effect. Restoring brand health wasn't a marketing objective, it became a business imperative.
The deeper challenge was strategic. It's tough to spend your way out of an image crisis, and it's even harder to rebuild fan belonging once it is gone. The brand needed an idea that would remind fans what Pepsi stood for.
The Solution
The insight that drove the work was simple but counterintuitive: when a brand loses its way, the path forward sometimes is through the past. Not nostalgia for nostalgia's sake, but a reminder of a shared history that fans believed in. For Gen X — the generation that had grown up alongside Pepsi's greatest pop-culture moments — that shared history was the most powerful thing the brand owned. The campaign was designed to speak to them directly: not as a demographic, but as the original fans.
I spearheaded the development and launch of Pepsi Generations — a 360-degree campaign built around the idea that Pepsi's role in pop-culture was its strength. The campaigns, the moments, the celebrities that made Pepsi synonymous with youth and energy for decades were the brand's most credible assets, even if the brand had been ignoring them.
The creative strategy was deliberately referential, but not retro. It wasn't just a look back, it was a continuation of the story. The message wasn't "remember this?", it was "we haven't forgotten who we are." Cindy Crawford returned, this time with her son Presley reprising her iconic 1992 Super Bowl ad shot for shot. Michael Jackson. Britney Spears. Jeff Gordon racing the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Each moment was chosen not for sentiment but for signal: Pepsi was still the brand that understood culture, still the brand that moved with it.
The campaign launched nationally and culminated in a presence within the Super Bowl LII Halftime Show — the largest cultural stage available, and a statement of intent: Pepsi was not retreating. It was returning.
The Impact
Pepsi Generations became the most significant brand initiative from the trademark in years. It was the highest-testing creative in Pepsi brand history — a signal that we had found the right idea.
In market, it achieved what it was built to do: stabilize Pepsi's brand image, begin the work of repairing fan relationships, and set the foundation for sales recovery. Brand health scores improved within one quarter of the campaign launch. It demonstrated that the brand still understood its own identity, and was committed to protecting it.
The Takeaway
Modern marketing often sees fans like customers — acquirable, retainable, replaceable. It prioritizes transactions, not connection. Pepsi Generations was built on a different premise. Fans who have grown up with a brand like Pepsi don't just prefer it. It becomes part of their identity. When that relationship breaks, it doesn't heal through performance marketing or product innovation. It heals through meaning.
The work I care most about sits at exactly that intersection: understanding what a brand means to the people who love it, and finding the strategic and creative ideas that make that meaning perform. Pepsi Generations was one of the clearest examples of that in my career. The brand was never going to out-argue the critics. But it could remind its fans — through the language they already knew — that it was still worth believing in.
PEPSI GENERATIONS
PEPSI GENERATIONS
2018
Pepsi
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
Rebuilding fan trust after a brand crisis by returning to the pop-culture legacy that made Pepsi iconic.
The Context
The Pepsi brand has occupied a special place in pop culture for over 125 years. More than a beverage, it became a cultural signal — the brand of youth, of music, of sport, of the moment. Cindy Crawford on a dirt road. Michael Jackson moonwalking. Britney Spears at the diner. These weren't just ads. They were moments that a generation grew up with.
In 2017, a single campaign — the now-infamous Kendall Jenner ad — shattered that relationship. The ad trivialized social justice movements in a way that felt tone-deaf and opportunistic, and the response was swift and severe. While the ad never aired in the United States and was intended for an international audience, Pepsi pulled the ad from its channels and issued a public apology. Brand sentiment dropped 14 points on social. Purchase consideration among millennials — the very audience Pepsi had always claimed as its own — fell sharply. Its core consumer, Gen Xers who had grown up with the brand, were even more angered.
The Challenge
Pepsi is not a niche brand. When a business of that scale loses consumer confidence, the impact moves markets. Retail partners, bottlers, and a global distribution network all feel the effect. Restoring brand health wasn't a marketing objective, it became a business imperative.
The deeper challenge was strategic. It's tough to spend your way out of an image crisis, and it's even harder to rebuild fan belonging once it is gone. The brand needed an idea that would remind fans what Pepsi stood for.
The Solution
The insight that drove the work was simple but counterintuitive: when a brand loses its way, the path forward sometimes is through the past. Not nostalgia for nostalgia's sake, but a reminder of a shared history that fans believed in. For Gen X — the generation that had grown up alongside Pepsi's greatest pop-culture moments — that shared history was the most powerful thing the brand owned. The campaign was designed to speak to them directly: not as a demographic, but as the original fans.
I spearheaded the development and launch of Pepsi Generations — a 360-degree campaign built around the idea that Pepsi's role in pop-culture was its strength. The campaigns, the moments, the celebrities that made Pepsi synonymous with youth and energy for decades were the brand's most credible assets, even if the brand had been ignoring them.
The creative strategy was deliberately referential, but not retro. It wasn't just a look back, it was a continuation of the story. The message wasn't "remember this?", it was "we haven't forgotten who we are." Cindy Crawford returned, this time with her son Presley reprising her iconic 1992 Super Bowl ad shot for shot. Michael Jackson. Britney Spears. Jeff Gordon racing the DeLorean from Back to the Future. Each moment was chosen not for sentiment but for signal: Pepsi was still the brand that understood culture, still the brand that moved with it.
The campaign launched nationally and culminated in a presence within the Super Bowl LII Halftime Show — the largest cultural stage available, and a statement of intent: Pepsi was not retreating. It was returning.
The Impact
Pepsi Generations became the most significant brand initiative from the trademark in years. It was the highest-testing creative in Pepsi brand history — a signal that we had found the right idea.
In market, it achieved what it was built to do: stabilize Pepsi's brand image, begin the work of repairing fan relationships, and set the foundation for sales recovery. Brand health scores improved within one quarter of the campaign launch. It demonstrated that the brand still understood its own identity, and was committed to protecting it.
The Takeaway
Modern marketing often sees fans like customers — acquirable, retainable, replaceable. It prioritizes transactions, not connection. Pepsi Generations was built on a different premise. Fans who have grown up with a brand like Pepsi don't just prefer it. It becomes part of their identity. When that relationship breaks, it doesn't heal through performance marketing or product innovation. It heals through meaning.
The work I care most about sits at exactly that intersection: understanding what a brand means to the people who love it, and finding the strategic and creative ideas that make that meaning perform. Pepsi Generations was one of the clearest examples of that in my career. The brand was never going to out-argue the critics. But it could remind its fans — through the language they already knew — that it was still worth believing in.