As a Brand matures, they begin to diversify. The brand architecture becomes less about corporate colors and identity, and more about a brand experience and lifestyle. Pepsi has been embracing this strategy with its “Max” line, proudly encouraging fans to carpe diem.
Damien Walters has been a youtube sensation for a few years now. Below is his 2011 showreel. He has bee a figurehead in the freerunning and pakour community for quite some time.
In addition to seeing Pepsi continue to evolve as a brand, the other thing worth mentioning here is how they are using celebrity talent for brand transference. Youtube is rapidly becoming a place for talent discovery and recruitment. As the web has given a voice to everyman, talent and quality content is accessible to all. Some brands like Pepsi have moved into content creation using youtube sensations to draw a larger buzz on social media.
I think this campaign is a win-win. Damien Walters gets to showcase his amazing talent to a larger audience, and Pepsi continues to expand its social capital to a younger generation with an exciting new ad campaign. This campaign speaks to the future of brands becoming their own syndication channels of user curated talent.
-pd
Good vs Better 