Manila, Philippines – As part of its Asia-Pacific campaign, soft drinks brand Pepsi and creative agency in the Philippines BBDO Guerrero have teamed up in a latest campaign that transformed Pepsi’s soft drink cans into light sticks bearing the colors and figures of popular K-pop group BLACKPINK.

BLACKPINK was unveiled as the brand ambassador in the Asia Pacific region in January this year, following thereafter the launch of the limited-edition Pepsi cans that bore each of the group’s members images namely Jisoo, Jennie, Rosé, and Lisa.

The campaign, launched through augmented reality (AR), is activated through a custom Instagram Stories filter, where the cans transform into the Pepsi BLACKPINK Light Sticks—giving every fan a chance to finally own a light stick and cheer for their favorite girl group.

It also comes with its own K-pop music, so fans could wave their light sticks and dance like they’re in a BLACKPINK concert. Thousands of Pepsi cans lit up during its launch, lighting up the spirits of all BLACKPINK fans stuck at home.

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“When we announced BLACKPINK as Pepsi’s newest brand ambassador, we wanted fans to have the full fandom experience especially at a time where concerts aren’t the way they were before anymore. We’re very happy that BBDO Guerrero was able to deliver this,” said Mikey Rosales, marketing director at PepsiCo Philippines.

Said campaign has garnered 2.56 million engagements on Instagram, attesting to BLACKPINK’s massive popularity among its fanbase in the Philippines, one of the biggest and most passionate K-pop fandoms worldwide. 

The campaign’s launch also has a functional facet, resolving the issue of donning light sticks which are an essential part of any K-pop concert-going experience. Normally, a real commercial light stick costs at least US$40, a price most fans can’t afford. 

“We’ve seen more opportunities open up in the digital space as we went into lockdown. And this Instagram filter is something that our team developed to show how existing technology can be made into something that our clients’ fans can enjoy,” said David Guerrero, creative chairman at BBDO Guerrero.

This is not the first time Pepsi has utilized AR technology for its other campaigns, as its Malaysian arm recently partnered with Entropia EXR to to launch a concert in a Pepsi bottle, which featured Malaysian singer and actress, Siti Nordiana (Nana), together with the winners of its #PepsiBoldTalent TikTok challenge.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Food and beverage company PepsiCo in Malaysia has partnered with Entropia’s extended reality arm EXR in creating an augmented reality (AR) concert experience all within a Pepsi bottle, featuring Malaysian singer and actress, Siti Nordiana (Nana), together with the winners of its #PepsiBoldTalent TikTok challenge.

Malaysian consumers can access the AR concert by activating the AR camera at pepsiARconcert.com, which will be available from 16 April 2021. Users will need to pick up a bottle of Pepsi Black Raspberry, and when the AR camera gives them the prompt on their phone screen, they can scan the bottle for the AR Pepsi bottle to load and the concert will play.

The earlier #PepsiBoldTalent was launched to residents of Malaysia 13 years old or above, challenging them to submit a 15-second video on TikTok showing their best talent. The contest winners who will be gracing the AR concert are Bell – a dancer, Syafeek – a singer, and Aidil – a freestyle footballer, whose audition videos amassed viewership close to 1.4 million views each.

According to Jennifer Lee, beverage marketing lead at PepsiCo Malaysia, the newest AR campaign speaks to the company’s objective of a renewed, innovative approach to engaging with Pepsi fans, as today’s consumers want to connect with brands in an instant and feel an immediate impact.

“Together with Entropia, we shifted our focus and unlocked unfamiliar yet entertaining territory with this campaign. Most brands in Malaysia have yet to tap into AR, the new exciting channel of marketing and communications. Pepsi decided to take the tech to the next level, by bringing a concert right to the homes of our most loyal fans,” Lee stated.

Meanwhile, Ramakrishnan CN, partner at Entropia and head of EXR commented that the newly-launched AR experience is a testament to the agency’s commitment to reinventing the ways brands strategize their communications and more so for an experiential bold brand like Pepsi.

“We believe the future of brand experiences is fluid and atemporal where all touchpoints should have a branded extended reality layer over them. The iconic Pepsi bottle was the best place to provide the experience like no other, using AR tech and deliver Malaysia’s first augmented reality concert in a bottle,” he added.