Brand New Day: Pepsi To Switch To Diet For NFL Sponsorship

ROY Sponsorship To Be Included In Pepsi’s Switch

Pepsi is switching marketing affiliations from its flagship brand to Diet Pepsi for the NFL, “its largest sports sponsorship,” according to Terry Lefton in this week’s SPORTSBUSINESS JOURNAL. PepsiCo VP/Sports Marketing & Media John Galloway said, “For Pepsi as a company and for the soft drink business overall, diet is where the growth is. People are drinking more diet beverages than ever, so it was a simple, logical switch to have the NFL aligned with where our business is going.” Lefton reports that in focus groups, consumers said that not only were they “unashamed to drink Diet Pepsi, they gave their blessing to the proposed NFL association.” All of Pepsi’s NFL programs “except its Super Bowl concert series” will be converted to Diet Pepsi, including its associate sponsorship of NFL Kickoff and its Rookie of the Year platform. DDB Needham, Diet Pepsi’s ad agency, will now handle the NFL creative (SBJ, 8/1 issue).