Sadly, Saturday was my short day to end the conference. I could only stay for the opening keynote as I had to jump into the van and start my long and boring drive back to Houghton.
Mauro Porcini – SVP and Chief Design Officer for PepsiCo
This is the keynote I was waiting the entire conference for. Last year, having HOW Design Live in Atlanta, meant we were on Coca-cola’s territory. This year, we were on neutral ground, and listening to Mauro talk about his experience at Pepsi-Co was amazing. As media buying has now begun to shift away from the standard and marketers are looking to gain acceptance through consumer touch points, Pepsi has come up with some amazing campaigns to bring the consumer into their world.
Mauro discussed how the top challenges that PepsiCo faced was 1.) relevance, 2.) speed, and 3.) authenticity. To overcome this, PepsiCo has patterned with Shanghi Fashion Week to pop op spontaneous new marketing tests. By looking at the practical journey, interactivity, and use experience, they are able to properly reach their audiences and engage them in a new and exciting way.
By releasing things like Pepsi Perfect with the connection to Back to the Future and the new F!zz soda stands, PepsiCo continues to push the limits and become an interactive brand, which is so awesomely unusual for a consumer food product brand.
Once Porcini was done, I had to leave. It was sad to have to leave early, but starting the crazy drive back to Houghton was needed. My brain was creatively fried. However, I did get my submission in and hopefully have a chance at presenting at next year’s HOW Design Live 2018 in Boston. Here’s hoping!
