What is the best platform for a brand in 2016? Pepsi wants to find out

Pepsi is set to increase its marketing spend on digital this year, but the firm is still weighing up the best platforms for return on investment (ROI), according to its CFO.

Speaking at an earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston said 40% of PepsiCo’s Super Bowl advertising budget went to digital and the brand plans to invest more in digital this year.

The maker of Frito-Lay chips and Tropicana juice has been retooling its product lineup and rethinking marketing to reach web-savvy shoppers.

Pepsi was the title sponsor of the Super Bowl halftime show, which featured a performance by Coldplay and guest Beyonce.

Meanwhile, its snack brand Doritos ran its 10th and final “Crash the Super Bowl” contest as well as tech-savvy campaigns around San Francisco’s Levi’s Stadium.

From Snapchat to Twitter, mobile to content marketing, the brand spread itself across several platforms over the weekend in order to generate added value beyond its TV buy.

However, Johnston said the major hurdle on shifting budget to digital is “identifying high-quality properties to advertise on”.

“It’s not just a matter of going for pop-up ads anymore. It’s really more sophisticated digital advertising,” continued Johnston. “And that is probably – more than anything, the rate-limiting factor is finding high-quality assets to invest in.”

Johnston cited the fact that PepsiCo has been able to sustain 4 per cent to 5 per cent revenue growth in what has been a challenging environment.

In its latest financial results, the FMCG giant saw fourth-quarter profit jump 31% in a performance that met Wall Street’s earnings expectations.

Total revenue slipped 7 per cent to $18.6bn in the three months to December, due to a hit on from foreign exchange rates on international sales.