What if there was a magic button that could Refresh Everything?

How Pepsi's iconic RefreshEverything campaign became the FTW how-to manual for integrated advertising.

Strategy Creative Direction Digital Marketing User Experience

Back when I was running Kizmo in San Francisco.

We were working with with Pepsi to conceive, execute and deliver one of the first integrated brand campaigns ever.

It was a time when bandwidth was low.

Social was young, and people were sharing share-worthy content. With just 2 weeks to deliver, we had to focus on creative solutions. With a quickness.

What if we delivered a content-rich creative strategy without actually having to create content? What if we designed a campaign powered by people? A destination for inspiration, creativity and opportunity.

In 2009.

The new Pepsi Generation, refreshing the world in real-time.

Pepsi's story of "rethink the past, refresh with the new," struck a chord. More so when they gave us an early look at their upcoming Bob Dylan/Will.I.Am TV spot.

Crystal clear, our mission was to refresh every experience that people have with Pepsi. Starting with refreshing the "refresh button". A central theme that would be used across all channels.

The RefreshEverything button was designed to be placed anywhere to literally refresh every experience--online and off--to become a Pepsi experience.

The Results

Leveraging Pepsi's own content, with a generous helping of user generated content, we delivered a first of its' kind campaign that set the bar for Pepsi's digital strategy ever since.

A campaign that inspired people to tell powerful, creative stories for Pepsi's content curation team.
After launch, Pepsi chose to pass on Super Bowl advertising madness to invest in the RefreshEverything digital experience story.
Pepsi asked people to invent and deliver ideas that would make the world a better place, committing $20 million in grant money to fund the winning causes.

— But wait, there's more