Pepsi’s “Live for Now” strategy is based on inviting and inspiring consumers to live their moments to the fullest and be with them there.

Pepsi was looking for solutions that will both make Pepsi to be with 13 – 17 year old teens during their experiences and will increase the sales and love mark index.

Branded entertainment, especially for such a brand is crucial however it is a blurred area which can be considered as emerging and confused with sponsorships and product placements.

Although TV is still the first medium in terms of media consumption, it is nearly impossible for a brand to reach the young people only via TV.

Digital platforms are the main platform for the young people. Turkish youngsters are very active digital users.

Branded Entertainment is only successful with a powerful content. Delivering a relevant and rich content tailored for the audience, instead of just brand positioning and brand message, is the key.

The challenge for the brands here is distinguishing themselves from the rest in front of the super connected youth.

Digital Games are perfect for these brands. There are 22.000.000 digital game players. Turkey is among the top countries for global game developers. Local game developers have even more devoted and crowded audience.

Instead of traditional banners or product placements, Pepsi was integrated into the game by gamer’s utilities, that have branding BUT are also useful to gamers.

The creative idea got its final shape after finding the optimal benefit by conducting a research among Sanalika players. The research showed that players’ prior need was being able to move faster in Sanalika.

The “Pepsi Teleportation” mechanism, which would enable players to move faster in Sanalika, was created.

“Pepsi Teleportation Booths and Pads” were located on 11 different streets of Sanalika and a “Teleportation Map” was located on player interface. These tools could only be activated by “Pepsi Tokens“, which can only be obtained by entering the codes under the caps of Pepsi products.

Besides, a “Gift Wheel” was located on a popular area of Sanalika. The Wheel was giving gifts when turned by Pepsi Tokens.

The campaign was announced both on www.pepsiyasatirseni.com and on Sanalika with more than 74,000,000 impressions.

Sanalika audience loved the campaign and responded immediately. In the first 2 months of the campaign 137,477 Pepsi codes were redeemed by Sanalika players in the game.

By the end of March 2014 188,306 unique player redeemed 1,464,783 Pepsi codes on Sanalika. In other words, 1.464.783 Pepsi products were consumed by the players.

Sanalika has 1 million active users. Pepsi reached % 18 of them.

The results were a mutual success for both Pepsi and the consumer. Pepsi achieved its goal to be with the people while they live their moments by enriching Sanalika players’ gaming experience besides 1,464,783 sold Pepsi products.

Sanalika has 1 million active users. Pepsi reached % 18 of them. When it is considered that the percentage of in game item purchase is % 5 in general in most of the games, reaching to % 18 made a critical difference in the purchasing approach of the players.

Finally, soft drinks are important for 13 – 17 teens, they are heavy consumers and brand image is very influential. Pepsi touched to their daily lives and started an interaction that contributed into an important part of their entertainment.