Money Matters

Most people don’t pay attention to how much money has been spent on a brand before purchasing something. One might notice the changing ad campaigns at bus stops or billboards or comment on which companies choose to spend millions in a Superbowl football ad. At least, until recently.

In today’s financial climate, we’re all more aware of how much a company spends – on anything from golden parachutes to advertising budgets. So when I read about Pepsi’s new brand campaign and its 1.2 billion dollar budget, I consciously thought - I want a Coke. I mean, how could any company knowingly choose to invest that much money in changing what is already a well-known brand? That sort of money seems wasteful in today’s economy. While they’re a world-wide brand and this is a three year budget, it still reeks of big corporate money and not real inventiveness or creativity – something the brand desperately needs.

And its not just a one-off, single example of being aware of a company’s budget decisions. People want to know about a company’s fiscal responsibility – in all areas.



This ad focuses on the striking disparity between really caring about one’s customers by focusing on solving problems or only caring about the customer’s dollar, as ‘PC’ seems to here. In today’s fiscal atmosphere, there is a need to focus on financials and how companies are choosing to spend their money. One has to be transparent in business and not just in the products and services but also, surprisingly, in promotional efforts.

Money matters, along with everything else.