GOA: While delivering a keynote at the Goafest, PepsiCo India CEO D Shivakumar pointed out that technology is taking a toll and becoming a priority, which in turn is leading to negligence of a brand’s strategy.

“Nowadays, we see ads put up on platform at a certain point of time, which have no relevance with the strategy of the brand. We are just getting carried away by the tactics and suppressing the strategy,” said Shivakumar.

He went on to add, “Clients meet agencies again and again, which signifies that they are not clear in their head. Hasty decision-making and confusing agencies leads to debacles. Many campaigns fail because of clients’ confusion, as the discussion is always around buying, planning and selling. Strategic discussion has become a rarity, which needs to change.”

Talking about the innovative Pepsi campaign for the IPL, Shivakumar said, “PepsiCo, with its IPL campaign, has turned consumers into an agency as we asked them to make an ad, and promised that better words will find place in television. We will release six different ads made by consumers during the course of the tournament. The first will be launched on 12 April. We will put all the videos online for people to vote and select the best one according to them. The agency has been assigned the work of judging the videos so that nothing that violates law and order is put up and consumers can go to any level with their imagination.”

“We always keep track of what is happening. Who is saying what about Kohli, Ranbir etc. These factors play a vital role in coming to a consensus. Moreover innovative ideas also come out from trending topics, so it is highly important to be in the loop,” he concludes.