Christmas time. A time for fun, family and festivities. A time to come together and celebrate, a time to exchange gifts, make resolutions, and a time to take a break from the rat race for a bit.

Christmas is also a time that Coca-Cola sees as their time. Pepsi MAX, the original disruptor, sought to differ.

Challenge

Christmas is a key time for the soft drinks market, with huge uplift in off-trade activity as people get ready for the festive season. For Pepsi MAX, this busy period is made more challenging by the heritage that its behemoth of a competitor, Coca-Cola, has built around Christmas.

So in a world where the connection between Coke and Christmas has been made, and where Pepsi MAX will be outspent in media by a region of 10:1, we set about to find a way of helping the brand punch above its weight and steal share from Coke around the world.

Insight

Christmas is important for a lot of people. A moment to reflect and to get together with loved ones. And now, more than ever the world wants to enjoy it on their terms, however they choose to do it, because it's too important to play by someone else's rules. Especially when that someone else was Coca-Cola and their picture postcard version of Christmas.

Strategy & Approach

Our strategy was simple. To turn Coca-Cola’s version of Christmas on its head, and challenge people to do Christmas in whatever way they chose.

We’d seek to make Coke’s picture of the festive season feel old fashioned, out of touch, and to position Pepsi MAX as the voice of a generation tired by the old ways of doing things - we’d spent the whole year being told what to do, Christmas was OUR TIME.

Our Proposition

Your Christmas is far too important to play by someone elses rules.

Solution

Christmas Refreshed was our campaign vehicle for the festive period, a motivating call-to-arms for people to do Christmas their way. Our communications work sought to challenge the tired cliches of Christmas and offer up a new way of looking at it.

Our TV work put two up and coming rappers centre stage, with a part-live action, part-animated, part-story, part-cypher ad that landed our story, supported by OOH, print, social and digital.

Our ‘Santa CCTV’ social film poked fun directly at Coke around the world, as did our PR stunts, and our #christmasrefreshed social tag gave us the opportunity to lean into conversations supporting new ways of enjoying Christmas as well as poking fun at those who stuck with the tired cliches.