Client: The American company PepsiCo, founded in 1903, is a world leader in snacks, foods and beverages. They have more than 285,000 employees, and in 2009, their revenues reached more than $43 billion.
Case: The objective of Pepsi’s research project was to understand the top 9% of young Chinese bloggers who discuss culture, spread ideas, and influence others online. Labbrand, in cooperation with  The Sound (a youth research agency) assisted Pepsi with this research study, which was intended to support its marketing and positioning strategy in the Chinese market. Labbrand contacted 28 active bloggers from Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Shenyang. These bloggers participated in the study through the medium they were most comfortable with—the internet. For four days, they logged onto a forum to answer specific questions about their identities, lifestyles, media habits, sources of inspiration and influences. Two moderators actively facilitated their discussions. As this study was very culturally influenced, Labbrand also researched traditional Chinese values in order to be able to compare them to modern ones.
Solution: Labbrand was able to orientate Pepsi on how this category of the population was influenced and motivated. Specifically, Labbrand identified and explained the challenges facing young adults who struggle with social pressure and changing cultural norms. With these results on hand, Pepsi was able to better choose their marketing and positioning strategies and cater their methods of communication with influential segments of the youth population.