Pepsi is reworking their image and giving the look of their brand a total overhaul. The plan features a "360-degree marketing campaign", but the first thing that most consumers will notice is that their cans will look very different than before. Starting next month, the company will begin using more dramatic designs on their cans, bottles and branded cups and will be rotating the designs every few weeks to "reflect themes close to the hearts of teens and young adults." The theory is that younger consumers will be more interested in something more visually stimulating than their current design and that if there is a sports or music-themed can, a music fan might be more likely to purchase it. The logo itself will not change, but since Pepsi has only changed their can design 10 times in the 109 year history of the company, this new plan is quite a departure from tradition.

Also in pursuit of the drinking loyalties of the "millennial generation," the company will be running more contests, games and sweepstakes and will be sinking more money into merchandising (did you know that you can buy a Pepsi dress?) and advertising. Different contests and prize-winning opportunities will be associated with the different Pepsi products, giving consumers "different experience each time they buy a Pepsi" and "a passport to the things they enjoy most." Oh, and they'll be getting Pepsi, too.

Folgers Coffee is trying to increase its visibility with a younger generation of consumers, the generation that grew up with Starbucks and other coffee shops on every corner. The company's slogan has long been "the best part of waking up, is Folgers in your cup," but they perceive that their new target audience views the best part of waking up as going back to sleep. As such, their strategy is not only to develop ads - launched all over the internet in a viral campaign - that are hip, but that appeal to those who believe that caffeine exists to get the to work in the morning after staying out until 3am. The updated slogan is "tolerate mornings."

"Tolerate mornings" is far less catchy than the lyrical older slogan, but is the new ad format more effective than the old one? You be the judge, but somehow the implication that you should drink the product because it's there, and not necessarily because you like, it is a less-than-convincing sales pitch. The new ad features creepy yellow people who are meant to embody the morning while singing an irritating jingle: 

(video after the jump)

Ah, summer. The time when the weather heats up, grills get dusted off from winter storage and new graduates begin to do their own thing. Sarah already covered her best foodie graduation ideas, but what a graduate really needs to go with a reasonably outfitted kitchen are cookbooks, so he or she can figure out how to get dinner from somewhere other than the local pizza delivery place. Cookbooks are not, with very few exceptions, "one-size fits all," so these are broken down by who you're buying for.

The total newbie: Help! My Apartment has a Kitchen! - This is perfect for someone moving into their first apartment. It may not keep them from getting takeout all the time, but every little bit helps.

The interested beginner: Betty Crocker's Basics: Learning to Cook with Confidence - Betty Crocker's book approaches cooking concepts in a very helpful, easy to understand way. Every term and technique is explained thoroughly, so it can set a good foundation for future endeavors

Statistically, the most targeted group in marketing is 15-35 year old males.They often have a large chunk of disposable income and they are considered to be more likely to spend it than to save it. It makes sense that advertisers and television networks would want to have a portion of that income reach them. It does not make sense, however, to do with utter disregard for the population that is actually likely to watch your network or your programming.

According to Sara Moulton, when the new president of the Food Network came in she wanted to make the network appeal to that new target demographic with young, entertaining shows – not cooking programs. The obvious disconnect here is the fact that the network is called the Food Network; cooking shows are a logical component of the programming. Sara even said that a producer friend of hers was told "No chefs please, and nobody with training" when they were pitching show ideas.