PepsiCo

the perception gap

PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi is committed to fulfilling her vision of creating the defining company of the 21st century -- a global company with an ethical purpose. And she pursued it, developing healthier products, minimizing their environmental footprint, and generally becoming a better global citizen. Yet key stakeholders around the world – from consumers and the media to investors, governments and NGOs – continued to see PepsiCo solely as the makers of Pepsi. Even its own employees were not fully embracing the new direction.

the language strategy

So the company came to us for help. We worked with PepsiCo and their public relations agency in key markets across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America to identify a series of Communication Gaps in which the language the company was using was not aligned with the worldview of their widely diverse audiences. We then applied our proprietary Instant Response Dial methodology to develop and test articulations of the right language.

the impact

The resulting language strategy identifies what PepsiCo needs to communicate – and the specific messaging – to truly resonate with both their employees as well as their external stakeholders. In the second phase of the project, we are partnering with PepsiCo to help weave their new language strategy into the fabric of the company. This included producing a Language Brand Bible, helping guide advertising efforts, editing CEO speeches and the Annual Report, and conducting worldwide training sessions with senior leaders and communication executives.

The result: our work is helping drive external corporate reputation and internal culture change by transforming how PepsiCo communicates with its key audiences.