PepsiCo, Purchase, N.Y., announced an open call for young entrepreneurs and forward-thinking university students in Brazil to submit business ideas for its digital incubator program PepsiCo10. Now in its third year, PepsiCo10 identifies promising emerging technologies that can be applied to brands to engage consumers in new ways to help drive sales. PepsiCo10 Brazil will be the first PepsiCo10 program focused on an emerging market.
In addition to attracting start-ups, PepsiCo10 Brazil will focus on engaging tech-savvy millennials by inviting submissions from university students across Brazil, the company says.
"Brazil is a great market to run the PepsiCo10 program. Our brands are recognized for their imaginative and surprising programs that reach consumers in unexpected ways, like crowd-sourcing the next product flavor or involving them in a community activity," said Nora Mirazon, consumer engagement officer at PepsiCo Brazil, in a statement. "PepsiCo10 offers an amazing opportunity to accelerate our innovation process while boosting engagement with consumers in this key market."
PepsiCo10 Brazil is kicking off the submission process with a reception and panel at Social Media Week Sao Paolo, which runs through Sept. 27. From September 2012 to June 2013, the program will select 10 entrepreneurs or university students in two phases to implement marketing programs with leading global and local PepsiCo brands, such as Toddy, Doritos, Ruffles, Pepsi, Quaker and H2Oh!, across four categories: entertainment, mobile, retail and sustainability. Entrepreneurs can apply for the fall 2012 phase through Oct. 27 via a tab on PepsiCo Brazil's Facebook page. For more information, visit PepsiCo10.com.
"Along with the search for new ideas, PepsiCo10 supports our strategy of attracting and retaining top talent by giving us a chance to communicate with some of the brightest and most creative young Brazilian minds,” said Cristiana Gomes, director of human resources at PepsiCo Brazil, in a statement.
"We are excited to build the PepsiCo10 roster in Brazil, a growth engine for PepsiCo and a nation brimming with innovative ideas and creativity,” added Josh Karpf, director of digital media at PepsiCo, in a statement. “PepsiCo10 reinforces our commitment to marketing excellence and gives our brands a competitive edge by putting a process behind discovering technologies that enable digital connections with consumers."
Launched in 2010, the inaugural PepsiCo10 U.S. received more than 500 submissions from budding entrepreneurs that gave PepsiCo an early look at technology trends such as social TV, experience-based gaming, crowd-sourced content creation and pay-at-the-table digital promotion. In 2011 the momentum continued with PepsiCo10 Europe, attracting applicants from start-ups in 18 countries and resulting in marketing pilots with billion-dollar PepsiCo brands like Doritos, Quaker, Walkers and Pepsi Max.
