Machine_ has announced that it has been awarded another PepsiCo sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) pitch win. The portfolio follows the corporation’s pitching drive, across all disciplines, which came as a result of its acquisition of Pioneer Foods. Retaining the Simba and Lay’s digital portfolios, Machine_ has now added White Star, Sasko, Liqui-Fruit, Weet-Bix and Spekko to its list.

“Another invitation to pitch on the digital portfolio at PepsiCo was a great confidence boost for us,” says Lindsey Rayner, managing director of Machine_ in Johannesburg. 

“I believe the win is a true testament to our agency’s ability to understand the consumer’s digital mindset, plan strategically, problem solve and maximise our clients’ investments,” adds Rayner.

The expansion of its PepsiCo brand complement follows Machine_’s launch of South Africa’s first-ever branded hashtag challenge on TikTok, which went live in 2021, as well as successes with the Simba Flavour Battle and Lay’s’ Movie Night’ campaigns.

“Our goal is to always create work that is relevant to consumers and the environment they are playing in,” says Rayner, “and as social media is often about entertainment value, we’ve seen the shift in focus from brands creating content that is sharable to content that inspires creative expression and engagement. We saw this in the performance of our Doritos challenge last year.”

The Doritos campaign, launched with dancer and singer Kamo Mphela, exceeded expectations with its results. It saw:

• two million unique users in the first six days
• 38.1 million video views during the campaign period, and
• 45 000 pieces of user-generated content made and shared by content creators on TikTok.

“Our goal for 2022 and beyond is to build and grow PepsiCo SSA’s digital agenda,” says Martin Neethling, chief marketing officer at PepsiCo SSA. “We want to continue breaking new ground, creating firsts and driving unequalled awareness for our brands in the digital space.”

“At our core, Machine_ is a solutions orientated agency that is up for any challenge. Our driven teams are built for the kind of innovation and game-changing approach a client like PepsiCo SSA needs and our work-that-works ethos is what propels us forward,” Rayner says. 

“We can’t wait to put our all into the new PepsiCo brands in our fold and create some exceptional work that will have everyone taking notice,” concludes Rayner.