Laurel Jay's Blog

How much time does an advertisement have to capture an audience?  Well, if you asked a regular Youtube user, they’d say 5 seconds.

When watching a Youtube video with an advertisement, you have the option of skipping the ad after 5 seconds.  The quality or appeal of a commercial played on Youtube can, thus, be measured by the percentage of people who decided to not skip the ad.  That is, they wanted to watch the commercial.

This is an interesting way to think of commercials, as many of us see commercials as painful interruptions from the content for which we actually have interest.  Thus, we cannot create commercials that simply tell the audience the name and service of the company anymore.  We should begin to shift to a new paradigm where the commercials are as good, if not better, than the content that follows it.  We need to make commercials that are worth watching from the moment it begins.

So how do you know when you’ve created a commercial worth watching.  Well, give me five seconds.

As a retail sales associate for Canucks Sports & Entertainment at Roger’s arena, I don’t usually get emailed about topics other than availability, scheduling and promotions; however in the middle of September I was informed via email that affective immediately, Pepsi would be the exclusive soft drink of the Canucks and Rogers Arena. Interestingly enough, Coca-Cola was in possession of this deal since the arena opening in 1995 before Pepsi took over and signed a 5-year contract. According to Pepsi Ousts Coke in Rogers Arena Deal, this partnership authorizes Pepsi Co. exclusive beverage and snack rights, branding and advertising all over the arena, branded cups, rink board signage, and more. But more importantly, this means Coca-Cola and their affiliated products will no longer be found sold anywhere in the arena.

In addition, according to the article PepsiCo. is also the exclusive soft drink supplier at BC Place Stadium, home to the Lions and new home to the Whitecaps. This means fans attending any of BC’s largest sporting events (Hockey, Football and Soccer) will be indulging in exclusively Pepsi products (at least for the next 5 years). Additionally, those who attend concerts, all held at Rogers Arena, will also be restricted to only purchasing Pepsi products.

So this whole partnership thing seems like a huge deal. According to my email, it was thanks to much hard work and team efforts (they named many names) that “brought this deal to fruition”. Also attached was a complete overview of their products to help us “understand the full extent of PepsiCo’s portfolio”. I never realized how much effort it takes to secure partnerships such as these, and how big of a deal it is. To be honest, if I’m thirsty at a hockey game, I’m indifferent to whether I purchase a Pepsi, or Coke. I probably don’t even think twice about the brand.

It is obvious that this partnership is a huge deal for Pepsi and also for their archrival, Coca-Cola. Exclusive provider of soft drinks and snacks in both BC Place and now Rogers Arena, the 2 largest stadiums in BC. So my question is, how much did it cost?