As the countdown to the ICC World Cup begins, Pepsi is out with its much awaited campaign titled ?Change the game?. Deepika Warrier, marketing director, PepsiCo India speaks to FE?s Rohit Nautiyal on how the iconic beverage brand has used the metaphor of cricket in its latest campaign to salute Youngistaan. Edited excerpts.

How safe is it for PepsiCo to bet on the World Cup given that IPL is the established event?

We are also the broadcast sponsors for the IPL. World Cup is a premium marquee event and this time it?s happening in the subcontinent. Our plans to cash in on broadcast and on-ground will ensure eyeballs. I do not see investing heavily in the World Cup as risk.

What is the new positioning of Pepsi all about?

2011 has a lot of cricketing action lined up in the first two quarters. We were looking for a big cricket insight to go with Pepsi?s new communication. Today, cricket is more about unconventional bowling, batting and fielding techniques. We found a parallel between cricket and youth ? both defy authority and convention. They do not break the rules but change them. Pepsi has always been closely associated with youth platforms such as cricket; and ICC Cricket World Cup is the single biggest event that unifies millions of passionate Youngistaanis.

We have made five ad spots. With this campaign, Pepsi has become the official sponsor of all that is unorthodox about the sport; whether it is Virender Sehwag?s upper cut, Mahendra Singh Dhoni?s helicopter shot, Harbhajan Singh?s doosra, Tillakaratne Dilshan?s ?dilscoop?, Kevin Pietersen?s switch hit or Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina?s aggressive on-field spirit.

Also, cricketers will be seen in a painted body look which is an attempt to be disruptive and not provocative.

With this campaign, for the first time Pepsi is working with TapRoot India, and not its agency on record, JWT. What?s the future of this association?

The new campaign can be perceived as another way of looking at the philosophy of Youngistaan. JWT has been associated with us for two decades and continues to be our AOR. Pepsi as a brand invokes a lot of passion in the advertising fraternity and it will be wrong not to tap into this. Apparently, TapRoot presented a powerful idea and we will see how things work out between us in the future.

What media will Pepsi leverage for this campaign?

?Change the Game? is a 10 week-long campaign. We kicked off the campaign with television and outdoor. This will be followed by on-ground and radio. As part of an engagement programme in association with MTV, veejays will travel across the country inviting participants to shoot their 60-second videos on how they can change the game of cricket. This can be done online as well. Eleven winners will be chosen by a panel of cricketers and VJs. These 11 Youngistaanis will get to travel and see all of the matches (India matches, one quarter final, one semi final and the final) at the stadiums. Winners will broadcast their opinions and observations using smartphones on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

As part of the packaging innovation, we have launched limited edition bottles for the World Cup. We have got a lot of rights in-stadia including LED displays, run boards and other branding opportunities. We will also build exclusive marketing properties with ICC and broadcasters ESPN.