• NYSport Journalism, Friday, June 18, 2010 10:41 AM

Barry Janoff talks to Jeff Dubiel, Pepsi vp-sports marketing, about the company's cause marketing-based Refresh Project, how its alliances with the NFL, MLB, Nascar and MLS are driving activation, how athletes such as Drew Brees, Jeff Gordon, CC. Sabathia and Evan Longoria are raising awareness, and how the World Cup, Super Bowl and other sports events fit into the company's strategies.

Dubiel says Refresh is the biggest project Pepsi is working on and that it has funded more than 100 programs and awarded more than $5 million so far. "The great thing about this is that it doesn't stop with the awarding of the grant," he says. "There is so much opportunity for us to go much deeper with each of the ideas in terms of how they are progressing through the community, and then to come back and talk to the fans about it."

The program has also enabled the company to bring various sports leagues together in support of the effort. "Before we had initiatives, but Major League Baseball would be different from NFL which would be different from MLS," Dubiel says. "Frankly, we are hoping that the power of connectivity will make a lot of noise and drive awareness among consumers."

Read the whole story at NYSport Journalism »