• Brandweek, Wednesday, February 18, 2009 11 AM

When PepsiCo employees returned to work at company headquarters in Purchase, N.Y., following their Christmas break, 20-foot-tall billboards met them with greetings like "Howdy," "Hope," "Tango" and "Yo," reports Kenneth Hein. Pepsi's new circular logo stood in place of every "o" in the words. An enormous blue flag -- a giant refresh symbol -- flew from the roof.

The effort was part of what Bill Wyman, senior marketing manager for brand Pepsi, calls "Invertising" -- targeting employees with a branding campaign before it goes public. A week before the company's new campaign and logo hit the masses, hall posters, floor and elevator decals and other placards made it impossible for anyone at headquarters to miss the brand's new look and message.

"If we were going to be successful in the marketplace, we were going to have to live and breathe the Pepsi brand with all of our employees," says Wyman. "We set out to find every opportunity to communicate what we are doing, and why and how we are doing it."

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